'Life can be cruel for a servant girl in 1850's London. Fifteen-year-old Abi is a scullery maid in Greave Hall, an elegant, but troubled household. The widowed master of the house is slowly slipping into madness, and the tyrannical housekeeper, Mrs. Cotton, punishes Abi without mercy.
But there's something else going on in Greave Hall, too. An otherworldly presence is making itself known, and a deadly secret will reveal itself--a secret that will shatter everything Abi knows.'
My thoughts:
If this is what the young adult horror genre looks like, then I am terrified. Not in a good way, by any means. This book was nowhere close to being a horror book in my opinion. It was so predictable and even though it has a ghost, one ghost does not a horror story make. Maybe I didn't really get into it because it was made to be read by younger readers, but it was just bland, overly predictable and just annoying. I spent the majority of my time reading this book being annoyed for what it tried to portray itself as and the fact that it didn't even come close.
I picked this book up initially because I like reading about ghosts in a historical setting. I thought that I would enjoy this one but it really wasn't even that scary. I had the ending figured out quite early on and every single plot twist and turn was not surprising at all. Is it just me or does every young adult horror book not scary? When I read a horror book, I want to be afraid to turn the page, but just not be able to help myself. I most definitely did not get that with this book. It was a complete let down that I am almost embarrassed to say that I read it.
This book made appease more to people who enjoy young adult or a light taste of horror. If you are looking for something eerie and utterly spine-tingling, then I suggest you don't pick this one up. To be honest, I really feel that by me writing this review, I am wasting more time on a book not even worth it. Skip this one unless you utterly enjoy being bored to tears.
Overall Rating: 1
Title: The Poisoned House
Author: Michael Ford
Series: N/A
Publisher: Albert Whitman Teen
Publication Date: August 1, 2011
Pages: 328
Genre: Young Adult
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.