House of Dark Shadows: A Book Review

This book for me is a bunch of mixed feelings. First off, it's not my normal genre of reading, yet it definitely piqued my interest. Let me start with what I didn't like, then I will tarry down the road of what I liked.
The author Robert Liparulo in my opinion works to hard to fit "teen-lingo" into this book. I am a Youth Pastor, so I hang out with teens A LOT and I believe they would agree with me on this point. The tee-lingo which was placed in the book seemed un-natural and forced. The teen who was the video "gamer" only played his PSP 2 or 3 times, neither did he use any "gamer" terms, which if you're going to identify someone as a gamer, they better speak "gamer". Also, the use of "teen words" where they were placed almost seemed like the author was begging for a connection, as if to say the story wasn't engaging enough (which I believe in and of itself it was). If the author was writing this to fit a 14-17 year old, he missed his mark, however if he were attempting to reach a younger teen audience of the 9-12 range, I think his usage of teen words would make that pre-teen feel cool, or "apart of" the story because the misuse of teen words, or plugs for the PSP would excite them rather than turn them off. I am not entirely sure this was his motivation or even his target age.
The story as a whole was engaging despite the misuse of teen-lingo. The premise of a house that has portals to different worlds is inviting and exhilarating. There were points where I couldn't put the book down because I had to know what was coming next. The story was well thought out and planned as I am sure the whole series is (this is book 1 in a 3 part series). The characters for the most part are believable and real. The many twists and turns that this book takes the reader on are fun as well as completely unexpected (especially the ending where...oh I'm not telling you!). Maybe I am a bad suspense reader, but I honestly couldn't foresee the outcome.
Lastly, I enjoyed the book. It was an easy read but very intriguing, engaging and fun. If I had a tween (10-13 yr. old) I would hand them this book, knowing they'd enjoy it! To check it out for purchase or for extra information, go here: http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595544941