A review of: The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

 by evie 

Summary (mystery spoilers)

           The House With a Clock in It's Walls is a book about (surprise) a house with a clock in it's walls. The main character is a boy named Lewis, who lost his parents in a car crash and has to go live with his Uncle Jonathan. Once he gets to his uncle's house, he meets Mrs. Zimmermann/Florence, an old lady who is friends with Jonathan. After staying there for a few nights, Lewis starts to notice some weird things going on. The furniture moves on its own, the mirrors and paintings change, etc. He finds out that  magic is real and that his uncle and Florence are wizards. Also, his uncle wanders around at night banging on the walls. Weird. Fast forward a bit, we learn that the house was originally owned by an evil wizard guy and his witch wife who really want to end the world with a clock (the clock in the walls). Their forbidden book of very evil spells is locked in a forbidden cabinet that Jonathan tells Lewis not to touch. 

            School sucks for Lewis because he is the strange new kid. He makes a friend, Tarby, who has a broken arm for a while and then abandons Lewis immediately after his arm heals. In order to try to keep his friend, Lewis breaks into the forbidden cabinet on Halloween and uses the forbidden book to bring the evil guy's witch wife, Mrs. Izard/Selenna, back from the dead. Fast forward again, Uncle Jonathan and Florence start acting suspicious and antsy, and the clock in the walls (that has been making ominous ticking noises the entire time) is getting louder. While trying to come up with a plan on how to stop the clock from destroying the world, Uncle Jonathan has an idea that random magic will help. He has Lewis write a set of random instructions to try to find the clock. Jonathan, Florence, and Lewis follow the instructions (magic stuff happens along the way) and are lead to a false wall behind the coal pit bin. They find the world-ending clock (its pretty small) just sitting there. Suddenly, Selenna appears and thanks them for finding the clock for her. She freezes Jonathan and Florence with a Hand of Glory (?) and tries to use it on Lewis. Lewis runs forward, picks up the clock and smashes it, successfully destroying Selenna and saving the world. The End.

Opinion

               I think that this book is pretty cool. A lot of stuff happens (it was hard to write a short summary that made sense). The characters are charming and well-written. I like that Lewis isn't always represented as the brave main character and that he has to learn to step outside of his comfort zone to find answers. The dynamic between Jonathan and Florence is funny and makes them out to be good old friends who tease each other a lot. I liked the plot. It never felt like it was too slow/too fast, and the buildup to the climax is nicely paced. (You can refer to things that were detailed at the beginning and connect them to things that happen later, too). I've read this book before, and I enjoyed revisiting it. I've also seen the movie. It's also cool, and does a nice job of representing stuff in the book visually. I recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and mysteries. 

 

(review end)