【Book Comment】 "The House With A Clock In Its Walls" by John Bellairs

Okay. Maybe I ended up a bit disappointed about the turn out of the story in this book. But hey, I guess I also ended up forgetting this book is a YA story. So sorry for that.

With that in place, let me tell you what I thought about this book after reading it. I actually learned that this book existed after seeing a trailer of the movie version of it. Maybe that's one reason why I expected a lot on the book version. I tried to find a copy of this and luckily, I got to buy a book of it at a cheaper price. But that was a long while ago, before the pandemic started. I also learned that this book is part of a series and now I made it my task to look for physical copies of them.

It wasn't as scary as I initially thought it would, regardless of the ghost thing that appeared in the book. I could relate to it in a way since there was an issue of trying to fit in or have some friends in a new environment and when you thought you did with the help of one person who we wanted to be our true friend, it didn't pan out as we thought it would. Well, the magic thing did filter out who was meant to stay and accept something that was already a part of Lewis' life. Having a weird uncle wasn't easy, but it was beautiful of Lewis to accept the true nature of his uncle. Their neighbor, who happened to have the same given name as mine, made it quite enjoyable for Lewis. At least, that's how it looked like to me.

There were two things that made me a little disappointed about the story, though. One, it's the clock itself. And second, the rather bland ending. I don't know why I fet such disappointment. Or maybe I expected too much?

In any case, that's all I can rake out of from my mind about this book. It's rather cold out here where I live due to storm surge, so it was a little hard for me to concentrate without thinking how cold it is here. Anyway, I'm not sure when would I be able to read the next adventure of Lewis Barnavelt. But I'll post my comment about that as soon as I'm done reading it. Let's make it a habit, shall we?

Something you always think "what if" about.

🔹 What if I was as aggressive as my sister when it comes to what I intend to do?

🔹 What if I was as mature as that of my sister?

🔹 What if I would meet someone that would eventually change my life for the better, no matter how unexpected -- at least career-wise?

🔹 What if I believed in myself more that I can be a successful published author and writer, maybe similar to Cassandra Clare or Rick Riordan?

🔹 What if the stories I wrote and posted online would lead me to something unexpected in the world of writing?

🔹 What if I took the chance to accept that guy's affection, even though I truly had no idea about it at all?

🔹 What if I did intend to become a scriptwriter and an actress, even though it's truly unexpected for me to dream of being the latter one at my age now?

Honestly, I have a lot of "what if's". But for now, these are the main ones that would constantly create a loop in my head.

🌺 Florence Joyce 🌺

【Book Comment】 Mister Monday (Keys To The Kingdom # 1) by Garth Nix

A long, overdue review.

That's all I can tell about this post. I mean, I know I was already done reading this first book at the start of the year ー or maybe even last year. Wait, I still need to recall the exact date. Maybe I'll read back on my journal to do that.

Anyway, so yes, this is seriously a long overdue. So my book comment could be a little vague. Who knows?

I love the adventures that Arthur went through in the House. I mean, they are pretty amazing (not to mention dangerous for his age) for him to go through that and survive, considering his condition. I could clearly see in my head the description of the creatures belonging to that realm. They are scary ー and should I say disgusting? ー so I'm not wondering why they're not in the Human World.

It's the frog (turned out to be the Will) that really gets on my nerves sometimes that at some point, I wanted to throw him and drown him. Suzy's fine by me. I like her, honestly. She was fun. Dusk really came off different to me, even at the start of his appearance. So I wasn't surprised when he did what he did to help Arthur during his fight with Mister Monday.

But the one particular scene that really gets to me was Arthur's encounter with the Old One and hearing that entity's story as to why he was chained there and continued to suffer for a long time. I don't know, but I think that was the best part for me.

Anyway, a lot more can happen as I was only on the first book of the series. I'm not sure when would I be able to read the rest of the books within the series. But I'll make sure to write a review of it (or should I say book comment) as soon as Im done reading.