Shiverton Hall Kindle Edition

This novel had some ups and downs for me. Though the downs weren't too bad, to be honest. It was almost a 5 star review I gave it, if it hadn't been for the mild downs.About 20% into the book (I read kindle, hence the %) I felt a little disappointed. It felt like a bit of an imitation of Harry Potter, but without the exciting magic. The story was quite creepy and the further I went along, the more surprised I became. This book was pretty good. It just took a little time to get going and create its own identity. It has some very spooky scenes. I tend to read a lot of adult horror, so I didn't think I could be impressed by the spookiness of a young adult novel, but I was! Utterly! So if you are a little disgruntled with the beginning, like I was: STICK WITH IT! It is really worth the read!!!*MINOR SPOILER ALERT*So what let it down for me enough to take a star off? The beginning, it was too Harry Potter for my taste and felt a little like a rip off (though the novel more than made up for that) but more importantly the end. The novel has fantastic build up, but the end feels rushed and really lets the novel down. All the scariness suddenly isn't that scary anymore, and it left me a little disappointed.All in all I did really enjoy it, and I think it deserves at least 4 stars. Hope the author will write more in this series and I shall definitely be reading it!

Great book! Fennel does a great job of writing a creepy story. I look forward to reading the second book and Monsters!

My friend's 13-year-old son who loves to read all kinds of books suggested me to read this book, and, he said it scared him a little and so I thought it would be worth checking out.At first I couldn't help comparing it to Harry Potter and indeed there are a few similarities; young boy gets an invite to join a school he has never heard of, both he and the school have a `dark' past, the main character is a young teenage boy who becomes close friends with another boy and a girl, the teachers are called professors, and there is a bully with two cronies. However, that is where the similarities end. This book is a lot darker than the HP books and, my friend's son was right, it is quite scary. We are told a lot of dark short stories by `George' one of the main character's (Arthur) friends; the short stories are quite chilling.The main story to this novel centres around a phantasm that takes on the appearance of the imaginary friends some of these kids had as young children and it tries to get them to harm themselves.The novel end was quite sudden and the whole thing was quite well written and obviously aimed at young teenagers as the plots were not intricate and it was an easy read.An enjoyable book that I finished vary quickly and would definitely buy and read any sequel.Note on the Kindle version: No proplems whatsoever.

What I like about Shiverton Hall, Emerald Fennell's debut novel, is that despite various comparisons that will be made to the Harry Potter books (with Bloomsbury again publishing), this series for young people is easy to read, easy to follow and uncomplicated. No strange names, strange words or jargons. And the length is just right. As soon as I started reading book one it started ticking all the boxes for ghostly adventures that unfold at a creepy boarding school. It is not a school of wizardry by any means but something quite different. The main character, yes, is a young boy Arthur Bannister who arrives at the school with a secret or two. He soon makes friends, naturally, and they solve the first creepy mystery satisfactorily. So far so Harry Potter you may say. But stick with it - you'll be pleasantly surprised. The creepy tales and back stories of the Hall show that author Fennell as a good imagination.

A wonderfully creepy book in which imaginary friends come to life and are the stuff of nightmares! It's Leon Garfield/Neil Gaiman meets Harry Potter and a great start to a new series. I bought the second book before I'd even finished reading this one. Set in a boarding school with obligatory bullies and a group of friends who don't quite fit in, Fennell still makes most of her characters unique with room for development throughout the series. Arthur, Penny, Jake and George are fabulous new characters and it will be good to see what happens to them next. It's interesting that their home life gets more than a passing mention and explains why the boarding school is so appealing, despite its evil past.Highly recommended - except for anyone too scared to sleep in the dark! It's a Doctor Who level of horror so might be a little much for some but most will relish it. Not gory but it gets your imagination going.

Imagine Enid Blyton's Malory Towers meets Hogwarts and directed by Tim Burton! This book is not just for children but for any age range. It'll keep you gripped from page 1...and by the end you may find something familiar from your own childhood coming back to haunt you worst dreams!

I have just finished Shiverton Hall and I couldn't put it down.It's a thrilling tale; scary, fast-paced and mysterious with some amusing turns of phrase and interesting words that will intrigue the reader. Thoroughly recommended for older children who don't mind a bit of spookery (and to be read in the daylight perhaps by those who do). I very much hope that this will be the first of a series and I hugely look forward to reading the next one. Will it get scarier as Arthur and his friends grow up, I wonder?