House of Shards

Charmed #37

by Micol Ostow

These walls have watched the witches;

the witches have watched the world.

These walls now turn against them --

some evil's been unfurled. . . .

The one thing any Halliwell witch has always been able to count on is Halliwell Manor, the ancestral home of the Charmed Ones and one of San Francisco's historical landmark homes. The grand old house has sheltered generations of women, and bits of Charmed history are practically built into the walls.

So when the Manor seems to have turned against its inhabitants, needless to say, the Halliwell sisters start to worry. It begins simply: The hot water heater is broken. No big: Leo's great around the house. But this is no simple plumbing problem. Soon, the Manor seems to be messing with the girls, Leo, and Wyatt in increasingly malicious ways. Thankfully, the Book of Shadows has created a safe zone for itself in the attic. But the Charmed Ones can hardly live up there forever. . . . Can they find out what's turned their safe haven into an evil lair before it's too late -- for the Manor, and for them?

Genres: Fantasy, Witches, Tv, Paranormal, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Fiction

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 28, 2006

About the author

Micol Ostow has been writing professionally since 2004, and in that time has written and/or ghostwritten over 40 published works for young readers. She started her reign of terror with Egmont with her novel FAMILY, which Elizabeth Burns named a favorite of 2012 on her School Library Journal-syndicated blog, A Chair, a Fireplace, a Tea Cozy. Micol's graphic novel, SO PUNK ROCK (and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother), was named a 2009 Booklist Top Ten Arts Books for Youth Selection, a Booklist Top Ten Religion Books for Youth Selection, and a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens. She received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Her young adult horror novel, AMITY, will release from Egmont in August 2014, and her first chapter book series, LOUISE TRAPEZE, will debut in Spring 2015 from Random House.

She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, alongside her Emmy Award-winning husband, their daughter, and a finicky French bulldog. Visit her at www.micolostow.com.

Reviews

[Liza Koppens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit confused. This book really felt like an episode I've seen. Wich makes the point. Either its written so well I can invision this whole book like an episode. And it deserves 4 stars.
Or it is just an episode written out and it deserves 2 stars.
Or option 3 exactly where I'm putting it now. Becouse of the multiple parts hinted at previous things that happend. I'm seeing those seens in my mind and it's more of a. Oh so much happend all this time, lets remenis. Wich... I dont know how I feel about.

So yea. 3 stars. Unless in the near future I find my Charmed dvd box sets back rewatch them and find out its a real episode.

[Heavinlei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything Charmed can do no wrong.

[Holmes Girl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I generally start a Charmed book review with the premise that most people who read these books were/are fans of the original TV series. So there are certain assumptions made that the majority of people have a pretty good knowledge of the show & it's characters.

*For reference: Book is set in Season 6.

Premise starts off ok......Halliwell Manor is acting out or strangely. First it seems like just old house in need of repair issues; but then they realize either the house is turning evil or some evil is turning the house against the Charmed Ones. The final conclusion as to what is the problem is just ridiculous. In fact, I had to go back & read it again because I was confused & thought I'd missed something. Nope.....it made no sense. Not going to give away spoilers. Although there isn't much worth to give away.

Very little action takes place and very little magic. Oh, there's the occasional Piper just flicking her wrist to blow something up; but we see very little from Paige & not one Premonition from Phoebe. It does incorporate her empathic powers, but not much & a couple of times she levitates. I did like seeing Leo & when he consults the Elders, they are their usual clueless, unhelpful selves. We see Wyatt, Piper & Leo's baby. I'll be honest----never liked that storyline. When you sell a show for 5 years that these women are the most powerful good witches of all time & then throw in baby boy that seems to possess every power in the book. Hard to swallow. Hint: the problem with the house has to do with him.

I often wonder "Where are the editors/proof readers for these Charmed novels?" Seriously, I have found very few that didn't have glaring mistakes or just annoying idiosyncrasies. People talk about Canon, but Charmed never had a rock-solid canon in it's 8 year run. With that said, there are certain elements that were pretty steadfast throughout the series. The author says that Prue, Piper, & Phoebe grew up in the house with their mom & dad......no. Most people know, that their dad left & mom died & they were raised by their grandmother. She has Phoebe saying to Piper, "Mom used to say you......." Phoebe was 3 years old when her mom died. She has no real memories of her. The author also has Phoebe in the kitchen whipping up this fabulous meal. What?! Phoebe doesn't cook. Does she even know how? Never saw her do anything like that. That would be something Piper would do, being a former chef. The most way out of character moment, was having the Charmed Ones, letting all the babies & moms into their house for Piper's "Mommy & Me" get together when they were about to vanquish a demon. Huh? Not only that, they hustled everyone up to the attic, while they went in the basement to continue with the vanquish. Yet, not surprising, because by this time in the show----they really weren't concerned with saving Innocents or keeping them from harm. The overall story provided no sense of urgency. The Book of Shadows was no help and there was no real tension.

Also, dialogue usage. The author has them using "Sis" several times......Don't recall hearing them say that. Also, if she used the word "Sweetie" one more time, I was going to throw the book across the room! It was so annoying. Now if a regular joe like myself can pick these things up; shouldn't an editor?

While this book isn't long 170+ pages, it was hard to slog through. The Charmed books aren't great literature or even an 'edge of your seat' kind of read; but some are quick, easy & fun escapism. If you're looking for a Charmed story that might feel like an unaired episode; look elsewhere. This isn't it.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last Charmed book I have been able to find for a reasonable price and...it wasn't very good.

The back blurb built it up that the house, Halliwell Manor, home to generations of the magical family and The Charmed Ones' ancestors was becoming evil. Been there, done that before but it sounded like this time the force behind it meant to do real harm to even Leo and Wyatt.

Messing with the girls is normal but a pacifist Whitelighter like Leo and a baby just because he has very strong powers?

First the hot water heater goes down and wrecks the plumbing, next a sort of black hole opens in the upstairs bathroom? Paige's room that used to belong to Prue is now showing her visions as if she grew up in the house with her half-siblings. Piper keeps having to deal with Wyatt creating toys that come alive is normal, but Phoebe is starting to be able to be an empath around...the food in the kitchen?

The Book of Shadows isn't turning evil, so they have a safe space in the attic to stay but soon it comes down to having to exorcise the house by performing a ritual that takes six months to purify and purge the evil responsible.

Yeah, no that doesn't happen.

What is causing all of this or who or why is not explained very well. There are moments where I got a chuckle or two out of the sisters and their normal level of snarkiness and sarcasm as well as indicating that Leo can curse up a storm while being the handyman around the manor.

Of course, no four-letter words in a Charmed book but visualizing it is hilarious since this is Leo we are talking about.

House of Shards lives up to its title that it just kind of.... broke to pieces.

[Drrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ця книга написана по серіалові, якщо, звісно, я не помиляюся. Так як серіал є першоджерелом, то він є кращим(але так не завжди) Про книги я дізналася взагалі випадково. І коли побачила, то подумала мені треба!Бо серіал мені нууу дуже подобався.
Книга це ніби одна серія з серіалу. Сюжет впринципі цікавий тільки розтягнутий. Хоч книга і маленька всьо 200 сторінок і формат малий, але багато "водички" як казала моя вчителька української літератури.
Підсумовуючи додам, що люблю героїв, бо звикла і книга це зе шанс довше залишитися з персонажами.

[Leanne Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Charmed stories we get that don’t have a demon as the main antagonist throughout the whole story are some of my absolute favourites and this was no exception. Even thought it did ‘sort of’ turn out to be a demon, it was such a refreshing change of pace to have them fighting against something different. I thought this kept really true to all the characters that we know and love from the show so felt like it could have easily been an episode! Loved it.

[Isa (Pages Full of Stars) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it a little hard to say anything about this book, simply because of how crazy it seemed. But I still decided to give it 3 stars, because I enjoyed the way each character dealt with their problem (maybe except for Phoebe, because that was just too trippy).

[Elyse Byrne]

Does anyone have this book they want to sell or pass on? I have ordered this book more than once and been sent the wrong book and it is now unavailable and out of stock! Please let me know. I am on through fb so hopefully I can be found easily. Thanks in antipation and in advance.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love any Charmed book, especially one that references Is There a Woogy in the House as much as this, but the climax and ultimate solution was really unsatisfying. I’ll rank it in the upper middle of the books, not the worst but not one of my favorites.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure this book entirely made sense, but there were some very sweet moments and everyone was in character.

[TheBookAddictedGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up for about 30p a little while ago, and then completely forgot about it. Recently, though I found it again, saw it was based on a TV series and decided to give the show a go. And, I loved it! Charmed is brilliant – funny, quirky and full of the supernatural. As I enjoyed the show so much, I thought I’d read the book.

I can honestly say I wasn’t disappointed. Although the book isn’t quite as good as the show, it had all my favourite parts: humour, demons, insane problems only the Charmed Ones can get themselves into and magic.

In House of Shards, the Manor’s turning against the girls. It all starts off with a plumbing problem, and – since the Manor’s ancient – can just be put down to age. Of course, when a black hole pops up in your bathroom and a portal to a past that never happened appears in your bedroom, you have to accept that something unnatural is at play. Then, the big question is: is the Manor just rebelling or is something evil behind everything?

The only downfall I found was that there wasn’t enough action. There seemed to be a lot of waiting around, something that would probably send the TV-sisters insane. But when you have cuddly policemen being turned real, alternate realities playing out in your room and demons-and-laughs-a-plenty, you really don’t care.

Astonishingly, the characters were very similar to their TV counterparts, even the way they spoke. Phoebe was funny, bright and bubbly. Paige was smart, optimistic and witty. Piper was a little whiny, but she had that same kind of dry humour that I love her for.

Overall, although there isn’t quite as much action or fear in it as there often is in the TV show, I really loved this book. I’ve seen some people give it negative reviews because it’s too emotion-based, but I loved seeing what was really going on inside the sisters’ heads.

I really enjoyed this book, and Charmed has become one of my favourite TV series ever. If you’re not a fan, I’m not really sure how much sense it will make. But, if you are a fan, you’re going to love this completely new and brilliant adventure.

[RumBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would happen if Halliwell Manor was suddenly fractured into multiple time periods. That was the premise of this book. Various points in the house allowed the sisters to see other points in time, even other possible timelines. The what if, what could be stories are always a lot of fun, and this one was no exception.

[Angela9600 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to watch this show faithfully so it was fun to read about the characters. The storyline was kinda not amazing but the dynamics between the 3 sisters always make me smile as I have 2 sisters of my own.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all the other Charmed novels, a great book, and just as good as the actual show.

[Ariana Jouzdani · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like this book!! its about the manor in charmed

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F CHA
Fantasy

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books in the series.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Off character, but good concept.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for any charmed fans one of the best books in the whole charmed series loved it, i never would of thought of the manor turning against them with any demons helping it,

[♡ Jeri's Book Attic ♡ Jeri the Romance Bibiliophile ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Tamara Van dishoeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik ben dol op de tv-serie Charmed en vind de boekjes dan ook erg leuk. ze zijn spannend maar ook grappig en lezen weg als een extra aflevering van een tv-serie waar ik nog steeds dol op ben.