Turn to Stone

by Philip Gross

With no money and no place to go, Nick finds himself wandering the streets where he meets Swan and the other human statues of the street, but when Antonin spots him and offers him a place at the artists' academy, Nick fears that the offer is too good to be true.

Genres: Young Adult, Thriller

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2005

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was average, if not a little better. It's definitely NOT a suspense/ horror book, like it says in the description.

I think it had a great basis for a novel, but I don't think it ever reached it's true potential.
For example, it could have gone way more detailed on the whole Venus de Milo scandal. I really wanted to know more about that. Or it could have explored Dem's or Swan's history and their shady dealings. And finally, I wish that the phrase "Mind of Stone" wasn't so literal. I was hoping for extreme creepiness, like some paranormal activity or something. But no.

There was nothing scary. The writing was unclear at times, and it left me confused as to what happened how. The ending was predicable, and the things happened too fast without much of an explanation. The 'romance' was completely unnecessary. Didn't Nick say Swan was over 20 years old? Haha, she was totally robbing the cradle. It did, however, has good qualities. I just wish they were executed with more style, more creepiness.

[Merri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has spoilers in it so read it if you want some of the dumb books plot. Lame. Im glad that I only paid a dollar for this. It was so boring, I would fall asleep reading it. If I was from England or some place like that I might understand it better. It was just plain weird and not in a good way. I could not wait to finish it just do I could read a book that was worth my time. Nick is a runaway which was cool, then he trys to be a human statue as in the mime kind of way. then he is recruited by this crazy instructer, He finds his friend aka Swan. they are in a cult type community where they are training to become better staues. Well the instucter and all the people in charge people are crazy and fix the runaway staues while they drug them up so they can cut off body parts. I think this was a total waste of my time and I could have read something that wasnt so sucky!!!

[Jackie "the Librarian" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far-fetched yet moderately entertaining thriller inspired by those street performers who imitate statuary. A runaway develops his own act as a living statue of Mozart, and comes to the attention of The Watcher. He is invited to join a secret group of "immobilists" in training, only to discover dark secrets.
There's plenty of suspense, but too much repetition about the effort to stay motionless. There's no character development, not that you really expect any in a thriller, and the love story springs out of nothing. The story takes its time getting to the finale, where one of the performers is almost turned into a gruesome live version of a famous statue.
Original, uneven, and preposterous. If this sounds intriguing to you, you will probably enjoy it. Otherwise, avoid it.

[Astrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who runs away from home and in order to survive, becomes on of those street performers who mimic being a statue. he meets another girl and both are brought to a large estate to further their craft but there is a sinister undercurrent that runs through the property. The books is interesting as you see his thoughts of why he left and hist struggle to survive on his own and at this "school." Part mystery/suspense and teen survival story.

I gave it 3 stars as I kept picking it up and putting it down and finished it after two weeks. I think the storyline will be of interest to teens though.

[Jackie Sonnenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the initial concept a lot....but I feel like this was very much underplayed. The kids are there to turn into real statues, but we did not see this so much. Having mystery is good because it makes you keep reading, but too much mystery fails. There are too many unanswered questions and the concept is lost.
Instead of this being a Gothic horror with some magical realism in there, it turned into a "boy saves and gets the girl" cheesy plot that annoyed me.

I did really like something done here that may or may not have been intentional: This feels like an allegory to Oliver Twist!
Overall I wanted to see more....

[Victoria Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good one. When I picked it up I think I thought that it was about medusa and greek mythology. I was wrong. It was about stone men. Those people that stand on street corners still as a statue for money.
It was a good book, more about how badly people can be effected by the idea of fame than anything else. I loved how you see it first hand in this story. Not sure I would read it again but glad to have read it a first time.

[Zaji · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to finish this, but I just couldn't. The plot sounded very intriguing but the writing wasn't good and was quite confusing.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love this book because the plot is so different from any other i've read. i loved the imagery and the characters. it was a bit slow to start off, but the end was great :]

[Brenda Barner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts okay and sags in the middle, but the ending made me think. I still think of how creepy this statue world was today.