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Class: The Novels #3
Class: The Stone House
Can't get enough of Class on BBC America? This thrilling companion novel to the new Doctor Who spin-off features the group of extraordinary humans (and aliens) from the show, facing down an wholly original threat. Created by New York Times bestselling novelist Patrick Ness, author of The Rest of Us Just Live Here and A Monster Calls.
Don't go near the house, whatever you do. It wants the lonely, the lost, the vulnerable. It wants you.
Tanya keeps having bad dreams about the old stone house around the corner from Coal Hill School—and a girl trapped there, screaming and terrified. When Tanya and her friends go to investigate the strange house covered in cobwebs, they stumble onto their own worst nightmares come to life. But there is a presence haunting the house that is even more powerful than their individual horrors. A presence that may not want to let them go...
In spite of the danger, Tanya is determined to free the mysterious girl in the house. But they are running out of time—the house is scheduled for demolition. With the help of their teacher Miss Quill, Tanya and three other kids prepare to fight their nightmares, and whatever other monsters they hear scuttling around in the walls. But how can they fight against monsters that are supposed to exist only in their dreams?
Don't go near the house, whatever you do. It wants the lonely, the lost, the vulnerable. It wants you.
Tanya keeps having bad dreams about the old stone house around the corner from Coal Hill School—and a girl trapped there, screaming and terrified. When Tanya and her friends go to investigate the strange house covered in cobwebs, they stumble onto their own worst nightmares come to life. But there is a presence haunting the house that is even more powerful than their individual horrors. A presence that may not want to let them go...
In spite of the danger, Tanya is determined to free the mysterious girl in the house. But they are running out of time—the house is scheduled for demolition. With the help of their teacher Miss Quill, Tanya and three other kids prepare to fight their nightmares, and whatever other monsters they hear scuttling around in the walls. But how can they fight against monsters that are supposed to exist only in their dreams?
Kindle Edition
First published October 27, 2016
25 people are currently reading
619 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Ness
58 books18.7k followersPatrick Ness, an award-winning novelist, has written for Radio 4 and The Sunday Telegraph and is a literary critic for The Guardian. He has written many books, including the Chaos Walking Trilogy, The Crash of Hennington, Topics About Which I Know Nothing, and A Monster Calls.
He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Born in Virginia, he currently lives in London.
He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Born in Virginia, he currently lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
July 26, 2019
This is my first look at Class, a Doctor Who spinoff from the 12th doctor. I like the idea and it's great seeing characters being able to defend earth from aliens and such without the direct help of the Doctor. I like the idea of this story, nothing like a creepy empty house with a suspected ghost. The kids and Miss Quill have to figure out who the girl in the window screaming for help is before the house is knocked down for a new development.
Issues: Dialogue is choppy and feels forced. The interaction between characters is off in the same way.
The middle is boring 🤔 Like it is creepy but the getting to the house and finding out it's story is... who cares. Beginning is creepy and the end is definitely the best section of the book. The fact people take this long to figure out it's *spoiler* a spider that fell through the rift is less than fun lol I mean this house is COVERED in huge cobwebs and workers trying to knock down the hosue are wrapped up in them.... if it was anything else it would be weird 🤔
Overall it was interesting and I was excited to learn the spider's story. The actual description of the house and such is nice and creepy. The downside is the human interaction and the speech 🤷♀️
Issues: Dialogue is choppy and feels forced. The interaction between characters is off in the same way.
The middle is boring 🤔 Like it is creepy but the getting to the house and finding out it's story is... who cares. Beginning is creepy and the end is definitely the best section of the book. The fact people take this long to figure out it's *spoiler* a spider that fell through the rift is less than fun lol I mean this house is COVERED in huge cobwebs and workers trying to knock down the hosue are wrapped up in them.... if it was anything else it would be weird 🤔
Overall it was interesting and I was excited to learn the spider's story. The actual description of the house and such is nice and creepy. The downside is the human interaction and the speech 🤷♀️
October 29, 2020
spooky haunted house book with aliens? sign me up
May 17, 2017
Creepy cool reading!
This is a tie-in prose novel from “Class”, a spin-off TV series of “Doctor Who”.
WHOM
In case you didn’t watch the first season of Class, which is a spin-off of Doctor Who, let me explain you that it’s about a group of high school students and a teacher that they were “deputized” by The Doctor (actually the Twelfth one) to keep an eye on “The Rift”, a space-time phenomenon that appears in the area of Coal Hill Academy (formerly known as Coal Hill School) as an after effect for so many space-time apparitions of Doctor’s TARDIS in that place.
Now, The Rift is a breach where the space-time curtain is so thin that monsters and aliens from all the universe are able to cross it and enter into Earth, and since The Doctor can’t be there all the time to watch out, so the Class group is assigned to be on alert of any unusual event around Coal Hill Academy.
But as you can guess, even the very Class team is as peculiar as The Rift phenomenon:
April MacLean: Student. Terran. She is the closest thing to a field leader in the team. She is brilliant and brave. She has a singular link to the king of the Shadow Kin (big baddies in first season). She is establishing a love relationship with Ram Singh, another member of the team.
Charlie Smith: Student. Alien. He is the prince of an extinct race known as Rhodians. He is the last of his species. The Doctor saved him along with Miss Quill and bring them to Earth. He disguises himself to look like your regular human teenager. He is having a love relationship with Matteusz Andrzejewski, fellow student at Coal Hill Academy (and a kind of “companion” to the team).
Ram Singh: Student. Terran. He is the reluctant member of the team. He lost his girlfriend and one of his legs during the first attack of the Shadow Kin. The Doctor gave him a prosthetic leg to replace the lost one. He is beginning to develop a new love relationship with April.
Tanya Adeola: Student. Terran. She is the youngest of the team. While she is the same class than the rest of the team, but due her high intellect she “jumped” three years in school.
Miss Andrea Quill: Teacher. Alien. She disguises herself to look like human and poses as a Physics Teacher at Coal Hill Academy, but her real mission is to guard Charlie. However she does that against her will, since she is the last of the Quill species, and her punishment for being a war criminal in a long conflict between Rhodians and Quills. The Doctor assigned her as the mentor of the team, but she isn’t thrilled for that.
WHAT
The story in this prose novel, while it wasn’t given an exact date, it’s clear during the first season of the TV series, and I assume that it happened before “Detained”, the sixth episode, at least.
Tanya takes an unusual route to Coal Hill Academy and she found an old stone house where she watched that in a window of the second floor there is a teenager girl screaming and without any other facial feature.
Oh, yeah! I’m sure that I got all of you hooked with that!
The Class team goes Scooby-Doo mode to investigate the mystery behind “Faceless Alice” and the creepy old stone house.
The tale is quite entertained, full of creepy moments, and the interaction between the Class team is priceless.
Maybe, my only regret is that when you’d find out what is behind the haunted case (don’t worry, I won’t spoil!), well, depending of how familiar you are with horror novels, you may find some similar elements here, but still keeps to be an engaging reading.
This is a tie-in prose novel from “Class”, a spin-off TV series of “Doctor Who”.
WHOM
In case you didn’t watch the first season of Class, which is a spin-off of Doctor Who, let me explain you that it’s about a group of high school students and a teacher that they were “deputized” by The Doctor (actually the Twelfth one) to keep an eye on “The Rift”, a space-time phenomenon that appears in the area of Coal Hill Academy (formerly known as Coal Hill School) as an after effect for so many space-time apparitions of Doctor’s TARDIS in that place.
Now, The Rift is a breach where the space-time curtain is so thin that monsters and aliens from all the universe are able to cross it and enter into Earth, and since The Doctor can’t be there all the time to watch out, so the Class group is assigned to be on alert of any unusual event around Coal Hill Academy.
But as you can guess, even the very Class team is as peculiar as The Rift phenomenon:
April MacLean: Student. Terran. She is the closest thing to a field leader in the team. She is brilliant and brave. She has a singular link to the king of the Shadow Kin (big baddies in first season). She is establishing a love relationship with Ram Singh, another member of the team.
Charlie Smith: Student. Alien. He is the prince of an extinct race known as Rhodians. He is the last of his species. The Doctor saved him along with Miss Quill and bring them to Earth. He disguises himself to look like your regular human teenager. He is having a love relationship with Matteusz Andrzejewski, fellow student at Coal Hill Academy (and a kind of “companion” to the team).
Ram Singh: Student. Terran. He is the reluctant member of the team. He lost his girlfriend and one of his legs during the first attack of the Shadow Kin. The Doctor gave him a prosthetic leg to replace the lost one. He is beginning to develop a new love relationship with April.
Tanya Adeola: Student. Terran. She is the youngest of the team. While she is the same class than the rest of the team, but due her high intellect she “jumped” three years in school.
Miss Andrea Quill: Teacher. Alien. She disguises herself to look like human and poses as a Physics Teacher at Coal Hill Academy, but her real mission is to guard Charlie. However she does that against her will, since she is the last of the Quill species, and her punishment for being a war criminal in a long conflict between Rhodians and Quills. The Doctor assigned her as the mentor of the team, but she isn’t thrilled for that.
WHAT
The story in this prose novel, while it wasn’t given an exact date, it’s clear during the first season of the TV series, and I assume that it happened before “Detained”, the sixth episode, at least.
Tanya takes an unusual route to Coal Hill Academy and she found an old stone house where she watched that in a window of the second floor there is a teenager girl screaming and without any other facial feature.
Oh, yeah! I’m sure that I got all of you hooked with that!
The Class team goes Scooby-Doo mode to investigate the mystery behind “Faceless Alice” and the creepy old stone house.
The tale is quite entertained, full of creepy moments, and the interaction between the Class team is priceless.
Maybe, my only regret is that when you’d find out what is behind the haunted case (don’t worry, I won’t spoil!), well, depending of how familiar you are with horror novels, you may find some similar elements here, but still keeps to be an engaging reading.
September 22, 2018
Ze všech tří knih k seriálu Class mě Kamenný dům bavil asi nejméně, i když to pořád bylo super oddychové čtení. Jinak ale průměr. Ta duchařská storka mě až tak nezajímala.
3/5*
English Review:
The Stone House is the third and final book in the series set in the Class universe (TV show companion to Doctor Who). I really enjoyed two previous books. I haven't watched the whole tv show yet but I enjoyed what I've seen so far. Same with books. Characters are interesting and so were the plots. Unfortunately, I cannot say same about final book. Don't get me wrong, it was still enjoyable but compared to other books, I was bored and plot didn't interest me that much.
I think that main issue I had with this book was lack of the action and boring plot line. The whole book is centred around old spooky house with someone captured inside. I usually like a little bit of mystery, but this was just eh. I was also sad we didn't get to see other characters except for Tanya that much. I'd love to read more about Ram and Ms.Quill who I adored in previous books. I am happy I didn't get to read about April though. I don't like her at all.
The only interesting thing about this book were Amira's chapters and her flashbacks of escaping Syria. That was nice.
3/5*
3/5*
English Review:
The Stone House is the third and final book in the series set in the Class universe (TV show companion to Doctor Who). I really enjoyed two previous books. I haven't watched the whole tv show yet but I enjoyed what I've seen so far. Same with books. Characters are interesting and so were the plots. Unfortunately, I cannot say same about final book. Don't get me wrong, it was still enjoyable but compared to other books, I was bored and plot didn't interest me that much.
I think that main issue I had with this book was lack of the action and boring plot line. The whole book is centred around old spooky house with someone captured inside. I usually like a little bit of mystery, but this was just eh. I was also sad we didn't get to see other characters except for Tanya that much. I'd love to read more about Ram and Ms.Quill who I adored in previous books. I am happy I didn't get to read about April though. I don't like her at all.
The only interesting thing about this book were Amira's chapters and her flashbacks of escaping Syria. That was nice.
3/5*
June 22, 2020
This was my first book out of a new series called 'Class' which is set in the Doctor Who universe. The book follows a group of teenagers and their teacher who are trying to figure out what the stone house is and why their worst nightmares seem to be inside the house. I enjoyed most of the characters and the story was enjoyable. The stone house actually was creepy in some parts and it kept me entranced in the story. Unfortunately, I did not like Miss Quill and she ruined most of the story for me. The dialogue at times also set me back at times because it just felt so unrealistic. Overall, I will be checking out the other two books in this series.
December 9, 2016
Story- and writingwise this is my favourite Class novel so far. The mystery is interesting, the characters are likable and the story even tugged on my heartstrings.
The scenes with Charlie and Matteusz in it are unbelievably cute, Tanya is being generally awesome and Miss Quill´s character is also explored a bit.
I would´ve given this book 4 stars if sometimes the characters didn´t feel OOC and some details contradict the show. (i.e. Miss Quill can´t use knives in the show but in the book that isn´t the case, Tanya´s brothers aren´t mentioned at all and there was a passage where it sounded as if she were an only child.)
The scenes with Charlie and Matteusz in it are unbelievably cute, Tanya is being generally awesome and Miss Quill´s character is also explored a bit.
I would´ve given this book 4 stars if sometimes the characters didn´t feel OOC and some details contradict the show. (i.e. Miss Quill can´t use knives in the show but in the book that isn´t the case, Tanya´s brothers aren´t mentioned at all and there was a passage where it sounded as if she were an only child.)
November 1, 2018
The students from Coal Hill School investigate a haunted house.
The weakest of the Class books.
The weakest of the Class books.
September 16, 2017
A solid 3.5-4 stars.
Tanya is drawn to the creepy, deserted stone house...and she swears she can see a girl waving from an upstairs window. No one believes her...until the crew venture to the house and creepy things keep happening; living nightmares that come to life before them and turn to dust when touched! It's very eerie and suspenseful. But a bit simplistic when all is said and done.
The writing is good and compelling as far as the mystery is concerned; it keeps you reading to find out what the source of the mystery could be. But the actual reveal just brings more questions that are never answered. Also; this is a book to avoid if you've never seen the show Class; the Doctor Who one-season spin-off series. The characters are not really explained in the book so you'll be a tad confused if you haven't see the show. They also definitely don't develop at all but their interactions (especially Miss Quill's) are enjoyable to read and the addition of Amira and the refugee angle is really good.
Some things are annoyingly never really resolved:
Tanya is drawn to the creepy, deserted stone house...and she swears she can see a girl waving from an upstairs window. No one believes her...until the crew venture to the house and creepy things keep happening; living nightmares that come to life before them and turn to dust when touched! It's very eerie and suspenseful. But a bit simplistic when all is said and done.
The writing is good and compelling as far as the mystery is concerned; it keeps you reading to find out what the source of the mystery could be. But the actual reveal just brings more questions that are never answered. Also; this is a book to avoid if you've never seen the show Class; the Doctor Who one-season spin-off series. The characters are not really explained in the book so you'll be a tad confused if you haven't see the show. They also definitely don't develop at all but their interactions (especially Miss Quill's) are enjoyable to read and the addition of Amira and the refugee angle is really good.
Some things are annoyingly never really resolved:
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2022
It's not a terrible book, but it's one that spins (no pun intended) in circles for an awful long time. I do enjoy the diversity of characters (outside of the "gang"), but - without spoilers - one does stay stuck in the haunted house without many answers for most of the book. I also think the book doesn't know whether to use all the members of the "Class" gang or not. I think if the author just decided, "I'm just using these characters and say the rest are somewhere else," if might've worked more. Otherwise, one needs to create an "A" story for the characters we are focusing on (mainly Tanya) and a "B" story for perhaps those we aren't using as much. It just seemed that the rest disappeared at the end - so why use them at all? I just didn't find the story engaging, but there was potential here to make it a bit more thrilling or to go the other way (I feel this book is targeted at a YA audience, which is fine) and have that "Fear Street"/R.L. Stine approach of ending every chapter with a cliffhanger, just to give the story a bit more energy.
Read
February 5, 2019Putting it on DNF just cause even though I loved the creepy old house and plot, the characters I found dull. They seemed a lot less entertaining, fun, and relatable then those of the TV series. I might revisit it later and finish, but for now, I’m bored.
May 5, 2023
Táto časť bola asi najlepšia. Milujem ten záver, zasa super plot twist. To len svet z Doctora Who dokáže. :))
Read
August 15, 2024As I've never watched the show, I can't say how it measures up, but I found it to be a fun romp. 😉
February 8, 2017
Hmmm..... I had issues with this book.
I know that these books are penned prior to the series being released in order that they can be flung upon us to be devoured... but I do sort of wish that the characterisation was right. All the characters felt wrong. Miss Quill - the best character in anything, ever - was too... well, nice. She was not Miss Quill. Not even a little bit. There was just a character with her name. But it wasn't her. Not even close. Where's the woman who bellows "Leave us! We are DECORATING!"? Instead she falls a bit in love with someone... no. Not right.
And the kids themselves were badly drawn versions of themselves. But that was just another annoyance on top of the massive wrongness of Quill.
The story itself, about a house that draws people in, was okay. To a point. And then it was like... "oh yeah, there's a rift in time and space at Coal Hill, I should probably try and mention something about that" in its conclusion.
Oh and did I mention the bit about Miss Quill being all sorts of wrong? I did, right?
I know that these books are penned prior to the series being released in order that they can be flung upon us to be devoured... but I do sort of wish that the characterisation was right. All the characters felt wrong. Miss Quill - the best character in anything, ever - was too... well, nice. She was not Miss Quill. Not even a little bit. There was just a character with her name. But it wasn't her. Not even close. Where's the woman who bellows "Leave us! We are DECORATING!"? Instead she falls a bit in love with someone... no. Not right.
And the kids themselves were badly drawn versions of themselves. But that was just another annoyance on top of the massive wrongness of Quill.
The story itself, about a house that draws people in, was okay. To a point. And then it was like... "oh yeah, there's a rift in time and space at Coal Hill, I should probably try and mention something about that" in its conclusion.
Oh and did I mention the bit about Miss Quill being all sorts of wrong? I did, right?
February 28, 2018
Going to start by saying I’ve never heard of this show, nor have I read the other novels. I picked this book up at a library as it caught my attention. Come on, those first few sentences?! How was I supposed to leave it on the shelf!
I am SO glad I didn’t let the reviews put me off as I genuinely really enjoyed this book! I’d have liked to know more about the characters and I guess me being a complete newbie to this world is why I was a bit lost at times, but this book had me HOOKED. Pulled me in just like the house pulls people in...
I can’t give an opinion of whether the show is better but I will absolutely be checking it out, aswell as the other novels. I had so much fun reading this book and I’m not going to deny that it was mega creepy at times. It didn’t take long at all to read and if I wasn’t so tired I would’ve read it in one sitting.
It’s unlikely to be a memorable or stand out read but I was VERY pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!
I am SO glad I didn’t let the reviews put me off as I genuinely really enjoyed this book! I’d have liked to know more about the characters and I guess me being a complete newbie to this world is why I was a bit lost at times, but this book had me HOOKED. Pulled me in just like the house pulls people in...
I can’t give an opinion of whether the show is better but I will absolutely be checking it out, aswell as the other novels. I had so much fun reading this book and I’m not going to deny that it was mega creepy at times. It didn’t take long at all to read and if I wasn’t so tired I would’ve read it in one sitting.
It’s unlikely to be a memorable or stand out read but I was VERY pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!
February 7, 2017
2.5 stars
A poor representation of the characters from the show, they were just all very flat and uncharacteristic.
Otherwise, plot was decent and intriguing for the most part.
A poor representation of the characters from the show, they were just all very flat and uncharacteristic.
Otherwise, plot was decent and intriguing for the most part.
October 15, 2018
'Given how weird this place is, how about we all split up and go explore? Like in a horror film,' Ram says, 'that way we can get killed off in turn until one of us is left.'
'That'll be me, then,' April says.
'You'll be the first to go,' Tanya says. 'I'll be last, having worked out that it was Charlie all along.'
'Why me?'
'It's always the gorgeous one.'
'Then it should be me, obviously,' Ram says.
'Are you really arguing about which one of you is the serial killer while we're walking around a spooky old house?' Tanya asks.
Gosh, I missed these idiots so much. ❤️
Like I've said in another review earlier this year (this one), you can never go wrong by giving me some Doctor Who material. Or, more widely speaking, anything from the Doctor Who universe. In this case, Class, the spin-off that, unfortunately, got killed in the egg after one season. While the audiobooks recently released this summer are still quietly sitting on my shelves, I came across the existence of these novels and, well... went ahead and ordered all 3 of them straight away. Hardback copies. (Yes, that's how you know that I truly love something.)
So far, no regret.
I liked the story. Interesting, enjoyable, very Who-atmosphere-ish. (It kinda reminded me of that episode with the house trapping people in the latest Doctor Who series (the last Capaldi's one, not the newly started one).) Even the "whole truth behind it all" followed the lines of one of the things I like best in the show (). And let's not forget the layers of it all ().
And the characters. Well, I'm kinda biased because I already loved the characters from the TV series, so I couldn't help loving them in book format too. (Although, this being told from Tanya's POV (and focused on her), I was a bit disappointed by not having a bit more of Charlie who's always been my favorite, but at least, Miss Quill (second fave) has quite a bit of a presence, so that made up for it.) But, like I mentioned in one of my reading updates, this seems to be tailored mostly for people who know (and love) the show as there's little to no build-up of the characters. They just... kinda exist as they already are and this is just another one of their adventures.
Oh, and I loved the writing. I think Benedict captured the essence of each of them quite nicely. And the humor is definitely on point, especially on the dialogues.
It was my first time picking up a novel (although I've been saying for at least a couple of years that I should try one of the Doctor Who novels
I will probably read Joyride this week, and What She Does Next Will Astound You the week after (I'm not sure if this is the proper order (if there is an order to begin with) but that's the order of their ISBNs so I decided to go with that), so see you around for more Class soon!
March 8, 2017
Unlike the first Class novel, Joyride, this second novel is a bit more difficult to place in terms of timeline, mostly because it doesn't reference very much about the storyline of the show. In fact, it doesn't capture very much about the show at all, really.
The focus characters for this one are Tanya, who spends most of the book worrying, and Miss Quill, who bounces backwards and forwards between impossibly nice and scary as hell, whereas the show versions of both of these characters are a lot more rounded.
Ram and April are barely present, and when they are it's mostly to complain that they don't want to be there, and that none of them are friends anyway, which is something the show tackled very early on and seems pointless to rehash here, while Charlie and Matteusz pop up to snog and that's it. Much as I love gay representation, not adding very much to the plot makes them seem a bit pointless.
The actual story is pretty good, featuring a supposedly haunted house and a corrupt property developer, although the resolution feels forced. Once the 'villain' of the piece is realised, they become much more docile and open to negotiation and communication, which seems like it could have happened much earlier.
Disappointing. Hopefully the final book will be a bit more up my street.
The focus characters for this one are Tanya, who spends most of the book worrying, and Miss Quill, who bounces backwards and forwards between impossibly nice and scary as hell, whereas the show versions of both of these characters are a lot more rounded.
Ram and April are barely present, and when they are it's mostly to complain that they don't want to be there, and that none of them are friends anyway, which is something the show tackled very early on and seems pointless to rehash here, while Charlie and Matteusz pop up to snog and that's it. Much as I love gay representation, not adding very much to the plot makes them seem a bit pointless.
The actual story is pretty good, featuring a supposedly haunted house and a corrupt property developer, although the resolution feels forced. Once the 'villain' of the piece is realised, they become much more docile and open to negotiation and communication, which seems like it could have happened much earlier.
Disappointing. Hopefully the final book will be a bit more up my street.
September 22, 2018
Nun.... was soll man zu diesem Buch sagen? Erstmal habe ich unverhältnismäßig lange dafür gebraucht. Woran das genau lag, kann ich letztendlich nicht mal sagen. So schlecht ist es eigentlich nicht geschrieben, auch wenn die meisten Dialoge ganz furchtbar sperrig wirken und unwichtigste Nebencharaktere noch auf der Flucht um ihr Leben Zeit haben Romane runterzurasseln und besonders pfiffig wirken zu wollen. Die Ausnahme ist, wenn Miss Quill sprich, welche die Autorin wirklich gut getroffen hat.
Mein Hauptproblem lag glaube ich in der Tatsache, dass das Buch zum größten Teil wie ein traditioneller Horrorroman aufgebaut ist, ein Genre, welches mir persönlich nicht wirklich liegt. Damit geht es dann natürlich auch auf sämtliche Klischees dieses Genres ein.
30 Seiten vor Schluss versucht die Autorin dann besonders clever zu sein und einen Twist einzubauen, nur um damit in ganz andere, schmalzigere, Klischeeabgründe zu tauchen. Für mich waren die letzten 20 Seiten schon fast an der Grenze zur Unlesbarkeit.
Insgesamt ist es dann nicht ganz so schlimm wie What she does next..., aber wirklich empfehlenswert würde ich es nicht nennen. Gerade ein "Ausreichend" verdient es aber noch.
Mein Hauptproblem lag glaube ich in der Tatsache, dass das Buch zum größten Teil wie ein traditioneller Horrorroman aufgebaut ist, ein Genre, welches mir persönlich nicht wirklich liegt. Damit geht es dann natürlich auch auf sämtliche Klischees dieses Genres ein.
30 Seiten vor Schluss versucht die Autorin dann besonders clever zu sein und einen Twist einzubauen, nur um damit in ganz andere, schmalzigere, Klischeeabgründe zu tauchen. Für mich waren die letzten 20 Seiten schon fast an der Grenze zur Unlesbarkeit.
Insgesamt ist es dann nicht ganz so schlimm wie What she does next..., aber wirklich empfehlenswert würde ich es nicht nennen. Gerade ein "Ausreichend" verdient es aber noch.
May 18, 2021
3.8/5⭐: I really enjoyed this story, it seemingly takes place a little later in the series because April and Ram have begun a relationship but otherwise it's a good standalone tale. Like the last one, it was a quick read that read like it was an episode of the series. I enjoyed this story because it felt a little like a ghost story with a haunted old house with nightmares that come to life. I couldn't wait to see them solve the mystery and see if the house was more alien than meets the eye.
This book was really Tanya heavy (along with Miss. Quill), as the previous one was more about Ram/April. I thought I would not like it because in the series, Quill really annoys me and Tanya sort of rubs me the wrong way (as she is sees things in black and white until she's the one that needs something to be in shades of grey, she thinks she knows the most about aliens when she doesn't and she's sort of rude to the only friends that she has) but I really got to see her mind more and understood her more in this book. I genuinely didn't mind Quill in the book either and enjoyed the empathy shown. All in all, I was definitely a really good book, I just wish there was more to the Amira plot and the alien stuff was explained more.
This book was really Tanya heavy (along with Miss. Quill), as the previous one was more about Ram/April. I thought I would not like it because in the series, Quill really annoys me and Tanya sort of rubs me the wrong way (as she is sees things in black and white until she's the one that needs something to be in shades of grey, she thinks she knows the most about aliens when she doesn't and she's sort of rude to the only friends that she has) but I really got to see her mind more and understood her more in this book. I genuinely didn't mind Quill in the book either and enjoyed the empathy shown. All in all, I was definitely a really good book, I just wish there was more to the Amira plot and the alien stuff was explained more.
May 21, 2017
The book itself was okay. There was some interesting ideas and some of the dialogue was good. But the characters in the book didn't really match the characters from the show. It feels like maybe the author hadn't seen the show yet, but was going off of basic character traits. Quill is too heroic. Ram is too much of a jerk. They are all just off. Also the book seems fairly rushed and sloppy in some places. There are some chapters that are told from someone's point of view and the rest are told in third person. But in one of the third person chapters, it refers to the group of kids as "us." The plot itself has bad pacing issues as well. There's danger! But then they are looking through papers for a very long time and the sense of urgency gets wonky. The book needed a rewrite to fix the characterization and the pacing issues. I know there are some other Class books and I wouldn't mind reading those as it sounds like they might be better. We'll see.
September 1, 2017
Would I have read this if I hadn't enjoyed the show? Would I have even come across this if I hadn't enjoyed the show? Probably not.
I liked it well enough. I like the characters (particularly Tanya and Miss Quill), and do hope that if there isn't to be a season two of the show, that there'll at least be a book that ties up the giant cliffhanger at the end of the last episode.
Downside? A number of typos that made me check to see if this was from a well-known publisher or not.
All in all, a nice visit with familiar characters.
I liked it well enough. I like the characters (particularly Tanya and Miss Quill), and do hope that if there isn't to be a season two of the show, that there'll at least be a book that ties up the giant cliffhanger at the end of the last episode.
Downside? A number of typos that made me check to see if this was from a well-known publisher or not.
All in all, a nice visit with familiar characters.
September 4, 2017
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2845708.html
A.K. Benedict is a new writer to me, with a couple of novels edging between fantasy and crime, and also a rather fun Torchwood audio, The Victorian Age. This is a straightforward haunted house story, very similar in fact to this year's Doctor Who episode Knock Knock, though with some good moments from Tanya and some great moments from Miss Quill, and with plotline involving a Syrian refugee, also trapped in the haunted house, for a contemporary feel. It's set between episodes 3 and 4. All in the present tense for some reason.
A.K. Benedict is a new writer to me, with a couple of novels edging between fantasy and crime, and also a rather fun Torchwood audio, The Victorian Age. This is a straightforward haunted house story, very similar in fact to this year's Doctor Who episode Knock Knock, though with some good moments from Tanya and some great moments from Miss Quill, and with plotline involving a Syrian refugee, also trapped in the haunted house, for a contemporary feel. It's set between episodes 3 and 4. All in the present tense for some reason.
August 9, 2017
The good:
The premise is interesting and the author creates a great mix of horror and mystery. It's a quick read- particularly the first half is really gripping.
The Bad:
Like all the other Class books, the writing was sub-par. The characterizations were off, extremely in some cases, and there were plot issues like having someone comment on something when they weren't even there. The pacing also seemed uneven; for example, the ending solution was far too easy and rushed which led the content to lack any real emotional weight.
The premise is interesting and the author creates a great mix of horror and mystery. It's a quick read- particularly the first half is really gripping.
The Bad:
Like all the other Class books, the writing was sub-par. The characterizations were off, extremely in some cases, and there were plot issues like having someone comment on something when they weren't even there. The pacing also seemed uneven; for example, the ending solution was far too easy and rushed which led the content to lack any real emotional weight.
January 7, 2018
I’m giving this one 3 stars because I was at least invested in the plot. However, the writing and characterization deserves 2 or 2.5. There were tons of ridiculous descriptive phrases and the characters didn’t seem to match up all that well with their TV counterparts (granted I’ve only made it through the first two episodes, but the book was released when only one episode had aired so I assumed this wouldn’t matter). I’ll probably read the other tie-in novels since I’m invested in the show and the Doctor Who universe, but I’m crossing my fingers that the writing is better in the next one.
February 28, 2020
Due to being based off a show, I wasn't expecting much as usually I tend to find books of this style quite bland and loosley written. However, The Stone House was gripping and quite thrilling. It was still a little loose but was a very strong plot and built on the already established characters well. It merged the sci-fi of the show with the modern issues of Alice ect. I also loved the creativity of the spiders and how much care Alice had for them. I would definetely reccomend this to any fans of Dr Who, Class and Sci-fi and I'm compelled to read the other books based upon this show.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2020
3/5
Three stars is me being very generous and because of my utter love for Class.
The writing in this book was awful. It was jam packed with similes, none of the characters sounded like themselves, and the whole book was all over the place. I’m not sure the author knew where the characters were during any scenes and the scenes seem to jump wildly from one to another with no lead up or explanation.
It was all kind of a huge mess. I feel kind of bad for Tanya and Quill, this was their book and it all got buggered up.
The Bone Spider was super freaking cool though, so kudos to that.
Three stars is me being very generous and because of my utter love for Class.
The writing in this book was awful. It was jam packed with similes, none of the characters sounded like themselves, and the whole book was all over the place. I’m not sure the author knew where the characters were during any scenes and the scenes seem to jump wildly from one to another with no lead up or explanation.
It was all kind of a huge mess. I feel kind of bad for Tanya and Quill, this was their book and it all got buggered up.
The Bone Spider was super freaking cool though, so kudos to that.
September 24, 2017
I grabbed this one because it was written by Patrick Ness, only to discover he didn't really write it: he was the series' creator. I had never heard of Class, a spin off from Doctor Who, but eventually I did the research to discover the back story. I don't usually need to do that, but in this case, the story just didn't make sense without it. That being said, I enjoyed the kids' characters and the fantasy and the Dr. Who-ish humor. But not enough to look for more of the same.
September 7, 2020
The Stone House was very entertaining. I have never seen the show so I read this with a pair of fresh eyes. I gave this 3 stars because I thought the characters were one dimensional so you didn't get to know them well but they had good chemistry. Also, wish there was more world building. That said, it was fast paced, had an interesting plot, and great dialogue. This kept my interest though and got me out of a reading slump!
May 12, 2017
No where near the best tie in book I've read.
I liked it better than expected, though, especially seeing as I struggled to watch the first 3 episodes before giving up all together. Other than maybe seeing the show's pilot for some references, no need for knowledge of the show itself. The chapters are short and the writing does little to explore or emphasis character personality.
I liked it better than expected, though, especially seeing as I struggled to watch the first 3 episodes before giving up all together. Other than maybe seeing the show's pilot for some references, no need for knowledge of the show itself. The chapters are short and the writing does little to explore or emphasis character personality.
July 29, 2017
2.5 Stars
I think the characters lived true to their personalities on the show and I enjoyed the new ones.
But I thought that many parts of the book could've been left out and the plot could've been tightened more.
I might read the other books in the series since they're by different authors; I'll have to see.
I think the characters lived true to their personalities on the show and I enjoyed the new ones.
But I thought that many parts of the book could've been left out and the plot could've been tightened more.
I might read the other books in the series since they're by different authors; I'll have to see.
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