Classic Trash discussion

Discuss the book here! I am having some dizziness issues so only making one topic here. Use spoiler tags if revealing spoilers please!

Sorry you're not feeling well, Adelaide. I hope the dizziness clears up soon!

I have just finished reading this book, and thought it was entertaining. I had nominated it because many fans of Lois Duncan have said it was their favorite book by her. It certainly uses a unique idea not found in many storylines.

I want to live at Cliff House!!!

Me too! Seems ideal except for the snobby neighbors. Great genre thriller- I love the ones with a supernatural twist. Great writing too which is weird for this genre/decade.

Well, it was a very fast read. It was more interesting than I expected, if somewhat predictable. Okay, it was a lot predictable. So it gets a nice middle level 3 stars from me. I liked it, but it's not something I'd ever want to reread again. Maybe it's my age, but I just couldn't really connect with the main character. I really enjoyed her family though, I wish mine had been like that. And the house really does sound great, too. I think one thing that bothered me was the attention that was given to Jeff's face. It was like the author thought that what happened at the end had to happen or it couldn't be considered to be a good ending. And I don't think that's right. I don't think it needed to have happened. But that's just me. Sorry, I hope that wasn't a spoiler or anything. I don't understand about using markers to hide things.

OK, so I am about 30% through. This book was originally published in 1981 ( and I probably read it around then because I liked Duncan), but the girls watch DVDs, which weren't available until the 90s. I dimly remember that they went through and updated her books to be read by a modern audience. Which I think is dumb.

Also, "magical natives" is kinda racist. Ah, it was a different time.

Okay, done! I really loved a book by Lois Duncan when I was young called A Gift of Magic. I liked this one too. Even with the technology updates, it's still a bit dated though. I'm probably going to go back and read A Gift of Magic again.

Adelaide wrote: "Also, "magical natives" is kinda racist. Ah, it was a different time."

Yes, I thought it was a bit racist. The writer needed a reason, though, for why the twins had that "special ability".

Adelaide wrote: "Okay, done! I really loved a book by Lois Duncan when I was young called A Gift of Magic. I liked this one too. Even with the technology updates, it's still a bit dated though. I'm pro..."

It did seem a bit dated to me, too. I know that cell phones didn't work on the island, but at school no one was on their cell phone. Also, the teens seemed more like middle school kids. No sex or physical affection was mentioned in the teen's dating relationship, unlike in today's YA novels.

I don't like the updating of old novels, either. Readers can figure out that the time in which the book was written was different than today and can accept that.

I agree. Updating old novels isn't something that should be done. And it was definitely dated. And racist. Able-ist too? It's not something I would ever have read when I was a teen. Maybe Jr High, but it was written way after that.. :P

Ok, how do I mark things so spoilers don't show up? :P

Kelly,

Easy way: Type SPOILERS BELOW



and then skip 5 lines before you type the spoiler.

You can also use the html way listed on the second to last bullet point under (some html is ok). If you tap that phrase at the top right of the comment box, a pop up menu appears with Formatting tips. Follow what it says to do under "spoilers", substituting the text you want hidden for the ... in the example. (I can't write the instructions out here, because all that shows up is the word spoilers.)