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The Cellar A J Whitten Books

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The Cellar A J Whitten Books

Let me start by saying that I love horror movies, and even enjoy reading horror books. At the same time, I like the movies/books to be smart. They need to creep me out, build in tension and have a great twist. When I read the synopsis for this book it seemed to be right up my alley. The premise is good. Heather and Meredith recently lost their father in a car accident. Heather was driving and her guilt over the accident is immense, the sisters, once close, have grown apart. Their mother has distanced herself from her girls and spends her time shopping. Their aunt and her twin sons have moved in with them to help take care of things. When a mysterious family moves in next door, Heather is immediately taken with Adrien, the hot and mysterious son (as are all the other girls in school - all but Meredith). Adrien and Heather are cast as the leads in the school production of Romeo & Juliet and as rehearsals progress, Heather finds herself falling deeper in love with Adrien, much to Meredith's dismay. Meredith knows something is up with him, so she does a little spying. When she witnesses something disturbing in his basement, she knows she must save her sister from this boy before it's too late.

The book actually moved along nicely, and though it was a stretch, I was able to mostly buy into it until the last 80 pages or so. It was then that it started going downhill. The resolve was lackluster at best. I'm assuming that Whitten intended to make the book slightly campy, but it just didn't work for me. There just wasn't a good balance. The writing isn't bad, and there is plenty of blood and guts for die-hard horror fans, but blood and guts will only get you so far, and in this case, it wasn't enough for me.

(Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy)


Tags : Amazon.com: The Cellar (9780547232539): A. J. Whitten: Books,A. J. Whitten,The Cellar,Hmh Books for Young Readers,0547232535,Family - Siblings,Social Themes - Dating & Sex,Dating (Social customs),High schools,Schools,Sisters,Sisters;Fiction.,Supernatural,Supernatural;Fiction.,Theater,Zombies,Zombies;Fiction.,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Family - General,Fiction,Fiction-Horror,Horror,Horror & ghost stories, chillers (Children's Teenage),Horror Ghost Stories (Young Adult),JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 7-9 Ages 12-14,Social Themes - Dating & Relationships,TEEN'S FICTION HORROR & GHOST STORIES,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Siblings,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Horror,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Performing Arts General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Dating & Sex,Young Adult Fiction,Young Adult FictionFamily - General (see also headings under Social Themes),Young Adult FictionFantasy - General,Young Adult FictionPerforming Arts - General,Young Adult FictionSocial Themes - Dating & Sex,Zombies,Zombies;Fiction.,Family - General,Horror,Social Themes - Dating & Relationships,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Siblings,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Horror,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Performing Arts General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Dating & Sex,Young Adult FictionFamily - General (see also headings under Social Themes),Young Adult FictionFantasy - General,Young Adult FictionPerforming Arts - General,Young Adult FictionSocial Themes - Dating & Sex,Young Adult Fiction,Fiction,Horror Ghost Stories (Young Adult),Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9),Horror & ghost stories, chillers (Children's Teenage)

The Cellar A J Whitten Books Reviews

I am surprised that THE CELLAR is listed as a children's book. Though it would be easy enough for most elementary/middle school kids to comprehend this story of reanimated corpses (zombies) and their constant quest for human flesh, I personally would not be comfortable recommending it to them. Maybe it would be good for high school students who need a book that is of high interest to their age group but at a lower reading level. The book is set at a high school and centers on two teen sisters Meredith and Heather. The girls and their family are reeling from the recent death of their father and younger sister Heather is also guilt ridden as she was driving the car when he was killed. Not to worry the girls will see their dad again but unfortunately as a reanimated corpse. Anyway when an incredibly handsome young man named Adrien (who inexplicably never takes his sunglasses off as well as spelling his name with an e) moves in next door to the girls and begins attending their high school Heather and most of her female classmates are immediately smitten. Meredith has doubts about Adrien from the beginning as she believes she sees something very sinister (worms) hiding behind his always shaded eyes.

A blurb on the book proclaims that "Romeo and Juliet meet the living dead in THE CELLAR. Admittedly Adrien does play Romeo in the high school production of that famous play with adoring Heather as Juliet. And like the Capulets and Montages Heather and Adrien's families don't really get along as Heather's family is suspicious of Adrian and his unusual ways before he wins all of them but Meredith over with mind control and Adrien's mother figure can't wait to eat Meredith's family. Other than that I don't see much that connects the THE CELLAR and ROMEO AND JULIET. The authors of THE CELLAR like Shakespeare do have a flair for dramatic language as in this sample quote, "He had learned to savor the brain and eat it slowly with relish." But though the mother/daughter writing team known as A. J. Whitten can tell a comprehensible if overwrought story their writing is not of the best quality.

The storyline is full of loopholes though the authors try valiantly to plug them with contrived explanations. No one believes Meredith who is the voice of reason in the story and the only one to notice the gross happenings at Adrien's house because she has been diagnosed with Fuchs's Corneal Dystopia so her eyesight is in question. Her sanity is also under scrutiny since she supposedly suffers post traumatic stress from the death of her father. When Meredith discovers a bunch of disturbed graves her mother rationalizes it is because they are moving sections of the cemetery to build condos and does not realize the truth that a host of corpses have been reanimated to do the will of Adrien's mother.

The book is entertaining enough that I can see it would appeal to horror loving teenagers albeit it is also very predictable. The body count is quite high though somehow the sympathetic characters all survive. I'll round this up from two and a half stars to three as I know there is an audience out there for this type of horror novel.
The literary world is currently festering with a slew of teen horror romance novels, each extolling the virtues of chastity -- yet apparently endorsing necrophilia. The most recent addition to this line up is The Cellar, by A.J. Whitten, which, as the back cover indicates, is the pseudonym for tag team writers Shirley Jump and her teenage daughter, Amanda. Um, cute.

At 280 pages, consisting of small page sizes and large font type, The Cellar is really more of a novella than a novel, clearly marketed to teens with short attention spans, and prefer information delivered in chunks of 140 characters or less. The story focuses on high school student Meredith Willis and yer younger sister, Heather. Their father has recently died, their mother copes by spending countless hours shopping online, and their aunt and twin boy cousins are staying with the family for an indefinite time period.

Out of the blue, new neighbors move next door, in a previously abandoned, decrepit house. (Are you getting chills yet?) Their curiosities piqued, the Willis sisters meet their new neighbor the following day at school teen hunk Adrien, with movie star hair and a penchant for sunglasses. As the female student body fawn over the dreamy Adrien, Meredith suspects something is not quite right with Mc Steamy. Heather, however, is smitten with the new kid on the block, and her crush is the first bright ray in her life since the death of her father.

Soon, however, things start to unravel. Persons go missing, Adrien's activity is suspicious, especially his choosing Heather as the object of his affection, and Meredith stumbles across dark secrets concerning the boy wonder, but nobody will listen! And why does Adrien not let anyone meet his mother, who never leaves their mysterious home? And what does Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet have to do with it all? You'll have to read to find out!

The Cellar is a very quick read and will likely pacify most teens for a few hours, providing a modicum of entertainment. It will unlikely be as popular as books from the Twilight series, which is ironic, considering the writing quality between them is equally mediocre at best. Still, The Cellar is a better time-wasting alternative than Angry Birds, as it gets teens away from electronic devices and into the world of books, dusting the cobwebs off imagination and critical thinking.
Let me start by saying that I love horror movies, and even enjoy reading horror books. At the same time, I like the movies/books to be smart. They need to creep me out, build in tension and have a great twist. When I read the synopsis for this book it seemed to be right up my alley. The premise is good. Heather and Meredith recently lost their father in a car accident. Heather was driving and her guilt over the accident is immense, the sisters, once close, have grown apart. Their mother has distanced herself from her girls and spends her time shopping. Their aunt and her twin sons have moved in with them to help take care of things. When a mysterious family moves in next door, Heather is immediately taken with Adrien, the hot and mysterious son (as are all the other girls in school - all but Meredith). Adrien and Heather are cast as the leads in the school production of Romeo & Juliet and as rehearsals progress, Heather finds herself falling deeper in love with Adrien, much to Meredith's dismay. Meredith knows something is up with him, so she does a little spying. When she witnesses something disturbing in his basement, she knows she must save her sister from this boy before it's too late.

The book actually moved along nicely, and though it was a stretch, I was able to mostly buy into it until the last 80 pages or so. It was then that it started going downhill. The resolve was lackluster at best. I'm assuming that Whitten intended to make the book slightly campy, but it just didn't work for me. There just wasn't a good balance. The writing isn't bad, and there is plenty of blood and guts for die-hard horror fans, but blood and guts will only get you so far, and in this case, it wasn't enough for me.

(Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy)