I did not enjoy this at all. The romances seemed forced, especially the one with the realtor seemed superfluous. It was not creepy/scary at all. He is much better at science fiction. I loved Enders game and speaker for the dead. I couldn’t tell it was the same author. I’m not a fan of the book at all. It got two stars because I liked the next door neighbors.

A great haunted house story with a surprising discovery near the end. I loved how the two main characters fell in love. Great romantic ending

It would be a good story if Card didn't have such backwards ideas of gender roles and relationships.

Perhaps the first OSC book that I've actively disliked for its own merits (regardless of the author's reputation). This book is so fixated on gender and its roles, and it never interrogates that belief. The women that are attractive are thin, dependent, and childlike (despite both Cindy and Sylvie attempting to murder someone). The Weird sisters are grotesque, old, fat. And both of these extremes make the book incredibly uncomfortable to read--especially through the eyes of hyper-masculine Don. The only idea worth its salt was the separation of the body and the soul. And if that had been a theme for the majority of the book, turned over and examined and explored as Don works on the house, I might have liked it better. As it stands, the most memorable thing about this book, the thread that persists from start to end, is what the relationship between a man and a woman should look like, and it is a shallow theme at best.

This could be a four star but it was strange enough that while It was an interesting read I wasn’t sure where it was going at times

Almost silly

Interesting premise. If only the characters had not been perfectly one dimensional and the plot had not been - silly. I gave the book two stars because it seemed written with all the joyful abandon of a fourth grader who wanted to toss into a campfire story told to his friends one predictable plot twist after another. Otherwise, it would have gotten just one.

Cheap popcorn book - goes down quickly and you regret it for the rest of the night.

I picked up a copy of this book at a used book store, and knowing a little about the author's other works i figured it was a good read. Well, it wasn't horrible, but it was fairly flat, with a predictable plot full of holes, under developed characters, and a silly ending. The dialog between characters felt contrived and the gender based stereotypes were poorly cobbled together to create characters that weren't that likable or believable. Unnecessary interpersonal dramas in the beginning added nothing to advance the overall plot. I had high hopes for the story, as i do love a good home renovation, but the story veered off track and the ending was a big let down.

This book caught me by surprise. Got to be the most creative haunted house book I've read in many years. And I was basically in turmoil the entire time thinking how true it is that people are so predatory and depend on the goodness of those who are not predators... It seems like those people get away with murder. But then again, that's no way to look at the world.

Something about this book is so unique. The only other book by card that I ever read was a decade ago and it was Ender's Game. I recall liking it. But I wonder if I was as impressed by the characterization and drama in that as I was in this? I don't know because too much time has passed to compare.

So I'll just read something else by Card and see.

This book was magical. Highly recommend.

Ok, Card is a decent author. This was an easy read. The characters, outside of their personal nightmares, are bland. The plot—weird. A haunted house with a ghost he can see and confuse for a person—that’s a bit much. The knowledge about house structures was interesting. Otherwise, meh.

I’m glad I read the Ender’s series first. I don’t know that I would have even try the series had I read this book first.

This is sort of a horror story. Ish.

I read this so long ago I'm not sure if I read the entire book, or skipped around. Either way, it was an unusual read with some interesting concepts--like a woman getting energy to fight a curse by eating (she gets to be the size of a truck).

The book gets kind of weird at the end. If I recall correctly, there was one corny moment where someone springs toward another character shouting, "Die!" And then it gets super SUPER weird, but I won't spoil it for you.

There are some compelling ideas in this book--I especially think it's interesting how the old mansion has gained some sort of power not necessarily through supernatural forces, exactly, but just by all of the "powerful" things that have happened there. (Of course, with ghosts, it is supernatural as well.)

I don't think this is up to par with Orson Scott Card's best writing (e.g. the Ender series), but it was all right.

It's too late for me now, I just can't read his books anymore.