The Haunting of Falcon House by Eugene Yelchin
A long undisturbed bedroom. A startling likeness. A mysterious friend.
When twelve-year-old Prince Lev Lvov goes to live with his aunt at Falcon House, he takes his rightful place as heir to the Lvov family estate. Prince Lev dreams of becoming a hero of Russia like his great ancestors. But he’ll discover that dark secrets haunt this house. Prince Lev is the only one who can set them free-will he be the hero his family needs?
My Review
4 Stars
It is 1891 and a young boy, Lev leaves his home to travel to claim his title as prince. Lev’s grandfather was a powerful general in the Russian army. He was well liked and looked up to. Lev aspires to be just like him. But when he gets to his grandfather’s house he finds his cantankerous aunt and terrified staff. Things are not looking like he expected them.
Lev meets Vanyousha, a young boy in the house. With Vanyousha’s help, Lev starts learning that his grandfather is not the person that he thought he was and that there is a lot more to Falson House than just his Aunt Olga tormenting the servants. There is also a ghost and a strange ability to obsessively draw the study.
First of all, I loved all the illustrations in this book; they were well done and really added to the story. From there, this is a great story with lots of depth. Although meant for mid grade readers there are more mature themes that I like seeing introduced.
The story is told from some papers that Eugene found and kept with him after he left Russia. I think it was an interesting idea for the story. Although the story is supposed to be scary it left me feeling like it was more of a sad history with a twist at the end. The story did catch my attention and I did enjoy reading it. Overall this was an enjoyable book.
To purchase Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and Eugene Yelchin’s website.
I received The Haunting of Falcon House for free in exchange for an honest review.
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