Book Review: The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn

The Girl in the Locked Room: A Ghost Story
Author:  Mary Downing Hahn

Published:
200 Pages

Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 3 stars

Book Description:

A family moves into an old, abandoned house. Jules’s parents love the house, but Jules is frightened and feels a sense of foreboding. When she sees a pale face in an upstairs window, though, she can’t stop wondering about the eerie presence on the top floor—in a room with a locked door. Could it be someone who lived in the house a century earlier?

Her fear replaced by fascination, Jules is determined to make contact with the mysterious figure and help unlock the door. Past and present intersect as she and her ghostly friend discover—and change—the fate of the family who lived in the house all those many years ago.

Kim’s Review:

Not my favorite of her books. Normally she goes all out with the scary, even though she’s writing for kids. This one was just … weird. Ok, it has a ghost but then Hahn throws in some science fiction stuff about alternate realities and there’s kinda sorta time travel but not really. As a kids story, it was ok. As a ghost story, eh; I prefer my ghosts to be scary. As a horror story,  it was no good. I wasn’t scared. I doubt anyone who reads it would be scared. The characters are ok, nothing really stands out about them. Oak Hill is fabulous but other than a few descriptions, it doesn’t even play a big part in the story. This book was just alright. Sure, I’d give it to a kid to read, but I wouldn’t expect an adult to get much out of it.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK