Tweede deel van de Winterhuis Hotel serie. Er zijn tot nu toe 3 delen en deel 3 zal wel snel volgen. Het zijn Young Adult boeken en ik kan me nu al verheugen over het voorlezen aan de kleindochters te zijner tijd. Elizbeth is voor haar tweede kerst naar het winterhuis hotel gereisd en ook Freddy is daar weer. Ze vinden een aantal puzzels en ambigrammen die ze moeten oplossen en ze moeten op zoek naar de ingang voor de onderaardse gangen onder het gebouw. Ook Gracella verschijnt in vermomming weer op het toneel. ( )

Cuando Elizabeth vuelve al hotel Winterhouse para pasar las vacaciones, Freddy y ella investigan el misterio que rodea a Riley S. Granger, un huésped del hotel que dejó atrás artefactos de lo más extraños. Uno de ellos es el libro mágico que la malvada Gracella Winters intentó utilizar para conseguir poderes y destruir el linaje completo de los Falls. Mientras los dos amigos siguen una serie de pistas, sin querer llaman la atención de una nueva huéspeda muy sospechosa: Elana Vesper. Se acaba el tiempo, y Elizabeth y Freddy no tienen nada claro si Elana es una simple peón o una jugadora en la conspiración para revivir el espíritu de Gracella. Por si fuera poco, Elizabeth presiente que están despertando sus propios poderes, y teme que la lleven directamente a las manos de Gracella.

Un hotel repleto de misterios, un secreto familiar, y páginas llenas de mágia.

Elizabeth Somers returns to her grandfather Norbridge Falls and his magnificent hotel in this sequel to Winterhouse, which is set (much like its predecessor) at Christmas time. Overjoyed to learn that she is now to live at Winterhouse for good, she settles back in to her old routine, spending time with her friend Freddy, who is a fellow anagram aficionado, helping Mr. Wellington and Mr. Rajput with their jigsaw puzzle, and assisting Leona in the fabulous Winterhouse library. She also makes some enemies, in the form of the obnoxious Powter family, and some dubious friends, in the form of the sometimes friendly, sometimes off-putting Elana. It isn't long before Elizabeth discovers that there is a new mystery afoot at Winterhouse, involving a series of tunnels and secret passages said to exist in and underneath the massive structure, and she isn't shy about getting involved in solving it. But is she ready to face the enemy that once again threatens to destroy her newly-discovered home and family...?

Although there were many things I enjoyed about The Secrets of Winterhouse - like the first book, Winterhouse itself is a fabulous, fully-realized setting, while Elizabeth's penchant for wordplay and puzzles is once again charming - I also found that there were some elements which were less than pleasing. Guterson often seems to tell, rather than show, when it comes to his characters and their emotions and motivations. Elizabeth's ups and downs, when it comes to her perceptions of Norbridge and how he is treating her, are a case in point. Although her feelings of frustration are natural, in a child her age, somehow the reader never feels convinced that she is actually feeling them. Guterson tells us she is, but fails to evoke any sense of fellow feeling in the reader, through his description. In addition to often feeling at an emotional disconnect from the heroine, I also found the villains here completely one-dimensional, and the conclusion of the mystery unconvincing. It felt like lazy storytelling to bring Gracella Winters back once again, as if Guterson couldn't be bothered to create a different scenario from the first book. I definitely intend to pick up the third book of this trilogy, The Winterhouse Mysteries, which is due out at the end of the year, so at least the story left me wanting more. That said, it is markedly weaker than the first. ( )

The Secrets of Winterhouse is the second in a series about an orphan girl who comes to live in a hotel that has been owned by her family for generations. Mystery, magic, and puzzles lie within the charming hotel. Elizabeth an her friend, Freddy, defeated the evil spirit of Gracella a year earlier when she returned to destroy her descendants. Freddy and Elizabeth meet some suspicious guests. Could they be aiding Gracella's re-return? Yes! I enjoyed the action and the clues and puzzles, but I fear the vocabulary, magic and returning from the dead stuff may be too much for some readers. Most readers in fifth or sixth grade would love it. It is very well written! ( )