The Shrunken Head (Curiosity House, #1)

by Lauren Oliver and H C Chester

Benjamin Lacombe (Illustrator)

The book is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head.

Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. Philippa is a powerful mentalist, Sam is the world's strongest boy, and Thomas can squeeze himself into a space no bigger than a bread box. The children live happily with museum owner Mr. Dumfrey, alongside other misfits. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.

When the museum's Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts.

• ISBN10: 0062270818
• ISBN13: 9780062270818
• Publish Date: 29 September 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/11/the-shrunken-head-by-lauren-oliver.html
I haven't always had the best author reader relationship with Lauren Oliver. I enjoyed her Delirium series, but both Before I Fall and Panic were books that I had so many issues with. Her new foray into middle grade with The Curiosity House series is a complete success and I enjoyed every moment. There is something so utterly lovely about a well written and adventurous middle grade series and installment one, The Shrunken Head, shows exactly why the young and young at heart are enamored by the genre. It follow the story of three orphans in twelve year old Sam, Pippa and Thomas who are about to be joined by new resident Max. The four children have extraordinary abilities and are among the headline acts at Dumfrey's Dime Museum, but business hasn't been as prosperous of late and without the shrunken head, they will be forced to close.

The storyline although character driven, also features an old world charm to the New York location. Dime Museums were popular during the middle Nineteenth century as a form of entertainment for the working class. Most were little more than trickery in order to give patrons a cheap thrill, which also seems to be the case with Mister Dumfrey, with the exception of the four children of course.

One of the main aspects that also draws me into reading middle grade are the illustrations. Whether it just be chapter pages or full page illustrations, it only adds to the magical reading experience and The Shrunken head was no different. The monochrome illustrations scattered throughout were absolutely lovely, I especially loved the imitation performer advertisement posters. So lovely and vintage.

Even being a longer middle grade read, the storyline is not only wonderfully written but well paced. A mixture of old world charm, mystery and cheekiness that middle grade and early young adult readers will be enchanted by.

The Shrunken Head is a brilliant first installment in what will no doubt be an incredible new middle grade adventure series. Mixing old world charm and a motley crew of weird and wonderful characters, it's wonderfully written and the mystery will thrill and delight readers with it's sense of fun and lighthearted humour. Perfect for older middle grade or primary school readers and early young adult readers alike. I can't wait to for the next installment in The Curiosity House series. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[limabean74]

My Review:

I never read a Lauren Oliver book before and I am not sure why. I absolutely loved this story and the cover is fantastic. This book is a lot of fun to read and the 4 main characters in this book make this book a great read. The story is told in 4 different POVs Pippa, Max, Thomas & Sam. The kids live at Dumbfrey's Dime Museum as one of the attraction. Each kid has a special talent  that is unique, most of the oddities at the museum are like side show performers but the kids are different. Pippa was my favorite, she was just so much fun to read about and I just loved her personality. Max was my least favorite, I understood why she was the way she was but it kind of got on my nerves. This book has a lot of secondary characters that just brought the story alive. I really liked it, if you can't tell. :)

The story revolves around a murder mystery, someone is killing people but everyone thinks its a curse from a Shrunken Head that Mr Dumbfrey recently acquired. When things get crazy it's up to the four kids to help solve the mystery and save the museum. The story was great and has some very funny moment. I really enjoyed how the mystery unraveled it kept me guessing the entire time, just when I thought I knew who it was it turned out to be someone else. I am really eager to read the next in this series and can see a lot more will happen to the 4 main characters. I enjoyed the world build and loved the character development. The kids each still have a lot more to there stories and I can't wait to find out more.

I highly recommend this book, Great characters, awesome story and just a fun read. I look forward to reading more books from Lauren Oliver. This is a great book for MG, Teens, YA and Adults...just about anyone that loves to read. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my review

Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!

This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life