Customer Reviews

Blackbriar

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Blackbriar is one of the best books I have ever read. I picked it up in the 4th grade and was totally blown away by the mystery and intregue. Needless to say, ever since I finished reading it I have looked for it non-stop for years. The skilled way that it is written, the dark foreshadow and evil overtone of the whole thing just made me want to turn pages all night long. It is the reason that I started to enjoy reading as much as I do now and has influenced my taste in the books that I do read to this day. Since it was the 4th grade when I read it the fine details escape me, but the general impression will live forever. The old house and the names carved into the door. The midnigt bonfire ceremony. It all ties together to make a excellent dark novel in which even the masters like Stephen King and Chris Carter would be proud to have attached to their correspondence.

I have to agree with the other reviewers, I read this book when I was in Junior High (some 20 years ago) and I still remember it. It is a favorite of mine and still gives me chills late at night!

It is hard to know what is the character's imagination and what is really happening, and when the Reader finds out what is really going the scare intensifies instead of lessening!

I have been searching for this book forever and cannot wait until I get it and can read it again! It will never leave my collection again.

I'm 33 and I STILL remember this book 20 years later. I enjoyed reading the other reviews to reaquaint myself with the plot (of which I had absolutely No memory, but hey, it was 20 years ago). What I did remember was the atmosphere. This story is so well done it stays with you. A phenomenal read!

Blackbriar is a book by William Sleator that could fall into Fantasy/Mystery section. A boy named Danny lives with his caretaker Phillipa in London. Phillipa decides to move away from London and they go to Blackbriar, a small cottage in the middle of the woods. As soon as they get there, their cat, Islington, starts to act strange by not wanting to go in the house. During the night, Danny hears chanting and laughter and one time, a strange man showed up at there door asking for a woman named Mary Peachy. Danny notices a list of names in the cellar, people that used to live there. All of the people have a date they got there and a date they left except for one, Mary Peachy, who departure date is not there. Also, there is a wooden doll which Islington (the cat) seems to be obsessed with and will claw at it. Danny meats a girl named Lark who is interested in the Mary Peachy thing and together they try to solve the mystery of the doll, Mary Peachy, the strange man, the chanting, and the odd procession which happens at the tumuli. I thought this book was interesting and I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Ah who could forget poor Danny, his guardian-the indomitable Philippa, and of course Danny's disdain for Islington, Philippa's surly cat. This story creates a world streaming from the facades of a big industrial and bustling city flat to the quiet misty hills of the English country side, it captures little things like the clumsiness of eating on train rides, the fleeting white cat into the woods, carving on wooden doors, witchcraft, and the crackle of fire at night. This is the stuff that makes Sleator stand out, and to this day I even remember the characters as if they were good friends. I am not sure if Danny's interest's name is Lark. She comes later in the story, but her presence adds to the adventure, as Danny has a co-conspirator in his shenanigans in the new house. When I first went to England seven years ago, it was as if this book painted a perfect picture of what it must have always looked like. I wonder if Sleator had written this book while he was there?

Wonderful, scary book. I still remember it after 20 years.

I read Mr. Sleater's book "Into the Dream" when I was a kid (I'm 30 now), and really enjoyed it. That prompted me to read "Blackbriar", which I also enjoyed. Mr. Sleater paints an almost-tangible picture of the house with the bad reputation that everyone in the town refuses to talk about. The house is situated near three old burial mounds out in the woods and is only accessible via a four-wheel-drive vehicle. When newcomers Danny and his guardian Phillipa move into the house, all sorts of weird things start happening. There's a centuries-old heavy wooden door which has names and dates carved into it (the last name has no date!); their fireplace lights itself, and there's a creepy little door in the basement with spiraling steps that lead down, down, down .... Phillipa's Siamese cat is terrified of the house and of a wooden doll that it finds. Danny and his new friend Lark must solve the horrifying puzzle and find the missing Phillipa before all is lost!

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes scarey, creepy novels. The book is full of suspense, mystery, and creepy Gothic images. Danny and his legal guardian Philippa move from London to Blackbriar, an old house in the countryside, because Philippa thinks that rural living will be good for Danny. But everyone else in the neighborhood is creeped out by the house. Danny eventually learns that the house was long ago used for a "pesthouse", a place to quarantine people who had the Bubonic Plague. There is a list of names carved on the cellar door of all the people that died there.

Weird things start happening, Danny has dreams about being amongst the people with the Plague, he hears laughter that no one else hears, fires seem to spontaneously ignite in the fireplace, and there is a group of people who perform strange nighttime rituals on the hillsides. Meanwhile there is a character named Lord Harleigh, who seems to be up to no good. Danny befriends a young lady named Lark, and they both become curious about a person named Mary Peachy, whose name is carved on the cellar door, but with no date of death. Danny and Lark find a tunnel in the basement leading to a chamber where skeletons of people killed by the Plague have been hidden.

As a cat lover, I particularly liked that fact that a Siamese cat named Islington was a main character in the story. He is Philippa's pet. There were places in the book where I was afraid something really awful would happen to Islington. In the beginning, Danny hates Islington, and is rather cruel to him, but wait and see what he does at the end!

I have only one criticism of the book. The relationship between Danny and Lark is not fully developed. There seemed to be a budding romance between them, as there was a scene where they kissed, but then nothing more came of it, and later on, Danny described Lark as "just a friend". To me, that was disappoining. Other than that, they certainly both were great heros, and made for an engrossing story.

Blackbriar is a great mystery for young adults. I read it when i was 11 years old and i still remember it to this day. Its captivating and keeps you on the enge of your seat without being too frightening for a young mind. I would recommend it totally. Enjoy!!!!!!!

i love this book so much. i used to read it every week and i never got bored with it. its rilly well written and it end with a cliffhnger that will leave you asking "what next?" its a book based on some facts but mostly from his imagination. and will takes advantage of the situation and he seems to make most of the things from his mind and uses those to get in trouble. i love this book!!!!!