Mimi Shapiro had a disturbing freshman year at NYU, thanks to a foolish affair with a professor who still haunts her caller ID. So when her artist father, Marc, offers the use of his remote Canadian cottage, she’s glad to hop in her Mini Cooper and drive up north. The house is fairy-tale quaint, and the key is hidden right where her dad said it would be, so she’s shocked to fi nd someone already living there — Jay, a young musician, who is equally startled to meet Mimi and immediately accuses her of leaving strange and threatening tokens inside: a dead bird, a snakeskin, a cricket sound track embedded in his latest composition. But Mimi has just arrived, so who is responsible? And more alarmingly, what does the intruder want? Part gripping thriller, part family drama, this fast-paced novel plays out in alternating viewpoints, in a pastoral setting that is evocative and eerie — a mysterious character in its own right.
The Uninvited
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–Mimi Shapiro, film studies major at NYU, leaves her predatory professor lover and escapes to a remote Canadian cottage that belongs to her father, Marc Soto, a prominent artist who walked out on Mimi and her mom years before. She finds the cottage occupied by Jay Page, a music student who is also Marc's progeny by a local woman. Despite knowing nothing of one another, the half-siblings forge a quick bond and investigate a series of odd occurrences at the cottage. They discover a hidey-hole under a trapdoor in the floor with an escape tunnel, raising alarm that escalates after a break-in. The story unfolds in alternating viewpoints between Mimi and local loner Cramer Lee, yet another secret Marc Soto offspring, who lives nearby with his mentally unstable artist mother. Cramer supports her by working two jobs and spends his spare time working out with weights and spying on Jay and Mimi. Despite the thriller premise, the tension tends to be tepid, bogged down by overly picturesque descriptions of surroundings, clothing, and cuisine. Cramer's character is well developed and sympathetic in his pathological shyness and twisted maternal relationship. City girl Mimi enthusiastically takes on rural life and travel by kayak, growing past self-absorption, but Wynne-Jones devotes more space to her possessions than her qualities. Jay remains peculiarly flat for a passionate musician. The complications and improbability of suddenly becoming family thrust upon the three are largely untapped.–Joyce Adams Burner, National Archives at Kansas City, MO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
After a stormy affair with a professor, NYU student Mimi Shapiro heads to a remote Canadian farmhouse owned by her father, Marc, a famous painter. On arrival in the idyllic riverside setting, though, she finds Jay, a 22-year-old musician, already ensconced in the house. Jay, she discovers, is her half-brother, and he welcomes her into his comfortable life with his mother and her lesbian partner. Readers learn long before the newfound siblings, however, that Marc fathered another child: Cramer, a twentysomething loner who supports his mentally unstable mother. Is he the sole intruder who stalks and then breaks into the river house? The distance between what readers and characters know creates the story’s central coil of tension, and Wynne-Jones adds extra measures of creepiness in teen-movie scenes of vulnerable Mimi, alone and threatened in the house, and in the flashes of sexual attraction that the half-siblings share. The mystery’s violent conclusion will shock many, but it’s Wynne-Jones’ atmospheric prose and sophisticated exploration of elemental coming-of-age themes that will involve readers most. Grades 9-12. --Gillian Engberg
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Should have been a better read,
By
This review is from: The Uninvited (Hardcover)
Mimi Shapiro, who just finished her freshman year of college at NYU finds herself running away from her problems. She runs off to Ontario, to stay at a house owned by her father, a famous artist who abandoned Mimi as a baby but has recently reentered her life. Mimi gets a rude awakening when she discovers that her father's house is already inhabited by 22 year-old Jay. Despite an awkward introduction to each other, they quickly find out that they have a deeper bond than either of them had originally expected. Soon after, Mimi and Jay discover that someone has been sneaking into their house and taking their possessions while they were gone. As Mimi and Jay deal with the intruder, the reader is also introduced to Cramer and his mother, Ontario natives who live not to far from Mimi and Jay. As the book progresses, Mimi and Jay discover the truth behind not only about their intruder, but also about their family.
As the book begins, after a shaky prologue, the reader immediately becomes attached to Mimi and Jay, both likable characters. Unfortunately, beyond our protagonists, most of the other characters come across quite two-dimensional and a bit cartoonish. Also, this novel depends on the mystery at the core, and at the beginning the mystery is quite intriguing, but it quickly becomes quite boring as more characters become involved. The worst part of this novel is the subplot involving Cramer and his mother, Mavis. Not only are these two characters quite unlikable, Author Tim Wynne-Jones fails to make these characters interesting at all, making their scenes quite a chore to read. Even when the reader is supposed to feel sympathetic for one of these characters, you have trouble feeling that because because of how they were portrayed through the entire novel. Also, a subplot featuring Mimi and the reason she escaped to Ontario seemed quite silly and a bit unrealistic. While the novel had quite a bit of promise at the beginning, it quickly unravels until it reaches a fairly ridiculous climax that is sure to get many readers unsatisfied. I have a hard time trying to figure out the target audience of this book. While it is being marketed as a Young Adult novel, I feel that many teens would be bored out of their mind reading this novel. I do not think their is enough to not only get a teen to pick up this book, but also to finish it to it's conclusion. Older teens and adult readers who like mild suspense will appreciate this novel much more. "The Uninvited" starts out quite strong with some interesting characters and an intriguing mystery, but it quickly devolves as the plot progresses and more characters are introduced. While not an awful book, I have trouble recommending this novel because the second half is a chore to read and the climax and resolution comes across as quite insipid.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
literally the worst book I've ever read,
This review is from: The Uninvited (Hardcover)
This book started out with the best of intentions: a creepy plot-line, intriguing characters etc. But the author killed EVERY story line. Towards the end, everything made me say "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I wish I had the time back that I spent reading this book. Rather than buy this book, I suggest that you burn the money. I wish I could give this book negative stars.
3.0 out of 5 stars
NightlyReading Review,
By
This review is from: The Uninvited (Paperback)
I thought that this book was going to be paranormal, like a ghost or something from reading the back, but it was not. It was an okay read and anyone whom likes a psychological thriller, would probably love it!
Mimi is running away from something at college, she has packed up her belongings and headed to her father's old cottage in Canada. There she can do some thinking and figure out her next move. Jay enjoys the old cottage down on the snye. He likes to play his music and uses the house for rest and concentration. But someone is playing an ugly trick on him. They keep leaving awful things in his bed. Cramer's mother is really depressed. Sometimes, even tries to harm herself. He works 2 jobs to try to keep the money flowing to pay the bills. His only solace is his canoe, the only birthday present he had ever remembered getting. These three young adults have more in common than they realize when their worlds clash one summer. The book kept my interest enough to finish and put all the pieces together. It was interesting to read how someone elses mistakes can end up being everyone elses biggest problems. *Special thanks to Candlewick Press for this review copy.
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