Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head
Written by Lauren Oliver and H. C. Chester
Narrated by Greg Steinbruner
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
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. 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.
This sensational new series—a 2016 Edgar nominee for Best Juvenile book—combines the unparalleled storytelling gifts of Lauren Oliver with the rich knowledge of the notorious relics collector H. C. Chester.
What you will find in this book:
- A rather attractive bearded lady
- Several scandalous murders
- A deliciously disgusting Amazonian shrunken head
- Four extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities
- A quite loquacious talking bird
What you will NOT find in this book:
- An accountant named Seymour
- A never-ending line at the post office
- Brussel sprouts (shudder)
- A lecture on finishing all your homework on time
- A sweet, gooey story for nice little girls and boys
Learn more about the series online at www.thecuriosityhouse.com
Lauren Oliver
Lauren Oliver is the cofounder of media and content development company Glasstown Entertainment, where she serves as the President of Production. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of the YA novels Replica, Vanishing Girls, Panic, and the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. The film rights to both Replica and Lauren's bestselling first novel, Before I Fall, were acquired by Awesomeness Films. Before I Fall was adapted into a major motion picture starring Zoey Deutch. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, garnering a wide release from Open Road Films that year. Oliver is a 2012 E. B. White Read-Aloud Award nominee for her middle-grade novel Liesl & Po, as well as author of the middle-grade fantasy novel The Spindlers and The Curiosity House series, co-written with H.C. Chester. She has written one novel for adults, Rooms. Oliver co-founded Glasstown Entertainment with poet and author Lexa Hillyer. Since 2010, the company has developed and sold more than fifty-five novels for adults, young adults, and middle-grade readers. Some of its recent titles include the New York Times bestseller Everless, by Sara Holland; the critically acclaimed Bonfire, authored by the actress Krysten Ritter; and The Hunger by Alma Katsu, which received multiple starred reviews and was praised by Stephen King as “disturbing, hard to put down” and “not recommended…after dark.” Oliver is a narrative consultant for Illumination Entertainment and is writing features and TV shows for a number of production companies and studios. Oliver received an academic scholarship to the University of Chicago, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New York University. www.laurenoliverbooks.com.
More audiobooks from Lauren Oliver
The Spindlers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Curiosity House: The Fearsome Firebird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Curiosity House
Titles in the series (2)
Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Curiosity House: The Screaming Statue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Curiosity House
37 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Charming middle-grade adventure featuring a cast of misfits and oddballs. There's enough violence (several murders) that this book is probably not for the more faint- or tender-hearted reader. Those who don't mind a little bloodshed and some gruesome details--not to mention petty thievery and other assorted vices--will find a cracking good mystery and an exciting start to this new trilogy from best-selling author Oliver.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let it be known that I can't resist a middle grade book at the best of times, but if it's by Lauren Oliver there's no question it will end up on my reading list! She charmed me with Liesl & Po, made me shiver with The Spindlers, and left no doubt in my mind that I'd pick up any middle grade book she puts forth. There are certain authors who just understand what a book for this age group needs. A pinch of madness, a few drops of magic, some interesting history, and the type of characters who steal your heart before you even know it's gone. This book is all of that, and it's wonderful.
Charming, is probably the best word to describe Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head. Honestly, it's hard not to smile as you read the first few pages. Pippa, Sam, Thomas and Max are quite the cast of characters. Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders is a setting all its own. Add in a smattering of 1930's history, and you have the perfect stage for a wonderful story. I'll warn you now that this story is a bit on the darker side. Think Lemony Snicket. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, and sometimes it's a little gruesome. Still, at the end of the day we all know how things wrap up. These are my favorite kinds of stories. The kind that doesn't shy away from the darker parts of life, but embraces them as truth.
Am I rambling? Probably! I don't want to spoil anything, because this book is just so much fun! The mystery is probably the best part of this whole package. As if our plucky and talented young characters weren't amazing enough on their own, this story pits them against one heck of a mystery. When the prized possession of Dumfrey's goes missing, and all the people involved start to die in mysterious ways, what do you do? If you're Pippa, Sam, Thomas and Max you set off on an adventure to figure out what's going on. Possibly putting yourself in mortal danger at the same time.
This is a great story. Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head is completely charming from the writing on the page, to the stunning illustrations, and it will definitely make you want to come back for more. What are you waiting for? Go add this to your reading list. It's definitely worth your time. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I got this book as part of the Lauren Oliver audiobook sale on Audible. I was excited to read a middle grade series by Oliver; the synopsis sounded interesting and I thought this would be something I would love. In the end it was okay but not great. The story is fairly predictable and very boring at times.I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decent. The narrator does a good job with character voices. However, this wasn’t one I thought was great on audiobook...actually I was pretty ambivalent about it in general.This is a pretty classic “Clue” type of story. Someone is killed in Dumfrey’s Dime Museum and a group of unusual children try to unravel the mystery of who killed them and why. Initially the increasing number of deaths is blamed on a curse from a shrunken head that’s stolen from the museum. However the story ends up much more convoluted than that.Our group of extraordinary pre-teens follow the clues through a number of mis-directions to unravel this increasingly deadly mystery. The end game though is fairly predictable given the foreshadowing throughout the book. For some reason I had trouble engaging with the story. All the characters seemed a bit stereotypical. Additionally the story seemed more like a laying out of facts than an interesting story or mystery. I just didn’t think it was all that interesting or all that well done.Overall this was an okay middle grade “who done it” type of mystery. There are a couple interesting twists right at the end of the story but for the most part the story is incredibly predictable and boring. I wouldn’t recommend. There are a lot of wonderful middle grade reads out there and this isn’t one of them.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5If you are expecting a typical Lauren Oliver novel, you will be very surprised. This novel is a solid middle grade novel about extraordinary children. If you liked Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, you may like this novel as well.Mr. Dumfrey owns the Curiosity House, a museum of weirdness, magic, and monsters. Well, not really. There’s a “fat” lady, a giant, etc. They also have infamous artifacts. The most interesting people are the four extraordinary children. One can read minds--Pippa, one can bend himself in like a rubberband and fit anywhere--Thomas, one can throw knives with absolute precision--Max, and one who is really strong--Sam. Mr. Dumfrey has recently acquired a shrunken head. The first night it appears in the exhibits, a lady faints and dies shortly thereafter. A newspaperman writes about the “Curse of the Shrunken Head.” There’s another death following the lady’s death, which solidifies the “curse.” The mystery deepens when the head is stolen.The four kids decide they are going to solve the mystery of who stole the head. They also need to keep others from dying. Thomas takes the lead because he’s very smart, so he has most of the ideas. In their quest to find the truth, they encounter danger and eventually the truths about themselves.This novel is very cute. You’ll like the characters, and you may be surprised at the end when the culprit is revealed.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I found this book to be a fun read. There are so many eccentric characters that reside at Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. Additionally, Philippa, Sam, Thomas, and Max keep things interesting as well. However as much as all of the characters were entertaining, I did that I was not as fully invested in the story as I thought I would be. The events that happened in the story were toned down for the younger readers like the deaths of some of the characters. Which on the one hand I liked this as I don't want my nephews having to deal with a gory death in a kids book. Yet on the other hand, due to this toned down writing, I was just middle of the road with my feelings for this book. Despite my feelings about this book, my nephews will enjoy reading this book and meeting all of the different characters at Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders.