Access Today The Thief Of Always Originated By Clive Barker Released As Kindle

remember being a kid and being bored, and it is THE WORST, It wasn't just the boredom, it was the feeling of needing something but having no idea what, Awful. It will ruin your life,

And that is how you become me,

I don't really have much to say about this book, It's my second Barker, and vastly different than the first of his that I'd read The Hellbound Heart, I liked this one well enough, and it's a quick read or would have been if I didn't have this need to make new levels in Mario Maker, anyway.
The illustrations were great, a nice sketchy style that I really liked a lot, But the story was only just good, It felt a little too messagey for me,

Appreciate the time you have with your family, even when it's lame, because you never know when it might be taken away from you,


So That's all. I probably would have liked this a bit more had I read it when I was in the target age range, but still, it's a good story,

Oh, wait! It did annoy me that the cats behaved like humans though, Yeah yeah yeah, they are MAGIC cats, but they don't talk or do anything but be cats which is what they were created to be so when they're all "Timmy fell down the well!" leading someone to where they need to be, it just irks me.
If they're magic, make them magic, If they're not, then they're not, Gah.

Anyway. That's all, for realsies this time,

Febbraio, la grande bestia grigia, si era mangiato vivo Harvey Swick, E lui ora era lì, sepolto nello stomaco di quel mese opprimente, e si chiedeva se avrebbe mai trovato una via d'uscita tra le fredde viscere che si estendevano da lì a Pasqua.

Non aveva molta fiducia nelle sue possibilità, Era più probabile che, trascinandosi lungo le ore di quella giornata, finisse per annoiarsi tanto da dimenticarsi di respirare,

Una più che gradevole rilettura orrorifica per bambini cresciutelli ed adulti bambinelli di Hansel e Gretel, L'Albero di Halloween di Bradbury ed il Paese dei Balocchi collodiano, Harvey e Wendell sono praticamente Pinocchio e Lucignolo, ed è stato bello scoprire che il Barker kidfriendly, qui anche eccellente illustratore, è altrettanto bravo di quello feroce e sanguinario che tutti ben conosciamo.




È perfetto! mormorò tra sé Harvey,
Mrs Griffin colse al volo il suo sussurro e Nulla è perfetto replicò,
Perché no
Perché il tempo passa rispose osservando i fiori che aveva reciso, e lo scarabeo e il verme penetrano, prima o poi, in ogni cosa,
A queste parole, Harvey si chiese quali dolori dovesse aver conosciuto Mrs Griffin per
diventare tanto amara,

Vorrei averla letta quando ero più giovane, le avrei dato probabilmente cinque e passa stelle,



Mi hai rubato trent'anni di vita con la mia mamma e il mio papà! gridò Harvey, Se restassi ancora qui continueresti a derubarmi,
Ti ho preso soltanto i giorni che non volevi protestò Hood, I giorni di pioggia, i giorni grigi, Quelli che volevi passassero in fretta, Cosa c'è di male in tutto questo
Non sapevo che cosa stavo perdendo ribatté Harvey, ./

Harvey, aold boy finds himself in a magical place that seems to have everything he ever wanted, A place almost too good to be real, . .

Got this one cause it looked like a great read for Halloween season, Was not disappointed "De ahora en adelante, el tiempo sería precioso, Desde luego, haría tictac, como siempre, pero Harvey estaba convencido de que no lo malgastaría en suspiros y quejas, Llenaría cada momento con las estaciones que encontrara en su corazón, Esperanzas como pájaros en una rama de primavera felicidad como el sol de un verano caliente magia como las nieblas de otoño y, sobre todo, amor,
Amor suficiente para mil Navidades, "

Una muy buena premisa, Una narrativa que te transporta a la infancia, Y a un universo mágico y siniestro,
considero, que con este libro, Barker nos mueve el piso y nos da algunos "tirones de oreja", . . Diciéndonos que deberíamos aprovechar el tiempo, Valorar las cosas que tenemos y no estar siempre añorando lo que no poseemos, Porque el tiempo pasa muy rápido y la vida se va en un suspiro, . . I have to thank my bestie jobisfor quite literally forcing this book into my hands by getting it for me for Christmas, and THIS EDITION, Gah. Its almost too beautiful. Clive Barker illustrated it himself, and while I always enjoy a surprise illustration in a book, these were on another level, I swear, They toe the line between truly dark horror and childrens drawings, and admittedly Im thinking of Marr here, cross that line occasionally, but who didnt love reading a book as a kid and getting that thrill of fear every now and again
.

The Thief of Always is the magical tale of young Harvey Sweek, who is fed up with the monotony of his every day life and wishes for something more exciting.
Enter: a literal demon named Rictus who promises to take him to a house where every afternoon is the perfect summers day and every night is Christmas seems legit, thinks Harvey, and skips off hand in hand with a flying demon.
Weve all been there.
.
Questionable judgement in trusting demons aside, Harvey is the perfect protagonist for a story like this, being a kind of everyman for kids good, brave, always willing to be a friend even in extenuating circumstances.
But hes also fundamentally still just a kid, and Barker puts that across so well!
,
In Books of Blood I was blown away by Barkers imagination, and The Thief of Always is no different, His mind must be a crazy place to be, but Im so thankful he puts it all to paper for us to enjoy! I wish I had read this one when I was Harveys age,oror so, but I can always give it to my niece to read when shes old enough and then not take responsibility for the nightmares about Marr!
.

Jo warned me about the tearjerker of a last page, and she wasnt wrong! The last page, and especially the last paragraph really struck a chord with me about making the most of each day and not wishing your life away wildbonbons it really reminded me of your initiative and you should also read this one! sitelinkClick here to watch a video review of this book on my channel, From Beginning to Bookend.


sitelink

Tenyearold Harvey Swick is invited to Mr, Hoods Holiday House, a thousandyearold dwelling that welcomes children to enjoy its rapidly changing seasons, explore its grounds filled with mythical creatures, and partake of the delicious meals prepared by the house cook, Mrs.
Griffin. At first, Harvey thinks Holiday House is the best thing thats ever happened to him, but he soon discovers not all is as it seems, By the time he realizes he wants to leave, there may be no way out,

Though promising in premise, Harveys adventure is one of low stakes, He suffers from lack of want and, in the books opening pages, his greatest problem is that he suffers from boredom,

“Ive got nothing better to do,” Harvey said, without looking around, “I want to I want to ” He went to the mirror, and quizzed it, “What do I want” The strawhaired, snubnosed, browneyed boy he saw before him shook his head, “I dont know what I want,” he said, “I just know Ill die if I dont have some fun, I will! Ill die!”

Upon being escorted to Holiday House, Harvey immediately recognizes the dwelling as a “place built for games, chases and adventures, ” He spends a considerable amount of time at the house being perfectly content theres a painful lack of conflict, Whats more puzzling, however, is how Barker never seems to settle on what the house is, precisely,

“Come with me to the Holiday House, ”

“Youre real,” he said, as he stood panting on the porch, “You are, arent you”
He started to laugh at the foolishness of talking to a House, but the smile went from his face as a voice, so soft he was barely certain he heard it, said: “What do you think, child”

“Its the House of Always.
”

If hed remained in the House of Illusions, . .

It was hard work hauling himself up, but he knew, when hed finished and lay panting on the attic floor, that his pursuit of Hood was almost at an end.
The Vampire King was near,

He stumbled, fell, and ended up sprawled on the hard boards, staring up at the roof through a red haze of pain,
And there above him was Hood, in all his glory,
His face was spread over the entire roof his features horribly distorted, His eyes were dark pits gouged into the timbers his nose was flared and flattened grotesquely, like the nose of an enormous bat his mouth was a lipless slit that was surely ten feet wide, from which issued a voice that was like the creaking of doors and the howling of chimneys and the rattling of windows.


Is it Holiday House The House of Always The House of Illusions Is Hood a man A house A vampire A Vampire King Barker bounces around so many different names and iterations of his “HoodHouse” character that it never materializes as a fully realized idea.


Further, the plot jumps around with characters starting one task and being completely derailed for trivial reasons, For example, Harvey and his friends set out on Halloween night to go trickortreating, but are postponed by an incident where Harvey is pranked by a friend and subsequently scared.
This is all it takes to make Harvey cancel his plans for the night, No tenyearold would let something like that stop him from trickortreating,

The Thief of Always suffers from an inability to determine what story it wants

to tell and what form its characters take, Great book to read on a rainy day,

What I liked the most apart from story are the illustrations, They were really creepy, and reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, which is one of my favorite books, The story is also similar to Coraline, but it does have its twists,

Really fun and fast read, and looking forward to reading more books from this author, The guy knows how to tell a good story, Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace, It is a place of miracles, a blissful rounds of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied, . .

There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr, Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences, It is only when the House shows it's darker face when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows that he comes to doubt Mr, Hood's philanthropy.

The House and its mysterious architect are not about to release their captive without a battle, however, Mr. Hood has ambitious for his new guest, for Harvey's soul burns brighter than any soul he has encountered in a thousand years, . . This story felt old. Not in a bad way like a story that aged badly but as in how the story was structured, what it was about etc, It felt like a classic children's story, Maybe it should be.

One dreary February day, there is Harvey, a boy bored half out of his mind which explains why he isn't the brightest candle on the cake, You see, just when he's sure he'll have to die of boredom, someone comes aflying no, not Mary Poppins and offers him a trip to the Holiday House / the House of Always where the weather is always nice, Spring passes in the course of a day and it's Halloween every night.
There is also mud cake and other yummy food for all the children flocking to the place, You can do whatever you want all day, the only rules being that questions are forbidden and that you should smile, And if you're worried about what your parents will say about you coming home late or missing school, just call them and they'll tell you that it's no problem at all.


If this sounds like a dangerous and creepy place where something is afoot, you'd be absolutely right, As is no surprise to attentive readers, things turn dark very soon,

The author did a great job at incorporating elements from all kinds of children's stories where we travel to magical places and blend those elements with other wellknown but still lovely tropes such as fairyfood, changelings and more.
The atmosphere was positively zizzling with magic and foreboding,

Truth be told, I wasn't too much a fan of Harvey's, I mean, he must have known that that phone call home was bogus, but he didn't care, This level of stupidity just means that you deserve what is coming, no matter how steep the price for your own stupidity is no, the age is no excuse either.
lol But he certainly did make up for it and show some cleverness at the end,

Honestly, I was kinda surprised to read this type of story from this author, But he pulled it off very well and I was greatly entertained, chuckling darkly to myself a number of times yes, I wanted the brat to be taught a lesson.
.