Lovereading Reader reviews of The Gates by John Connolly Part of the Samuel Johnson Versus The Devil Series Below are the complete reviews, written by Lovereading members. Alice Watkinson, age 10 The Gates is a really brilliant, breathtaking book that captures your attention from the first word. A hilarious view on a rather scary topic. Demons and devilish next door neighbours build up an exciting plot that leaves you drooling with suspense! Samuel is a really creative character who is sadly misunderstood. His dog Boswell is one of the most favourite and loyal characters. A work of pure genius with spinetingling twists and turns that stay in your mind forever. This book is good for readers who enjoy chilling stories with a bit of twisted humour. A work of genius! Jodi Coffman, age 11 The Gates is a fast-moving, action-packed thriller. It is a real page turner and I can't wait for the next in the series. The characters personalities are not what you expect. Although this book was written for children, John Connolly uses quite complicated vocabulary and terms at times, but these were all clearly explained. The Gates is a mixture between science, fantasy and heroism and I recommend it for anyone who loves mayhem and action, but isn t too keen on goriness. The story had many twists and turns and the end of the book was a huge cliff-hanger, and I cannot wait for
the next book in the series. The Gates is gripping, captivating and a real pageturner. Octavia Sharman I would recommend 'The Gates' to any science-loving readers who are open to new ideas. The story, which was well written, was a very easy read, although, at times, it was confusing because of the way that each chapter (at the beginning) involved different characters, entire worlds away from each other. personally, 'The Gates' isn't the type of book that I would read or find easy to get into because of the 'boy-ish' theme, however I'm sure many people will enjoy this book as well as the others in the 'Samuel Johnson VS. the devil' series. Dylan Sweet, age 10 On the night in question, Mr Abernathy answered the door to find a small figure dressed in a white sheet standing on his porch. This is a fantastic book about demons, a little boy called Samuel and a dog called Boswell and an amazing adventure. Samuel starts off by being a normal eleven year old boy on a normal street until the Abernathy s and the Renfield s get switched with some nasty demons and all of this happened in the basement. I would rate this book four star because it is scary, humorous and adventurous at the same time. I would say this book is for girls and boys the age of 10+. The publisher is Hodder. If you don t like this book you don t have a sense of adventure. That is why I love this book! Josh Hall, age 13 Extremely good and strangely realistic to say it was very much a fantasy book. Samuel Johnson, aged 11, has several problems in his life. His parents are separated, his dad loves his car more than his son and no one accepts Samuel for who he is except his friend's and his dog - Maria, Tom and Boswell. Then another problem enters his life - his neighbour's are possessed by demons from hell and start to prepare to open a doorway from hell into the mortal world. It is up to Sam and his friend's to stop them before it is too late.
It was a good book, the likes of which I have not read before. It was filled with a well-mixed dose of humour and seriousness. Traviss Chaytors, age 10 The Gates is a book about a boy called Samuel and a dog called Boswel who find out about his new neighbours who are trying to open the gates of hell so Samuel has to stop them. There are a few more books in the sequel as the madness doesn't stop there! I would recommend this book to all people who like a bit of horror and adventure as it has it all! A brilliant book with demons, dogs and gargoyles and you just can t put it down. Safiyah Afghan, age 15 Life isn't brilliant for Samuel Johnson, his Dad is only interested in his vehicle, his Mother is lonely and isolated and Boswell his dog is his only source of comfort. On top of that his neighbour is planning on opening the gates of hell. So it's up to Samuel and Boswell the save the world. Hilarious and dark, this book is comical and darkly humorous. Full of adventure, humour and laced with scarier moments The Gates is perfect for all readers and I would recommend it to people who are looking for a new type of book to read. Evie Scott-Sentance, age 10 This is about a boy called Samuel who goes trick or treating three days early because he wants to do it before everyone else. This is why he spies Mrs Abernathy, her husband and Mr Renfield doing a daring trick to summon up a demon. The trick leads to the Gates of Hell being opened and the demons taking the form of Mrs Abernathy and the others. The fate of the world is now in Samuel s hands because no-one believes his story. This is an exciting story but also surprisingly funny given it has such a dark subject. It made me laugh a lot and it reminded me of Lemony Snicket. I think Samuel is a very funny, brave and bold character he s not a bit like me but I liked him a lot! I recommend this book as an exciting, funny read.
Darcy Gray, age 11 The Gates is a hilarious book and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I would recommend it to everybody. The humour is similar to Terry Pratchett and I love his books too. It is suitable for age 9 and over. The horror part of the book isn t very scary. My favourite character is Bishop Bernard, The Bad. One of his famous quotes is Pokers! Red hot pokers up his bottom! I have asked for the next two books for Christmas and can t wait for them to arrive. The world created in the book is really good and it is really easy to read and keeps you attention right to the end. I m now lending it to all my friends at school! Ewan Young, age 10 A mixture of adventure and science and demons - brilliant! I really enjoyed this book, it was a mixture of scary, funny and factual science - all of my favourite things! Samuel has a problem, but nobody listens when he tries to tell them, luckily he has two good friends, a clever dog and a friendly demon to help him stop demons taking over the earth. Nurd the demon is my favourite character - he is really funny and gets in to lots of trouble when he escapes in to the human world. It reminded me of the Bartimaeus trilogy books but perhaps even funnier, I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Lucy Westmacott, age 12 Terrifyingly funny, I loved every minute. It was intelligently written, and I am looking forward to more mind-bending brilliance where the material is enjoyable for those young and old. Wonderful. Samuel Johnson is quite remarkable. He is intelligent, though odd. I know it may sound cruel but I'm not the one who went trick or treating too early because I wanted to get a 'head start' on everyone else. When this boy along with his pet dachshund, Boswell, left house number 666 confused as to why Mr. Abernathy hadn't given him any sweets, he saw something. Now, what this boy didn't know, and probably didn't ever want to know, was that the Abernathy's had in fact obliged to Samuel request of 'Trick or treat', it's just that they preferred to use the primary action than the latter.
The Abernathy's were not human. They started out human; Mrs. Abernathy's mother of course hadn't married a bear, though at times it did seem that some of the creatures' habits had been genetically passed down. Although it does seem that if you start chanting around a fire in the dead of night, something strange will happen to you. I guess you can only be positive if there is a flash of startling blue light and there so happens to be a disgusting stench. If none of this is the case then be my guest, carry on with your unsettling voodoo. But if this does occur, then you have just opened a portal to Hell and the world is at risk. Well done you, here's a gold star! I liked this book. It s a poor summary, but that's all I can say. I liked it, but didn't love it. The writing style was very smart, too smart. Don't get me wrong, it was a great read, it just wasn't for me. It was just too boyish. It's not as though I want to add fairies and unicorns to it, I think it's great as it is, I just wouldn't recommend it to girls. It's not a fault, just advice. You can follow Lucy s blog at www.lucywestmacott.wordpress.com Alice D'Angelo, age 15 I was first drawn to The Gates after it was recommended to fans of Lemony Snicket and Terry Pratchett. As an avid reader of Snicket's work a few years previously I decided to give it a go. Samuel Johnson has seen something awful, something terrible, something that can't even be imagined, and he has an extraordinary imagination. He has just seen the gates of Hell. It's up to him to stop them from opening and the world descending into chaos. The only problem is, he doesn't know how, and it's difficult to come up with a plan when you're being chased by flying skulls. Beginning the book, I found that the language was, as suspected, frank and funny, although slightly predictable. However, once I had read about a quarter of the way through, I began to feel used to the sense of writing with the side notes at the bottom, and soon I realised I couldn't put the book down. The conversational tone throughout creates not only humour, but also the feeling of watching a film, as the imagery is so clear. I would definitely recommend The Gates, and the books that follow.
Phoebe Doherty-Ozobiane, age 11 Mrs Abernathy is trying to open the gates to hell, but she's finding it harder then she thought. Only one small boy and his, even smaller, dog stand in her way. They have to save the world from evil. Samuel Johnson and Boswell, his dog, stumble across the basement of 666 Crowley Avenue, when he was 'trick or treating' three days early, there was a party of hooded figures opening the portal to the gates. With demons getting sent to kill him, he makes a plan, making friends with a particularly unfortunate demon named Nurd along the way. Carla McGuigan, age 13 St. Colm s High School Draperstown N. Ireland This is my first time reading a novel by John Connolly. This novel is about a boy called Samuel and his dog Boswell. In this novel Samuel s neighbours, the Abernathys, are trying to open the gates of hell and when Mrs. Abernathy is sucked into the portal and replaced with a demon it s up to Samuel to try and stop them before they take over the world! The characters are a very colourful bunch and I loved some of the shocking descriptions and events which made the story both dark and exciting. I enjoyed reading this novel and the notes were both informative and really hilarious. I can now regale my friends with a host of scientific facts with a dark or hilarious twist. Really good reading and I would recommend this novel to both boys and girls. In fact the boys would really appreciate and enjoy the notes. Jenny Bridgeman, age 8 This book is flaring with excitement as Samuel saves the world from the evil devils and evil spirits. I absolutely love this book as the author painted pictures in my mind. My favourite character was Samuel because he was brave and courageous as a young boy. This is way beyond imagination as the dark spirits rise among the world and only one boy called Samuel can save the world with his faithful dog. The best thing I like about it was the funny parts, it made me cry with laughter! I just really want to read the rest of the series.