The Turning audiobook

Told in a series of letters to his girlfriend Sophie and to his Dad, Jack has been given a dream job by a billionaire with a private island, home to his adorable picture-perfect nephew, Miles and niece, Flora. Jack regales the readers with his letters to Sophie and his father. The isolated island home where he will serve as a babysitter/tutor to the kids is large and commanding and...something else. Thank goodness there is the wonderful cook/housekeeper, Linda, to help run everything. Jack has been told mysterious, suspicious and deadly stories tied to the island. There is a door in the house he cannot access. There may be ghosts of the former handyman, Norris and the former teacher, Lucy, appearing or controlling the kids. Is it his imagination, too many ghost stories, or something else? Jack's paranoia escalates as his fever worsens, but what is the reality of what is going on? Are the ghosts out to hurt the children? Do the children and Linda know about the ghosts? Is Sophie cheating on Jack with her former ex-boyfriend? Is Jack losing his grip on reality? This is a slightly updated (includes videogames, but very cleverly tries not to mention any way the game is played or equipment used, so it doesn't feel outdated) version of Henry James' short story, The Turning of the Screw. The original story revolves around a young governess who starts seeing ghosts who may be after the children or possessing them. The ending leaves you guessing. The ending here will also have readers speculating. Told in a new way, through a teenage guy's perspective in a contemporary time, the story is kept tight, while Francine Prose does a phenomenal job of portraying Jack's mental breakdown. Prose also does a great job of leaving open the door to every speculation. This version, like the original, provides a great conversation piece. If you want a fast-paced, suspenseful scary story (but not scary visually...or is it?) that will have you wondering everything from beginning to end, check out this reimagined tale. I had my doubts about it, since it follows the original story very closely, including the characters' names, but you won't be disappointed.

I loved her Blue Angel and her books on writing and reading, but this was the first of her YA stories I read. I do not often read YA because, even though the theme of coming-of-age intrigues me, the first person POV does not. If you enjoy YA, you will probably love this book.

Very good audiobook! I was a bit surprised to see it classified as YA, it did not have a YA feel to it. I highly recommended for anyone who enjoy books that give you a creepy feeling.

Great book. I never would have thought of this idea. The book makes me shiver its so creepy in a good way!!!

The story starts us off with the main character named Jack who has been hired for the summer on a private island as a full time babysitter for two children whose parents are deceased. The island has no internet or phone service which means the only way of communication off the island is letters that we see Jack constantly send out through the story. As soon as Jack arrives he meets Linda who is an older woman and has been left to keep watch over the children after their parents death. Jack notices something is odd about the children and his letters he sends become more and more paranoid about the whole situation. The two children are Miles, around age 15, who is the older brother who had just been kicked out of his boarding school and is home, and Flora, around age 10, who is a Miles younger sister who we find is bright in school because of her being home schooled all her life. Not long after Jack arrives he believes that he is seeing the ghost of the teacher and groundskeeper who died tragically a year before he arrived. This causes him to debate leaving many times throughout the story and Jack has to deal with his mind and the fact that is something else going on with these children than meets the eye. Although I am more of a sports fan when it comes to reading, I really enjoyed this novel. When I usually go to find a book I will go straight to the sports section but with you recommending to read a different genre of book opened by eyes to other topics. The Turning is a horror title that is being told by Jack and gives you the feel that you are actually at the mansion. From start to finish this book hooks you in on the boat ride into the island where people warn him about the island he is going to and that it’s haunted. Also things dying in front of his eyes like the seagull he sees makes Jack a little bit paranoid at first but again foreshadows that more of this paranoia will build up as the story goes. I liked this because sometimes in books they can have a slow start beginning to build up that character and setting before introducing a conflict. However in Prose’s novel by foreshadowing directly and indirectly the effects that this island will have on someone made me want to read into more of what might be actually going on on that island.

The Turning, a title that hints at turning points in a storyline, but somehow I felt did not live up to the name. While Jack is working on this mysterious secluded Island, strange things begin to happen. While I found the storyline intriguing, I didn't feel the creepy or scare factor. It more so seemed that Jack was slowly losing his grip on reality. I did enjoy the story enough and I did find it entertaining, the haunts and ghosts gave off a, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark vibes. Innocent enough for a younger audience, and easy to follow along with, not bad.

talk about a dark, eerie story that makes you keep turning page after page. I'm not usually for open endings but this one had me hooked and it didn't bother me so much. what characters and history of the family and island woven into this book with great imagination

Review The turning was a good book, I did not give it 5 stars because the ending was not what I hoped for.

Interesting book but short. Somewhat predictable but a good read for the long airplane ride.

*3.5 RatingReview Posted on Reading Lark 10/22/12: http://readinglark.blogspot.com/2012/..."The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James is one of my favorite short stories and such a perfect chilling read for the Halloween season. Last year around this time, I read Tighter by Adele Griffin (Read my review of that book!) because it was inspired by the classic James piece. I was ecstatic to find out about the release of this little gem this year. As soon as I received the book from the publisher, I moved things in my reading schedule so I could read this sooner rather than later.One thing that sets this book apart from Tighter is the format of the storytelling. In The Turning, the story unfolds through a series of letters largely written by Jack, the novel's protagonist. Jack has landed the summer job of a lifetime - he will paid a large sum to spend the summer on an island babysitting two kids. It's a pretty sweet deal. Who wouldn't want the chance to live in a large house and have an entire island to themselves? Jack starts to question his decision the moment the ferry leaves the mainland in route to his summer home.This novel certainly delivers the creep factor and I have to be honest and admit that I had trouble reading it at night without my imagination running away from me. There isn't a clear line between what's real and what's going on in Jack's head. Even the ending doesn't bring a sense of true resolution to that ambiguity. While many readers will enjoy puzzling things out, I really wanted a firm answer. Is Jack really seeing and hearing all of these things OR is he merely suffering from some sort of mental break from reality? I am considering rereading this one so I can start to pinpoint the exact moment where Jack begins to lose his credibility as a narrator.My biggest complaint with this novel is that due to Jack's state of mind, it is often difficult to follow the story-line I found myself constantly having to reread to be sure I was grasping what was happening in the present. As Jack becomes more paranoid and obsessed with unraveling the secrets of the Crackstone family, he becomes more difficult to follow in a logical pattern. This all makes sense based on what is happening to Jack, but it did make this novel more work than pleasure.All in all, I would recommend this to anyone whose in the mood for a few chills to run up and down your spine. It's a hauntingly good read that will get you in the proper mindset for Halloween.One Last Gripe: I was detached from the characters throughout the novel; this made it difficult for me to really have a stake in the way things worked out in the endMy Favorite Thing About This Book: I enjoyed the family's historyFirst Sentence: I'm afraid this is going to sound crazy.Favorite Character: LindaLeast Favorite Character: Norris

The Turning is a story about a soon to be college student who lands a very odd job babysitting on an island. There is one house with two very unusual children with a chilling past and no modern technology on this island. The lucky part for Jack is that he will get to earn good money and use it toward his college dues next year. Jack is desperately hoping to go to college with his girlfriend who just happens to be more well off financially. The story is written in letters that Jack, his father, and his girlfriend Sophie have been sending back and forth. Jack was told creepy stories of death and sadness from the island, but didn't want to believe in them.....he wanted to earn his money and be with his girlfriend. The letters show how Jack's psychological state spirals downward as he receives visits from ghosts that were once workers for the family. I enjoyed reading this writing style. I liked reading the character's personality through their own writing and watching how the language changes throughout the text. Jack's writing takes a very dark turn after meeting with the ghosts and even his personality has become very selfish and accusatory. It made me wonder how many others that have worked on the island were dealt a fate like Jack or who is able to come to the island and escape the haunting. I felt the ending was kind of abrupt and would have liked to read on about the future of the characters a little more. I know that ending so quickly then allows the reader to imagine an ending of their own, but I wanted to hear what happened to Jack after leaving the island. I thought this book was a fun read if you are into mystery and ghosts, I would have liked to hear more history on the characters and the island instead of creating my own thoughts.

This book was definitely creepy in some parts. And it was also very different from horror stories I’ve read. First of all, it’s written in the form of letters. Not chapters, letters. It was a very fast, short read. It keeps you wondering what the heck is going on. The children Miles and Flora are just so strange, like some creepy twins from some scary movie. Jack first impression was that the island was creepy, but he got used to it. It’s very hard to explain this book without giving it away. It’s apparently a retelling of some story I never heard of called “The Turn of the Screw.” I read Ten by Gretchen McNeil a few weeks ago and that was also a retelling. I think Ten was more interesting with a lot of action and slasher stuff. This has a lot of psychological stuff in it. I kept wanting to put a horror movie plot to it (plot where main character turns out to be dead or plot where character get possessed). It’s not Paranoral Ativity or Shutter Island or whatever. All I can say is that if you’re looking for a different kind of thriller-horror YA book that you should read this. If you liked Ten, then read it. Cover Art Review: Creepy depiction of the Dark House. Wonder if this was a photo of an actual place or if it was changed in photoshop so it looked crazy and confusing. I like how the title’s is overlayed. ~Haley GMy blog:http://breathlessbookreviews.blogspot...

I quite liked this one. (It's been a long time since I read THE TURNING OF THE SCREW, but looking it up now, I realize that THE TURNING used a lot more from the original than inspiration, which does kind of lower my appreciation of it. As I felt with Gretchen McNeil's TEN, I would have liked more of a pastiche than such a strict retelling. But with this one, I had forgotten so much of the original that my reading was less influenced.) I thought the modernization of the story was good, and I think the language will be more accessible for younger readers who might be put off by James's classic.I thought that the atmosphere of this was very creepy and isolating, and I liked getting little snippets of Sophie's letters to show Jack's response to them. For me, one of the hallmarks of a good ghost story is the ambiguity of whether the ghosts are real or a manifestation of an unstable mind (see: THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE), and I felt like it was handled very well here, perhaps because it did ultimately rely so heavily on the original.I also thought giving Miles and Flora interests that were relevant to their names was cute (travel and botany, respectively). The removal of the sexual overtones of the original was probably smart for a YA, too, and I don't think anything was lost.Overall, I found this to be a fast and enjoyable read that satisfied my ghost story craving.

Despite the low ratings, I still wanted to give this book a try because Turn of the Screw by Henry James is one of my favorite stories that I have read thus far. The Turning, I want to say is a sort of re-telling of James' work, but set in a modern era. I also really like that the protagonist, Jack, is male compared to James' story with the female governess. With just that simple change, I already knew that this story might bring something different to the table. Although it wasn't as creepy as the original, I still found myself compel by the story and by Jack. I really felt as if I was with him on that isolated island, and there were moments where I imagined myself being in his shoes and it made me a bit nervous to be honest. He's a pretty brave kid. I do admit that Jack does not write like a normal sixteen year old guy (I think he was sixteen or seventeen). He writes more like an adult, but I didn't mind that at all. I also liked that this was an epistolary novel, it made the story telling more personal I think.That ending, just like James' work, left me in chills. I love a good mystery, just like the next reader but I especially love a book where the mystery still lives on even after I close the book.Definitely recommend!

When I was in High School we had to read Turn of the Screw for my Gothic Literature class. I loved the novel because we had to figure out if the main character was crazy or if something paranormal was occurring (I thought she was crazy). I was so excited when I found out that Francine Prose was writing a retelling of the story called The Turning.The Turning posses the same qualities that makes the original story so awesome—the question of the character’s sanity. While I do still think that Jack from The Turning is out of his mind, I had a harder time deciding if he was crazy. While there are so many events that make me think he is a basket case, there were a few instances where I had to admit to myself that Jack might be right about the things that occurred on the island.It is so tempting to launch into a critical analysis of each spooky aspect of the book and explain why I think Jack is insane. However, it is obviously impossible to do that without ruining the book for those who have not read it. Suffice it to say that The Turning is an excellent novel and perfect for fans of unreliable narrators.