ALA Booklist

Vizzini's last book before his death, in 2013, continues his collaboration with film director Columbus and follows the adventures of the Walker siblings: Cordelia, 16; Brendan, 13; and Eleanor, 9. While they have survived their wild journeys, as the sequel opens, readers learn fortune did not create happiness: their father has a gambling addiction, Brendan is a social outcast, and most distressing, Cordelia appears to be turning into an ancient crone. The Wind Witch is back, but this time she is inside Cordelia. An exorcism is just the beginning; the siblings also battle gladiators in ancient Rome, outwit cyborg Nazis, and face Yeti-like monsters in a Tibetan monastery in another imaginative, fast-paced adventure that is sure to please fans. Vizzini's older readers will miss his elegant and often eloquent, wry tone. Here's hoping another writer steps in to finish the planned trilogy.

Horn Book

Book two of this family adventure finds the Walker siblings fighting ancient Roman gladiators and WWII-era Nazi cyborgs in an effort to get home by way of their evil nemesis's magical book. The narrative careens between action set pieces and expository dialogue, and its MacGuffin-laden twists eventually lose impact. However, visually imaginative world-building makes for many memorable, cinema-ready scenes.

Kirkus Reviews

House of Secrets' (2013) happy ending gives way to new problems for the Walker children, both in reality and in writer-wizard Denver Kristoff's pulpy genre-book worlds. While the Walkers appear to be living large with the $10,000,000 wished for by Eleanor at the end of their last adventure, their new life is neither happy nor stable. Brendan struggles to fit in at his new elite private school. Cordelia fits in fine—thrives even—but experiences strange symptoms (she always feels very cold, for instance), hinting at a threat left over from their first adventure. Eleanor misses the camaraderie and closeness among the siblings when they had to work together. Worst, their father's strange actions and decisions put their whole family at risk. But as the Wind Witch was banished and not eliminated, soon she returns and casts the children back into book worlds, still in pursuit of the magic book—but this time getting out will be harder. They end up tangling with gladiators, Nazis, cyborgs and more in a storyline that, despite its high levels of action, takes care to highlight the characters' inner turmoil. What does it mean to fit in? Is the book world preferable to their crumbling reality? The prose is occasionally jumpy and chaotic, but the content always entertains. This collaboration with Columbus is Vizzini's (1981-2013) final book; the future of the projected trilogy is unclear. A dark action-adventure-fantasy with surprising heart. (Fantasy. 10-14)

School Library Journal (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Gr 4-8 The action-packed adventures of the Walker siblings ramp up in this sequel. This time, the family travels to Ancient Rome, battles Nazis during World War II, and treks through the Himalayas.