The Castle in the Attic/YMMV

In the first book:
"Mrs. Phillips: Now, when I head down that path to the bus stop tomorrow afternoon, William, no funny business, right?
 * Alternate Character Interpretation: Calendar--loyal servant of Sir Simon who threw in her lot with the wizard to save herself and perhaps get a chance at revenge later, or one who genuinely fell under the wizard's sway and betrayed her lord, only to change her mind later when she discovered how truly awful her master was?
 * Complete Monster: Alastor. “Other people’s agonies are the only pleasure Alastor takes from life.”
 * Crowning Moment of Funny:

William: Right. Although I do have this special token that makes people green from the roots of their hair right down to their toenails. Don’t you think your brother would like you to come home a whole new color?"


 * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: William’s restorative hug to Sir Simon, and the subsequent reunion he enables between Simon, Calendar, and Tolliver.
 * Nightmare Fuel: What William sees happen to Mrs. Phillips in the dragon’s eyes. Also, the fate of anyone who is turned to lead, and what Alastor saw in the mirror.

In the sequel:

 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: William saving Brian from the rats, then later saving Jason and using the sunlight off his shield to destroy the Rat King.
 * Nightmare Fuel: The Rat King itself, and the nature of its horde, as well as what it does to its victims.
 * Sequelitis: Averted. While the second book is not quite as exciting and mythic as the first, it is in other ways Darker and Edgier, and certainly more mature. The lack of clear-cut answers regarding the source of the book’s villain, the Character Development (both since the previous book and within this one), the avoidance of common fantasy tropes, and the open-ended conclusion all make things more interesting, and the writing is certainly as crisp as ever, even more darkly suspenseful and intense.
 * Values Dissonance: Dick (and to some extent Sir Simon as well) have definite ideas about the usefulness, purpose, and place of women which clashes with William’s beliefs (and Jason’s). This plays into why Calendar and Gudrin are treated as The Cassandra (and in the latter’s case, Not Now, Kiddo), as well as their Stay in the Kitchen mentality and a belief that women shouldn’t even be educated (though to be fair this last is couched more as a rueful joke). They both get better, thankfully, with a great deal of Simon’s change surely being due to the willful Mrs. Phillips.