Saturday, October 4, 2025

"The House of Quiet" by Kiersten White

The House of Quiet (Sept. 9, 2025) by Kiersten White.
<This is a standalone novel.>
If she can enter the House, she can save her sister. This is what Birdie believes, so she’s blackmailed her way in as a maid. She truly is a maid, having worked as one since she was 10. She’s now 16. She saved all of her money for her little sister, Magpie, to have the procedure and hopefully gain a special ability that would get her family off the poorest streets of Sootcity. She always thought Magpie would be a good outward empath. Birdie enters the House of Quiet, which is surrounded by a peat bog. She works hard, but has her eye on the House Wife’s door. Of her fellow maids, Rabbit is very green and Minnow has clearly never worked as one. The only residents of the House are all from wealthy families, so she’s boggled as to why they’re there. They all appear to have abilities, even though none claim to have undergone the procedure. Their abilities are not all obvious. What is obvious is that things are not right. There are only more mysteries. There is handsome and silent Forest, clever River, trapped-in-his-mind Nimbus, wants-to-be-helpful Dawn, what-is-she-talking-about Lake, and scary Sky. Even without the un-navigable bog, the House of Quiet is a desolate, dangerous place. It holds sinister secrets and terrible truths. Birdie only wants the House to hold Magpie, and she can’t be found.
            The latest from White is a dark gothic YA fantasy that is a standalone novel, but could easily start a series. It’s claustrophobic and all-consuming, and that is a compliment. It’s mysterious with a chilling air without being downright scary and is balanced with sparks of sarcasm and a whole lot of empathy. This group – with their different classes in a dystopian-like world – becomes an unlikely group of friends, even when they don’t all trust each other initially (and shouldn’t, as one was sent to kill another). There is struggle where there is also great privilege and friendship through darkness and nightmares. This tale is imaginative and clever with an explosive ending. Get ready to ignite the rebellion with two rebel maids I never knew I needed in my reading repertoire.

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