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accidentalra 's review for:
The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses
by L.V. Russell
If all you read is one sentence from this review, let it be the next one: lyrical prose and stunning imagery is not quite enough to compensate for uneven plot development and static characters.
Let me start with the three things I love about L. V. Russell's The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses, which follows Theodora Corvid on her adventure as a governess at Broken Oak Manor:
(1) The author's writing style, which includes so many stunning descriptive passages, is gorgeously atmospheric without ever slipping into cliched.
(2) The novel presents a truly clever imagining of the found family trope.
(3) The plot twist (which in my head I keep calling The Big Reveal) is incredibly well executed and satisfying. The details leading up to it are subtle and meticulous, nearly invisible until The Big Reveal.
Honestly, those three *loves* brought my rating up from two stars to three.
Now for the rest—I don't think I've ever said this about a novel before, but it felt like this one should have been longer. At its current length, too much was either completely missing or frustratingly underdeveloped, occasionally referenced but never essential. For example, nearly all vital information regarding Theodora's background from the first three chapters would have been more powerful as well-placed flashbacks. As it stands, the first chapter reads as narratively anemic and the second as utterly superfluous.
There were also simply too many motifs that should have packed a thematic and atmospheric punch—most notably the crows, roses, and porcelain doll—but in the end just...didn't. Merely including these elements without developing adequate nuance and narrative connection effectively leaves it up to the reader to fill in the thematic blank.
Unfortunately, this is the author's job, not the reader's. I'm going to stop just shy of criticizing this novel for "lazy writing," but only because of the author's stunning sentence-level prose. But, if we're talking about plot-level, well...
One personal objection I have is that I straight-up object to the cheating trope. The mutual pining between Theodora and Cassias absolutely could have—and I would argue should have—been extended through The Big Reveal. They still would have earned their HEA, with no perceived cheating required.
This leads me to my final disappointment with this novel—the characters are incredibly flat from start to finish. Other than what we discover at the plot twist, nobody really seems to learn or change much throughout the course of the novel. I would have liked to have seen...more, I guess. Just more.
So, three stars: I liked it. And the things I loved about it made my overall disappointment that much sharper and more frustrating. This book had so much promise, and it’s unfortunate that it fell so far short. Still, I could see myself recommending it to fans of gothic fiction who are looking for a quick atmospheric fix.
[I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.]
Let me start with the three things I love about L. V. Russell's The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses, which follows Theodora Corvid on her adventure as a governess at Broken Oak Manor:
(1) The author's writing style, which includes so many stunning descriptive passages, is gorgeously atmospheric without ever slipping into cliched.
(2) The novel presents a truly clever imagining of the found family trope.
(3) The plot twist (which in my head I keep calling The Big Reveal) is incredibly well executed and satisfying. The details leading up to it are subtle and meticulous, nearly invisible until The Big Reveal.
Honestly, those three *loves* brought my rating up from two stars to three.
Now for the rest—I don't think I've ever said this about a novel before, but it felt like this one should have been longer. At its current length, too much was either completely missing or frustratingly underdeveloped, occasionally referenced but never essential. For example, nearly all vital information regarding Theodora's background from the first three chapters would have been more powerful as well-placed flashbacks. As it stands, the first chapter reads as narratively anemic and the second as utterly superfluous.
There were also simply too many motifs that should have packed a thematic and atmospheric punch—most notably the crows, roses, and porcelain doll—but in the end just...didn't. Merely including these elements without developing adequate nuance and narrative connection effectively leaves it up to the reader to fill in the thematic blank.
Unfortunately, this is the author's job, not the reader's. I'm going to stop just shy of criticizing this novel for "lazy writing," but only because of the author's stunning sentence-level prose. But, if we're talking about plot-level, well...
One personal objection I have is that I straight-up object to the cheating trope. The mutual pining between Theodora and Cassias absolutely could have—and I would argue should have—been extended through The Big Reveal. They still would have earned their HEA, with no perceived cheating required.
This leads me to my final disappointment with this novel—the characters are incredibly flat from start to finish. Other than what we discover at the plot twist, nobody really seems to learn or change much throughout the course of the novel. I would have liked to have seen...more, I guess. Just more.
So, three stars: I liked it. And the things I loved about it made my overall disappointment that much sharper and more frustrating. This book had so much promise, and it’s unfortunate that it fell so far short. Still, I could see myself recommending it to fans of gothic fiction who are looking for a quick atmospheric fix.
[I received an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.]