Theodora grew up in Woodrow house it was raised by her grandma to be a proper lady when she goes up north to be a nanny for eight year old Adaline she thought she knew what to expect but when she arrives at broken oak manor it is anything but the status quo. The Lord of the Manor wants to be called by his first name and he has no instructions on what to teach little Adelaine and tells Theodora she should ask the girl she would know best. The only other worker in the house is the maid who is kind but brusque the noises start the first night she is there an at first she thinks it is Lil Adelén running through the hallways but soon she will learn different it all makes for one spooky story and although I really enjoyed it there were things that were left unexplained like what happened to the coachman after the accident what about the people who stared at her from the lake? Despite that however this is still a solid four star read in one I thoroughly enjoyed and I seen and other reviews where they said the story is predictable but I do think the story is credible enough to stand on its own regardless of whether you figure it out or not you will still want to get to the end. A solid four star read by LV Russell if you love the good Gothic horror story then you’ll definitely love The Quiet Stillness Of Empty Houses I received this book from NetGalley and the author but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

This was a quick, enjoyable read. I thought the story was going in a different direction, so I was surprised by the twist.

This was hard to get through. I kept reading it because I wanted to know what the outcome - the twist - was. But this is just The Others.
I didn't like the FMC or the supposed "love story." There was zero chemistry between Cassias and Theodora; they just randomly said "I love you" out of nowhere. And Theodora REALLY needs to work on her anger issues - seriously, stop hitting people.

Jane Eyre + The Others + a little Rebecca.

I love a good gothic governess thriller and this one is good....but it was predictable. Still, the writing was well done and I enjoyed my time with Theodora.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

I loved this book and it was a good pallet cleanser from everything else ive read lately. Thank you so much for the arc.

This was wonderful. Our poor girl takes a new governess job and is in a accident on the way there. She shows up with wet skirts and no luggage. She falls in love with the place and her charge. It has a surprising twist towards the end I was not expecting at all.
Just wonderful.
Thank you for the ARC.

Writing: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5

Warnings: None

Themes: Gothic, Horror, Paranormal, Romance

The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses is about a governess who leaves her beloved home to watch over the daughter of the Lord of Broken Oak. Strange things start happening in the old house as she and the Lord start getting deeper feelings for each other. I really enjoyed this book! It has the perfect blend of gothic, horror and romance. The writing sucked me in and I couldn’t stop. I will be reading more books by this author.

This book is great for anyone who loves the gothic feel of Jene Eyre and mixed with a dark mystery.

I received a copy of this book and am leaving an honest review.

I chose this book with a bit of uncertainty because I don't often read modern gothic, but the writing style drew me in and I found that I couldn't stop reading. The allegory of the house as a living thing was interesting and obvious but I found it quite irresistible for some reason. Leonora, Cassias, Ottline and Ms. Rivers are quite compelling characters. The ending was a surprise, that's all that I can say without spoiling the book. I recommend 'The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses' unequivocally. Especially readers of classic gothic, there are whiffs of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Brilliant atmospheric writing, my thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of the book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this story, read it within 24 hours. The start was a bit slow until roughly 15% before the plot started to get interesting. Perfect love story with an end you won’t see coming 👌 I did skim on the last chapter tho

I love gothic horror so I was very excited to get into this one. It was a little slow to get into and I had a hard time with the passage of time. It was confusing, I couldn't tell how much time had passed right away and it kind of took me out of the story for a little bit. Both did get better as the story progressed. Once the story started to pick pick up, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and how I constantly felt unsettled. I couldn't help comparing it to the movie, The Others. It felt very similar, which i loved! Unfortunately, despite all of that, this one fell a little flat for me. It just felt like it needed to be a little more fleshed out.

I don’t want to talk too much about the plot too much here because the beauty is in how it unravels, but The Quiet Stillness tells the story of Theodora who leaves her grandmother and their crumbling house, to travel to Broken Oak to be governess to Ottoline Thorne. However there’s an unnerving silence to the house, with only Ms Rivers as staff, Ottoline’s stepmother away at the seaside for the sea air and Ottoline’s father, Cassias, often taking ill, it is at night that Theodora starts hearing footsteps outside her door, a wet trail in their wake, and she’s drawn to the attic she’s forbidden to go near.

This is a hugely atmospheric book, the Broken Oak is in it’s way a character, you can feel yourself there, sense the suffocating silence and misery of the house, the sensory use of the candles and the floorboards creating an added element of suspense.
Theodora is a great character, she’s pretty feminist and outspoken, her interactions with the young Ottoline are charming as she helps raise another strong willed young woman and acts like a mother figure to her, and there is a great theme in the book about that independence and free spirit of women, with a ratio of 3 female characters to 1 male there’s no power imbalance in this book which has its own charm.
There’s also a charming romance between Cassias and Theodora, again with no power imbalance, like her relationship with Ottoline, Theodora’s relationship with Cassias is about mutual healing and nurturing and it’s both empowering and delicate in how it’s portrayed.

That said the true beauty in this book is in its mystery - is Cassias’ wife really at the seaside? Why have all the staff gone? What is in the attic? And on paper this formula has been done before, I’ve read quite a few gothic ghostly books that have the mysterious footsteps outside the door and the attic etc, but the twists in this book, the suspenseful writing, the likeable characters, it adds something extra to this book. I’ll admit at one point, and once you’ve read the book you can probably guess where, I actually swore at the book in surprise at a reveal, I was so invested and thrown.
This is a short book, under 200 pages, and yet it achieves so much so confidently and I loved it so much for its brilliance.

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I got to read this as a free arc to review & I really enjoyed this read! Chilling & emotional. I liked the writing style, the use of key themes to steer you in the direction of the plot, & the tender romance was so heart warming. I so loved the character development at the end & everything got wrapped up very well, answering the last few questions I had.

This was truly lovey. The writing style feels wonderfully themed and consistent for the time period it takes place in. I found the characters interesting and flawed. I’m not terrible fond of horror, but much of the story is an act of domesticity between the governess, her pupil, and the Lord of the house. Some bits felt a bit trope-y but given the charming storybook nature of the novella, the tropes fed into the overall atmosphere. My only real concern with this is the usage of time. Parts felt like they passed in days or weeks when we were later informed that they took place over years. It was a fun gothic read, but could use more emotional depth or plot ties.

This is the kind of book that not only captures the heart but captures the soul and mind too. And remains with the person forever. Author writes so well. The writing is so gripping, enchanting and intriguing. When I read it, It didn’t feel like reading a book. But reading this book felt like watching a movie. Theodora has a poignant back story. After death of her parents, she was living with her grandmother but one day she decides to take a job as a governess to young Ottoline Thorne. She travels all the way from her decaying ruins of her childhood home to Broken Oak Manor. Though the broken oak was harbouring its own secrets. She must unearth the secrets lies behind the attic door. And figure out the mystery of the lady of the manor.

The book is spellbinding, lyrical, atmospheric and has a gothic realism. It hooks the readers from beginning till the end. And it continue to carry the mysterious vibe with a gothic realism. It’s a historical gothic romance. Loved the bond of Lord Thorne and Theodora. The bond grew over with time.

Thanks to the Publishers, Author and Netgalley,

A Gothic romance that takes place in old mansions with a cast of interesting characters.
Theodore, a young lady who grows up with her infirm Grandmother in an old, decaying Mansion, becomes a Governess to a young girl in a beautiful, dark house, the only other people living there are the girls father and the housekeeper.
The story felt eerily familiar, I read the entire book feeling as if I had watched the movie, yet I can't find any movie fitting this description....but oddness aside, this is a very atmospheric short book, in some ways it was the perfect length for the story but I also felt that events happened quickly, too quickly in regards to some relationships within the household.
I had an "Oh" moment when I realised what the story was building to and the revelation at the end, making a Gothic story a little more Gothic.
All in all a very good quick read if you're interested in dark, haunting books.
Thank you to Netgalley & the publishers for the chance to read and review this ARC.

Overall this was a short but well done gothic story. I was a bit spooked and enjoyed the build to the big reveal. I will not comment too much on the story because I do not want to give away the twist.

The beginning felt like an unnecessarily long build up to her placement where the actual meat of the story began to take place. Trigger warning off-page sexual assault. Additionally, I felt the last two chapters could have been one.

Thank you NetGalley and Quill and Crow Publishing for sharing this ARC for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4.0/5.0

This was a hauntingly beautiful read. A chilling gothic romance reminiscent of the writing style of Emily Bronte and Daphne du Maurier. Russell created an eerie atmosphere filled with ghosts and things which go bump during the night.

I enjoyed this book immensely and that ending had me gasping out loud.

Thank you to Netgalley and L. V. Russell for the arc of this book.

3.75 rounded up. This was a short but fun gothic story sure to appeal fans of the Brontës and Henry James. It's difficult to summarize without giving anything away, but here goes:

Theodora has left her familial home behind to take a job as governess at Broken Oak Manor - her only shot at employment after a rough exit from her last position. Within the dark halls of Broken Oak, Theodora makes a place for herself alongside a stern-exteriored housekeeper, her sweet and precocious charge, Ottoline, and Ottoline's father, Cassias. As Theodora grows precariously closer to Cassias, it becomes clearer and clearer that Broken Oak is hiding dark secrets that hold the key to all of their futures.

Overall, the novel was a great example of the gothic genre and a fun spooky story that was building toward a reveal. I did guess the reveal early on, but it was still satisfying to get there. As a result of the form and genre, it leaned much more heavily on plot and atmosphere than character depth - not a bad thing objectively, but not as aligned with my personal tastes.

I was bothered a bit by the pacing early on, particularly surrounding Theodora's initial place of employment. (Slight early spoiler ahead) The off-page sexual assault threw me off, given both the short attention given to those years (which I didn't even realize were years rather than weeks until it was mentioned later) of Theodora's life and the minimal exploration of its effects on her afterward. While it's established early on that Theodora grew up learning to bottle away her emotions, it never felt like those stowed emotions came to play in her character arc, which felt disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quill and Crow for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Theodora Corvus takes up the position of governess at Broken Oak. In the large rambling manor, the walls creak at night and there are muddy footprints on the floor... This is a wonderfully eerie story of loss and love. Perfect for fans of Laura Purcell and Susan Hill.

Thank you Netgalley and Quill and crow publishing for the arc. I’m sold on this author!! Loved this from start to finish. 4/5