This book is absolutely jam-packed with metaphors and surrealism! This is definitely not a book I would usually grab but I was very drawn in by the blurb! There was a mix of memories, past and present text, and more.

~ Review ~

The House No One Sees by Adina King

On her 17th birthday, Penny feels compelled to return to her childhood home. She does not want to be there, yet she can’t help but walk through each room as memories of her childhood emerge. It’s a heartbreaking fever dream of a story told partly in verse, giving it a dark fairytale vibe. This was a quick, kind of bleak read and I do recommend it if you’re in the mood for a sad but ultimately hopeful story.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillanusa for an advanced copy!

Penelope must confront the ghosts of her past to address her mother's opioid addiction.

Penelope Ross, now 16, was celebrating her birthday at an amusement park with her friends when she received a text from her mother asking for help. This unexpected message compelled her to confront a troubling situation. In that moment, Penelope must face her past to discover the strength within herself and attempt to rescue her mother from her opioid addiction. How will this unfold?

This book presents a beautifully intricate tapestry that masterfully blurs the boundaries between past and present. It navigates seamlessly between prose and verse, creating a rhythm that captures the reader's attention. Some passages are steeped in raw emotion, evoking deep sadness that renders the narrative utterly unputdownable.
Penelope emerges as a profoundly layered character, and my heart ached for the burdens she bore—especially in the shadow of her mother's addiction and how her mother was neglecting her. Her mother, a figure swirling in complexity, oscillates between moments of tender affection and disorienting detachment, revealing the struggle between love and alienation.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who needs a reminder that they can shine as a beacon of hope for those who are lost and in need.

Happy Reading, Paige ❤️ 📚

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Length: 287p
Source: Physical ARC - TBR & Beyond, Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: March 18, 2025

➦ I’m going to say this: The House No One Sees is for a targeted audience—an audience of those who were once the children of a parent with an addiction.

➦ I was, unfortunately, one of those children and this story resonated HEAVILY with me. As in, I cried so hard reading this story from start to finish. If you’re this specific audience, be prepared. If you’re not, go in with empathy, my friends.

➦ I think the message that hit me the hardest was realizing people KNEW. They KNEW. And yet they did very little or nothing. And that’s a hard thing to process as you’re healing.

➦ A unique blend of written prose and poetry—The House No One Sees is a raw, emotional, unbelievably moving young adult story that will stay on my bedside table for I don’t know how long—until I break the book? 🤷🏻‍♀️

♡ ya fiction/poetry
♥ childhood neglect/abuse
♡ parental addiction
♥ half book x half poetry
♡ fairy tales and dark memories
♥ targeted audience

Three words to describe The House No One Sees: dark, emotional and hopeful. This book weaved a very dark theme within the life of a 16 year old girl who has to face the depths of herself in the start and aftermath of her mother's addiction. I cried because the self discovery she makes is one that some don't realize for many years to come. The author did a great job of making this age appropriate with these dark themes. The verse and the fairy tail depictions help you stay within the mind of a 16 year old who has seen too much but also this child like way of reframing that can speak to the heart of young teens and even adults.

"Once upon a time, I walked into and through myself to get to myself, and now I see. I was never the house. I was always the light inside."

I will never let those words leave my heart. I highly recommend The House No One Sees by Adina King!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of The House No One Sees!

The House No One Sees by Adina King is gut wrenching exposition on the effect of trauma and the struggle to heal oneself. The book, written in prose and free verse, explores the past and present of a young woman named Penny Ross whose mother suffered from an intense opioid addiction. Through her mother’s multiple attempts to become sober and relapses, Penny reflects on the effects child neglect and abuse throughout her life. The past is written in hazy metaphors laced with a child’s innate innocence. The themes of the book are dark and heavy almost overshadowing the attempt to reflect on beauty of healing and resilience. Overall, it’s a thought provoking story and a somewhat unique reading experience.

The language of the book was almost too simplistic at times, lacking a flow that made reading somewhat difficult but overall a beautiful journey.

Thank you NetGallery for providing the opportunity to read an early copy of such a beautiful book.

The House No One Sees is a young adult novel told in prose and in verse. It took me some time to feel situated with the main character, a teenager named Penny whose mother is struggling with opioid addiction.

Once I settled in to the writing style, I found I liked the poetry much more than the prose that was used to tie it together. And while I did enjoy the poetry, it did lean on some common elements that feel overplayed to me. A few poems towards the end stand out as among the best.

Overall, I found this to be a very middle of the road YA book in verse that does not top my list for this writing style. I hoped for more.

The House No One Sees by Idina King, it seems like this book was written by someone not well-versed and what a proper noun is instead of Miss Wilson having a dog named Rupert she had a Rupert not only that this book was written in such a weird way it was just a strange book about a girl whose mom did drugs and so she got taken away and sent to live with her grandparents and it was just… Weird… Very weird. When she moved in with her grandparents this is how it went Monday grandpa went downstairs I followed grandpa and sat on the step, Tuesday grandpa went downstairs I followed grandpa and stood in the corner Wednesday grandpa went downstairs and I watched him do magic with the wood, Thursday grandpa went downstairs and I went downstairs with grandpa and he asked me about the orange cat in the yard, Friday grandpa went downstairs and I followed grandpa, Saturday grandpa got in his truck accelerated and left the house, Sunday grandpa got in his truck accelerated and returned home and on and on. There were many times throughout the book I would have to continue reading and use context clues to figure out what they were talking about where they were and what was happening. I did not like this book I’m sorry this is not my type of book I know people will say they love it, they totally got it and kudos to them I am not one of those people. I like books that tell stories and use pronouns, adverbs, other punctuation and words that form sentences that make paragraphs that make chapters that tell a story. The story lacked detail, which intern caused me not to feel invested in the story. It took me three attempts to finish the book and only because I made myself continue reading. I notice everyone is trying to come up with a new and strange way to write stories but I think we should stick with the old way because that works best and has for eons.#NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #TheHouseNo oneSees, #AdinaKing,!

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. This follows the story of Penelope. She turns 17 and is out with her friends when her mother calls. She goes to her mom and confronts her moms opioid addiction. She goes from the present to the past with memories of her life.

This book was very unique and interesting. Penny receive as text from her drug addicted mother, she wants her to return to a house she grew up in. The book flashes back and forth from past and present and it gets very deep. Penny was neglected by her mother and she didn’t know certain things were wrong. I didn’t expect the book to get so deep but it was a lot more than I had expected, in a good way. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of The House No One Sees!

• 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐍𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐒

1. If you enjoy books written in prose, give this one a go!
2. Books with a spooky premise are some of my faves, and this was no exception!
3. Have you ever had to deal with a parent with an addiction? You’ll understand Penelope’s POV well if so.
4. If you love to read novels full of metaphor and surrealism, this one is for you!
5. Are you a fan of fairy tales? So is Penelope, and it shows throughout the story.

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Penelope Ross has always felt like a passenger in her mother’s fairytale - until the night of her 17th birthday, when she is forced to enter her own.

After a text from her estranged mother rips her away from a night with friends, Penny is forced into a kaleidoscope of memories locked inside the dark labyrinth of her childhood home. As Penny wanders between present and past—prose and verse—she must confront her mother's opioid addiction to mend her fractured past. But the house is tricky. The house is impossible. It wants her to dig up the dead to escape. And as Penny walks through herself to find herself, she is not sure she has the courage to free the light she trapped inside.

The House No One Sees
By: Adina King

4 Stars

This story was a web of past and present. Memories mixed with joy and pain. Penelope tells her story with a mix of fairy tales and reality. Having an opioid addicted mother. Being taken away. Pain from bullying. Yet, with all the negative bits of her life, she still has bits of hope. Light in the dark.

This was a very lyrical, poetic, and tragic story. The way it is laid out can, at times, be confusing but still manages to tell a gripping story. It is a story that is all too relatable in the current world. It was a beautifully sad story that felt almost like a peak into a young child's brain. Explaining the facts with an innocence that can only be from a child. Some horrors can be too much for the brain, any brain, but for a child, definitely.

This is a story that uses fairytales and metaphors to tell a very adult story. It was done so beautifully well. It brought me to tears. It's definitely worth the read.

*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Reviews

Amazing book. Love it so much. Best book ever.. will definitely recommend to friends and family. Good job

This book written in prose (present day) and verse (flashbacks) is narrated by a girl who is raised by a mom who is addicted to opioids. In the present, she has been summoned to her old house by a text from her mother, who needs her. Being there reminds her of her childhood marked with abuse and neglect while her mom became "the sleeper." Eventually, her mother went to rehab, and the girl went to live with her grandparents, who gave her a much more stable home life.

At times I found this hard to follow. It has a sort of dreamlike, surreal feel. The author uses metaphor and references fairy tales to tell her story, and to me it just didn't come together into a very cohesive, clear whole. But there were parts that were gripping and heartbreaking.

So powerful, raw (honest) and sad. Verse and prose, switches from memories to present. Reflecting on her relationship with her addicted mother, awareness to opioids turning into deep adiction, family issues, second chances. It's well written, we can feel many emotions.

This book was unfortunately not like what I was expecting. This is probably my fault, but based on the description, I was expecting something more akin to a horror book. I do enjoy books in verse and experimental prose, but in this case, it was more the contents that did not pique my interest. I think that there is definitely an audience for this, but it was not me. Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy!

There is a house that no one sees, no one except Penelope. After receiving a series of texts from her mother while out with friends, Penelope sneaks off to enter the house, opening the door to years of memories she's tried to bury.

The verse form of this novel helped keep the reader from sinking too deep into the dark shadows of Penelope's memories of her mother's descent into drug use, which led to Penelope's neglect. Even after Penelope is taken from her mother's custody, she struggled to find a sense of self-worth and escape the bullying from her classmates who only saw that she was dirty, wearing hand-me-downs, and stealing food. The thread of fairytales is woven throughout, with Sleeping Beauties and poison apples. This is a story which, unfortunately, will find many readers who can identify.

This one was tough for me to get through, mostly because I felt the writing wasn’t very strong. The premise was interesting however, so I kept going. I enjoyed the characters but wish they were a little more developed. There were also moments where the story felt disjointed which took away from my enjoyment in reading it.

I so badly need a win this year haha I really liked some of the metaphors this one tried to get across especially how the majority of this is through the lens of a child trying to make the best of her situation, but a lot of them were lost on me and while the way the story was formatted to mark the difference between past and present worked well, I was still a bit confused on why the first part of the narrative happened and how we got to the ending scene. I also felt like a lot of the writing just wasn't that strong and really relied on certain shock factors to move the story along

Penelope Ross loves fairy tales and has imagined her mother's life as a very dark fairy tale. On the night of her seventeenth birthday, Penelope receives a cryptic text from her mother and she goes to check on her. The rest of the novel is told in alternating prose and poetry and Penelope comes to terms with her difficult relationship with her drug-addicted mother. A deeply moving, and unorthodox, look at what it means to be the child of an addict, how to break free from addicted parents, and how to let your own light shine.