Twelve-year-old Perigee is worried about their depressed dad, and so they set in motion a visit to their grandmother's, where they have never been, which they hope will mend both the family and their dad's spirits (and maybe alleviate Perigee's growing concerns about finances...). And Perigee is eager to see for themselves the puzzle house bed and breakfast that their grandparents built between them, a house that is now sad and neglected with no new puzzles being added to its repertoire. (Literally the house is feeling this, as it is a self-aware being).
Though Perigee is happy to find a girl their own age, Lily, staying at the house to be a new friend, Grandma does not welcome them. She shows no interest in reconnecting with her son, who she sent off to live with relatives when Grandpa died, or in getting to know her grandchild. But the house is very interested, and Perigee quickly becomes aware that there some things in this house of puzzles that their science-loving brain will have to file on a new "unexplainable" shelf...
Grandma wants to shut the house down and sell the place. But to do so means solving the last of the house's puzzles, one that Grandpa set up to lead to the shut-off point. And Perigee and Lily set out to do this. The house is (understandably) not happy at the prospect of being shut down, and starts to fight back. The puzzles become deadly as the house literally starts tearing itself apart to save itself. But it's also figuratively doing the same--it is almost killing its family, and it can't stand what it is doing...or stop doing it.
The puzzles and traps and tricks, and wonderous rooms of marvels, make for great reading, brought to vivid life by great descriptive writing. But it's the emotional struggle of the book--to mend broken family ties, to see a path forward to a happier future, and in Perigee's particular case, to accept the mending other people isn't a burden they should be tearing their own self apart in order to bear--that gives the book it's powerful and moving heart.
So come for death puzzles (with bonus kittens), enjoy picking which of the marvelous bedrooms you like best, and stay for hearts healing. Also, if you are me, enjoy the metaphors wrapped into the Puzzle House itself (if I had to write an essay for class on this book, I'd write about this). Reese's A Game of Fox and Squirrels is still my favorite of her books (my review) but I like this one lots and lots too!
disclaimer-review copy received from the publisher.
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