Welcome Back!

It has been a rainy fall weekend/start to the week where I live and I used a lot of that time over the weekend to do some reading! I read a handful of mangas as well as finished an audiobook and started another! Low-key fall days are some of the best reading days. I wanted to start the week out by talking about a book I pre-ordered and was super excited about. It came out not all that long ago and I really enjoyed my time with this story. So today, we are going to talk about Starlings!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Kit is going to meet her paternal grandmother for the first time ever. Kit’s father recently passed away and her entire life she has been told that he has no living family but himself. He told Kit and her mother that both his parents and sister had passed. But since his passing, Kit and her mom learned that was not entirely true. Now they find themselves in the car on a very early morning drive, headed towards her grandmother. When they get there she is very nice and things look interesting in the town but stuff gets super weird super fast. First Kit’s mom starts not feeling well nearly daily. Then she leaves and just leaves Kit a note saying she needs space. Kit refuses to believe her mother would ever do that to her but if that is true, that means something awful happened to her.

I really enjoyed this book. I listened to most of it on audio and the narrator was amazing. They were able to make the setting seem eerie at times and a bit lighter at others. Without spoiling too much of the story, I was thrown off by a few things that happened along the way but in the context of the overarching story they made sense (it just was not what I thought was going to happen). Outside of the story, I absolutely loved the cover. This cover is absolutely gorgeous and will be a display book on my shelves! Let me know down below if you have read this one or are thinking about picking it up!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

This book was great! Starlings follows Kit as she truly goes through it (I couldn't help myself). It's the perfect slightly spooky YA for this season.

Starlings is a beautifully atmospheric story, filled with mystery and betrayal that will keep readers turning page after page until the very end! It's what envisioned Stars Hollow could be if the town had a haunting secret. The characters are well written, & memorable. I would highly recommend this book to others!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Starlings is a wonderful story! I highly recommend this book. would honestly love a sequel. I hope the author continues!

I loved Starlings so much! It was a fun fantasy with an eerie and creepy undertone yet never crossed the line to keep you up at night scary. The world building was wonderful and I loved the characters.

On the one hand, this is a solid example of the familial curse in narrative. It fails to make us understand the villain, the primordial evil. He is not especially charming, so while we get some exploration of assorted members of the family and their relationship with the curse, we are left with little doubt about the right way forward. The ending is rather abrupt with little closure in the character side.

I loved this book! My favorite kinda book is the edge of creepy without over all full on scary. I loved the main character and thought the story building was amazing! I would highly recommend this book!

The first half of the novel was extremely engaging: we are constantly learning new information, secrets are revealed, and a creepy town setting is explored. The big twist is pretty solid, and there were enough breadcrumbs to make it believable, but after that it drags just a bit.

The writing style is pretty solidly YA and well done, very engaging. The MC was written pretty realistically: someone's always attractive, and she makes decisions that make sense for her age.

If you ever wished Stars Hollow had more things that went bump in the night, STARLINGS is for you! Linsmeier’s haunting mystery held me captive, eager to learn all of Rosemont’s dark secrets.

A hauntingly beautiful debut! I was enthralled from the very beginning and this creepy, twisty book did not disappoint. Linsmeier is one to watch!

Such a creepy little fantasy/mystery combo. I loved the eerie vibes of this book. In the wake of her beloved father’s death, Kit just discovered that she has a grandmother that her father hid from her. A road trip with her mother to meet the grandmother brings her to Rosemont, a small forgotten town with stepford wives undercurrents and eternal roses that bloom perfectly year round. Kit loves fantasy stories but never imagined she’d find herself living out a dark fantasy. This would be a perfect read for spooky season (Halloween).

Thank you to NetGalley & Delacorte Press for the e-arc. The contents of this review represent my own honest opinions.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐
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This book had me hanging on to every last word 😍 it was another one of those books I just didn't want to put down!
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The setting feels cozy but also very dark at the same time. It has a chilling and just "off" atmosphere that I loved. There are some deep and intense themes that are handled well and written in a way that is still enjoyable in a sense.
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The characters are well fleshed out and show great character development by the end of the book. I loved learning about them and watching their secrets unfold for a stunning conclusion that made me emotional.
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I like that it feels like there are elements from multiple genres (fantasy, horror and mystery specifically). It kept things interesting and made this a very fast paced read.
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Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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***Trigger warnings include but may not be limited to, grief, loss of loved one, manipulation, depictions of anxiety, death/murder, talk of cannibalism, and depictions of drowning.***

Kit Starling never knew her grandparents, in fact her father told her they were dead. When her father passes, imagine her shock to find out that not only was her grandmother alive but she was rich and influential. Kit and her mom decide to go to Rosemont to meet this new found grandmother.
Starlings by Amanda Linsmaier is an intriguing YA fantasy story. You feel the grief of the characters. You feel the tension between Kit and her grandmother Agatha. You read to find out what the townspeople are hiding and what it has to do with Kit.
Kit is a strong willed teen who has been hit with tragedy and now faces a decision that is being forced upon her. She feels betrayed and yet at the same time, she feels like she can save the town in her own way.
I enjoyed the story, even though it was based on several familiar YA tropes. Kit is an outsider who doesn't fit in, her parent is dead, she doesn't realize how special she is, and she is the chosen one. Despite all the clichés, the story is an interesting read and doesn't get boring. You do feel for Kit and root for her to succeed.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Kit’s father just passed away and it was not until her father passes away that she and her mom learn that Kit’s grandmother on her father’s side is still alive even though her father always claimed that his parents had passed away. Now, during winter break her and her mother are on a trip to Rosemont to meet her grandmother Agatha. Upon arriving to Rosemont and meeting Agatha, Kit learns that her family is like royalty to the family, but no one is telling her why and not answering her questions. Her mother and her start to experience physical ailments, which ultimately makes her mother flee and leaves Kit in Agatha’s care. From there things become more bizarre and Kit learns some secrets from her family’s past that she is not ready to learn or face.

Cover:
I just love how gorgeous this cover is with the color and the flowers. It definitely makes me think of the covers from Horrid by Katrina Leno and House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland.

Plot:
Starlings is marketed as a dark, YA fantasy that is perfect for those that love House of Hollow and Small Favors.

I personally have not read Small Favors by Erin A. Craig yet, but I’ve read a few other Erin A. Craig’s books and definitely say that her books can be dark. For House of Hollow, I have read it and loved it. That one I can really say fits for the marketing of this book.

Starlings plot was well done, and I did find it to be pretty unique. I’ll admit that there are tropes and plot devices used to create the eerie, horror, mystery to this town with the magic, but I still found it enjoyable and executed very well.

World Building:
Rosemont gives off the eerie atmospheric feel and if I was Kit my skin would be crawling, and I would be wanting to get the hell out of there asap. For some odd reason when I think of Rosemont, I think of the town being like Wanda Vision with the people jaded with the life and having to do nod, smile, and not question things.

I did enjoy the small town feel to it and loved the descriptions of it since Amanda Linsemeir makes you feel transported into Rosemont and has you really experiencing what Kit is experiencing through firsthand experience.

Characters:
Kit was an enjoyable main character to follow, and I loved that she was constantly questioning things and not taking the answer no for an answer, which makes her go out on her own to find the truth. Yes, there was times she seemed a little annoying and gullible, but I still really enjoyed her.

Amanda Linsemeir does a wonderful job of suspending the mysterious belief about Agatha. For most of the book we, just like Kit do not know much about Agatha and as the story unfolds, we learn more about Agatha as well as the mystery in the town and the family. When it comes to Agatha, I am not quite sure on how I exactly feel for her and by that, I mean if I should feel sorry for her or hate her based off what we find out during the last half of the book.

There is another character who really does not come into play until halfway into the book and that is Sabelle. Sabelle does become a key player when introduced, but I wish we got to know more about Sabelle and got to see her more. A part of me feels like Sabelle was thrown in there for the sake of it to just have an excuse on how to execute the falling action and resolution of the story. But it does still work, and I still stand by that I wish Sabelle as a character was explored more.

Relationships:
The relationships between the characters were some of my favorite things about this book.

Kit and her mom really have an unbreakable and loving relationship. I love how they both love one another and how Kit would do anything for her mom. So, when it is said her mom left her in the care of Agatha because she could not take it anymore and needed to be alone, Kit just knew it was total BS and decided to take it upon herself to find her mom.

Kit ends up meeting a few people in town and ends up sort of confiding in them, helping them, and in return they help her. I really enjoyed the interactions with her and the certain people she meets in town.

Pacing:
For the most part I found Starlings to be a pretty fast paced book that hooks you from the beginning and enchants you through the whole the book. I just had to know what was going on with Kit, the Starlings, the town, the supernatural/magical loom, and the family secrets. I just needed more and more.

However, towards the last quarter of the book I felt like the pacing became pretty uneven. Some parts of it dragged out longer than what it should have been and there were spots that could have used a bit more time explored so it did not feel rushed when it came to the last quarter of the book.

Representation + Tropes:
There is LGBTQ+ (Bisexual) Representation in this book, but to me it is not really focused on and is explored only a little bit.

I am not really going to get into the tropes because I feel like it could potentially spoil the book. But I think one of the tropes I could say is that it plays on the secret family history and the history returns trope.

Trigger Warnings:
There are some trigger warnings that I think some people need to be aware of so they can decide if they want to read this book and to take care of themselves with knowing about these when diving into this book:
-Parent death
-Suicide/Suicidal Ideation (off-screen/discussed)
-Talks of cannibalism (not in depth/goriness)
-Depression
-Grief
-Anxiety
-Death of a minor
-Mild gore
-Manipulation/Emotional Abuse
-Violence targeted towards girls/women

Final Thoughts + Recommendations:
All in all, I really enjoyed Starlings and I kind of wished I read it physically instead since it was so good, but it’s fine and I really loved this as an audiobook. The book definitely has that eerie, creepy vibe that just draws you in and you are not let go until the end.

This book would definitely make a great fall read for those who love to read more darker or eerie books in the fall and especially in October.

If you are into dark reads, family secrets, secret family history, history repeating itself/returning, feminist, and mysterious type books, then definitely check this one out.

This is a spooky tale that will keep your attention all the way through. At first everything seems to be prefect in this small town but things quickly turn for the worse once the new Starling arrives. Watching her unfold the mystery to find out what happened to har mother is a story worth reading.

“Rosemont is a mouth and it’s going to swallow me whole.”

✔️ Monsters
✔️ Bi Protagonist
✔️ Fantasy/Horror
✔️ Generational Trauma
✔️ Small Town Lies & Secrets

By the first sentence of this book I was hooked in. By the first few chapters I was getting Midsommer vibes which I absolutely loved. By the end I was enchanted by this book that is a mix of fantasy and horror that kept me guessing until the end!

Kit was a strong young woman that had just lost her father and after years of thinking she had no family on his side, she finds out she has a grandmother. To find the truth Kit and her mother visit her grandmother in her hometown, Rosemont. Rosemont is picture perfect but the longer Kit is there the stranger things become and Kit has to uncover what secrets they are hiding. The writing at times felt a little juvenile to me but it is a YA centered around a teenager so that can be expected! The romance was pretty surface level because it was a young teenage girl but it was not the focus of the story and the secrets of the town were the main focus which I adored.

I absolutely loved the plot of this story! The big reveal is something that I was not expecting and it was very interesting to discover the small clues with Kit and then figure it out at the end. The pacing of the story was great and I never got bored with all of the small things that kept going wrong to lead up to the major conflict at the end.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book if you like fantasy, horror, mystery, suspense, found family, small town secrets, and monsters. This is a pretty short and easy read that kept me flipping the pages until the end!

This novel has wonderful writing and the writing was atmospheric. The way the author was able to provide beautiful scene while always giving some creepy/odd things going on in the town was excellent. The mystery was done well and kept me wanting to read. Highly recommend this book.

I tried to read this but it was kinda boring and reminded me way too much of another book that I loved.

This dark but uber-compelling blend of fantasy and horror with a touch of fairy tale will keep readers glued to their seats, devouring this in one sitting.

The base story is somewhat familiar - parent keeps their family secret from child, child is key to some age-old ceremonial activity, child kicks ass and breaks curse. In the hands of a lesser skilled writer, this could be second-rate drivel, but Linsmeier is no second-rate hack. Her plot is well-constructed and very clever, and her narrative prose is lovely and horrifying at the same time.

Fans of fantasy-horror will adore this.