This was a miss for me. The quality of the writing was great but I have finally come to the realization that creepy house stories are ones I can only manage in small doses if I want to sleep at night. Call me chicken little...

This is only my second book by Alix E. Harrow (I know, I"m ridiculously behind), with the first book being A Spindle Splintered, which is a retelling of a fairy tale and a great novella. First off, the cover. Amazing. Ridiculously gorgeous. I have the e-book, but I want to buy a hardback just to display for that cover. Right off the bat, we're introduced to Opal, a truly bad ass heroine just doing her freaking best and take care of her brother, living in a run down room in a run down town working at a boring job, barely able to make ends meet. Her brother is a fantastic character on his own, and she loves him fiercely. But then we meet Arthur. I love that neither Opal nor Arthur are these gorgeous fairy tale royalty characters. Arthur is not cute. Opal is is prickly. But it doesn't matter because they are busy fighting monsters and trying to figure out how to not get everyone killed and that's way more important, okay?! The ending was strange and I don't know if it was necessarily the best, but I still give it 5/5 stars for the character development and the the scene setting.

DNF - could not get into this story at this time. Was expecting it to be more like a thriller and couldn't keep my interest. May try again in the future.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

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

In a small town that reeks of bad luck, there’s an orphan doing her best to take care of her little brother after her mother was found dead tragically, and there’s a big mysterious house constantly calling for her. It’s been widely known that weird incidents happened in Eden since who knows when, though no one could ever put their finger to them besides mere rumors. It’s just sort of urban lore. But everyone agreed that it links to the Starling House somehow, thus they leave it alone. Not Opal, tho. Instead, she keeps drawn to that house.

An intense gothic fantasy involving land dispute, ruthless lawyer, a house that has a mind of its own, house warden who not only has to look after the house but also keep the monsters that lie under it away from everyone’s harm. I love Opal’s fiery determined character, while still having a hint of sass. The romance dynamics were good. I think the story resolution was too confusing–with all the concept and the backstory, but it’s fine. I enjoyed it.

I'm so happy that Harrow is bouncing back from the Fractured Fables series because that genre is saturated.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this but I ended up being completely enthralled from the start. Opal's obsession with the Starling House along with the external pressures to support her brother and keep herself afloat were compelling enough to drive the plot along when it could've easily started dragging. I loved the characters and the setting and seeing how all the different versions of Eden's history came together. Loved it!

Eerie, engaging story. The romance at the center was a bit surprising, and characters' actions are sometimes frustrating.

(Duplicate entry due to approval for eARC and audiobook)

"Starling House" invites readers into a world where mystery and intrigue lurk around every corner. With its compelling characters and intricate plot, this novel takes readers on a thrilling journey filled with unexpected twists and turns. As secrets unravel and tensions rise, the true nature of the characters is revealed, leading to a gripping conclusion that will leave readers eager for more. With its blend of suspense, drama, and intricate storytelling, "Starling House" is sure to captivate fans of mystery and suspense alike.

I honestly was not impressed with this book. As much as I hate to say it, it would have been right up my alley. BUT the 200 pages of historical information dump on the house/wardens left much to be desired. Things were barely happening, and I was expecting full-out action and portals and really neat things. Everything happened in the last 80 pages of the book.

If we had taken the last 80 pages of the book and made the rest of the book like that, it would have been an easy 4 star read for me.

Instead, the format with the extra information read so much like a collegiate history paper that I struggled to read this without feeling such boredom and falling asleep while trying to read. I wanted to like it so much, because I heard raving reviews.

I would have ADORED to read the concept that was in the 80 pages were explored more in depth and woven together in the first 2/3rd of the book.

Starling House is a gothic fantasy romance set in a small town of Eden, Kentucky. The story follows Opal. Opal lives in a motel room with her younger brother, Jasper. Opal spends her days working to save money to send Jasper away from run down Eden, to give him a better future. Starling House is the town's mysterious residence surrounded by lore and legend. Opal is drawn to Starling House and one day, when she is walking passed it's gates, she runs into Starling House's enigmatic owner, Arthur Starling. Arthur ends up giving Opal a job as a housekeeper for Starling House. This new position gives a level of access to Starling House and its inner workings that no one else in town has ever had. Opal learns about Starling House's past and unexpectedly starts having a hand in it's future.

I am not that biggest fan of cotemporary fantasy, but Starling House is the perfect mixture of magic, gothic, and romance. Harrow's writing is exquisite. She has a way of writing characters and overall story arcs that you can easily get lost in. Starling House is written as a character of its own, like most gothic stories. I loved spending time in Starling House and discovering its secrets alongside Opal and Arthur. I also loved Starling House's focus on the ideas of family, home, and ecological degradation. The romance was slow burn and so so sweet. I also loved most of the side characters in Opal's life, especially Hellcat.

Fantasy, gothic fiction, or romance readers will all find something to love in Starling House. If a dark, small town story filled with history and magic intrigues you, pick Starling House up!

This was my first Harrow book so my expectations were high and my goodness were they exceeded! I’m a sucker for a slightly feral main character and a semi-conscious gothic house, so needless to say this one was an immediate hit!

Harrow is a master of atmosphere, and this is no exception. She made these characters feel so flawed and real, and I felt like this town felt very grounded. The romance wasn't too much and it didn't feel forced. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I love the work of Alix E. Harrow and she cannot write fast enough! Starling House is no exception. I caught influences of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, but the story was fresh and interesting. Harrow created a well-paced, atmospheric story that is engaging and fantastical with a tinge of horror.

I really enjoyed the gothic elements in this book! I ultimately decided to go with a 3.5 stars for this one. I found the setting and plot to be very interesting, but the character development to be a bit lacking. Would definitely still recommend!

I couldn’t imagine a more perfect October/Halloween read than Starling House. With a sumptuous gothic atmosphere and setting, deeply flawed characters who you desperately want to succeed, a living haunted house that plays a pivotal role in the narrative, and Harrow’s ever-gorgeous prose, Starling House captivated me from the first page.

Opal, a drifter and a grifter, has been scraping by to make ends meet since she lost her mother as a girl, and right now, she’s cobbling together fragments in the sleepy town of Eden. When a job offer almost too good to be true comes from the brooding, taciturn heir to the infamous Starling House, Arthur, Opal disregards her self-preservation and takes it. The two get drawn together in the sinister coils of an unfolding mystery and have a choice: face their fears together or let nightmares destroy their small town.

Harrow is one of my favourite authors and Starling House did nothing to dissuade me of this opinion. She has a gift for weaving a story-within-a-story, which has featured predominantly in many of her novels, and yet executes each take on this concept in fresh, compelling ways. This novel drew me in as surely as Starling House draws main characters Opal and Arthur together. I felt consumed by it.

In addition to the immersive gothic atmosphere, the characters and relationships kept me invested in this story. Themes of love, family, trauma, and belonging play out in the significant relationships, most notably between Arthur and Opal and Opal and her younger brother. Starling House asks the reader via the characters to meditate on the notion of home: what it is, WHO it is, how easily one can lose it, and how to find it again.

In short: if you’re looking for an evocative gothic fantasy with strong throughlines of romance and a poignant emotional climax, Starling House might be for you. I will continue to avidly read everything Alix E. Harrow writes because I have yet to be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was such a wonderful read! It's been a minute since I sunk into a gothic novel, and this was just a lot of fun to spend time with. It was very gothic, a little gritty, and a little romantic.

Starling House is a somewhat sentient old manor that sits on the edge of a bad luck town. It's only occupant, Arthur, is a bit of a recluse. Rumors about the house have swirled around for years, and the truth might still be in them somewhere. Opal has always felt drawn to the house. And that's where our story begins.

The setting of Eden, Kentucky is so well done, you can almost taste the pollution from the local power plant, and feel the miasma of bad luck that has settled over the town. Opal is fierce, tough, has never felt quite at home, and is still learning how to trust the people who have cared for her. Arthur has been carrying too much for too long, he's resolute, and very broken. I loved them both as soon as they appeared on the page.

This book is imaginative, a little bit magical, a little mysterious, and a lot of the right kind of broken, human people trying to take care of each other and protect their home from the baddies. Harrow does a wonderful job with it, and I was so satisfied when I finished it that I almost wanted to start it right over. I can definitely see this being a reread for me in future years!

This book is perfect for readers who love a good gothic novel, rooting for an anti-hero, and learning to befriend their own nightmares.

I recieved an ARC from Netgalley, this is an unbiased review.

I'm going to have to just start autobuying Harrow's books, because I have yet to be disappointed. Starling House was just gloriously Gothic, dreamlike (and nightmare-like!), and romantic. I know that "the house is alive" was technically not supposed to be a good thing, but I would just like to say that I loved Starling House as a character in its own right and would live there in a heartbeat.