I was immediately sucked into this story and found it so difficult to put down. I loved the gothic horror elements of it and would happily listen to Natalie Naudus narrate anything.

What a perfect book for spooky season! A Gothic fantasy with horror aspects sprinkled throughout. I didn't know what we were dealing with at first. Werewolves? A haunted house?

I love that our main characters had their flaws. They weren't perfection reincarnate but the chemistry they had was cute. Opal is a smart mouth brat. Arthur a brooding poop head. Jasper a kid wanting to live his own life. And the house. Why was the house one of my favorite characters? Even the side characters had fun small town personalities that blended well into the main storyline.

I think this one is going to be very popular once it releases and I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to read and review it prior to publication. This is an all around great book.

Starling House
Alix E. Harrow


Harrow’s latest light horror/fantasy is Fantastic, a Southern gothic fable like story filled with ghosts, goblins, evil doers, heroes, flawed characters and one heck of a haunted house. Opal, the star of the show is about as flawed as you get, yet she will pull at the audience’s heart strings because under the hard-nosed exterior is a vulnerable little girl who just wants to be loved and a champion for those she loves. Arthur is a close second to Opal and his fierceness to be the last warden of Starling House is heroic. There are other unforgettable characters in the book both good and bad, including the house itself. The narrative has an easy flow and a steady pace, the settings are creeptastic and the whole shebang will hook readers from page one until the riveting end.

Narration:
The audio version is unmatched, the narrator Natalie Naudus, is fabulous at playing all the characters in the book, but she really, gets Opal to a tee. She gives her listeners a vivid acoustic depiction of the book painting every scene with perfection while expressing every emotion at the just the right moment.

Opal McCoy and her little brother Jasper live in Eden Kentucky, known for having extremely bad luck (which they have had personal experience with) and the haunted decrepit mansion known as Starling House. A house for which there are many stories about involving unexplained deaths, strange beasts roaming the grounds and its strange original owner, children’s author Eleanor Starling. Opal’s main objective in life is to make sure that her brother gets out of Eden, and she’ll steal, cheat, lie and use any means at her disposal to make sure that happens. She’s even enrolled him in a fancy private academy, now she just has to find a way to pay for it. Which brings her to the gates of Starling House, a house that for some unknown reason she’s dreamed of all her life, now however she’s just hoping to find work there. What she finds is, Arthur Starling, a recluse and present warden of Starling House, a lonely boy/man who offers her a job, demands that she not talk to anyone about the house or him and pays her way too much for the work she’s doing.

But lately there are even more strange forces at work putting Eden and its residents at more risk, making the house restless and leaving Opal with some important decisions to make.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook! I’m not usually a gothic fantasy girl, but I thought this was incredible! The audiobook narrator was great, and I couldn’t stop listening.
I really enjoyed Opal’s strength and her willingness to do anything for her brother, Jasper. The mystery surrounding Starling House kept me interested the entire time, and I loved that there were little hints and reveals about certain things along the way, but there was more to come until the end. The corporate villains had me angry, and I was full of emotions surrounding just about every character and their relationships. Overall an engaging read (listen) and another high rating from me for Alix E. Harrow

Short Synopsis:
The Starling House has been around since the 19th Century. It’s the talk of the town. And not in a good way. When Opal starts dreaming of the house, she shows up and the grumpy, reclusive, tattooed warden offers her a job. Opal soon learns the magic of the house and unlocks the town’s secrets.

My Thoughts:
I don’t think I love anything as much as I love a magical house. If I picked a favorite character, it’s without a doubt the house. But honestly Opal, Arthur, Jasper and the entire cast of characters were well-rounded and I enjoyed reading their adventures.

I did this one mostly on audio and it really set the tone for fall reads: magical and a bit spooky.

Read if You Like:
🪶 Magic houses
🪶 Gothic fantasy
🪶 Stranger Things
🪶 Sexy wardens
🪶 Small town secrets

While I don’t feel like a whole lot happened in the first 30%, this was a great book that really had me deep in my feelings! Once the story picked up, it was excellent. A+ writing and an engaging narration. I’m so relieved that it had a happy ending, I was really nervous for a while. All the loose ends tied together nicely and overall was a really good, but like I said, highly emotional, super natural drama/mystery.

Something sinister dwells between the cracks of Starling House.

This is a story of a man whose family is indebted to serve and banish evil from a Kentucky town, and a woman who is literally just trying to get by.

There are so many secrets that are unpacked in this story, and I couldn’t wait to finally get to the end so that I could have all the answers.

I loved the “story” element of this book, and how that came into play for our FMC, Opal. Stories aren’t always what they seem, and perhaps there is a smidge of truth lurking beneath the surface.

There are a lot of moving parts to this story, and while I found I would get the *tiniest* but confused, the story kept me engaged enough to follow along.

Eerie, bone-chilling descriptions set the stage for this gothic tale. Harrow does such an excellent job and creating a spooky atmosphere.

The deep roots of family and responsibility are major themes in this book, and readers will be deeply invested in the Starling family, the town of Eden, and the secrets they keep.

Looks like I'm starting spooky season strong this year.

"Arthur had spent his whole life preparing for beasts, for battle, for his own bitter end. But he wasn't prepared for this. He wasn't prepared for the flayed look in her eyes or the feel of her above him or the way she wept when she came.""

Excuse me? This had no business being as hot as it was. I STAN Opal and Arthur. I stan them both individually and as a team. They both felt incredibly understandable-- it took no effort on my part to empathize with them, and the romance between them genuinely made me feel stuff. I love how their story weaved together, how the house (a character in its own right) dragged them together over and over until they both gave in, and how Opal ultimately both saved and redeemed the grumpy, tormented warrior. I love that the house nurtured Opal and trolled Arthur.

As a Southern soul, Eden felt like home right away-- a rundown, podunk town where the people felt incredibly alive with all their judgements, worries, fierceness, and warmth. The town and its characters were vivid, and I found myself wanting to know more about the history of this little town and its inhabitants. That's one thing Harrow did expertly-- I kept wanting more. Not because there wasn't enough, but because it was so good and because there was never too much. I wanted more of Opal's wry inner dialogue (something I don't usually particularly enjoy), more of Starling House, more of Opal and Arthur together in any form, more of whatever Harrow would grant me. I'd take it.

I will say that this wasn't very spooky at all, but there was so much to make up for it that it barely mattered. It honestly felt even kind of cozy. There was a little taste of atmospheric dread here and there, a sort of Gothic element to Starling House itself, some mist, and some kind of unconcerning monsters, but the stakes managed to feel pretty low throughout. And I really wasn't mad about it. The writing and the characters and the world were simply so engaging that I honestly can't come up with a single real complaint. I loved it. Simple as that. I'll definitely be checking out more work from this author soon.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of Starling House.

What an absolutely beautiful book. Ethereal and cozy. Winding and rambling without pushing too far outside of the story. Perfectly descriptive without being too flowery. Just enough magical realism to make things work out, but not have the end result fall flat or be unsatisfying. While not a lot truly happened, and this book has more vibe than action, I still very much enjoyed it. It felt like the perfect way to usher in the cool, cozy feeling of fall.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

Note: I did not enjoy The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so definitely give this one a try, even if you haven't liked other titles by Harrow. She really nailed the balance this time.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
Starling House by Alix E Harrow is about the Opal, a young woman taking care of her little brother and just trying to get by, lives in the town of Eden. This town holds the legendary Starling house and it's original owner E. Starling the author and illustrator of Starling house. Opal knows better than to mess with the town's haunted house and it's heir but she can't shake the dreams of the house and her curiosity for what could be inside...
I loved this book! I usually like haunted house stories but this one was very unique. However, I can't talk about a lot of what I loved because it would be massive spoilers for this plot. Just know that the progression of the book leads to an incredible fantastical story. The town history, the family connections, and the maze of mysteries made this a book to remember.
I didn't know how I felt about Opal at the start of the book. She was trying her best but doing bad things to get by. She grew greatly during the book especially in her relationship with her brother in a way that made me love her character by the end. The character accepts who she really is and loves herself for it which was great to see and made me feel so connected to her.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. I will be buying myself a copy of the book when it comes out because I need it on my shelf! I have read a book from this author previously but this book makes me want to seek out others by her!

Your creepy house or mine?

Opal and Arthur are both living a nightmarish existence in the small depressed town of Eden, Kentucky: She in abject poverty, surviving on junk food in a rundown motel, and he in a more literal sense, fighting the local monstrous beasts whose point of origin is somewhere beneath Starling House, the crumbly mansion where he lives alone.

Harrow’s writing is exceptional, and she creates truly wonderful, complex characters. The bones of the story are those of a familiar gothic trope, but Harrow puts her own spin on the “there’s something wrong with the house” theme.

This wasn’t quite as creepy as I hoped it would be, but it’s still solidly atmospheric. And it’s just a really good story. Sweeter and more nuanced than I expected, and also enthralling and well paced.

What a wonderful spooky season read. It may start a little slow but once the story picks up there is almost no putting it down. I of course had a heavy bias for the character Charlotte, as that is my name, I work in a library and am also working towards my MLS. But past even that this book covers topics both creepy and deep. And the way that it does is almost lyrical. Like a haunting siren song that would lure anyone to stay in the mist with it. I defintely cannot wait to share this with friends and co-workers. Also I absolutely loved the fact that the house was a sort of character in this book but that it didn't feel over-done or over-complicated. The romance in the story was natural and almost helped keep the book feeling approachable to most. I loved the footnotes, helped the story feel like it was trying to keep you in on the secrets rather than the reader beign outside looking in. My only two aspects I didn't love was saying good-bye to the story and not knowing exactly what happened with Jasper and how his relationship with Opal turned out. Overall this is one of the best gothic fantasy novels I have read in a while, from the writing to the way the plot was layed out. I cannot wait to see what the next journey Alix Harrow has for us is.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow was just good as any other Alix E. Harrow book and I'm so glad to have been able to experienced this book as an audiobook. I love Alix E. Harrow's writing and I think the best way to go into any of her books is with the least amount of knowledge about what the book is about or with no expectations of where the story is going to take you. I did this with this book and I think my overall experience was fantastic because of it. The characters felt real and I could see why they were the way they were and the story was so cozy yet entertaining. I thought the chemistry between the two main characters worked really well and I truly enjoyed my time listening to this book. The narrator did a great job of bringing the characters to life and adding a layer to the story. Overall, I'm very thankful to have been given the opportunity to listen to this audiobook, so thank you NetGalley and Tor.

3.5 ⭐️ this was a gothic tale, with a house as a main character. I did the audiobook and the narrator was great! I enjoyed the characters, and the mystery/spooky vibes were perfect for the season. Starling House and hellcat were 2 of the best characters. The romance was less important than the found family relationships. My problem was the ending. It was slow and unfulfilling. With a different ending, this book could have been great.

I think I found my favorite book of the year.

Starling House was my most anticipated book of 2023. Which is saying something, as there were so many excellent books published this year. But Harrow’s debut, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, is my favorite standalone novel of all time, so my expectations were sky high. Those expectations could have set me up for failure. They didn’t. While the two novels couldn’t be more different, Starling House is just as powerful and beautiful as The Ten Thousand Doors of January. It just has much sharper teeth.

Opal will do anything to take care of her little brother, Jasper. Since their mom died eleven years ago, it’s been just the two of them against the world. More specifically, it’s been the two of them against their small, backwards hometown of Eden, Kentucky. Opal lied her own childhood away so that she could become Jasper’s legal guardian. The two call a ratty motel room home, and by day Opal is scraping together everything she can from her crappy job at Tractor Supply to buy Jasper a new life at a private boarding school, far from Eden and its judgmentality. By night, she dreams. She dreams of sharp claws and sharper teeth. She dreams of the childhood book that captured her imagination, Underland, and its dark fairytales. But always, she dreams of Starling House. Starling House, the big haunted mansion that rules the nightmares and imaginations of the bigoted, small-minded townspeople. Starling House, the birthplace of monsters and the last bastion of hope against them.

While not dark academia, I would immediately recommend Starling House to anyone who loves Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Hell Bent. If you love Alex Stern, you’re going to absolutely adore Opal. Both have bruised hearts that they protect with bleeding knuckles. Both are scrappy, fierce and braver than they believe. Both will lie while staring you right in the eye, a crooked smirk on their lips. Both will fight tooth and nail for what they need and for those they love. But Opal isn’t the only wonderful character in this book. Arthur Sterling grabbed me by the heart and didn’t let me go. His loneliness made me ache. He tried so hard to bury his kindness behind gruffness, but he never quite succeeded. Both Opal and Arthur are broken. Beautifully so. Their brokenness is what makes them so believably multifaceted, so compelling and sympathetic. Both are terrified of wanting, of chasing anything more than their most basic of needs. But oh, how they want.

And then there’s the house! When we first meet Starling House, it is run down and surly, almost like a feral cat. But when it begins to feel loved and treasured for the first time in too long, it slowly begins to shine. I love near-sentient places, and Starling House is one of the best. It has so much personality. And it dreams. I was reminded of Mike Flanagan’s reimagining of The Haunting of Hill House, if Hill House had an artsy, lovechild of a younger sister. The mythos surrounding the house is fascinating, as is that surrounding the Starlings in all their wild variety and stalwart service. If Starling House started sending me dreams, I would be hard pressed not to pick up the sword of the Wardens of Starling House.

This book is kind of difficult to pigeonhole into a genre. It’s Gothic in texture, if not in tone. It’s lightly horror, but the descriptions of even the horrific are so lovely that it pulls the sting from the bite. It’s a mystery, for sure, with a puzzle box of a house and more hiding outside and beneath it. There is a scene that is one of the hottest, most achingly romantic scenes I’ve ever read. It made my breath hitch on multiple levels. And yet, with as romantic as portions of this book are, I wouldn’t quite call it a romance, either. It’s weighty and entrancing and completely its own beast, and I love it for being exactly what it is.

Harrow infused this story with so much depth. It’s about being who you choose to be, no matter who others say you are. It’s about not being defined by a name. It’s about what makes a home, and how four walls can’t contain it. It’s about finding the line between a want and a need, and learning to jump that division with both eyes open. It’s about standing for what you love and what you don’t, even if the world never recognizes your sacrifice. It’s about finding the courage to face your dreams after a lifetime of turning your back on them.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Harrow’s writing. In The Ten Thousand Doors of January, her prose was achingly lovely. I called her a “Wordsmith, a sorceress wielding a pen in place of a wand.” I stand by that description, though it was expressed far differently in Starling House. The prose is still effortlessly literary without an ounce of pretension. However, Harrow’s writing in Starling House has more of an edge to it, a bite that feels more modern and hungry than her debut. In other words, she found a way to retain the magic of her prose while shifting her voice to perfectly suit the story she had to tell. Harrow is a brilliantly gifted weaver of words, and is quite possibly the most talented writer of a generation, in my opinion.

(Side note: I tandem read a digital galley while listening to the audiobook, and I have to say that the audio was stellar. Natalie Naudus did a brilliant job with the narration. She portrayed both Opal and Arthur and even the supporting cast with remarkable aplomb. Listening to this while reading along was a completely immersive experience that I would highly recommend.)

I adored Starling House with every fiber of my being. To me, it’s a perfect book. Full stop. No notes. I fell in love with Opal and Arthur, with the supporting cast and with the House itself. The mythos was just as captivating as the storytelling. I loved every sentence of this, and I’m already looking forward to rereading it. If ever a book deserves a place on my favorites shelf next to The Ten Thousand Doors of January, it’s this one.

I adore anything written by Alix Harrow. That being said, this was among my least favorites of hers. I think for me it was too light on the spooky and not enough of the rich character development that I expect from such a talented author. I will absolutely recommend this one however and I know many will love it.

Having read Alix E. Harrow's debut novel The 10,000 Doors of January, I went into this newest work with expectations of a beautifully written novel, with multiples layers and a dreamlike quality to it. Starling House hit all of those notes and while I felt the ending was a little confusing, overall the novel is excellent.

The book is set in a depressing coal town in Kentucky, run by the Gravely family, with all kinds of sinister unsolved mysteries and rumors about the Starling House and its various residents. Our two protagonists, Opal and Arthur, are each outcasts in the town, but circumstances and fate bring them into one another's lives. That is just one of the layers of the book though; there's also Starling House itself as a sentient character, stories within stories, myths and legends and references to mythology, and a children's book called The Underland written by a reclusive town resident which could tie everything together.

I really enjoyed the audio narration of this book and it allowed the beautiful prose to just flow the entire book. The book is a classic Southern Gothic horror story, but I think it leans more into the atmospheric magical realism vein rather than true horror. I enjoyed the Stranger Things vibe of the "Underland" and the reveals of what that place is (though to be fair, I'm not totally sure I understand it!)

Harrow's books have this distinct feeling of dreaming but also grounded in a very tangible reality, with fully fleshed out characters and plot points; Starling House is no exception. I loved the side characters of Jasper, and Bev and Charlotte and what was happening in their present lives, as well as all the history of the house over the years and interludes to previous residents.

Overall it's a very good book that is perfect for reading on a dark and stormy night!

When I say I wanted to wholeheartedly love this book...please believe me! I have rated all of Alix Harrow's previous works 4+ stars (Once and Future Witches...be still my soul...not sure a better fall witchy book exists to be honest). This book just did not quite land for me in the same way. Don't get me wrong: Harrow is a TALENTED author with a voice and a skill for creating strong characters and atmosphere and I believe those elements are still here.

What didn't quite come together for me with this book was the plot: this book is kind of sold as "creepy haunted house and town secrets intersect as girl with a really hard time managing her trauma decides to throw herself into this mess." I mean...a lot to like there. On its face, this immediately grabs my attention. However, the various elements really never combined correctly for me in this novel. It's relatively short, and that means that there's not really a ton of time to develop each element.

I loved the mystery of Starling House, and I loved Opal's character. At the beginning of this book I was getting major, The Hazel Wood vibes, with a mysterious author creating a story based on potentially real world of nightmares and fairytales. I also loved the interactions between Opal and Arthur, the current warden of Starling House, as they attempt to figure each other out.

However, so much time is spent outside of the house, and so much information has to be revealed at various times in the plot, that I felt myself reeling a bit when each new element came up. Ultimately I liked so many of the pieces of this, but I didn't think that they all quite came together.

I really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect amount of creepy. And I truly think that was Alix E. Harrow’s best book yet. I loved her short story, The Six Deaths of a Saint, but in my opinion this was her best novel. If you like stories from a similar vein of Ninth House and The Book of Night, then I think this story will be right up your alley. Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

The first thing that strikes me about Alix E. Harrow’s writing is how immersive and enchanting it is. This was true of the only other novel of hers that I’ve read, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and it’s true of Starling House, too. Her prose is poetic and gritty, smart and magical. Most of this novel is told from Opal’s first-person perspective, but there are also parts and entire chapters that give readers a third-person glimpse into what others are doing and thinking. On top of that, my favorite writing feature of Starling House is the author’s use of footnotes. I rarely see this in fiction, and here, it suggests that Opal isn’t completely knowledgeable or honest. However, it remains unclear who exactly is providing this extra information in the footnotes…

Speaking of how dishonest Opal is, she is a top-notch morally gray character. She’s not necessarily likable, and certainly not “good” in all senses of the word. She lies and steals and looks out for herself above others, at least to a degree. Despite her flaws, though, she’s a character that readers can get completely invested in, and I personally was rooting for her. Opal hasn’t had an easy life, and it’s made her rough around the edges. But she is soft for her younger brother, Jasper, an academically gifted high school student. She also develops a certain affinity for her mysterious employer, Arthur. Oh, Arthur: a man who doesn’t talk much, who looks maybe a little like a vampire, and whom Opal tellingly lists as “Heathcliff” in her phone. He’s a sad, lonely sweetheart.

Arthur is the warden (yes, warden) to the local creepy mansion, Starling House. Rumors abound about the house’s history and that of its many inhabitants over the past 150 years or so. This house is certainly weird; what other house do you know of that sprouts its own electricity and appliances at will? And it’s got be a portal to a very bad place, right? The small town folks of Eden, Kentucky have decades of stories to tell about Starling House and its wardens, tales that feel like nightmares gone wrong.

Starling House feels gothic and haunting, but it also highlights some great relationships. First there is the sibling bond between Opal and Jasper. She’s taken over as a parental figure since their mom died years ago, and as tough as things are (financially and otherwise), Opal puts Jasper’s needs and future ahead of her own. She’s selfless when it comes to him, even if he’s the only one. Then there’s Opal’s changing relationship with Arthur. He’s her unlikely employer first, then something more, as impossible as a romance between them may seem. They’re so different, but I loved seeing the tenderness and affection bloom between them.

As the book progresses, the supernatural and horror factors become stronger. Creepy children’s books, invisible monsters, the evils of real-life people… there’s a lot going on, and it would make for a perfect Spooky Season read.

Audio
Natalie Naudus does a fabulous job of narrating Starling House. Her voice is engaging and perfectly captures Opal’s personality. She also imbues her narration with all the right inflections and emotions, capturing sarcasm and terror and more with equal believability. It makes the audiobook play almost like a movie, making the story feel that much more real.


Starling House is an evocative and smart novel with so many layers at play. Family, poverty, duty, trauma, real and imagined horrors, a haunted house— everything adds up to a stunning story that is sure to stand out this season. It’s only my second time reading Alix E. Harrow, but she’s officially an auto-buy author now. I’ll read everything she publishes.