"Starling House" by Alix E. Harrow offers readers a captivating contemporary gothic fantasy in a small town haunted by secrets that refuse to stay buried. Set in the fading town of Eden, Kentucky, the story revolves around the mysterious Starling House and its last remaining heir, Arthur Starling. Eden is a town marked by its misfortune and the legend of E. Starling, a reclusive 19th-century author and illustrator who wrote "The Underland" before vanishing. Starling House, which appeared around the same time, has since been left to decay, as residents avoid it and its enigmatic heir, Arthur.

Opal, the protagonist, knows better than to involve herself with haunted houses (even if she continuously has dreams about Starling House) and brooding men. But when she receives an unexpected job offer from Arthur, it seems like an opportunity to save her brother from the confines of Eden. However, Starling House quickly becomes more than just a job; it starts to feel like a true home to Opal. As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur must confront buried secrets and their own fears to protect their town from dangers both supernatural and mundane.

"Starling House" is a mesmerizing read that showcases Harrow's talent for storytelling. With its well-developed characters and a living house, it offers a unique and engaging reading experience that will leave readers enthralled. It explores how the characters grapple with their past experiences and the impact these events have had on their lives. This added depth to the story, as it portrayed the characters' vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of adversity.

The novel weaves a story that has elements of family, home, history, and trauma. Harrow's prose is a standout feature, creating a vivid and immersive atmosphere that enhances the gothic fantasy elements. The familial relationship between Opal and her brother, as well as the romance that unfolds, adds amazing depth to the narrative and allows readers to connect with the characters on an emotional level.

One of the standout elements of "Starling House" that I absolutely loved was the concept of the living house itself. The idea of a house that seems to have a life of its own that calls guardians who need a home, added a unique layer of charming enchantment to the story.

Beautiful story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. This is an honest review.

This is my first book by Alix Harrow, but I don’t think it will be my last. This is also I think my first time listening to Natalie Naudus, but I will certainly be keeping my eye out for her as well. This was a great audiobook and one I highly recommend, especially if you are into gothic stories with a house that is almost sentient, and certainly holds a lot of secrets.

Opal may not exactly be a likable character, but she is certainly a sympathetic one. She is a 26 year old who has been taking care of her brother, Jasper, since she was 15, which is when their mother died. She had several strikes against her even before her mother’s death, but she is determined that her brother will have a better life and will get out of their small town for good. The relationship between her and her brother was sweet and loving even when they didn’t agree. I loved Opal’s acerbic wit and how she stands up to people, but she at times does not make the best choices in life. But she is also driven to find out the truth about Starling House which is what gets her into trouble.

Arthur was also not exactly likable, but he was an interesting character. He is also an orphan from a fairly young age and had a great responsibility thrust upon him as the caretaker of the house. He tries really hard not to care about Opal, but also finds himself wanting to help her and care for her. I really liked his narrative and his perspective of Opal and the house.

There are lots of secondary characters, some who want to help Opal and Jasper, and others who want to use her. There are of course some bad people who just want to use her to get access to Starling House, and they were not likable at all. But I really enjoyed the two women who always looked out for Opal and tried to help her when they could. Bev owned the hotel where Opal and Jasper lived, and she was cranky and onerous, but she really did care for the kids. There is also the librarian who helps Opal find historical accounts about the house, but also genuinely cared about Opal.

The plot was well done and nicely paced with things being revealed slowly over the course of the book. There is a lot of backstory on the house and different versions of the events so it was hard to tell which were true and who to believe. This is more of a supernatural story than a ghost story, although the house does feel haunted, it is only filled with memories. The romance between Opal and Arthur is slow and sweet and I love how they each think they are protecting the other with their actions.

The writing was fabulous. It was a nice mix of creepy house shenanigans, found family, and romance. The descriptions of the house were wonderful, I could really see and feel what it would be like to be inside. It was very atmospheric and fit into the southern gothic vibes. Even the town was a bit creepy with the mist rising at odd hours. The narrator, Natalie Naudus, does a great job with making everything sound so creepy and does an excellent job with voices for the different characters.

This is a solid southern gothic tale that incorporates the themes of found family, small town secrets, money and greed and environmental damage by a local company. I loved the writing and the audiobook was well narrated. This will be a perfect book to pick up in October for a spooky, dark night read.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and Tor Publishing for copies of Alix E. Harrow's Starling House.
I actually think going in to this book as spoiler free as possible is the way to go, just let the story unfold.

I loved this story, it was magical but also so grounded in very real themes on sibling relationships, self love/resilience, and the impact of family history and identity. I also love a book that is about a book, the ability of an author to develop that secondary book world within the bigger story always impresses me and here it is so well done... the idea of darkness as a part of children's books is thoughtful and well executed. The pacing was excellent and the audiobook narration really captured the mood, mystery, and tension in the right way and with great tone and style. There is some romance in the story but I loved that it was placed within a slow burn tension progression and it was secondary to bigger themes for me about family, about feeling like you belong, all stood out within a story that has well developed themes on monsters and mysterious houses and related themes.

This is my first book from this author, I know a popular author who I just haven't gotten to, so this has been a great introduction to her style and themes.

Well, Alix E. Harrow has done it again. Ten Thousand Doors of January is one of my favorites. Then came The Once and Future Witches, and I loved it just as much. I thought surely there's no way this next one could top either of those.

My goodness, I'm a damned fool.

I should have known better. I should have braced myself for compelling and colorful characters, a creative and page-turning plot, and gorgeous writing that conjures vibrant imagery. Instead, after tusseling with warring impulses to rush to see what happens and to slow down and savor the story, I finished the book with heartache and a full-on book hangover.

Our main character is the surly, clever, and spirited Opal. A survivor. Her commitment to ensuring that her little brother makes it - out of their run-down rural town and into a better life with opportunity - keeps her going. But she is haunted by her past, filled with loss, trauma, and neglect. In her dreams she is called to Starling House, an old, desolate mansion in town - eerie and mysterious, misty and sprawling. Its sole inhabitant, a tall, awkward, yet oddly alluring young man (I totally pictured Adam Driver lol), intrigues her for reasons she can't quite make sense of, causing her consternation. We are drawn into his perspective too, as we make our way deeper into Starling House and its history and secrets.

This book is absorbing and atmospheric. The House takes on its own life, a character unto itself. And the characters surrounding Opal are endearing. I also appreciated the themes and how they enriched the plot. Poverty, capitalism, the legacy of colonization, degradation of the environment, misogyny, privilege and greed. Descendents of colonizers working to undo the harms their ancestors perpetrated. And tenderly, found family, connection, and even romance in unexpected places.

So grateful to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced audiobook! The narrator does a fantastic job giving voice to the characters and lifting the stunning prose from ink to ear.

A must read for fans of magical realism and Gothic tales. Aptly it comes out on Halloween!

I had a hard time with this audio because of the narrator reading the footnotes which disrupted the plot a bit. I’m not one for reading footnotes in general and I get distracted easily if the audiobook isn’t entertaining with a vivid plot. By having the narrator read these during the plot, it distracted me too much to enjoy this and I DNF’d at 40%. I will try to read a physical or ebook copy instead. But if you like audio, mind the footnotes being read too.

Starling House was a delight! I've absolutely flat-out ADORED Harrow's short fiction, but I came away from my first encounter with a long-form work of hers (Ten Thousand Doors of January) mostly liking it but with some mixed feelings. Starling House coheres better and the pacing works better for me than it did in TTDoJ. I had trouble putting this one down and I really relished the mythic elements. I appreciated that while there is a relationship that might become romantic, it isn't insta-love and it doesnt become the sole focus of the main character's world; her close relationship with her brother gets equal billing. She also comes to appreciate a relationship she hadn't realized was found-family parental until the events in the book. (Speaking of whom, I was quite invested in / touched by a relationship between two side characters and would love to read a spin-off story about them.)

I liked the highlighting in the story of what living with poverty and barely getting by looks like, with the one caveat being that at some point lines like "not for someone like me / for people like us" got a bit repetitive.

The narration for the audiobook is excellent!

Alix E. Harrow is one of my favorite authors of all time. How does she just keep getting better and better?!

Starling House was probably my favorite book she's written so far. Combine a small town with a big Evilcorp and an old ghost story, the big sister who will do ANYTHING and cross any line for her sibling, with an enemies to lovers romance that just makes sense? Alllllll the things I love. Seriously, the big sister trope is MY JAM.

Unfortunately this dreaded app deleted my longer review, but suffice to say this is in my top 5 books of 2023.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a story set in Eden, Kentucky; a town with a dark, haunting history complete with a forbidding mansion, meddling corrupt town members, and deliciously real characters. Harrow is able to blend gothic horror, modern fantasy, romance, and fairytales into an almost familiar yet classic feeling story.

The audiobook is narrated by Natalie Naudus, who did a fantastic job. With wonderful pacing and character distinction, she really brought the story to life.

You may like this book if you enjoy found family, stubborn protagonists, and all the fall spooky vibes.

Unfortunately Starling House, for me, goes in the "I'm never going to finish this" pile.

I found the characters to be so surface level, the mystery of the house is equally surface level to me, and the pacing just felt very off. I made it roughly 25% of the way into the book and it feel like it was just dragging on. At that point there still was not enough for me to hook my interest into continuing with this story so I put it down and after two weeks I still had no desire to continue.

Additionally, there was nothing significant enough to hold within my memory either? only two weeks had passed (and I remember stories very well) and I honestly could not have told you what had happened in the first 100 pages if you paid me.

Starling House was an unfortunate no for me but I really did enjoy this others other book The Ten Thousand Doors of January! So if gothic mysteries aren't your vibe I would certainly check out her other works.

Thank you Netgalley for the ALC

This is a beautiful story. The layers of this plot, the gothic elements, the depth of the characters all create an atmospheric novel. The premise of this novel is also one that I've never encountered before. Great read!

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillion Audio for an ALC copy of this much anticipated novel!

First, as this is an audiobook, I need to comment on the narrator. I'm almost positive I've had her narrate several things in the past and she's one of my favs! She's so easy to listen to and is an all around excellent storyteller.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORED IT. I loved the world building, the humor (I giggled quite a few times), the banter, the relationships between everyone....

It's truly going to be a favorite of 2023, no doubt.

This was an overall miss for me. I wanted to like it and I tried extremely hard to get into it (I read the first several chapters 3x), but it fell short of enjoyment. First, the audiobook had absolutely no business being 12.5 hours long when the physical copy is only 320 pages, no matter what speed you listen. Second, the not all of the footnotes add direct value to the present narrative so it’s very irritating to be pulled out of the story because the audio forces the reader through them. Third, it continuously flipped between interesting and unbearably boring so the pacing was off. Last but not least, it would have been a better read without the romance subplot—and that’s coming from an avid Romance genre reader.

I liked the setting but questioned why no one had any drawl to their accent whatsoever? The reveal keep reading to the end but honestly I’m a bit disappointed in it for the eons it took to get there. I wanted more gothic atmospheric vibes, more from the house, more from the monsters… everything was a good idea but the execution left me wanting.

This was such an unusual read. I think another reviewer described it as a “gothic fairytale,” which sounds on point. The narrator and her brother live in a motel in a a sad little town. The mysterious Starling House is the cause of most rumors in town. As with rumors, there is always a little truth in these. As the story progresses you find out more about the Starling and Gravely families and a history of bad behavior that has haunted the town for hundreds of years. It was such a unique, refreshing tale. Bravo!!

What an absolutely beautiful, hilariously narrated, low key spooky but not scary book with found family, a self-actualization journey, a slight hint of romance, a haunted house, and multiple forms of representation in the cast of characters.

I loved Opal's narrative voice (and the audiobook narrator did a great job!) and having the chance to read from her mind, but also getting some POV of the MMC was really cool!

I can tell you right now, I don't ever want to step foot inside Starling House, but I will read this book again and again just to remind myself of it.

I devoured this. I am a huge fan of southern gothic vibes in books and this had everything I need to give just those vibes.

Every time I thought I had it figured out, I didn’t.

Recap:

if you like
- found family
- haunted houses
- lightly spooky southern gothic vibes
- peace by taylor swift

then i recommend this book!

Thank you SO much to Netgalley & Macmillan for providing me this early review copy!

I loved parts of Starling House.

The story starts strong, with all the spooky vibes of a gothic novel. I felt the tension, and the questionable activity within the house had me on edge.

Then we veered into a lot of drama with a YA vibe, as well as a budding love/hate romance. I wanted more of the claustrophobic gothic feel, more about what was going on within the house, and less of the dramatics.

The final quarter ramps up the pace and creepiness, providing a wild ride to the end.

The overall focus was on elements of family, belonging, and finding your place in the world, which was fine, but not the gothic tale I was expecting. I’m not sure it all quite fit together for me.

Natalie Naudus, the narrator, did an excellent job and kept me fully engaged throughout.

*On a side note, this story incorporates footnotes, which jarred me out of the story each time and didn’t add enough substance to make a difference.*

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free download!

This is a well written book full of pathos, a bit of mystery, some supernatural dealings, and a main character who is neither stupid nor helpless. The action flows smoothly and all the characters have realistic motivations for what they do. I especially appreciated that no one was overidealized and that the romance had a good pace.

Story: Opal lost her mother when young and now, in her late 20s, does whatever she can to raise her much younger brother alone. It isn't easy being from the wrong side of town and living in a motel under the charity of one of her wild mother's friends. But what is important to Opal is that she gets her brother out of their small town of Eden, Kentucky, to a place his talents can shine. But Opal has always been haunted by the car accident that took her mother's life and nearly cost her her own. Worse, she always dreams about the mysterious Starling House. When fate brings her a chance to make more money by working there, she will find that there is much more to her dreams than she ever suspected.

I really liked the main character, Opal. She is nuanced - not a perfect person and with a past of doing what it takes to survive: whether shoplifting, fast talking, and scrabbling to find funds for food and necessities. The characters around her are similarly nuanced with both good and bad traits that make them human. Romance interest Arthur is more periphery in the story and is not there to save Opal. He is dealing with his own past and demons (literal and figurative) and has a hard time relating to tough as nails Opal as a result. There is no instaluv here and we can understand fully what draws the two together.

The book is nicely atmospheric and everything you would expect from a Southern Gothic. There is a bit of the horror but not so much that it is terrifying or gory. The supernatural elements are reserved more for the end of the story and therefore don't upstage the characters at any point. The pacing moves well and the ending is satisfying. Both Opal and Arthur are characters for whom you want to cheer and root. Arthur gets some POVs but for the most part, this is really Opal's story.

In all, a great read. I listened to the audio book and the narrator did an excellent job of fleshing out the story. I would have wished she had a Kentucky accent but in all it was a quality narration well worth the listen. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a hauntingly beautiful gothic fantasy with a unique world with the right balance of wonder and eerie. This world beyond a world is navigated by a unique heroine that is vulnerable and honest in a relatable way, that you cannot help but imagine her flaws as your own. Harrow’s unique narrative structure goes hand-in-hand with her prose, allowing for the reader to trust her on this journey to unlock the questions of the enigmatic Starling House. Natalie's narration style and pitch was perfect for this story, adding to the gothic aesthetic of Starling House.

Opal and her brother, Jasper are a couple of orphaned kids from the wrong side of the tracks. Opal has raised her brother ever since their mom died in a car accident and she's been working hard to save enough to get Jasper into a good school to have a better life.

Starling House is a place surrounded in mystery, town lore, and dark mists. Opal has been obsessed with it her whole life. Then one night she sees a young man behind it's gates who gives her the opportunity to change things.

Gothic and atmospheric, this book was full of all the things I like about the genre: ghosts, monsters, brooding men, and an angsty protagonist. I loved the Lore surrounding Starling House, and the creepy children's book written about it (reminiscent of Shea Earnshaw's A History of Wild Places).

For the most part I liked everything pretty well. Opal's angst wasn't too petulant, the broody Arthur was very dramatic. It was good moody fun.

Unfortunately in having to listen to this by audiobook, the intimacy scene wasn't so easy to skip over. It also occurs to me that it was entirely unnecessary to the plot or romance of the book to have the main players sleep with one another. .

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in advance.

I felt the production quality was outstanding, the narrator did a great job keeping clear who was speaking. I was impressed that the inclusion of footnotes in this book didn't detract from the narration, and pleasantly surprised at the mild academia vibes it inspired in the general atmosphere of the novel itself.

I don't feel this accomplished horror, but I don't think it was necessarily meant to either, in the same sense that vampire novels aren't horror novels at their heart. It had spooky elements, and paranormal inclusion, without pushing to be horror. A nice blend of YA tropes in a gothic backdrop. I loved the characters and how central this "haunted" house was to the story, to the point it felt like its own character.

I look forward to adding more by this author into my rotation.

Not a perfect five star for me, but very close. I have a hard time relating to a character who is intended to be very strong willed, but who consistently flounders when making choices. If she can't leave, and fears drawing attention to her false identities, why risk such petty crimes so often?

Even so, I enjoyed the harmless criminal part of her personality to not be overly put out by it.

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC.

4 out of 5⭐ for a riveting plot that would have been better suited had the setting been elsewhere.

Starling House is a gothic fantasy novel that centers around two siblings doing their best to stay afloat in a fictionalized Eden, Kentucky--a community that does not want them there.

The citizens of Eden are submerged in a world of keeping up appearances; the misery of life is ignored, forgotten, or outright erased from the minds of the public at large.

Opal and Jasper, constant reminders that the tragedies of life exist in Eden as much as anywhere else, are pariahs of their own making: Opal refuses to blend in and Jasper can't. Orphaned when Opal was a teenager and Jasper a wee child, Opal's entire life beyond that point has orbited around the need to take care of Jasper on her own--at the expense of her reputation and the luxury of moral fiber. When she sees the opportunity to fully pay for Jasper's admittance to an out of town private school, she barely hesitates to take up on it even though it's money from someone with a reputation more notorious than hers.

Since childhood, Opal's barely restrained an unseemly obsession with the notable Starling House, a property everyone in Eden wishes would be swallowed by a sinkhole, and when desperation pushes her to unleash her curiosity, she lands herself a job there as housekeeper for its sole occupant, Arthur Sterling. If she can manage to keep it, the job will provide Jasper a way out within months, and, despite the prickly nature of her boss, Opal's obsession blooms into full on love for the house as she brings it back to life bit by bit--lulling her into the sense that maybe she belongs there.

But Starling House, and its owner, has deep secrets. Secrets that could destroy Starling House. Secrets that will destroy the town of Eden if Opal doesn't help Arthur Starling bring the truth to light.

And you can't have a home if it's gone.

I really enjoyed the story and found myself invested in it immediately. The audiobook was an utter delight to listen to and made the 4th Wall bending footnotes very entertaining and more poignant.

Love, and the lack of, it is a central theme to the novel; love, in all of its manifestations, enhances the plot and moves it forward in delicate, winding fashion. The romance between Opal and Arthur Starling is a tender slow burn filled with sparks as it goes from matchstick flame to a well lit fireplace that will make your heart skip while the love of the found family with in the novel will warm it. Starling House is a prime example of how intricate to life love, in any form, is.

The only critique I have for the novel is that it would've been better served being set somewhere in Europe rather than the Southern US due to the complex mixture of the active presence, and the lack of it, of racial diversity in relation to its historical precedence within the narrative.