I’ve never read this author, but I was looking for an audio to listen to and review and this cover is gorgeous, so, I requested it and ended up really enjoying it. It’s not like gross horror… I could definitely visualize Starling House and it’s filth, I could certainly feel the tension in this town and the love between Opal and her brother. I enjoyed the lesser characters like the librarian and motel owner and I felt very connected.
And, while the house itself and the misters are scary, that small town energy of gudginess and disgust toward poverty and outsiders is what REALLY felt gross and accurate to me. The villains of these big companies out for greed instead of helping small town America is REAL. And those aspects are what really sold this book for me.
This audio is well done and this book def has some good vibes for a fall release. Spooky and mysterious but not like overly horror.

Starling House was riveting and magical! Perfect for spooky season or any time life could use a little creepy magic, sarcasm, and a eerily haunted house.

Opal needs to take care of her brother. What she wants isn't important. It can't be.

But she also dreams of Starling House, an eerie house surrounded by rumors and an iron-clad gate. When Starling House becomes her path to getting what she needs, could she also get what she wants?

The audiobook is narrated by Natalie Naudus, my absolute favorite narrator! She breathes life into every character, especially Opal.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alix Harrow for providing an advanced audiobook version

Eden, Kentucky is not a lucky town for anyone. It's even unluckier for Opal, a cynical orphan who works part-time as a cashier and attempts to raise her baby brother Jasper. But Eden, Kentucky has more than just bad luck, it has the Starling House. Former home of morbid children's author E. Starling, the Starling house is far more than just an imposing Southern Mansion. It's a current resident Arthur is a mystery into himself. Opal has dreamed of the Starling House for most of her life, and when given the opportunity to work at it, she jumps at the chance to see inside, and the money it will provide. Unbeknownst to Opal, Starling House is far more than a vaguely decrepit mansion and has its own host of nightmares seeking the light.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Starling House, it's the southern gothic fairytale that I have been craving. Filled with complicated and often morally grey characters. Opal is a fantastically complicated character, filled with an incredible amount of sarcasm, and a surprising amount of compassion. Compared to Arthur who is mysterious to his core, and makes for a brilliant gothic romance companion. Bonus points for having a Hellcat in the story too. And I would be remiss if I did not mention Starling House itself, no good Gothic story is complete without a mansion. This one just happens to be sentient. The whole story oozes with atmosphere, and I can almost smell the hot summer nights in Eden, Kentucky. Nights filled with an eerie, unexplainable mist with hints of honeysuckle. An excellent read for the spooky season. Filled with the perfect combination of the unearthly and moments of coziness, the Starling House should immediately go on your TBR for October.

Starling House is a beautiful gothic fairytale. The moments in the mansion were dark, somewhat cozy, and atmospheric. I didn’t expect to love this novel as much as I did. I have enjoyed Harrow’s previous works but this is definitely the author at her best. The dual points of view, both from Arthur in third person and Opal in first, were masterfully used, with both of them being incredibly addicting for the reader.
Harrow’s world-building was also best it’s been. She has taken her craft, which was elevated in a Splinted Spindle, up a notch crafting a creepy and mythical Underworld with Gaiman-esque nods.
If you were a fan of V.E. Schwab’s Gallant or Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, you need to pick up this book for the perfect fall-themed fantastical read.

All Opal wants its to ensure that her 16 year old younger brother, Jasper, can get out of their deadbeat town Eden, Louisianna. To help make additional money to send him to private school, she starts working as a housekeeper to Starling House and its sole inhabitant, a gaunt young man, Arthur Starling. Arthur is a gaunt, sullen, young man who the town has always gossiped about as a troubling and unfeeling human. It’s rumored he didn’t even cry when he found his parents, dead, when he was only a kid.
But if she’s being honest with herself, it isn’t just the money that drew her there. It was the never-ending dreams about the mansion she’s been having since she was 12. As she starts her work, she feels the mansion come to life under her care.
In a parallel perspective, Arthur isn’t sure why he let Opal start to work for him. Maybe it was his ever-ending loneliness. Maybe he didn’t have much of a choice as the House seemed to be calling to Opal. Regardless of the reason, Arthur is barely staying alive as the Warden of Starling House, who is tasked to slay the creatures that come at dusk in order to keep them from roaming into town.
As Opal and Arthur spend more time together, the stakes start heightening. The Gravely family, which owns most of the town, is trying to get onto the Starling House acreage to expand, blackmailing Opal for her cooperation. Meanwhile, the mist brought on by the creatures is increasing. Together Opal and Arthur are working to keep the house functioning and the creatures from coming in. Despite the Underworld having some other plans.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced audiobook copy for my honest review

I love Alix Harrow's books, as a rule, and when I saw _Starling House_ on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it.

She doesn't disappoint. She is a beautiful writer, and paints a picture with words in a way I aspire to.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this fantastic alc!

4.5/5 stars rounded up!

I loved this! Creepy monsters? Check! Mysterious storybook? Check! A sentient house? Check! Surprise romance?! Double check!!

I've been wanting to read Alix E Harrows books for some time and I'm so glad I finally got to read one! This was just such a good story. The characters were all so rich and unique, and the character development that took place was also fantastic! I love the fantasy elements in this. Fantastic read!

Peak spooky season read! I really liked the concept of this book, and the character growth for Opal and Arthur. A mystical house that chooses its owner, underground beasts, an eerie mist, corrupt people, and grown up lost kids looking for a place to belong. Count me in.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

I both loved and was frustrated by this book. I love descriptive language, but there was 60% too much in this book, to the detriment of the plot. I found myself wishing for more forward momentum and character development over floral language. All in all a fun title, but really could have used some trimming.

4.5 stars rounded up

A character-driven gothic tale about money, power, small town secrets, older sisters having to grow up too fast, and environmental damage in middle America, Starling House is at once disturbing and hopeful. And the titular Starling House is something like sentient, haunted not by ghosts, but by monsters and dark secrets. It is also a love story about two broken people finding home.

I'm a bit hit and miss with Alix E. Harrow, but I really liked Starling House. It's atmospheric with interesting secrets, but the foundation of the story is the main characters Opal and Arthur. The novel is set in small-town Eden, Kentucky where coal mines and the mysterious Starling House (former home of a reclusive author of a creepy children's book) are its only claim to fame.

Opal is 18 (maybe 19?) and living in a hotel room with her asthmatic teenage brother, struggling to make ends meet since their mom died and desperate to make a way for him to get out of town and have better opportunities. Which is why she takes a job cleaning at Starling House where only the young and brooding heir to the property now resides. But there are strange things about the house, dangerous secrets, and polished blonde businesswoman who will do anything to get her hands on them...

This was thoughtful and well-paced with characters who feel real even if the things happening around them might not be. A great book heading into fall. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings include grief, death, abuse, incest (attempted, not graphic or involving main characters), bloodletting, depressive episodes including with use of alcohol, drugging

Opal has lived a hard life in a decaying town in Kentucky. Through determination, work, and stealing, she kept things going for herself and her younger brother after her mother died. But in her dreams, she keeps seeing things in Starling House, a mansion in the town she’s never actually seen. Until one night when she goes by the gates and the house invites her in. This was a wonderful fantasy about dreams, life, and the longing for home, told in the prose that Alix E. Harrow is known for. I enjoyed it

Thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

This dark gothic story was wrapped in a shear scarf of whimsy thanks to the love developed between Opal and Arthur. I loved the description of the house and the magical draw it has on Opal. I love that it took actual monsters from a girls imagination to allow her to see the love and kindness that has blanketed her hard life. The lesson of creating your own happiness to change your surroundings is key for Opal and Arthur to both learn.

There were some things that confused me through out the book. I didn’t understand the beasts or the mist that Arthur kept fighting until the very end. And I was really lost on the whole “entering the Underworld”.

I still enjoyed the book and am so glad to have read it!

4 stars

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Well isn't this just the perfect read to get you ready for spooky season! STARLING HOUSE is just creepy enough to keep readers on the edge of their seat anticipating what's going to happen next - especially when more information about The Underland is exposed. And the house? Oh Starling House is a beautiful gothic sentient being that I would give almost anything to explore.

Side note - I LOVED the brief Little Shop of Horrors reference early on in the novel and that one of the few people in Opal's corner is the local librarian (which isn't giving that character quite enough credit but I don't want to include any spoilers).

Speaking of Opal, she is scrappy and is fiercely protective of the few people she cares about. I thoroughly enjoy when our "hero" is morally gray. Arthur is an interesting recluse as is how and why he's tied to Starling House.

The mystery is interesting and the conclusion of the conflict is satisfying. While this is perfect as a standalone, I wouldn't say no to a novella giving readers an update on what happens next. Overall, Harrow has done it again with a compelling read seeped in the traditions of the gothic novel.

Natalie Naudus does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

Strange, deep and hopeful- a story where the real horror is provided not by the monsters, but by men.

Starling House is one of my new favourite stories 💙 it's a perfect autumn read, so go preorder it so you can enjoy it in the first days of October! Besides, isn't it gorgeous?

Opal quickly became one of my new fictional friends. Or at least I became hers, she would definitely not warm up easily to a stranger. She has learnt to separate wants from needs, and pours her every waking moment into her goal, to save her brother from the life they got stuck in. Well-meaning but clueless, it takes literal monsters to make her open her eyes to the glimpses of kindness all around her. Random thing I loved about her: Opal's reaction to people's attacks is not fight or flight, it's fawn. She's very aware of it, but it's still coming out as an armour against the world. Did I mention I think we could be friends?

I listened to the ARC and I want to go back and read it slowly to soak in every word. I absolutely loved the narration- Natalie Naudus is simply fantastic and she makes the characters' voices truly come to life 🤎

ALL the stars and a permanent rent-free spot in my brain 🖤

The audiobook format enhances the storytelling feel, and I highly recommend it!
_____
"He is a ghost, a rumor, a story whispered after the children have gone to bed, and she was cold and hurt, all in the rising dark—and yet she hadn't run from him until he told her to. The House has always had a taste for the brave ones."

On the surface, STARLING HOUSE is a tale about a boy and a girl striving to keep the monsters at bay, but there are layers that go far deeper than the story itself. Touching on themes of mental health, abuse, privilege, and family, Harrow simultaneously offers a compelling tale while encouraging readers to think about all of the messy emotions that make us human. The writing was stunning and poignant, filled with beautiful passages.

Starling House emerges from the dark like a vast animal from its den: a gabled spine, wings of pale stone, a tower with a single amber eye. Steep steps curled like a tail around its feet.

I absolutely loved how the story of the house evolved throughout novel, bringing the reader closer to the truth with each iteration. I wanted just a tad more from the horror element, but overall, I was impressed. STARLING HOUSE is the perfect read for anyone looking for spooky, Gothic vibes, and its release times perfectly with the season. Thank you, MacMillan Audio, for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. As one of my highly anticipated reads, this one did not disappoint!

"It's difficult for predators to imagine teeth closing around their own throats. They don't have the right instincts".

"Can you imagine it? A world that bent to your every whim, where any story you chose to tell became the truth, simply because you said it?"

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio and Tor Books for allowing me the opportunity to listen to this book prior to release in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve recently been diving into gothic stories, having first gotten a delicious taste via Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House and Hell Bent. This definitely scratched a bit of that itch for gothic hauntings and demonic dealings.

Starling House is the story of Opal, an orphan whose entire life seems to be one string of back luck after another. But along side the constant bad luck, there is another constant in her life: Dreams. Dreams of a house that calls to her, hallways and staircases she’s never seen. And a yearning… an itch deep in her soul that seemed to only be scratched by the curious and supposedly haunted, Starling House. When she begins to work there as a cleaning lady, her search for truth reveals answers she never expected.

Starling House is told from two point of views, mostly from Opal, our heroine, but also from Arthur - the current warden of Starling House. Scattered through out the story are footnotes and comments, as if the book we are reading is not a work of fiction but historical novel, laying out the true story of a cursed town. This little detail is slightly lost in the audio version of the book, however the narrator handled the footnotes and commentary well by changing her voice a bit, slipping out of character to read them like a professor reading from a textbook.

The characters are rich and believable. Opal herself is multidimensional and is written to undergo a beautiful transformative character arc. From an orphan who literally does anything and everything to ensure her brother wants for nothing to a Starling who expands her need to protect to encompass the whole cursed town. Arthur is introduced to us as a grumpy curmudgeon who is aged from carrying the weight of his self appointed task - to be the last warden of Starling House. He also, blossoms and opens up to Opal, giving us a beautiful slow burn that gently flows beneath the mysteries that lurk around every corner of the story.

And what mysteries they are. Everyone has secrets. Her brother Jasper has them, the lady who owns the inn has them, the history of the town has them. Every where she looks, there are secrets and truths that keep her moving forward towards the truth at the heart of Starling House, the town, and the curse that seems to hang over the town.

The atmosphere of the book is eerie, matching with the mist that births strange tales. It was delicious and kept me listening, hanging on to every word the narrator spoke. The plot kept moving on at a fair pace, picking up when needing to, slowing to allow the reader time to process new truths and more questions - but of course, not too much time. There is much more the tale is eager to unleash on us.

The ending was a glorious culmination of all the rumors and half-truths and fairy tales hints we had been given over the course of the book. A grand revealing that was unexpected and yet, made incredible amounts of sense. Overall well written and a strong finish to a strong addition to Fall TBRs.

Starling House is a wonderful gothic thriller, perfect for the upcoming spooky season. I greatly enjoyed it, especially as a fresh mind easing into the world of Gothic Horror/Thriller.

A scary children’s story. A creepy old house. A dying town. Some corrupt businessmen. A homeless brother and sister. A weird young man. Two intertwined families. Oh, and monsters from deep underground that rise with the mist to wreak havoc and kill. That is “The Starling House” in a nutshell.

I can’t decide if this is more horror or fantasy, so I’m going to call it forror, or maybe horrasy. No matter, I picked this book solely based on the author and her previous novel “The Ten Thousand Doors of January” (which I highly recommend, btw). I’m not much of a horror person, and this had just the right amount, let’s say a heavy pinch.

Did I like it? Yes. Did it live up to my expectations? I think so??? Would I recommend it? Yes.

Themes: 🏚️👻😈📖🗡️

My thoughts: 🤓🫣😬😵‍💫👍🏻

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I’m so glad I got the audio version of this book along with the electric version. It was long but kept my attention.

Picture this, a nowhere town that seems lost. There’s that creepy house at the end of the road that everyone detours around, but to one young lady it seems to beckon. Opal lives in a motel and works at a menial job, but she does what she has to do so her bright and talented brother can get out of town and have a better life. As Opal starts to research the creepy house, her research reveals more about the house’s past and her own as well. Follow Opal as she tries to make sense of it all and have a happy ending…or will she.

Starling House is a story about homes - how we make them, find them, defend them, and lose them. Bad luck is a permanent (and creepy) resident of Eden, Kentucky and the Opal and her little brother are not exempt - in fact, they're kind of magnets for it. Starling House has been pulling at Opal for years, and when she finally caves to the call, she finds a grim young man and an eccentric house (who is truly the best character of the whole book!). I remain staunch fan of Alix Harrow, and this latest book is no exception. It's a perfect, slightly dark read/listen for the summer or fall months. My only qualm is that, as with some of the author's previous books, I actually found the climax a bit... flat. I couldn't help but feel that I would rather have some of the words used there to be reallocated - do more, or use less. For example, there was a whole character/story line that was just sort wrapped up as a simple plot device that didn't have enough depth. But all in all, it's a riveting and darkly whimsical story and recommend it highly!

It's giving Winchester Mansion vibes but with monsters instead of ghosts and I'm here for it.

After much deliberation, I believe this to be a rounded up to four stars book. It wasn't quite what I expected--I wanted more haunted house to be very honest with you--but the story and the characters at its heart are truly wonderful. Some details were lost to me in their delivery, but the mystery that unravelled at the core about Opal, Arthur, and Starling House was well done and I really enjoyed it.