Wow this exceeded my expectations for a horror/dark fantasy book - the story is a thinly veiled portrayal of generational trauma and the strength it takes to break that cycle - but the writing was excellent, the characters complex and sympathetic and the atmosphere was perfectly gothic.
Really enjoyed this and recommend!

Mysterious and chilling I found this a really interesting read with lots of atmosphere. A new author to me and someone I will definitely read again!!

Complete beauty and the beast vibes.
So this book wasn't really for me I can see the appeal, the themes and the writing was fantastic

I was really excited about this book but it didn’t quite hit the spot for me and I think that it’s possible I just wasn’t in the right mood for it - I may come back after a reread and adjust my rating.

The story was a little too slow for me and I found myself putting this down and finding something else to read. I didn’t expect that from the synopsis- I was expecting something that would keep me gripped throughout.

I had to double check Opal’s age as I thought she was a lot younger that what I think she’s actually supposed to be? The book just really wasn’t what I was expecting?

Another one I am really glad that I left for winter nights it was a perfect cosy winter night read so grab your blanket and your cup of tea! A gothic, atmospheric book with a strong female character as well as a realistic love interest could I say. I thought it was so well written and I am really keen to read more by this author.

this was better than i even imagines, such an eerie, creepy, gothic atmospheric book with small town vibes and a haunted mansion, perfect for fall time spooky season reading.
the story was very unique, unlike anything else i have read before and the characters were fleshed out well and each had individuality and their own rounded story.
the story starts with a young girl struggling to make ends meet for herself and her younger brother, and relying on the charity of others, and then suddenly she feels a pull to the big "haunted" house in town and meets its lonesome resident and everything just unfurls from there. except smalls town mysteries to be unveiled and crooks at play.

“Starling House” is my favorite Alix E. Harrow book so far! The pacing, the characters and the atmosphere are all immaculate. If you’re the type of reader who loves matching their books with the season, this one would be perfect for for autumn & Halloween.

I loved, loved, loved Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches as well as The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so when Starling House was published last year, I was excited to have another full-length novel from a favourite author.

I’ll be honest, I just couldn’t make it through the first part of the book. Fast-forward by a year and, well, still hadn’t read it. So I went for my trusted audiobook support and, thanks to it, flew through the Starling House, at last.

The narration was excellent, conveying the exact moody and gothic-y feel I’d expect. The story was rich, sinister, mixing the story of mysterious house with a soul of its own and its troubled inhabitants and caretakers.

I very much enjoyed the listen — perhaps in book form it would’ve been a bit too long for me, but the audio narration carried me through and I’m glad I finally got to it.

Now very much looking forward to what the author dishes up next.

Alix E. Harrow is an author who is always on my preorder list.
This book was no exception I read it all in one sitting and couldn't put it down.
The haunted house almost felt like a character itself landing to it's gothic presence.

Alix E. Harrow has a unique way of creating the best, dark and gothic tales. Educational tales like the old ones that made it through time and I know that it sounds much exaggerated and cheesy but I dare you to prove me otherwise.

The storyline as it is the case with all of her books, is distinctive, special. It is action packed and super intriguing. The characters have their own identity and they don’t feel like fictional. The length and the pace of the book are ideal for this tale.

However, what really amazed me this time is the exquisite ability of describing the character’s emotions. It is so remarkable to be able to describe a fictional emotional situation with such acuity and precision.

Finally, I liked the pace of the book too. It was easy to read but had enough action to not be a bore. All in all, I know that reviews are totally varied but I definitely recommend it!

First I would like to say thanks to Netgalley for giving me early access to this book prior to release. All opinions on the book are my own.

This was a perfect read for Halloween, it was thrillingly haunting and the atmosphere was eerie! Honestly just what I wanted, thoroughly enjoyed!

Starling House is, to put it mildly, astonishing. A modern fairytale that I believe will long be thought of as quintessential Harrow. It took me a while to read it – my apologises – but back in January I was so enthralled by it I found myself trying to read pages of it on the app at the gap between bands at Bring Me the Horizon – you can imagine how loud it was and how captivating the book had to be for me to want to do this. It’s one I will be purchasing in physical form and reading again and again in the future.

Cover:
So we know that the starlings on the cover really set this off, I love the colours and how they complement each other, its a design that sings to my soul! I also am very lucky to own a Illumicrate edition and that cover had a special something something too!

Writing:
Harrow writes so well, it was written in a slow-burn way and it was moody and and atmospheric, I got my Gothic Romance fix here. The problem? It was a little too short - I could have read another 150 pages and I think it would have added to the story. I appreciated the footnotes!

Plot:
Gothic haunted house and someone who is struggling with life, has never had things handed to them on a plate. Yep, we had it here. Write it but make it modern and relevant? Check. I felt a 'found family' building on the side-lines in this, I'm not sure if it was intentional.

Characters:
I loved Opal! She was developed like a 'street-wise' person and she'd just give her arm for those she loves, that's the vibes I was getting here! What do I wish? The house was a character in its own right, I love it when the house is a character and I didn't get that from this book. It would have been the cherry on the top and I'd have smashed my face in that cake!

Romance/ Relationships:
The Romance was a little off here, it was ok, but it was very 'nope' and then 'yes!' I didn't feel the graduation - but it was penned in a Beauty and the Beast fashion. The relationship I held onto for this book was that of Opal and her brother Jasper. I FELT that one.

Audio & Narration:
Natalie Naudus - Not my first rodeo with this narrator, but she ticks all the boxes. It was well paced, clearly annunciate and you know when you can tell a narrator puts on the hat and says I get this character, I'm invested and I'm in that space? Naudus does this and it oozes the emotion it required.

This was a really interesting take on gothic fiction. It had all the elements of gothic fiction that I love - a semi-dilapidated house with a mysterious male inhabitant, underworld beasts, a gritty female lead, etc. etc. I love the idea of the house having emotions and reacting to the people that it choses to be its wardens. I have to admit, I found it difficult to follow the exact stories of how the beasts came to be there, what Arthur's intentions were to try and stop them, but all in all this didn't take away from the fact that it was a very enjoyable and gripping story to read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC. I apologise for getting to it so late but it was worth the wait!

This is my first time reading this author and WOW I can’t wait to read more! Her writing is absolutely stunning and the story itself was so clever and unique. I never thought I would think a house had a cute personality but Starling House was so adorable. It reminded me of Monster House. Opal was a really interesting character who at times did some frustrating things but the author did an amazing job of fleshing out her character and showing us why she made those decisions. I liked Jasper but I thought at times he could be really snarky and ungrateful considering what Opal had been through to look after him. At first I thought Arthur was incredibly boring but then we got to know him and I ended up falling in love with him and also his relationship with Opal.

We also have a found family aspect which I always enjoy and the discussion on what a “home” really is was heartwarming. I genuinely teared up at multiple points I was rooting for the characters so badly. Eden and Starling House were such atmospheric settings as well. I 100% recommend this, especially at this time of year! This was released last year on 31st October.

Starling House by Alix. E. Harrow.

4 STARS.

Harrow has fast become one of my favourite authors for the quirky, unique stories set in a not so different world to our own. Starling House is no different. A spooky, atmospheric read- perfect for Halloween and cold winter months.

Thank you, NetGalley & Pan Macmillan, for approving this ARC.

This book was so good that it has that gothic, haunting vibe and is a perfect read for the cosy autumnal seasons.

The book is set around a house that seems to be haunted, and the change in owners (the Starlings) after each previous owner passes away suddenly.

Opal has been looking after her younger brother for years since their mum died when they were both really young. She's always felt drawn to Starling House and often dreams very strange dreams about it, esp since its 1st owner wrote a book that was on the creepy/horror side 100s of years ago and she loved it as a kid.

After being at a deadend job, stealing and doing whatever she can to help get her brother out of town once he graduates, she ends up going straight up to Starling house front door where she meets the latest owner Arthur who is a kind of odd looking recluse and he ends up offering her a cleaning job with a very good salary.

Opal finds that while the house is a mess and hasn't been cleaned in what feels like years, it also seems like it has its own mind, and she often finds it seems to change.

We see her and Arthur drawn to each other, and with years of the towns bad luck and mysterious deaths, we delve into this world, which showcases how there are always different versions of the truth.

I think every community has a house that attracts some form of mystery and danger to it. The one that we think someone lives in but clearly does not like to look after it or appear in daylight. The real reasons for this are often sad and a reminder of how fragile our welfare systems are but human imagination being what it is no doubt we create stories about the lives and secrets we think those walls are seeing. Strange houses abound in fiction from hill House to Manderley and now Alix E Harrow adds in their fantasy novel Starling House a new one to the fantasy estate agent’s directory but ultimately, I found this very disappointing.

In the Kentucky town of Eden lies Starling House, built by a reclusive author of a infamous children’s book who also is suspected of involvement in her husband’s death. It lies locked off from the public. Opal is a twenty-something sometimes shop-worker and occasional thief and fraudster, trying desperately to pay for her brother’s education. She is though fascinated by Starling House and an encounter with the young and disturbing Arthur Starling - the house’s current owner leads to a job offer. But agendas are at work. Arthur knows the house wants Opal, the mysterious industrial giant that owns and pollutes the town is also interested and Opal is finding her own past is getting tied to Starling House.

I love the idea of Starling House. It is tying into the Gothic romances into the modern day. It ties into the dark side of portal fantasies where we have dark worlds that we must enter and wonder as adults. It looks at the idea of a town being corrupted by the dark corporation that sits inside it and is a tale of many families over generations and their secrets. Unfortunately, it is also feeling a curious mix of overcooked on plot and undercooked on delivery.

A huge problem I have here is the voice Harrow has opted for. It’s a curious mix of Opal’s voice telling her sections, Arthur’s scenes in third person and interspersed with book excerpts or stories related by other characters plus some interesting footnotes explaining or challenging the facts we hear. But Opal’s actual speech and thoughts don’t match the writing sand all these various narrators sound the same. Character voices that all sound the same really take me out of the story and you start to feel the artifice of the plotting. There are lines here that perhaps aim for the gothic, but I sense feel more like in certain classroom when teachers would say a phrase, stop and make us all note that this was an interesting character or plot point. Again, I feel like a book that is trying hard to create a certain style, but it is not breathing naturally. The gothic should cast a spell with narration and not make me see the framework the scenery is all hanging off.

The other major issue I have is pacing. As I’ve alluded this book has lots of ideas and it seems uncomfortable exploring anything in detail we jump from one to the other very fast and for me it doesn’t come together very well at all. Its very jumpy and feels unusually like a few hundred pages could really have been useful to make the town of Eden, its characters and history come alive and we feel this dark tortured place in need of help. I can see things I enjoy - a nice beauty and the beast parallel here, a touch of modern folklore there, a trip to a strange fantasy land and a cute magical house but its not gelling for me as a story to fall into.

Regularly throughout Starling House as one of those important points we are told can you have a horror story and a romance at the same time – of course the answer is yes. But unfortunately for me this book fails at being any of those. It clearly loves the subject matter but feels reluctant to stay true to the delivery of these stories. I sadly cannot recommend it.

tarling House features a sentient house, demon ghost monsters and brooding wardens. An eerie fantasy that hooks you from the beginning with dark magic.

I’ve not read a dark fantasy like this before and I freaking loved it. From the very beginning, it sets up a suffocating atmosphere. All through the book it builds the tension exquisitely and balances this with incredible banter. There’s dark academia vibes woven in too.

Relationships were everything in this book - both good and bad. There’s evil rich (cursed) people, siblings who only have each other, found family and reluctant lovers.

It lost a star from me because the epilogue was just meh. For me it undercut the story, made it more confusing and left me with too many questions.

Having said that, this is a wonderful book. It transports you to a world that’s gritty and real, but still has room for magic. Completely recommend picking this one up!

Huge thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance copy in return for a review.

This is a book that surprised me (in a good way). I went in not knowing much, thinking it was going to be a story just about a spooky house but it becomes much more. It starts quite simply as a girl cleaning the house as she needs the money, and by the end has evolved into a layered story with characters of different generations experiencing varying historic and modern struggles. It has fairytale elements to it (not just a gothic beauty and the beast retelling), a great cast of flawed heroes and villains, found family and monsters in many forms. I really enjoyed it, especially as we are moving into the colder darker months.