Starling House is the oddity in the town it resides in. It is the house the children cross the street to avoid. It is the house that teenagers dare each other to enter at night. It is the house that adults mutter about under their breath and curse quietly to each other. It is the house were Opal is now employed as its sole cleaner, although whether she chose the job or the house chose her to enter it remains to be seen.

I anticipated a haunted house story but what was delivered was something far more bewildering, magical, and unique. Just like Opal herself, Starling House and its sole inhabitant, are very misunderstood. They don't fit in with the town they reside in but have deep roots that prohibit them from leaving it behind. They are feared and disliked but once they have been given a proper polish you can see the beauty and the heart that they hide deep inside of themselves.

I found myself really loving this odd little tale. It is a difficult one to categorise or describe, but that is precisely the charm of it. Harrow's writing shone here and it was her lyrical quality than aided in bringing this house and this story to quirky life.

Alix E. Harrow is a blind buy author for me. I'll read anything (and everything) she writes, and savour the experience. Even her newsletters are fabulous! It takes me ages to read her books because I don't want them to end. And so to 'Starling House'... Something in the writing reminds me of Alice Hoffman (another absolute Goddess!) This latest offering from the Harrow house is further proof that Alix is not only a superb storyteller but a top class writer. Authors tend to fall into one category or the other. To be both (and to this level) is a rare gift indeed. I don't like to discuss plot in reviews - that's for you to discover for yourselves - but I enjoyed the positioning of Starling House as a character in the tale. The stunning illustrations were a gorgeous surprise! And can I get a "whoop whoop" for Bev and Charlotte, the real heroes of this story? Love them! 🙌🏻 I especially love the ways in which Alix E. Harrow incorporates musical, artistic and literary references. Because of that, I've rediscovered my love for John Prine. I adore this author and highly recommend this book. And I can't wait to find out what is coming next…

A gothic fantasy tale of immense quality, uncanny narration and beautifully written characters and storyline. This is the story of a dying town, and the people who still live there. It’s about the search for home, for a life worth living, for anything other than what you were born into or expected to be. Written with an epic and exacting prose, this is another gorgeous story from a gifted writer.

Nobody in Eden remembers when Starling House was built. But the town agrees it’s best to let the ill-omened house, and its lonely air, to be left to their own devices and wallow in misery. Stories of the houses bad luck, and its continual string of owners, has been passed down for generations. You would think Opal knows better that to be lured in by haunted houses, or brooding men. But when an opportunity arises, she grasps it with both bloody hands.

Starling House is uncanny and full of secrets, just like Arthur, it’s heir. Its definitely staring to feel strangely, and dangerously like something she’s never had before, a home. Opal isn’t the only one interested in the horrors and wonders that lie buried beneath the house. Sinister forces converge on Eden, and Opal realises that if she wants a home, she’s going to have to fight tooth and nail, to keep it. Even if it involves digging up her family’s ugly past to achieve a better future.

She’ll have to go dow, deep down beneath Starling House and claw her way back up to the light. This is a sweeping gothic fairytale about what we are willing to do to find a place to call our own, a question on what we are willing to do to keep our nightmares at bay, and what we are willing to do to protect those that we love. It was a sweeping, epic and eerie read that had shivers running down my spine and a fierce desire to keep reading to find out what happened next. I guess you could say I was hungry for more with an insatiable need to keep reading.

Thank you to Pan MacMillan for an advanced reader copy via NetGalley of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

I have a new favourite Alix E Harrow book! Starling House was such a great read, I sped through it not wanting to put it down. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Opal, our protagonist, has always been intrigued by Starling House. It's haunted her dreams and her thoughts but she no longer has time to think about that, she's determined to earn enough money to get her brother out of Eden and anything else has to wait. When an opportunity to see more of the house and still help her brother turns up, she can't resist despite the town's agreement that both the house and the Starling heir are bad news.

It's a very atmospheric book, with mists and otherworldly creatures, a town cursed with bad luck and a decrepit house that is a character in its own right. I loved getting to know the house, the stories surrounding it over the generations and Arthur Starling through Opal. Opal was my favourite character, she's single minded and kind of reckless. It was such a pleasure seeing her have the opportunity to get out of the pure survival mode that she's had to grow up in and want something for herself.

I felt like I sunk into this book. I wouldn't call it cosy, way too much peril for that but there was something comforting about it. I think there's a comfort in familiarity, the story didn't feel new but it felt right. Alix E Harrow takes a bunch of classic elements (the haunted house, the stoic caretaker, the girl who doesn't belong, a small town resistant to outsiders, scary creatures that come at night) and weaves it all together into a great story. A story that acknowledges the ugly side of people (and history) as well as making you value the good.

Starling House comes out on October 31st in the UK (I think today in the US). I got this eARC though Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Opal lives in the town of Eden with her brother Jasper. Since their mother died, they have been living in a motel. Eden and her brother just get by scrapping money and stealing to get food and clothes and medicine and a keep a roof over their head. The money Opal earns at her job at the Truck supply is put away for Jasper to leave Eden and never come back.
Eden is a town with a long run of bad luck and has a mysterious house called Starling house. Where legends says that bad things happen there and where there is another world under the house, where beasts and monster’s roam. Who ever enters the house never leaves.
Opal starts have dreams about the house which draws her closer to it and when she visits it, she meets Arthur who is the last warden of the house.
Wow, this is the third book by Alix E, Harrow that I have read, and it is a bit different to the previous ones I have read from the author. It is a more mystery and fairy tale story. But this is still a stunning, captivating read, and I couldn’t stop reading it. The only criticism I had was a bit confused about the ending. 4.5 stars from me.

In a small town in Kentucky, Opal and her half brother Jasper live in a motel room constantly scraping together enough money to pay for food, clothes and medicine. The town is home to a rich family who own the coal mine and are in charge of the power (and pollution) and Starling House is an enigmatic building with an equally mysterious inhabitant. The story follows Opal as she gets closer to the house and the myths and legends surrounding it. I found the portagonist Opal a great character - she's very flawed but has been supporting herself and her little brother for the past 12 years by lying, cheating and stealing as much as she needed to in order to keep them both ticking along. The side characters in the book were believable and fleshed out, with exception of Arthur - the warden of Starling House who was a bit too mysterious by the end of the book I wanted to know more about him (but that may be personal preference!). It's the first book I've read by this author but won't be the last.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SO GOOD. A mix of gothic mystery and classic ghost story, all wrapped up in social commentary, small town secrets, the dark underbelly of big business and how so often smaller voices are silenced.

A book with an FMC who is immediately likeable despite how badly she doesn't want to be liked - flawed, with a track record of bad decisions and nimble, thieving hands, Opal only wants one thing: for her younger brother Jasper to get out of Eden.

An MMC tied to a destiny he felt he had to choose, in a crumbling, labyrinthine house full of horrors and secrets and portraits of the long-gone.

A town with the worst luck, plagued by mists and terrible accidents, kept low under the cloud of a coal plant and the thumb of a rich family.

A book that was hard to put down, slow to warm up to the action but drip fed parts of the tale throughout. Eerie and lovely and just a delight to read. I'm so glad I applied for this ARC and have immediately pre-ordered a copy for myself.

Well I'm definitely a Harrow fan. This is my third novel having greatly enjoyed The 10,000 Doors Of January and The Once And Future Witches. Starling House, whilst a little simpler plot wise, is ever as imaginative and well written as it's predecessors. Harrow writes with a magical quality that doesn't weigh down the pacing with unnecessary verbiage.

Written in first person present tense from perspective of main character Opal and third from resident Arthur, Starling House is interspersed with historical anecdotes and hearsay on the history of the house and its founder.

Opal is impossible not to root for, an orphaned young lady doing everything possible to give her little brother a better life. Opal may seem and refer to herself as fiercely independent but in reality there are more people looking out for her than she's willing to admit.

I really enjoyed the personification of the magical house in such a way it becomes a character in it's own right. Though initially portrayed as a threat, I began to view Starling House as one would a pet; communicating its mood and needs by its behaviour whether good or bad, helping or hindering.

There were a few minor disappointments for me in Starling House, a reveal towards the end of the novel that I'll cryptically describe as; 'Aha, it's all happening because X so I can resolve everything by doing Y'. You'll have seen it before and it felt a little shalllow, but I certainly couldn't have done better so I let this go in the grand scheme.
I snorted hard at the use of an anagram intended to blur fact from fiction throughout the story, considering Opal is no fool (and neither are we!) I found it patronising to use this as a reveal later on.
There is a small mistake in the timeline; Eleanor Starling decided to build the house after an event that somehow occurred a year later than the construction began, perhaps this will be corrected before publication.
I also felt the footnotes didn't add to the story and could easily be left out.

Starling House is certainly more fairytale than horror, with focus on the romantic subplot and an almost comedic group of human villains who'll stop at nothing to gain entry to the land. The monsters are brilliantly imagined but perhaps not scary enough to warrant a horror label.
I very much enjoyed the novel but found the tension came from wanting Opal to succeed more so than the monsters in the mist- and this is how Harrow hooks me in! I loved all of the characters in Starling House, particularly the arc of the snarky motel owner and the growth of little brother Jasper.

There are some heavy topics touched upon in Starling House, particularly nearer the end but nothing graphic- more allusions than details.
If you're looking for a charming fantasy with a little added tooth and claw this is the book for you. A perfect cosy read with a little mystery and a lot of heart.

Another title that absolutely loved up to the hype surrounding it. Anytime you mention the words dark fairytale, I'm probably going to love it and this was just sublime!!

I really enjoyed this! It reminded me some of The Hazel Wood, which is a bit older now.

Writing:
I think the writing is what made it stand out for me. Everything else I also liked, but there was something in the structure of it that really worked. There are little stories embedded throughout, kind of like within a fairytale, and each one gives you just a slightly different perspective or a little more information and yet when the final iteration is revealed, it's still fresh and gave me that Oh shit!!!! moment

Worldbuilding:
The description is great, just brings to life all the settings whether that's a sentient house or crappy motel room. There mythology or fairytale elements were interesting, and there were a few that I didn't realise were foreshadowing (which just makes it good foreshadowing ahaha).

Characters:
I loved Opal's complicated relationship with - well, everyone. Her POV is so well done in that you mostly know what is being unsaid, clues are seeded in, but you understand why she doesn't see things that way. I loved how things came together but not in a boring way with her brother, with Charlotte and Bev, with Arthur

The one thing I wished we got a little more of was the ending of Elizabeth. Maybe it was just me, but I was kind of expecting it to tie in a little more with the supernatural elements? Not sure. Anyway, thoroughly recommend for a slightly spooky adventure vibe. (I personally wouldn't classify it as horror, but that's because I don't like horror.)

This was actually my first Alix E Harrow read, I have Alix's other books on my TBR and because of the hype I've been so hesitant to start them but I'm glad I took the jump with Starling House. It's not a book that's filled with adventure or major action but for this one I didn't mind, this is a story about a house, Starling House, it has a mind of its own, actually saying that it reminded me a little bit of Gallant by V E Scwhab!

There has always been a warden at Starling House, to keep the beasts in, to protect the town of Eden from said Beasts. Our main character, Opal, has been dreaming of Starling House for years, she's ignored it's call since until one night, she touched it's get and gave it her blood.

Starling House was a bit of a mystery, trying to figure out what was going on and how Opal fits into it. I thought that it wrapped up wonderfully, it was well written and I'm definitely going to read some more of Alix E Harrow's books now!

If you loved Gallant by VE Schwabb, you will love this book. The house is alive. It wants our MC Opal. The book is very atmospheric for sure! The footnotes kinda took me out of the story. There were loads and then there wasn’t. Also, im a show not tell kind of reader. That being said the writing is still good. The story is good. The prose is good. I just felt like something is missing and idk what. I would still recommend this book!

Wow! This book was great. Once I started this one is it was hard to put down. It’s full of so much mystery that it kept my hooked.
I enjoyed the authors writing style and found that it flowed nicely throughout the book.
The characters were so well written and had such a good depth to them.
This book is told from two perspectives Opal our main mc and Arthur.
Opal’s main goal is to save up enough money to get her younger brother out of Eden. Eden is a town that has a long streak of bad luck and accidents as well as a creep house called Starling House. Opal’s dreams are full of the mysteries Starling House. It doesn’t take long before Opal feels the pull to the house.
Arthur Starling is the warden of Starling house and hopes he is the last in the line of wardens. He truly feels like a mysterious character and it comes across so well.
I like how the characters come together in the end to try and save the house.

If you enjoy a book that is full of mystery, creepiness, romance, intrigue and secrets, then I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a brilliant book - i'm excited for this one to be published! I inhaled this in a day and I just loved it as a mysterious read. I loved the writing style and the MCs were flawed but likeable. A perfect autumn read!

OMG! A book that had me totally hooked and drawn into this eerie, dark world!

There are some books that you can't put down. The ones that captivate and enthrall you from the start. This was one of those books.

I adored every page. Opal, Arthur, the sentient house, giving the book it's dark gothic vibes.

A story that was as beautifully written as it was dark and creepy.

There was something extremely heartwarming about the connection between Opal and Arthur. I loved these two. The way the story was told most from Opal's POV but also with parts told from Authurs, added so much to the story.

I loved the way the story progressed, How the different aspects merged and escalated to an ending that has me page turning late into the night. The beasts, the 'bad luck' of the town, the found family vibes that came together through the librarian and the motel owner were spot on.

Definitely a favourite read of the year, and more, one that I know I'll want to revisit again and would highly recommend.

I flew through this book. The writing style and plot kept me interested the entire way through. An original plot line (at least I haven't read or heard about anything similar) and characters that made me want to know more about them.
I definitely recommend this for a fantasy read, not so much romance but a lot of action.

Book Review 📚
Starling House by Alix Harrow - 4/5 ⭐

An interesting and amazing gothic fairytale is the only way to describe Starling House. My decision to read was based entirely off the cover and I am so glad I did!

Harrow did a fantastic job with the spooky vibes throughout the book and then a bit of comedy here and there, it's a truly fantastic bit of writing from Harrow. Such a captivating read. There's great description throughout the book and world building is phenomenal.

Opal is the type of person you want to shake and tell her to stop lying to herself! She's so strong but also so stubborn! But she has the flaw of continuously lying to herself! I loved the dual POV throughout the book, and Arthur joins the POV. The story is completely compelling and really takes over your life until your finished reading!

There's nothing I enjoy more then a creepy book so close to Halloween and this one is definitely a top read for this year's spooky season!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

“We make this place what it is. It’s just our dreams, reflected back at us.”

Perfect October read - oh how to describe this book without giving too much away.
I tried to write a synopsis but couldn't do it justice so suffice to say it's a spooky gothic fairytale that contains stories within stories, deep characters & a spooky house with a mind of its own!
Loved it!

A sharp and dreamy gothic fairytale.

I knew almost immediately that this was the book for me. A few pages in and I was hooked. Our protagonist, Opal, joins the likes of Alice and Sophie in this Alice in Wonderland meets Howl’s Moving Castle meets modern gothic fantasy.

The Howl’s Moving Castle vibes alone were enough to cement Starling House as a new favourite. And then Harrow had to go and give us a biting, snarky character like Opal and a sentient haunted house. A huge part of this story is the mystery surrounding Starling House, the occasional interviews and ‘historical’ footnotes/research that get woven in are a very minor aspect of building that mystery but give the novel just a taste of fictionalised non-fiction which I thoroughly enjoyed.

While I am classifying it as horror, it reads as more of a soft cozy horror, eerie and dreamlike, not spine-tingling screaming horror. So, this would be great for fantasy readers who want a little spooky thrown in but don’t want nightmares.

The burning desire, the tender warmth, the exquisite throbbing of hearts and heads as the emotional waves crest to a frothy bless in every scene of this book. I am quenched.

Starling House is a beautiful storm of emotions I must applaud Harrow for the captivating writing. As well as amazing quips and comedic turns of phrase that made me laugh. It has all the modern hallmarks of a modern southern gothic, reminding me of a House with good bones by T Kingfisher.

Opal is the right type of frustrating stubbornness that makes you want to keep reading because you want to see when she stops lying to herself when her walls will break down.

Arthur is wonderful, making my list of brooding paladins even though the modern setting. He is the reason I mark this as queer because I looked through so many reviews and no one mentioned the openly bi POV character.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.