Interesting and spooky story. Perfect quick read.
I really enjoyed the spooky house with a long deep history.
I liked the fact they the main character was just a normal girl from a normal background, not a rich “I can do everything “ character that we see so much these days

Sadly I never got to this book before it was realised!
And I am so angry at myself for it.
I loved every moment on this book
The gothic, mystery of the Starling House had me hooked! I really like Opal, she wasn’t your typical ‘perfect pretty’ character! She had flaws and she was moody and had a serious attitude, although I did love her fierce loyalty to her brother!
I didn’t want to stop reading and I really did struggle to put it down!
This book is a must read and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

This was so great for the spooky season! I loved the eerieness and the haunted house that actually had a mind of its own. I thought the brother-sister relationship in this was great and I appreciated it wasn't a simple route to its eventual happy ending.

I cannot even begin to explain how much I loved this book.

Enemies to lovers? Check.
Monsters made out of mist? Check.
Curses? Check.
Found family? Check.

More fool me for not reading this before it came out but I will be screaming from the rooftops about this book now. Having read The Once and Future Witches, I knew Alix. E. Harrow was a brilliant writer but this one just made me fall in love with literally everything about it.

I couldn't finish this one, for one of my most anticpated reads I felt like this one was boring and flat. Was a DNF from me in about 30% in.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Pan MacMillan/Tor for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review

TW: grief, violence, blood, death, implied suicide, self-harm, abuse, racism

“Starling House” is unlike any book I’ve read this year and I doubt I’ll read one like it again. Set in rural Kentucky, in a town called Eden where the environment is being ruined by a coal company, it follows Opal and her brother, Jasper, as they try to survive the aftermath of the death of their mother. Opal is doing her best to make sure that Jasper will get out of Eden intact by trying to pay off fees for a private school where he won’t suffocate from worsening asthma attacks, but the only way to do that is with money she doesn’t have. On the outskirts of Eden is Starling House, the cursed and seemingly abandoned property of a mysterious female author named Eleanor Starling who is rumoured to have driven prominent men to their deaths before vanishing; Opal was obsessed with her unnerving book, The Underland, and so has always felt a deep connection to Starling House. After being drawn in by a light in the windows, Opal meets the Starling heir Arthur, a man who constantly looks as if he’s been in a battle. Convincing him to make her the housekeeper in order to gain the funds to get Jasper out of Eden, Opal finds herself feeling at home in the decrepit Starling House despite everything. However, secrets long buried are begging to be unearthed and as the coal company move in on the Starling land for expansion, Opal and Arthur are forced to fight against nightmares both real and imagined to stop Starling House, and the entire town of Eden, from plunging into the darkness.

I adored this book, it’s dark and grim but also a story about survival and finding a place for people to feel safe. Alix E. Harrow’s writing style is lyrical and that’s what I loved about another one of her books “The Once and Future Witches”. “Starling House” isn’t afraid to explore the darker themes of haunted houses while also exploring the legacy of Kentucky as a southern state and its historical background in the wider slave trade; likewise I found the exploration of Opal’s PTSD and her grief for her mother and fear for Jasper to be really powerful. Opal is a brilliant main character, she’s tough and determined but also fights against impossible odds entirely by herself, so I loved that she found somewhere she could feel safe even if it is a cursed house. Arthur, on the other hand, is genuinely just cursed- burdened by his legacy as a Starling and the deaths of his parents- but I also really liked how he gradually opened up to help, especially when Opal gifts him with a semi-feral cat from beside the hotel she lives in with Jasper. The world-building of Eden is incredible, it feels like a real town from the first page and the gradual reveal of its terrible past and secrets was well written; I also enjoyed reading about how the legacy of Eleanor Starling so massively impacted the legacy of her work, and people’s perceptions around the family, land and house as a whole. It’s not a horror, though there is a certain level of tension and atmosphere throughout, and I think that the combination of the Gothic genre with modern-day fantasy is what makes this book so original. “Starling House” is definitely a book I’ll be coming back to in the future and it will stay with me for a long time.

Starling House unfolds the tale of Opal, an orphan captivated by the enigmatic residence owned by the reclusive Arthur Starling in her small town. Driven by a yearning for a better life for herself and her younger brother, Opal secures a job as a housekeeper at Starling House. Little does she know that this decision will propel her on a transformative journey, unveiling the mysteries surrounding both the peculiar house and the shadowy secrets concealed within her hometown.

As Opal delves into her role as a housekeeper, she becomes intricately entwined in the narratives of Starling House, gradually peeling back layers of truth and discovery. The story navigates through the twists and turns of Opal's quest, leading her to confront not only the secrets of the house but also the dark realities hidden within the community she thought she knew.

Starling House promises a compelling narrative, blending elements of mystery and self-discovery as Opal unravels the truths that lie beneath the surface of her seemingly ordinary town. The journey she undertakes becomes a poignant exploration of identity, uncovering hidden facets of her past and the world around her.

This book was so good! It was intriguing and really drawed me in. I'll be reading more of this authors work.

Alix E Harrow is an auto buy author for me and this just reaffirmed that.

It’s the perfect book for this time of year, gothic vibes, found family and just the most beautiful writing.

Highly recommend this one, it’s incredible!

When I had finished reading The Once and Future Witches, also by Alix E. Harrow, I immediately promised myself to read more of her work, I slumbered a bit on that promise, but then along came Starling House with it's ominous foreboding, and the description filled with murky promise.

I absolutely loved it. Despite not generally loving contemporary fiction, this drew me in with Alix's evocative writing style and the creepy atmosphere, it kept me hooked as the story built, the threat from within the town and below it growing darker and the threads tying the two main characters, as well as the various side characters, together growing stronger, the bonds and histories gradually revealing themselves as though approaching through the mist. It was really cleverly done.

I really like the exploration of found family, family-based trauma and anxieties, and the idea of want and need and how the two can be intertwined, indistinguishable, and what that might lead to - for good, or bad. The truth and the hiding or shying away from it and what that can mean for societies and individuals, also is a deeper central theme as well. It left me with a lot to think about, and for a book that's also a Gothic romance, with Stranger Things vibes as well as notes of Hades and Persephone and Greek mythology thrown in, that's a lot packed into a pretty quick absorbing read.

I will say that if you're a character arc kind of reader, then this might not be your thing so much, the focus is on the characters' relationships and history, more then their personalities or development. It's not that the character-work is shallow exactly, but that the characters themselves aren't explored as much as what they mean to each other in terms of family, connection, and as a means of healing each other through that connection. But in terms of how they are presented, Arthur can feel a little one-note, which is part of the point - he is trapped within himself, and Opal can feel a little young - though again, part of the point, she has focused on survival and her brother, and hasn't moved past a particular point in her life. The house is a character too, though, which I enjoyed.
It just depends what kind of a reader you are, those elements might make it hard to connect to the central characters, but for atmosphere and the themes, I loved it...and now I need to go and ind The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

A story of grim determimation, of good versus evil, of love, and hate, of revenge, of misogyny, of fu*cing up the patriarchy. Of justice, of happiness.

What a ride, I absolutely loved this book and am grateful to NetGalley for an advanced copy. An easy 5 star read for me. It's Wuthering Heights meets Stranger Things meed Hades and Persephone with a questionable main character full of flaws but who fights to protect what she loves.

3 stars

Let me just start off by saying that I have loved everything Alix E. Harrow has written. Whether it be her novels, her novellas, or her short stories. Harrow's writing is a safe place for me, a hug from a friend. Also, that horror fantasy is my niche genre. I love it to pieces and I love spooky season. Which is why it was so hard for me to realize that this book just wasn't for me.

The writing is beautiful. It feels like coming home. I didn't realize how much I had missed Harrow's novel-style writing until I actually started this. But I loved how lyrical it was. She has a particular way of writing descriptions and her turns of phrases are so uniquely hers. Her stories have a common theme that I have come to notice as well. They are always about finding acceptance or finding home in the full sense of the word. They are about the people who are overlooked by history or society coming into their own. And I love that, I love seeing those rivers of thought appearing again and again in her stories. But, for some reason, it did not work for me. That is not to say that I hated it, but I loved it way way less than I have loved her other works. Maybe it was the contemporary setting that is always a hit or miss for me when it comes to reading fantasy, or maybe it was the kind of cliche character that was Arthur Starling, and I wasn't a big fan of the romance.

Arthur Starling is every tragic gothic male love interest come alive. I know that many people love that kind of stuff (believe me I dig the tragic hero as much as the next gothic fan), but at times it got a bit too ridiculous and I could not take it seriously. Probably why I wasn't able to get the chemistry of the romance either. Opal was an interesting character, and I loved being in her head and reading about her. Also a tragic character but someone with a bit more personality to her than a walking cliche.

The horror fantasy part was also not very mind-blowing to me, I wanted more of the magic etc but it felt like not enough. I did like the back stories and the history of the town and how that worked into the story but it got a bit repetitive and not very shocking by the end. In terms of plot twists, there aren't really any. You can pretty much guess most stuff so the big emotional reveal falls short.

Starling House reminds me a lot of Holly Black's Book of Night and that was another book that I didn't really enjoy. I guess I have figured out the kind of horror fantasies that don't work for me and will try to steer clear of them.

Believe me when I say that writing negative reviews for authors I adore is one of my least favourite things, but it happens ig.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Starling House follows Opal, an orphan who has been dreaming of a strange house in her small town owned by the reclusive and mysterious Arthur Starling. She eventually gets a job as a housekeeper at the house to try and provide a better life her and her younger brother, taking her on a journey that will see her discover the truth about the house, as well as the dark secrets of her hometown.

Firstly, I loved the writing. It was rich and descriptive, and I could picture everything so clearly in my mind. However, I was expecting this book to be a lot creepier than it actually was. I was looking forward to a dark, gothic, eerie read that creeped me out. It read more like a magical realism/ fantasy romance with an Alice in Wonderland twist. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I was a little disappointed.

The characters were fine, but honestly quite forgettable. I appreciated that Opal wasn’t the “perfect” heroine; she definitely had her flaws. I did find her attitude and some of the decisions she made quite grating at times, and she read more like an angsty teenager than a woman approaching 30. Arthur fell a little flat for me. He didn’t seem to have much of a personality other than brooding and drawing. However, I did like how he was always there for Opal and never turned her away like so many had before. My favourite character had to be the House; I am a sucker for sentient houses in books!

The pacing was quite slow, and there were points where I felt a little bored, but there were a few twists, and I was also eager to keep reading to see where the story went. The ending felt very rushed and didn’t go in the direction I was expecting it to. It just didn’t wow me, and I wanted more from it. I wanted the answer to the mystery to be a lot darker than it was. I also think some things weren’t fully fleshed out, and I still haven’t questions about how some things in the world worked, and we got to where we ended up.

I think if you’re looking for a gothic fairytale that reads quite YA, you may enjoy this one. I was just expecting something quite different, so it fell short of my expectations.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan/Tor for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this. From the slow burn romance between a socially awkward man who has deep seated emotional issues and the girl with fire in her heart and too many responsibilities on such young shoulders to the gothic, eery setting. I devoured this. Alix E Harrow has firmly become a favourite writer. Her stories just speak to me in a way that I find so rare in authors. From the magical way she manages to create this town built up by one family and make it feel historic and believable, to the lore she weaves into every chapter. Starling House feels like a story built on Chinese whispers - how one event can build up and evolve, carried away on a breeze and manipulated and changed to suit who is telling the story.

Then we have Starling House itself. A character built from brick and mortar and altered by the people who inhabit it. It's a starring protagonist all on its own, one who's playful, mournful and even frightening when it needs to be. It's a physical manifestation of Opal and her loneliness and longing to belong and that's why it calls to her.

I also really enjoyed Opal as a character. I've seen some criticism of her character background and insincerity regarding her situation, however I found her to be an engaging and believable protagonist. She wears her heart on her sleeve, yet also guards it in an effort to protect herself and her brother. She's damaged, and hurting, yet also fiercely protective and brave. She'll do anything for Jasper, even if it means sacrificing everything for herself because she feels he's all she has left in the world and she owes him because of this.

This is a slow book, especially at the start, but I feel all of Alix E Harrow's books are like this. She takes time to show every facet of her characters and setting the scene before giving you an emotional punch. I know without this slow build up I wouldn't have been as invested as I was with the characters or their situation and I'm so glad I pushed through the first 50 pages because I had the most wonderful time reading Starling House.

A firm favourite of the year, Starling House captivated me from start to finish.

I really enjoyed the narrative device of retelling the history of the house from different perspectives. The atmosphere was incredible. I really liked the relationships in the book, both the romance and the familial relationships. The writing style was different from what I have come to expect from Alix E Harrow but it really worked for this book.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Tor Books for approving me for an ARC of this book. I buddy read this with me lovely friend Wendy and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

👻Well this book certainly had the gothic, creepy vibe. The atmosphere and tension were felt immediately, and the house became its own character. I adored how it responded to Opal and seemed to transform under her touch.

👨🏻‍🤝‍👩🏻Opal and Arthur were such intriguing characters. Both were from very different backgrounds and finding themselves pulled into the story only added more anticipation for me.

⭐Simply put this story is a masterpiece. It’s gothic, haunting and utterly beautiful, I could get lost in Alix’s prose. Whatever I say will not do this book justice so trust me when I say, you need to read it!

Alix E. Harrow never disappoints. At this point, I have read all her book and each one has something new and exciting to offer.

Starling House was fantastic. The vibe of this book was just immaculate. From the small town setting to the Haunted House to the engaging characters, everything was amazing. I fell in love with characters and was deeply moved by their predicaments. The relationship development between Opal and Arthur was so sweet. Both these characters have trust issues and seeing them overcoming those problems and choosing each other despite everything else was an extreme delight to read.

Can't wait to see what the author does next.

Saw this reviewed on the tiktok and was lucky enough to get an ARC. Unfortunately, I didn't get to it before the release date, and that is my bad because I loved it. A modern-day gothic vibe tale with found family, good verse evil, and a dash of romance for good measure.

My favourite thing about this book is that the main character, Opal, is not your typical pretty girl, easy to like person. She is rough and ready, described with having bad teeth, and has some serious character flaws. As she gets closer to Starling House and its mysteries, she finds out more about herself, where she is from, and from that who she really is as a person. Likewise, for Arthur, bless them, they are just so unfortunate between them.

The story begins with quite a sinister feel, changes pace as Arthur and Opal find common ground through the interventions of the sentient house, then turns right back round to being dark and eerie. It is done in such a great way that I found myself easily imagining the characters and scenery. I'm almost inspired to try to recreate some in painting/drawing, but I'd be too afraid to do them a disservice.

I'd say a perfect book for autumn/fall, but I don't want you to wait that long. Go read it now.

Another magnificent book by Alix E. Harrow, who is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.
Perfect if you enjoy a gothic read about haunted houses that have their own personality and creatures that roam in the mist.

Beautifully written and just a bit spooky, perfect for the last dregs of autumn.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan
5/5 ⭐️

This ticked tons of boxes for me: gothic-tinged fairytale; a house that’s alive; a landscape that’s also kind of alive but considerably more bloodthirsty; a romance between two damaged people who are still learning to hope for a future; footnotes; gorgeous prose; the specific interaction where a man with zero social skills learns the protagonist doesn’t have a coat, so gives her a coat (in an antisocial way), also when he learns she has to walk to work so gives her a car (in an antisocial way).

And I did really love it. The ending made me cry in the best way. But the pacing was kind of off in places, and the story got kind of… defanged along the way. I still enjoyed the resolution (again, I was incredibly touched by it) but it also felt like a softer landing that the set-up promised?? I wanted something meatier from it that I got, I think.