Harrow's "Starling House" weaves dark fairy tale magic with a grounded story of found family. Atmospheric and beautifully written, a captivating blend of folklore and reality. Enchanting!

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

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 story gave me massive ‘Monster House’ vibes. Dark and spooky it’s the perfect halloween listen! Enjoyed the narrator

This book was written for me.

The writing style was perfection. It was so sensitive with various topics, delivered mysterious elements in such a thrilling way, made me smirk at times and fall for not only the owner but the haunted house itself.

"𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦."

The brilliant writing aside - this was such an atmospheric read and had my heart from the first page to the last.

Not only did I love Arthur (broodingly, observing, lonely, sweet, tattooed, and he draws (her) - how could you not?) but also the relationship between Opal and her brother. Even though they gave each other a rough time, you could feel the ever-present love they had for each other.

Baast, the hellcat, was another favourite. I have never read about a cat that felt more real. Baast was superior in a way only cats are, and knew it. When it chose to love Arthur, I wasn't surprised.

The book includes a sweet love story which is ever-present but doesn't take too much space. Just as much as the heart and story needed (I'm not talking about Arthur and the hellcat).

This story was everything I didn't know I needed and I wasn't even half way through when I bought two other books she's written because I loved that one so much!
I've got a new favourite author, and her name is Alix E. Harrow.

Having tremendously enjoyed Alix E. Harrow's other books, I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit... meh. It was nothingy; nothing really happened and nothing was really interesting. The characters weren't particularly motivating, and the story flatlined. While I'll still readily recommend other books by this author, this one was a miss.

I loved the atmosphere of this book and the story with a story aspect. The characters were believable and the small town setting worked really well for me.

I love Harrow's writing style and the supernatural elements were brilliant. Having read previous publications from this author I was excited to pick this up and was not disappointed.

Starling House is a gothic suspense/fantasy novel that follows an impoverished orphan young woman named Opal who lives in this small decaying coal mining town, doing the best she can to provide for her younger brother and carve a future for him away from the toxic mines. It is about familial responsibility, the struggles of the outcasts and the pursuit of refuge.

Personally, I loved how Alix E. Harrow skillfully juxtaposed this interesting combination of the very mundane, very realistic (but distressing) life struggles that Opal goes through and the dark atmosphere full of whimsy, deteriorating beauty and nostalgia in Arthur’s life at Starling House; and how despite living very opposite lives, they learn to see themselves in each other. The sentient/enchanted house trope reminded of Gallant by V.E. Schwab, however I do prefer the approach that was taken with Starling house in which the house reads like an independent character with its own motivations and emotions.

Overall, I found Starling House to be a poignant exploration of the human condition, underscored by themes of resilience and the pursuit of redemption. With its evocative prose and thought-provoking narrative, it's a tale that lingered in my mind long after I turned the final page. This was my first Alix E. Harrow book, but it will certainly not be the last.

Natalie Naudus delivers an exceptional performance in the audiobook rendition, capturing the essence of the characters and the atmosphere with flawless cadence and emotive depth, all in all making for a truly enjoyable hearing experience. If you like audiobooks, I highly recommend giving this one a chance.

Thank you very much to Macmillan UK Audio and NetGalley for providing me an Audio-ARC!

Starling House is a hard book to review, mainly because I found it nearly impossible to follow and the characters were awful.

I’m not quite sure where to start with this book as I’m still kind of on the fence about it! It started off quite strong for me but then just seemed to fizzle out a little towards the middle.

First of all, the narrator was brilliant and I’m not entirely sure whether or not I’d have carried on reading this if it wasn’t for them!

The premise for this was very intriguing and I have to say that the gothic vibes were absolutely on point and I did like the author’s writing style. The characters were intriguing as well and there was plenty that piqued my interest throughout the book it’s just that it felt quite like a slog to get through it.

A sedate pace isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but in this case I think that while the characters were intriguing and while there were things I did want to find out more about, I didn’t feel fully connected to any of the characters which made it hard for me to care about them and become fully invested.

I also think this might have been a slight case of me not being in the right kind of mood for a book like this!

If you like dark, gothic reads with Alice in Wonderland vibes kind of? Or at least that’s what came to mind for me a time or two when I was reading! And if you like a little bit of a slower pace, then this is definitely for you!

STARLING HOUSE has been sitting on my TBR shelf a while - partly because (full disclosure) my NetGalley AudioARC had a weird issue with missing off the last minute-or-so of a lot of chapters. I don't think that had any real impact on my experience of STARLING HOUSE as a whole, but something I think I should mention.

Back when I first requested in STARLING HOUSE I was really hyped for it - the cover is gorgeous, Gothic house vibes are always something that pings my attention, and everyone seemed to love it. It's also my first Alix E. Harrow book.

Long story short, I thought STARLING HOUSE was okay. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. And I think that in-between feeling comes from my exactly problem with STARLING HOUSE - its a very neither/nor experience. It was too long while also being too short. The pacing was dragged until it all sped together at the end. Not enough time spent in the 'real world' with Opal's real world problems, yet not enough exploration of the fantasy or horror of Starling House, it's monsters and it's history.

The ending was excellent, with backstory exposition that would've been a fascinating story all it's own. I also enjoyed the 'way' STARLING HOUSE is delivered, with footnotes and asides about the house's tragic and menacing history, but the gaps between the parts that caught my attention were too long to hold it through the sections that didn't.

Not a winner for me, sadly.

Loved this book. A great gothic fantasy with characters with lots of depth and personality. Noted it was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, Hopefully it will be picked up as a TV series as I would love to see this developed.

I DNFed after the first few chapters. Aside from a couple of technical issues, I also found it difficult to engage with the narration, and the soothing style meant I missed a lot of the jokes and the important information.

This book was well written, the atmosphere of the story was dark gothic fantasy and I enjoyed it a lot.
The characters where great, and the myth was intriguing.
And the narrator did a very good job.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

This was so richly dark and intriguing, it kept me gripped completely throughout!!

This is a book I DNF, i could not get into the story. The atmosphere was lovely, so were the descriptions, the characters, everything was done very well, It is just not a book for me. I started to struggle picking it up, and completely forgot about it.
I thing if you enjoyed Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, you’d love this !

Thanks so much to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

I own multiple books by Alix E Harrow, I’m certain I’ll adore each of them, I WANT to read them… but have I ever prioritised picking them up? No. And I couldn’t tell you why. That is, until this beautiful proof arrived.

With it’s promise of Gothic Fantasy and Haunted Houses I was sold. This was made for me!

Character driven, gothic fairytale-esque fantasy, and filled with mystery and intrigue. This felt something of a slow burn, but the characters will win you over, and the myth will suck you in. I adored both Opal and Arthur, they are very flawed, often intense, and very real characters. And the absolute standout character was the house itself. For all you lovers of stories where the buildings seem to have their own personality, you’re going to LOVE this house!

I read this weeks ago, and I can still imagine myself in this world, and think about it often. That’s got to be a good sign.

I am not a big fan of spooky reads or movies. But I do enjoy such a book, once in a while.
Starling house was a perfect October read. With the right amount of atmosphere and a reasonable amount of plot it was a good read
Opal is a badass character, definitely grey in shades. But with certain redeeming characteristics. She’s not an MC you fall in love with or particularly root for, but she was quite interesting and nuanced.
Arthur, the MMC was also a similar character giving off Adams family vibes.
The major page turner is of course Starling house which is semisentient. I do wish I had a lot more character arc for the house.
The audio was fantastic. The narrator was great. And it was a huge success for me as an audiobook!
Anyways in short it was a good spooky read for the season and I enjoyed it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Also thanks @netgalley and @panmacmillanaudio for the ARC.

Alix E. Harrow keeps writing books that feel unreal yet magically possible at the same time.

Of course we have our main characters Opal and Arthur leading us through the mysterious history of Starling House. But in the book, the setting becomes its own character, and not just the House but also the town of Eden, Kentucky. A down on its luck smalltown, seemingly stuck in the conservative ways of yesteryear, with a small progressive community of people trying to break from the town’s dark history.

Now about the Audiobook, I do really like Natalie Naudus’s style of clear and comprehensible narration. And although I’m by no means an expert on US accents and regional speech patterns, in Starling House the setting and history of the area plays a big part of the story's atmosphere.
So the very minimal use of regional accents somehow felt, like a missed opportunity to give the listener an additional layer of immersion.

“𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣. 𝙄𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨; 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨.”

Starling House has been on my TBR ever since I read the synopsis. I was sold on the gothic element and the sentient house. It's just enough creepiness to raise the hair on your arms and get a thrill but still leaves the reader wanting to walk the halls of this house.
I listened to the audiobook and the narration was done well. The story came to life in a whole new way and I felt that the reader could appreciate Opal and Arthur's characters. Their voices, their emotions, came to life.

There are secrets, eerie moments and romance amidst all the mystery and danger surrounding Starling House. Opal does what she needs to, to provide for her and her brother, and the tragedy surrounding their situation connects so well with the house. Imagine a spider web, touch one of its strands and a vibration runs through the entire web. Opal is the touch and Starling House is the web.
The story has different layers and as the story progresses, each layer is more intense than the previous one. Harrow did an excellent job with the characters and the plot, as the characters develop as the secrets of the house are laid bare. The story is unpredictable and makes me crave more of Starling House, it might have just put me under its spell.

“𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩, 𝙖 𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧, 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 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.”

I recommend this to readers who enjoy gothic fantasy as well as readers who like Mexican Gothic. I would love to see artwork of Starling House as I feel the story is rich in imagination and would open a new world into Opal and Arthur's life.


Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.