I really liked this book. I was easily hooked and found it hard to put down. Harrow sets the scene well with a dark and eerie atmosphere. I liked our lead character Opal. She’s down on her luck and struggling to make ends meet but she’s definitely relatable. The plot is well thought out with great back stories of the house and Starling family. There are footnotes for added information where needed. I listened to the audio and Natalie Naudus does a great job of being this story to life. This is definitely a must read for October.

Sadly, a let-down. The book shouldn’t be marketed as gothic or horror as it is neither of those things.

Despite enjoying the romance between them, both Arthur and Opal were pretty cliche. Opal’s character alone made me dock a whole star from the rating, as I feel I’ve seen her type of character done to death in media (the cynic woman with broken dreams that becomes the sole caretaker of her family/children/siblings etc).

I did however enjoy the overall vibes and the atmosphere created by the author. The vivid descriptions of the house and the author’s writing style were the highlight of the book for me, yet I advise against listening to the audiobook, as they can’t be properly enjoyed.
I am not familiar with Natalie Naudus’ other works, but I didn’t find her to be the right fit as narrator for this book.

I might give it another chance as a physical copy, to see if it makes a difference. I do recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick, short read and if you enjoy mostly vibes books.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio, Tor for providing me this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.*

OH MY GOD, I devoured this audiobook in less that 36 hours. I couldn't put it down. I love haunted houses and I loved cursed houses. And guess what. It had both. Also I LOVED the narrator. I'm not a native English speaker and it's difficult for me to focus on audiobooks. But the narrator was awesome. They made me feel like they spoke to my language. I can't wait to grab my Illumicrate edition of this book.

Thank-you to Macmillan UK Audio and NetGalleyUK for the free ARC audiobook in return for an honest review.

Having adored The thousand doors of January and The once and future witches, I jumped at the chance to read Starling House. Darker and more gothic than those two books, Starling house revolves around a dark and mysterious house situated in a backwater town that seems to be living under a curse.

The set up was gothic 101 and this felt like it was going to be a dark slow-burn mystery, but actually it evolved into something else - possibly against the author's original intentions! The truth is, I'm not massively into gothic fiction anyway, so I didn't really mind, but it didn't feel like the story delivered on the promise of the blurb, cover art, or first few chapters. Really, it was more fantasy, dark-fairy tale, coming of age.

The good news is though, that I really just like Alix E Harrow's writing. She describes things really beautifully, and she managed to do slow-burn teenage angst in a way that felt believable and engaging to read. There were a few things that felt really YA-coded but I don't really think this was meant to be a YA book.

Overall this was a 4.5/5, rounded up to 5, since Goodreads is a 5 point scale!

The Starling family have always been mysterious, and the remaining reclusive heir is no different. No one in town knows very much about them, except that Eleanor Starling wrote the children’s Fantasy Novel - The Underland in the late 1870’s and that they are immensely rich. The family have owned a huge dilapidated mansion set back from the road in Eden, rural Kentucky for as long as anyone can remember.

Opal and her brother Jasper have lived in Eden their whole lives. After their mother passed away Opal made it her mission, whilst trying to make ends meet, that she would eventually give them a better life and escape this nothing town. But after a strange experience outside Starling house where she vows never to return, Opal is inexplicably drawn to the house and finds herself once again standing outside the twisting gates, staring up towards the haunting mansion. When Arthur Starling opens the door to her with surprise, he decides the best thing to do is offer her a job. Opal snaps it up - this could be their ticket out of here.

An eerie gothic, retelling of Beauty and the Beast, written in a gorgeously atmospheric, yet modern style. This dark fantasy horror is a wonderful listen, with captivating prose and elements of modern power and corruption interspersed with historic magical stylings.

This is the first Alix E. Harrow book I have had the pleasure of sampling and I will definitely be looking for more from the author.

I first heard Natalie Naudus as the narrator for Sue Lynn Tan’s Daughter of the Moon Goddess which she gave a fantastic rendition of. This was no different, Natalie has a wonderfully smooth and atmospheric voice, full of emotion which really immerses you in the plot.

3.5*
In my opinion, Starling House is less of a haunted / spooky house story and more of a fantastical family drama with a strong romantic element which stands out in the contemporary fantasy market - especially during the spooky season - thanks to its beautifully flowing and artfully crafted prose. That, in combination with the masterfully narrated audiobook by Natalie Naudus, allowed me to consume this story in less than a week which has been quite uncommon for me in the last few months.

Although this is not the kind of story I gravitate towards, I was engaged by it and gripped by its vivid atmosphere and rooted for its messy downtrodden protagonist.

While the writing was easily my favourite part of this novel, some of the characters' features are repeated over and over which I found unnecessary. The plot, albeit somewhat predictable, flowed well so I would recommend Starling House to both character, plot and vibes driven readers.

Thank you to Macmillan UK Audio, Tor and Netgalley for audio ARC for review.

I read this and audio booked it concurrently and I want to just shout out the narrator Natalie Naudus for an exceptional performance. I normally struggle to follow along with audiobooks but Natalie helped to sweep me up into this world and kept me engaged on all my bus journeys.

This book is everything that I want. Creepy houses with a complicated history, a book about a book, the topic of how history distorts the truth, how poverty can be just as horrific and scary as the fantastical horrors plaguing this story, Opal's character from start to finish was so incredibly written and I feel that Harrow has truly nailed flowery prose with a straight to the point plot.

This was my first Alix E Harrow book and I went in pretty blind. It was the vibes more than any descriptions of the book that drew me in.
I was completely pulled into this story and it held me captive throughout. It felt very vivid and raw to me, the characters were brilliantly written.
I listened to the audio and that was brilliant (once I got used to it being the same narrator as One Last Stop which did throw me for a while!)
This was the perfeft Autumn/Spooky season book for someone who doesn't actually like to be scared!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free AudioARC of this book.

Alix E Harrow’s writing is so beautiful and whatever they write I am going to read and purchase most likely multiple copies of every book!

Starling House has so many layers to it, at it’s core it’s a gothic fairytale with stories within stories it does have a horror esque or more sinister spooky slant to it but for people who I’ve chatted with who are concerned that it’s gonna be scary you’ll be fine 🖤

I adored Opal as our main protagonist she’s just not your typical FMC she’s got so much spirit.

There’s superstition, generational trauma experiences, myths, monsters and while everything about this book is bleak from the town to Starling House there is magnificent levels of warmth and hope to be found in unlikely places.

I don’t want to give anything away and I feel like everything I could say that I loved will give it away.

The narration of the audiobook was fantastic, I read the book and then listened to the audio and the narration really brought the story to life- I listen to books at 2/2.5 so it's important to me that it doesn't lose any clarity and this was perfect.

Starling House was 5 stars for me and now I need to hunt down pretty editions.

Starling House is out on October 31st

I think I'll dnf this, because I am not really interested in how this ends. I don't like Opal, I don't like Arthur and I don't like this boring house. I frequently had to re-listen to some chapters because I lost interest.
Maybe I had wrong expectations before going in. I expected a creepy house, a beautiful dark atmosphere and lyrical writing. The book is even tagged as horror. It had none of those things in my opinion.
I don't even think it has anything original, it just read like a mix of other popular books. It felt like I read a similar book before and this was just another version of it.
Maybe I would keep going if I liked the characters. But I don't care about them at all, except maybe Jasper. And I couldn't stand how Opal treated Jasper. She clearly had no interest in him, his hobbies or what he wanted in life, but pretended to care so much for him. She just wanted to impose on him what she thought he must have liked. Also she concealed all kinds of things from him, even though it was so obvious and he clearly saw that she was lying.
Arthur was also just some random dude in my opinion. I couldn't tell you anything about him, except that he has tattoos. At some point he told Opal to run from the house and never come back and the next day he asked her if she wanted to housekeep.
I think I made it to about 35 %.
Thanks netgalley for my advanced copy of this book. Unfortunately, this wasn't for me.

My review of: Starling House - Alix E. Harrow

Genre: Fantasy, Gothic, Mystery, Thriller, Romance

Format: Audiobook Arc!

What's it about:
Eden, the small town in Kentucky hunted by secrets and mostly known for the legend of the solitary author of The Underland, E. Starling. One day she disappeared without a trace and the only thing she left behind was her newly built home Starling House. For centuries now the house has been the home of many different people but just as its original owner they all mysteriously disappear or end up dead. Everyone in Eden agrees on leaving the house alone as it is uncanny and haunted. The only one occupying it today is the lonely heir Author Starling.

Our main character Opal is an orphaned girl living with her younger brother in a motel room they acquired as a win in a bet their mother made with the owner before she died. Opal is a smart girl but she is desperate for money and all she wants is to find a way out of Eden for her brother. Opal gets offered a job at Starling House, it pays well and something inside her is drawing her to the house. She knows it’s a bad idea but the house feels so right, it feels almost like a home.

My thoughts:
I really loved the narrator and the story was really captivating instantly. I really felt for Opal and all the struggle she had to go through. I LOVED the Starling House as an entity. I don’t want to say too much but the concept of Starling house and the dreams was so good. The mystery, the thriller part was top notch. The horror part was okay. I wouldn't call it horror but I am also completely numb to most horror. It had some pretty good romance parts too which I ALWAYS appreciate in my books. The writing was easy to follow and the descriptions were fantastic. The only thing that took it down a bit for me is that the end felt very dragged out. But overall a fantastic book, I recommend!

Received this as an audiobook ARC but I had a loan at Libby so I read this in both format. Thank you to Netgalley and TOR for approving me of an ARC!

I had huge expectations for this book because I loved Alix E. Harrow's recent work and has been planning to read some of her other works as well. From the blurb, I was expecting more of a gothic horror fantasy which IMO I don't think I can call Starling House one. It definitely had a gothic and eerie vibe in terms of the settings but it didn't have that spooky and chilling element I was hoping for. However, there was a distinct element reminiscent of a fairytale that I enjoyed (if you liked Beauty and the Beast retellings, would highly recommend you to read this one!) but it wasn't enough for me to like this book.

I also did not grew attached to any of the characters nor the romance. I didn't really like Opal as the main character and I thought the romance was unnecessary. The side characters like Bev and Jasper were much more interesting to me instead of the two main characters. I also appreciated that the characters are in their mid-20s even though sometimes their actions doesn't really reflect that.

Although I didn't have the best experience with this, if you love a sort of small-town gothic setting and is looking for one to read underneath your blankets during this season, you should try this one out.

📖 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎 📖 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Title: Starling House
Author: Alix E Harrow
Genre: Gothic

𝘖𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 – 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳, 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥: 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘱𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵…

📖 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
Okay so this gives aaaaall the gothic spooktober vibes. I found the first third hard to get through though. Possibly because it was an audiobook but I found it very YA. The FMC says things like ‘Christ on a bicycle’ which is just cringey for me. Picked up towards the middle and we see our lovely Opal working at Starling house and starting to uncover its secrets.

The final 1/3 of the audiobook I was pacing around the house and unable to sit still as I needed to know what happened. I sped it up and told everyone to leave me alone. So overall I enjoyed it. Tense final few chapters.

Perfect if you like:
🏚️haunted house with sentience
🌚small town
🏚️ main characters narrating their thoughts
🙎🏻‍♂️brooding/grumpy males

Be aware content/triggers:
‼️parental loss

Perfect read for October. The perfect spooky, creepy story of power, secrets, money and toxicity. I had the audiobook but definitely think I'll be purchasing the physical book. This is one everyone will be talking about.

Harrow has created a tasteful twisty tale. Natalie Naudus beautifully narrates this gothic fairytale with a voice that draws you in.

Thank you so much for the ARC of this audiobook, the characters are so well written I knew I had to find out the whole story, and piecing together the tales of Underland and Eden was something special!

Opal’s journey hasn’t always been easiest and meeting Arthur doesn’t necessarily make it easier but meeting him has started to give her answers. Answers that other people also want. A sister trying to provide and protect her brother but knows there’s something more to life than the cards she’s been dealt. I was intrigued!

Sadly there’s some cutting of audio towards the ends is sections towards the start if the audiobook. Sometimes cutting off sections mid sentence.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio for providing an audio ARC of Starling House

This was a beautifully gothic fantasy full of fairy tale wonder with two of the most realistic protagonists I've ever read about. It's a dark blend of Beauty and the Beast meets Alice in Wonderland and I enjoyed every second of it.

Starling house is a crumbling mansion on the edge of a nowhere town called Eden. Opal has dreamt about Starling house since she was a child and a chance encounter with the mansion's warden, Arthur, sees her pulled down the rabbit hole into a sinister world. Can she uncover the house's secrets before it's too late or will all of Eden suffer?

Now while I like reading dark books I'm not one for horror and I'm pleased to say that Starling House was low on the horror scale. Yes it's atmospheric and eerie but I happily listened to it in a room with the lights off and only felt mildly creeped out. It definitely felt spooky at first but the horror elements ease up the more you get into the book. The main suspense comes from not knowing what's going on with Starling House. Once things start to reveal themselves that feeling of unease starts to settle down.

Both Opal and Arthur were wonderful protagonists. Yes it is strange that Opal constantly brings up how ugly Arthur is but I didn't mind that. It felt refreshing to not have two beautiful, perfect and totally unbelievable people leading the story.

The audio narration by Natalie Naudus was very good. Natalie perfectly sets the scene and manages to really bring across the dark, eerie atmosphere. Each character had a unique voice which meant I had no issues at all following along with the story.

I definitely recommend this book for people looking for a solid spooky season read. You won't be disappointed.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book! It was a nice introduction into gothic books. It had some horror, some fantasy and a bit of romance which I loved. Its about a house in Eden, Kentucky, that’s at the centre of some strange happenings. I didn’t rate this book 5 stars because I felt like at some points it felt more YA than adult. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes spooky stories about monsters and found homes.

Audiobook review:
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Natalie Naudus. I thought she portrayed the characters really well, especially Opal. I loved the way she represented the intrigue perfectly.

Summary:
In the enigmatic town of Eden, Starling House, its origins shrouded in mystery, is deemed a cursed abode, to be forsaken along with its sole heir. Tales of misfortune echo through the generations. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses, or brooding men, but she seizes a chance to work there for her brother's sake. Starling House, like its heir Arthur, harbors uncanny secrets, and it beckons like a long-lost home. But Opal's quest for refuge unveils a dark competition, as sinister powers converge on Eden. To secure her sanctuary, she must unearth her family's painful history, delving deep beneath Starling House to find the light she seeks.

Source of audiobook: NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio for providing me with an audio ARC of Starling House.

Starling House is a crumbling mansion that sits on the edge of the small town of Eden. The towns residents avoid the place but Opal can’t seem to stay away from the house, or its brooding heir, who are both beginning to feel a lot like home. But Opal and Arthur must work together through Starling House’s tangled history if they are to save the house and themselves from what lies beneath…

I absolutely loved this book! From the moment I started reading, the modern writing style juxtaposed with the gothic and eerie nature of the storyline really hooked me, and I couldn’t stop until I had finished it in one sitting.

The building of the slow burn relationship between Arthur and Opal was everything, and I love how they brought out each other’s vulnerability as the story progressed. I was definitely swooning over Arthur’s broody benevolence throughout!

The audiobook was really great and brought the whole story to life

The perfect book for autumn.

Absolutely loved every single page of this book! Perfect vibes, beautifully written, so atmospheric and just utter perfection.

I read the book and then reread listening to audiobook and the audio was brilliantly done and I would definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan UK Audio for an audio ARC of this book.

Audiobook relase date: 31/08/2023

I LOVE IT OH MY GOD !!!
I am so happy that i will have a special edition of this book .

It was so beautiful written and and i connected with the MC so fast.

I understand Opal's struggles and why she acted the way she did , even if someone wanted to help her , she just couldn't accept it .

I liked Arthur, his awkwardness and bravery is refreshing.  I feel like every author writes a sexy MC , with a dark past and a sharp jawline,  but you know what ? We can't have that in real life , I know it's fantasy and we sometimes want what we don't have , but we get what we have , an awkward boy that does everything that he can .