I received an audioarc through Netgalley all opinions are my own.
1 star

I was really excited for this book. Sadly I was let down. The plot is boring to me, I wasn't interested or curious about anything. The characters were not to my liking. Opal was SO annoying to me. I didn't really like the writing style either.
The villain was you know a typical villain, which was boring and some of it just didn't make sense to me.
I did not like the romance.
I didn't really understand the foot notes, like there was no purpose for them.
Honestly there was nothing I liked about this book. I will not be reading this again.

I did like the narrator though, which is the reason that I didn't mind finishing this book.

It's intriguing but the audiobook is missing like forty minutes throughout the book, chapters end in the middle of sentences.

This was an excellent haunted house book, with a gothic romance, and really compelling main characters. The narrative style worked well, and the story and central mystery was revealed slowly and well. The ending could have been slightly more drawn out, but overall it was very satisfying and the perfect autumnal read.

Alix E Harrow's latest novel is a retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast' - at least according to the cover. Like a lot of 'retellings' of fairy tales, it's different enough that I wouldn't have made the connection if it hadn't been pointed out. The story is set in Eden, Kentucky - an industrial town about as far from the Biblical paradise as you can imagine. In fact, the town seems to be cursed - bad luck and accidents dog the inhabitants, illness rates are far higher than elsewhere, and the town is blighted by pollution from the mines and power station.

The story is told from two perspectives, although the principal character is Opal, a young woman who has brought up her younger brother since she was a teenager and their mother died. She lives in a single rundown motel room, works dead end minimum wage jobs, cheats and lies and steals, all with the aim of sending her asthmatic brother to a private school away from the the poisonous air of Eden. Opal feels an inexplicable attraction to Starling House, a mysterious property on the edge of town which is the subject of much local gossip and myth. When she finally goes there, she meets Arthur Starling, the sole occupant - a strange, isolated young man, and the other point of view character.

It's soon clear that Starling House is no ordinary home and that the accidents that plague Eden are not a coincidence. The exact link between the house and the mysterious problems of the town only becomes apparent gradually throughout the story. But Opal isn't the only person interested in Starling House - ruthless agents are also trying to find information about it, and the company behind the power plant wants to mine the ground beneath it.

It's a really compelling story - I looked forwards to carrying on reading all day. Opal is a likeable character, spikey and damaged but ultimately good hearted, and there are good supporting characters too. Arthur is loveable, and the house is a character in its own right. I even liked the cat. There's a strong emotional pull throughout the narrative, and although there's a romance storyline, the non-romantic relationships are just as important or more so - that between Opal and her brother in particular. The fantasy verges on horror, but not too much (depending on your taste). The plot is good and the ideas behind it work well, with a satisfying resolution.

It works well as an audiobook - I could follow the story easily and the narrator is particularly good. She has a nice voice and reads with great expression and emotion.

If you like fantasy - particularly the darker, Gothic variety of fantasy - you will very likely enjoy this book. Fans of Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden, Hannah Whitten and Silvia Morena Garcia for example are likely to find much to enjoy here. Harrow has several other good novels, and a good range as well - she isn't formulaic in her writing, so it's well worth looking them out too if you enjoy 'Starling House'.

I loved this. The atmosphere gave the perfect gothic feeling for this time of year, whilst the plot was modern and new. The audiobook read really well and Arthur's chapters were clearly narrated in a different voice. This definitely reads adult which I enjoyed and the depths of this book revealed themselves perfectly. Really recommend.

Unfortunately, my audio cuts the last few pages off from some chapters & stops mid sentence (I've checked in with a friend with an eARC & in some cases it's up to 4 pages missing).

With that in mind I have DNF'd & will treat myself to a finished copy as I enjoyed what I listened to before the problems.

Thank you.

An interesting and unique take on Alice in Wonderland. I found the characters very engaging and the plot moved along well.

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't keen on the ending but it wasn't horrendously disappointing or anything, I just hoped for more. Love the mix of characters, loved Opal and Arthur.

A great, creepy, gothic novel, perfect for the upcoming spooky season!

The plot is creative and refreshing, a new approach to the 'haunted house' theme, which also includes small town with a dark past and the power struggles. The descriptions are truly perfection as is the writing style. It sucked me in and didn't let go until the last page. It was captivating in its brooding and mysterious atmosphere.

As for the characters, I really liked Opal. She's a morally-grey character, very relatable, and her love for her brother is heartwarming, The way she roots for him is just very nice to read, and the lengths she'll go through to make sure he's happy and as a future is just really well explored and described. Arthur is an incredible character. He's ready to give up on life until he meets Opal, who helps him deal with his dark past and the secret he's been holding on to for years. I loved their chemistry and the slow-building of their romance.

The narrator is fantastic. She knows when to speak softly and when to go more intensely, her tone and pace changing and adapting depending on what's happening in the story. The perfect choice for this story.

A really engaging story with a beautiful style of writing, with enough horror and mystery to keep me glued to my headphones!

My only issue was the corrupt audiofile that skipped the end of each chapter. I'll be reading the physical version to see what I missed!

This audiofile is corrupted and keeps skipping to the next chapter with parts missing. So my review is partial and I'm happy to come back once this is fixed.

From what I could tell this is a really engaging story with enough mystery and horror vibes to keep me at the edge of my seat. Characters are totally intriguing and the writing style is beautiful.
I also love the narrator - her voice is so intense it gives me goosebumps, and that's very fitting for the story.

I'm rating this 4/5 stars now, but once I get to know the whole story, this could easily become a 5 star highlight for me.

If you’d told me last week that one of my favourite books of the year would be listed as sci-fi fantasy id have laughed! It’s simply not for me, until I read Starling House that is. I wouldn’t necessarily mark it as sci fi or horror, it’s like a beautiful cozy gothic fantasy fairy tale. Since it’s due for release in October I’d say get this on your Halloween reading list immediately I adored it! Id also say make a movie out of this is screaming from the pages.

The writing is STUNNING the characters fully formed and loveable. The house, my god the house. I could feel its presence I could imagine being immersed in its beauty and its beasts. The story is woven like the finest silk. I adored it!

The narration is stunning! All the stars ⭐️ #Jorecommends

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan U.K. Audio for the opportunity to listen to this amazing audiobook in return for an honest review.

Trying to get her and her brother through life, Opal feels the pull to Starling House in Eden, the town she lives in. She decides to give in and go and there she finds the strange, brooding Arthur and the mystery and history of Starling House starts to unravel.

I loved Opal, she was so morally grey but so relatable at the same time. Her love for her brother, Jasper, and the urge for him to succeed was so heartwarming.

Arthur made me want to cuddle him, he had given up everything to end things...until Opal.

It was creepy, dark, gothic, horror lite and full of mystery!

When the story reached its crescendo I read with rapt attention, it was so good! Would totally recommend this for an Autumn/Halloween read!

The two books I’ve previously read by this author have become favourites so the beautiful writing in Starling House came as no surprise. A contemporary gothic fairy tale, this book is filled with chilling imagery which is perfect for autumn and anyone looking for a spooky read.

The main character Opal is an unlikely heroine but one I couldn’t help rooting for. Struggling to support her teenage brother and give him the opportunities she never had, made her likeable and you understood her motivations, despite her many poor decisions along the way.

I liked the mysterious plot, the setting which worked so well to deepen the brooding nature of the story, and the romance may have been a lesser plot point but I think that made it more poignant.

I really enjoyed this book and thought the narration was excellent. I did feel that although the main characters are in their 20s it did read significantly younger and felt more like YA which I wouldn’t have minded this but I don’t think that’s where it was aimed.

Another great book from Alix E. Harrow which makes me want to read all their other books that I don’t already have on my shelves.

I was very excited to be accepted to listen to the audio of this much anticipated release! I think I’m terms of the story’s pacing audio was definitely the right route for me - the narrative is somewhere between a slower to medium pace at times, so the audio’s engaging narrative held my attention and focus much more than I think this may have done physically.

The atmosphere and setting of Starling House was spooky gothic perfection - I’m always a bit of a sucker for a setting being pitched as a basically a character and in this premise it worked brilliantly. The story was excellent, though a couple of sections did feel a little long. I loved the themes in the story - the small town, the dark past, the power struggles - it was all captivating with that great touch of romantic tension between Opal and Arthur.

Overall an excellent atmospheric autumnal pick!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my audio copy.

There is a problem with the audiobook arc. It cuts off at the end of each chapter (at least for the first 5).. I have the e-arc also, so I was able to confirm there is a lot missing! I’m going to come back and give it an actual review based off the book, but the narrator was easy to listen to and did a good job..so I’m going to give it four stars based off of that!

Sorry but think there was some problems with the editing of the audio book.
Mine seemed to keep missing bits out. Be happy to review once this has been fixed

I thoroughly enjoyed this spooky but still cozy story of a Kentucky and nightmare-fuelled version of Casita from Encanto, and the scrappy, orphaned teenagers fighting to keep its nightmares from sweeping out into the world. It feels like a fairytale retelling, which it is, being a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, but that does push it into the awkward territory of trying to be an adult book which leans very heavily on what is originally a tale for children. Opal, our heroine, is a classic fairytale lead, fallen on hard times, struggling to keep her family together, and presented with an opportunity by a mysterious stranger. Hurrah, here we go, let's explore the mythology!
At its core, Starling House is a musing on found family, home, and belonging, and it really is sweet at that. Plus there's some light house burning and nightmare fuel, but it's all very cozy overall. It has the warm feeling of a raging storm in winter, but you're behind double glazed windows with a mug of hot chocolate, thick socks, and a cozy blanket, so it really isn't bothering you, so much as demonstrating a great lightshow.
The narrator, Natalie Naudus, did a wonderful job of this book, but the files had an issue where the end of each chapter was cut off, so I ended up reading the eARC, rather than listening to it. The prose is lyrical and descriptive, which may not be your cup of tea, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Pegging this as adult is probably stretching it a bit - Opal felt like a teenager pretending to be a grown up. If the book were set a few years earlier - when she was a teenager pretending to be a grownup - I think I probably would've swallowed this a lot easier, but a lot of the decisions she makes and the way she acts just feel very juvenile, and as a result, the narrative doesn't really strike me as fully developed. Arthur, on the other hand, as a shutin, had every reason to be juvenile, but his third-person narrative contrasted with Opal's first-person in a way that was jarring and I'm not sure it achieved the effect the author was going for.
I did enjoy this book! Starling House was my favourite character, the most developed, and with the best personality, The prose is lyrical and creates great visuals. And I read it super fast - chomping through it in only two days. I'll read more Harrow, and look forward to seeing what she does next.

3.5 stars


For me fantasy books work best as audio and this one was very enjoyable.
Opal was a character I could believe in, just the right amount of attitude.
A house that is a character in itself, and a warden guarding against who knows what.
A story that moved at a decent pace.
There was a lot in there, and most of it was great.
An enjoyable listen.

The audiobook skips multiple pages a chapter. I have to read it simultaneously with the ebook to continue reading each chapter when the audio stops and goes directly to the next chapter. Not great experience, I thought someone would have listened to the audiobook before it's sent to public. The story itself and the narrator are great however the audiobook only telling part of the story - not so much. I mean, what if I didn't have the eARC too? I would have missed out on some vital info.

The Southern Gothic vibes and atmosphere were absolutely perfect! Alix E. Harrow set the mood in such a masterful way that I've bumped her other books up higher on my TBR.