Title: Starling House
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gothic, Romance, Mystery
Published on: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Tor Books
Source: Ebook (Kindle)
Pages: 312
Goodreads Synopsis:
Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland — and disappeared.
Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house—and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling—go to rot. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never a home.
As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.
If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.
A grim and gothic new tale from New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can’t stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.
My Rating: 5 Stars
I feel like I often give five-star ratings far too easily. But this one is worth every single star. I’d been struggling to find a book that made me want to read. Happens a lot in winter. I’ve seen it recommended so many times throughout the social media platforms I use. It had been on my TBR for ages and fit the category of Goodreads reading challenge Star Selections. To complete the challenge you needed to read a book from a celebrity’s book club picks. This was Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club Pick from October 2023. I purchased the book for Kindle about a year later and finally started reading it in February of this year.
Okay, so where do I start with this one? It was unputdownable, so it was frustrating every time I had to. Either because I got to work, or whatever other reason. Life waits for no one, after all. I had made it about halfway through the book, reading sporadically like that. On my most recent day off, when I was deciding which book I would read, the only book that came to mind was this one. (Never mind that I had three other books in my currently reading pile). I needed to know what was going to happen next. It could not wait any longer. The intention was to read for only about an hour and stop at the end of whatever chapter I was on after the timer I set went off. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t put it back down, and eventually it was like, well, you’ve only got thirty pages left, you might as well keep going. So I did.
The main character, Opal, was entirely relatable to me. I absolutely love how she was written. Her longing for something better for those around her. Sacrificing her own happiness for them, because that’s what you do. Her desire to belong somewhere. Then finding someone who makes you realize that it’s not the place that makes something home, it’s the person or people you are with that make a place home. Sometimes it’s just those people. It reminds me of Vanessa Carlton’s song Home (I’ve linked it here on Spotify if you’ve never heard it before) from her album Heroes & Thieves. The songs talk about how different people with different circumstances may live in a fancy house, or maybe they have no home and only have cardboard for walls, but with her, the person is home.
“And even now
When I’m alone
I’ve always known
with you
I am home
For me, it’s a glance
And a smile on your face
And touch of your hands
And an honest embrace
For where I lay, it’s you I keep
This changing world
And fall asleep
With you all I know is
I’m coming home
Coming home“
– Vanessa Carlton “Home”
Starling House is written so perfectly with that subtle mystery and fantasy element that keeps drawing you in wanting to know more, to discover more right along with Opal. It makes you want to learn more about Arthur. The who’s, the why’s, the how’s and everything in between. Even knowing there’s romance in the novel, it still takes you by surprise. The buildup of the story is like holding your breath without realizing it (as cliché as that sounds) and then getting to the end and you finally release that breath. In the exhale, you feel relief settle over you, and you realize you’re breathing again, wondering when you stopped. But you’re not mad that the story is done; you’re left feeling satisfied. Do I wish there were more? Absolutely! But it concluded well, in the way that makes me happy. Not all books give me that I’m sad it’s done but satisfied with how you’ve ended so I’m not mad.
I 100% would recommend reading this book if you haven’t already. I’m definitely going to look into other books written by this author, once I’ve tackled a lot more books on my ever growing, TBR pile.
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