Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

123 reviews

allyareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If you put the song Abbey by Mitski, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House, the masterpiece film Monster House (iykyk), Howl's Moving Castle, Gallant by V.E. Schwab, a bit of American Gothic Ethel Cain vibes and a pinch of Erin Brockovich all together you would get the beginnings of this book. 
Personally I ate this up. A sentient house will get me <i>every. single. time!</i>
My other favourite arcetype in media: <b>The Angry, Hunger, Resourceful Woman™</b>
e.g. Alex Stern from Ninth House, Lila Bard for Darker shade of Magic, El from Deadly Education etc
The author's note at the beginning surmises it perfectly. This is a <s>love</s> letter about loving a place that doesn't always love you back and that it is. 
4.5 ★ only cause I wanted a little more from the ending and it was a little over written in parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Car accident, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexism, Abandonment, Death, Blood, Grief, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Slavery

fairytales's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I enjoyed this, especially the setting. I liked that it was a bit darker and thought the depiction of a small town was both realistic and gave a strong sense of place, as did the environmental aspects of the story, with the mining environmental issues. Opal did seem a bit stuck in a teenage space, perhaps because of her mother’s death. I honestly forgot how old she was, which was an oversight on my part given that she’s been looking after her brother and wasn’t in foster care. I feel like she could have used a bit more of a growth arch. I really enjoyed the supporting characters, Jasper, Charlotte, and Bev. I liked the idea of Starling House and its aliveness/magic/personality and the whole Starlinn theme.

Elizabeth Bain and the Gravelys were very effective villains and the blackmail was an interesting plot point. I appreciated that the characters weren’t described as being incredibly good looking and were just normal people, though the relationship development between Opal and Arthur could have used some more build up. That being said, it does fit Opal’s character to ignore what’s in front of her. Opal’s understanding that her found family is her home is a valuable one, and I thought the E. Starling mystery and gradual revealing of her story was really good, as was Underland.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Car accident, and Blood

Minor: Slavery

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Classism, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, and Gore

Minor: Incest, Slavery, Sexual content, and Vomit

tamara_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Blood, Sexual content, and Car accident

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Slavery, Abandonment, and Vomit

miblette's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked parts of the book, but this one dragged on and on a bit then I felt like there was a significant rush at the end. I went in expecting more fantasy and magic, but we spent most of the time in the "real world" which is fine... I just thought we'd end up someplace different.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Slavery and Injury/Injury detail

issamay's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Slavery, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Drug use, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Vomit, and Sexual content

shaanzeh1_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide attempt and Slavery

rshearon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

SO GOOD. The spooky tension had me hooked from the first chapter. I typically roll my eyes at this rough-around-the-edges FMC character type, but she only got on my nerves a little, when she was being extra frustrating. The storyline and the lore was so intriguing and kept my attention the entire time; I could barely put it down to go to bed. I also adored the romance, though it was a lot more subtle than I usually go for and it took me a minute to get over the fact that the author repeatedly describes them both as “ugly as fuck” lol. But they were emo and so was their love 🖤 

I can’t wait to binge read everything Alix E Harrow has written because the writing and characters and magic was so entrancing !! and i’m sad it’s over!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Blood

Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism

katieklysmic's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Slavery, and Death of parent

emetrock's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Slavery, Gaslighting, Addiction, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, and Racism