Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

148 reviews

ljp817's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Classism

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, and Lesbophobia

ciwanski's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A beautifully written book!!!! A masterclass in showing not telling, and one of the sweetest depictions of a developing relationship I’ve ever read. 

Loved the homage to beauty and the beast in the story, love the found family aspect, and love a man who is constantly kneeling for a woman 

Also the first book I’ve read where the two main characters are supposedly ugly??? Felt (surprisingly?) represented. 

I feel like this review makes this book sound like a romance and, like, it IS a love story, but it’s definitely not a romance and I love it for that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

blacksphinx's review against another edition

dark tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Deportation

Once again, why doesn't Storygraph have a "drowning" warning???

tilliyay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence

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

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, Blood, and Car accident

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

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, and Sexism

Minor: Incest, Sexual content, Slavery, 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: Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

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

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

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