Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

26 reviews

sashahc's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I just finished a really good one.  “Starling House” by Alix Harrow is a glorious onion of a Southern Gothic.  Although linearly told, it masterfully tangles myth, dream, reality, past, and present.  There are family abandonments, small town dramas, an evil coal company, and a haunted house that may be the gateway to the underworld.  The main character is fierce, funny, scrappy, traumatized, and deeply loyal.  It is beautifully written and not at all a cozy, but it was a wrench to let the characters go at the end.  Read it.  #book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Incest

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

My first reaction upon finishing this book is that it was way longer than it needed to be. I enjoyed the second half, which is where most of the plot occurs, but I was bored during the whole first half of the book, to the point where I was considering not finishing it. 

Once the plot picks up around the 50% mark, it gets interesting and I began to get invested in the mystery of the house and the people surrounding it. I was entertained as Opal unraveled it but I must admit it was pretty frustrating that she withheld so much information from her brother with no real explanation. If it came from some sort of desire to have something for herself, it might have been nice for the author to have alluded to that, but without explanation it was almost infuriating that she wasn’t sharing this information she was finding out. 

I liked all the secondary characters and I wish we got to spend more time with them, perhaps seeing more interaction with them in the first half to invest the reader a bit more. 

Ultimately, the end was more or less rewarding as everything was revealed, but I wasn’t rooting for Opal as much as I was rooting for everyone else around her. 

Read if you don’t mind slowly paced dark mysteries with light mythological elements. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Minor: Suicide, Racism, Car accident, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Child abuse, Bullying, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

megnut's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I was wondering how a dark story with a living house, nightmares and a love story would weave together... but I love the way it did. And at the same time didn't? Because it's not really about any of that at all. It's about finding a home and the power of dreams. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Confinement, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Sexual violence, and Incest

jessicarenz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This would make a good movie. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Grief, and Slavery

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Racism, and Classism

darkdahlia9's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abandonment, Murder, Incest, Slavery, and Alcoholism

seaton44's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Blood, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, and Suicide

Minor: Vomit and Sexual assault

booksemmahasread's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Bullying, Child death, and Adult/minor relationship

persephonefoxx's review

dark mysterious 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

5.0

It occurs to me that this lonely, beastly, bleeding boy is the only person who has ever fought for me, ever stood between me and the dark and told me to save myself.

Modern gothic is a genre that I just want to wrap myself in forever. What more can you ask for? A stubborn and bold main character. A brooding love interest. An asshole cat and a brazen sentient house falling into disrepair. All  tied up with Alix E. Harrow’s beautiful prose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, and Sexual content

crystalleighwrites's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Violence, Classism, Deportation, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts