Reviews with content warning for Racism - Starling House

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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fairytales's review against another edition

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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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tamara_joy's review against another edition

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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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rshearon's review

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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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emetrock's review against another edition

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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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luckykosmos's review

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I keep saying, this one was a ok for me, both in the aesthetic uses of the House, the lore of the Starlings, the tension of capitalism and people deciding who family really is. The parallels of Arthur and Opal pushing away the people they love because they believe they alone can fix their problems. E Starling's children's book as a character in its own right. I would read four more of these in a heartbeat.

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erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

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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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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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

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