Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

105 reviews

finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Racism, Slavery, Vomit, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

snickies'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Vomit

embersbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book surprised me in so many ways - as such, hard to get my thoughts wrapped around it.  Interesting, thought provoking, and intense.  Would recommend to anyone looking for a good gothic read with a gritty, real world feel.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident and Classism

Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

a lot of the graphic stuff has to do with the resolution of the book, which due to the history of slavery, and Eleanor being forced to marry her uncle. Some of this stuff was disturbing, although not horribly graphic - just disturbing as a general idea. Important to note, I feel, as a sensitive reader.

A lot of the stuff around slavery, racism, slurs, lesbophobia, etc. was very brief but felt important to mention. Also some definite police intimidation that didn’t go all the way to brutality. This is a gritty read for sure - I am a pretty sensitive reader, and was able to get through it. But definitely read when you’re in the mood for this. I thought the difficult topics were handled well and sensitively by the author.

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Holy shit. Harrow is a magician with words and I am legit blown away every-time I read a book of hers. This is a (very) slow burn but it's worth it. Opal works in a small town trying to support her little brother but she keeps having these dreams about the local historical house. As Opal tries to work out the history of the house she meets Arthur Starling, owner of the house, who offers her a job. It's too good for Opal to pass up, but as thing's grow stranger Opal struggles to determine truth from fiction. Alix E. Harrow is one of those storytellers who surprises you with every book. This book make me laugh, cry, and love. It was twisty, fun, and beautiful. Another Harrow banger! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookforthought's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

Captivating and engaging, this book confirms the impression I'd had from reading The Once and Future Witches: Alix E. Harrow's writing is so atmospheric! I still need to catch up on her other books, but I have a feeling I could read anything she writes and enjoy the ride.

Starling House starts from an intriguing premise and delivers an enjoyable and entertaining (if not overly creepy) read rich in gothic vibes. There is an abundance of themes, which maybe could have used a tad more space for fleshing out and nuance, some underdeveloped side plots, and characters that feel way too YA for an adult book, all of which prevented me from fully appreciating this. Also, there is a heavy reliance on non-communication as a plot device, which is a big no-no for me since it's one of my most disliked tropes.

Still, there is a mystery and Big Family Secrets, half-truths mixing with full-on lies and legend, which were very well-constructed and layered, leading to a mostly satisfying resolution and character arcs.

Overall, not a new favourite but a pleasant read nonetheless. I'll need to check out The Ten Thousand Doors of January next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Abandonment

Minor: Racism

pineapplebunnies's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.5

The only valid Romantasy book!! 
Gorgeous writing. I literally wanted to live in the world, drink in the atmosphere of it all. I haven’t felt so attached to characters in a while but I loved Opal and Arthur and Jasper and Charlotte!! And Bev. Bev deserves a mention. The structure of the novel and interludes of footnotes and articles were so unique and really made the book feel like a work of art. And the character arcs were truly satisfying. Knocking a few points off because the ending (I feel like this is a common theme for me) felt a bit anticlimactic and tied up a bit too neatly.

Opal x Arthur forever!!! Love that the book also made sure to mention how ugly they both were lmao . Give us conventionally unattractive people some romantic hope 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Car accident

Minor: Incest, Slavery, and Violence

lauramcc7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

lianaet's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

The genre of this book isn't something I'd normally pick up, but something about this book just drew me to it.

And weirdly in the nature of this book, that just makes sense.

The unsettling vibes of the writing were amazing and just sucked me right in all the way through. It felt slow to progress but never in a bad way. And Opal as a flawed woman protagonist was an amazing character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Racism, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest and Vomit

nclausel25'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

This was very fun, gothic, spooky, and just a great read overall. I loved having a semi sentient house, and the kind of beauty and the beast points. The ending was actually really good, sometimes these southern gothic novels can't hit the final notes of the story, but this one did 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, and Racism