Reviews with content warning for Blood - Starling House

This is a haunted house story that toes the line of horror. Honestly, if not for the fact that it came in my Illumicrate box, it's far enough outside of my normal reading preferences that I would not have picked it up.

There is a plot, however this does feel like the characters are the main focus. It's hard, because most of the characters are very unlikeable however that's clearly the point. It's also in first person, which always knocks down my enjoyment a little.

At the beginning we had these fun footnotes that kinda just stop, as if the author forgot that was a thing she was doing. I wish they had continued, especially based on how the ending of the book was framed.

There are a lot of topics that fall into content warnings that feel more in line when you view this as a horror novel rather than a fantasy novel. None of them are super graphic, but they are clearly on page.

The prose was good, and I might give Harrow another go with a book that has a more appealing premise.

Content Warnings

jessicarenz's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

darkdahlia9's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

kelsea_mori's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? N/A

4.0

Content Warnings

micaelamariem's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

I really really enjoyed this Southern Gothic horror. I’ll try to write a full review on my blog tomorrow but for now..wow!
The descriptions were vivid and beautiful in a haunting kind of way. The characters were uniquely flawed to the point where you couldn’t help but empathize with their pain. The sins in the book were atrocious, and the themes of identity, belonging, and mercy crawled across the pages, igniting the words into some higher morals. And of course, who doesn’t love a sentient house?
I also thought it was super unique to include footnotes and a fictional bibliography! What a way to add voice.
The only reason it’s not five stars is because there are parts of the ending I wasn’t thoroughly satisfied with.

Content Warnings

seaton44's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

flohbeutel's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

destiniev's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

Rep: Bi MC, queer secondary characters, BIPOC secondary characters

Format: Physical

Rating: 5⭐️

Cawpile: 9.07

Quote: “I know that part of the story must be made up, because there’s no such thing as curses or cracks in the world, but maybe that’s all a good ghost story is: a way of handing out consequences to the people who never got them in real life”

Starling House is a story about stories. Stories that get remembered, stories that get forgotten, stories that get twisted and rewritten for the benefit of others and stories that can heal. Starling House is a ghost story and a fairytale and it’s about the people who live in them.

Starling House is full of beautiful pros and is in its essence a dark fairytale.

I think if you go in expecting a horror or even a gothic horror you will be disappointed. It’s more reminiscent of Nettle & Bone with the whimsical feel to it. In fact for me Starling House feels like a dark fairytale version of Casita in Encanto.

I overall really enjoyed this story. I fell in love with Starling House itself and loved Arthur’s character. I liked seeing a darker side of the small towns trope and the realities of what it means to be different in a small town. Not the romanticized versions we usually see in fiction. I also like reading about how one can feel trapped in the stories they create about themselves and how to move through that and how we can rewrite our stories.

I feel that if you are a fan of T.Kingerfishers’s style of dark fairytales then you may enjoy Starling House.

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