Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

167 reviews

aharrison_33's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse

moniquewrites's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

This booked sucked me in and I stayed for the vibes. I was really intrigued by the mystery of the house and the writing was really beautiful (although at times it broke the fourth wall). It had an unconventional structure, and I liked the interspersing of stories about the house and Eleanor Starling throughout, that got you closer and closer to the “truth.” The characters are not overly likeable but they all kept telling you that until you saw their soft spots and stopped believing them. The mythology was interesting, and brought history into it in a way that I felt honoured a truth about how people from a place would tell their story, but then showed you the layers underneath the fresh paint. I also appreciated that the Gravely’s past

involving slave ownership and the reason for their success in the mines was named, and done in a way that came from the voice of a descendent (although fictionalized still felt like a thoughtful way to tell it).

I also loved how the book felt like a fairy tale I wasn’t expecting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Death of parent, Violence, Car accident, and Death

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Child abuse and Homophobia

hagwife's review against another edition

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

5.0

Starling House holds a special place in my heart among Alix E. Harrow's books. I love that she keeps some of her trademark elements (faerie tales, vibrant and flawed characters, fuck you's to the patriarchy, etc.) and this time mixes it with Southern Gothic and horror elements. The result is a brooding fantasy novel that combines family, monsters, the House, and the all-too-real violence of small-town nastiness into something biting and beautiful.

I love that the characters' flaws have rhyme and reason and the chance to change; morally grey characters are always one of my favourites, but neither Opal nor Arthur nor Jasper are flawed for the sake of being flawed. They're all aggregations of their lived experiences,  of inherited traumas and expectations that they didn't ask for, even as they continue to perpetuate some of them.

I love that this is a haunted house mystery without the haunting necessarily being about the house. Harrow's Starling House is less in the company of Hell House or Hill House, but that of Mervyn Peake's Gormengast, Susanna Clarke's the "World" from Piranesi, Jeanette Winterson's Tanglewreck, Tilly Walden's castle in The End of Summer, and Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle. 

It has a life of its own, but it's not really a haunted house. The haunting is separate and the House merely does its best to contain it.

Concerning the end of the book, I wanted perhaps just a bit more.

I understand that part of the healing process here is that while "angry gets shit done", in order for Opal, Jasper, and Arthur to move on with their lives, they, along with Eleanor, have to put down what they can. The finale allows for the main characters to get the time they need to carve out a life for themselves and dream about a future that has hope and not despair. I just wish that perhaps those who had it coming had a little more actually come to them.

For those who liked this book, especially the gothic and horror elements, I highly recommend Cherie Priest's The Toll.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Death, Murder, Grief, Racism, Death of parent, Blood, Car accident, Violence, and Child abuse

aklovekorn's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Car accident, and Death

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: Classism and Car accident

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Suicide

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

francesturpin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Incest, Racism, Homophobia, and Vomit

orizenda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really loved this book. I’m not typically one for romance but this one was handled really well, I thought. It wasn’t overly done. and I loved the complexity of so many of the characters (Opal, Eleanor, Arthur, etc)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content

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

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

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

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

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: Death of parent, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content