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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Exactly what I needed. Perfectly spooky and magical.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
I enjoyed it but I waited too long to review so now I don't remember that much oops
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
✨ “Some houses choose you — and surviving them means learning what they’ve been waiting to reveal.”
📍 Contemporary Kentucky, fictional Eden, with gothic Southern Gothic atmosphere
Harrow spins a dark, atmospheric tale about Opal, a woman tied to a crumbling mansion that seems alive with secrets. Starling House is equal parts haunted house story and meditation on poverty, inheritance, and the desire for belonging. With prose as lush as ivy, Harrow explores how survival sometimes means confronting the shadows we inherit — and deciding which ones we’ll pass on. For readers of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic or V.E. Schwab’s Gallant, this is a gothic fairy tale that feels both eerie and tender.
⚠️ Content Warnings: Violence, poverty, family trauma, death, abuse, dark imagery.
🌶 Spice Level: 2/5 (mild to moderate intimacy, lightly detailed).
📍 Contemporary Kentucky, fictional Eden, with gothic Southern Gothic atmosphere
Harrow spins a dark, atmospheric tale about Opal, a woman tied to a crumbling mansion that seems alive with secrets. Starling House is equal parts haunted house story and meditation on poverty, inheritance, and the desire for belonging. With prose as lush as ivy, Harrow explores how survival sometimes means confronting the shadows we inherit — and deciding which ones we’ll pass on. For readers of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic or V.E. Schwab’s Gallant, this is a gothic fairy tale that feels both eerie and tender.
⚠️ Content Warnings: Violence, poverty, family trauma, death, abuse, dark imagery.
🌶 Spice Level: 2/5 (mild to moderate intimacy, lightly detailed).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Alix E. Harrow's Starling House is a fantastic gothic fantasy. The titular house is a haunted house. Kinda. It's an enchanting, ever-shifting, perhaps sentient, building. A hero lives there, and he has a sword, but he's not your typical fantasy character. Nor is our main protagonist, Opal, who is a liar, and a thief and who comes to our hero's aid. There's beasts in the mists. There's a red Corvette in the river. Flocks of swirling starlings darken the sky. A century-old grudge, perhaps even a full-blown curse, hangs about a small Kentucky town.
Harrow is a very good writer, her language evocative and picturesque. Starling House is about the power of memory and of imagination, the dark side and the light. It's about finding a home even if you don't have a house. It's about fringe characters discovering each other and finally finding the jigsaw into which their misshapen puzzle pieces fit. It's magical and heart-tugging. It is, in short, a damned good read.
Harrow is a very good writer, her language evocative and picturesque. Starling House is about the power of memory and of imagination, the dark side and the light. It's about finding a home even if you don't have a house. It's about fringe characters discovering each other and finally finding the jigsaw into which their misshapen puzzle pieces fit. It's magical and heart-tugging. It is, in short, a damned good read.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Beautifully written. Loved the fact that the stories were like nesting dolls, each one leading to the other. Great characterisation as well.