Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
I would have liked it to be darker than it was, and also would have liked the house to play a bigger, more active role.
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Slavery, Colonisation, Classism
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Minor: Incest, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, Murder
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Death of parent, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Incest, Vomit
I can officially say that I adore her writing. She crafts gorgeous characters that are both brittle and strong, and creates really beautiful tension throughout her stories. I'd be reading for long stretches of time and not realize I was holding my breath until I let it out in a giant gasp when the tension finally broke.
I think several of the side characters could've been more fully fleshed out, but that's almost always the case in a story told from a single character's first-person POV. Overall, Starling House is an unflinching and brutal meditation on legacy—the things we leave behind, the impact of decisions across generations, and the stories we tell ourselves and others. It's beautifully layered, dripping in atmosphere, and gorgeously written. I highly recommend!
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism
Minor: Incest
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Classism
Really enjoyed the themes of home, family, and belonging as well as the device of repeating the same story multiple times from different storytellers as the narrative progressed. I'm a sucker for fake wikipedia pages and faux primary sources in a horror-adjacent story. The romance element was eh for me-it made sense, but I cared way more about Opal's relationships with her mother and brother as well as the mystery of the house. Really loved Opal's younger brother, Jasper, and how their bond was written- loving but messy and complicated in a way that felt real for a teen. An ending I'm going to let sit with me for a while, but I think will resonate with anyone with a complex relationship with the place they're from.
Apparently I'm just a fan of haunted house stories (Mexican Gothic, Gallant, A Study in Drowning, Crimson Peak, The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor). I think I enjoy how storytellers use them to play with themes of belonging and what a safe place truly means.
Graphic: Vomit, Car accident, Classism
Moderate: Gore, Incest, Racism, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Classism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Slavery, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury