Reviews with content warning for Death - Starling House

If you put the song Abbey by Mitski, Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House, the masterpiece film Monster House (iykyk), Howl's Moving Castle, Gallant by V.E. Schwab, a bit of American Gothic Ethel Cain vibes and a pinch of Erin Brockovich all together you would get the beginnings of this book.
Personally I ate this up. A sentient house will get me <i>every. single. time!</i>
My other favourite arcetype in media: <b>The Angry, Hunger, Resourceful Woman™</b>
e.g. Alex Stern from Ninth House, Lila Bard for Darker shade of Magic, El from Deadly Education etc
The author's note at the beginning surmises it perfectly. This is a <s>love</s> letter about loving a place that doesn't always love you back and that it is.
4.5 ★ only cause I wanted a little more from the ending and it was a little over written in parts.

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nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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tamara_joy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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rshearon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

SO GOOD. The spooky tension had me hooked from the first chapter. I typically roll my eyes at this rough-around-the-edges FMC character type, but she only got on my nerves a little, when she was being extra frustrating. The storyline and the lore was so intriguing and kept my attention the entire time; I could barely put it down to go to bed. I also adored the romance, though it was a lot more subtle than I usually go for and it took me a minute to get over the fact that the author repeatedly describes them both as “ugly as fuck” lol. But they were emo and so was their love 🖤

I can’t wait to binge read everything Alix E Harrow has written because the writing and characters and magic was so entrancing !! and i’m sad it’s over!!

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afaerytale's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I won’t lie, I should’ve finished this at 30% but my goal this year is not to DNF a book and I was so tempted to by this one.

First off the bat, Opal is one of the most insufferable characters I’ve read in a while - angsty, woe is me through the book. I cannot stand her brash, rude attitude towards those trying to help her and a seemingly reckless abandon towards her little brother. A brother who just seems to be trying to escape the miserable af world his sister has created for him. Yes, she has sacrificed some aspects of her life for her brother but do we really need to complain about it forever?

Secondly, Arthur’s character is horrifically awkward to the point reading his POVs or Opal’s descriptions of him make me uncomfortably physically cringe. Yes, he’s got a huge secret to keep from Opal and the rest of the world but his whole character could’ve been replaced by an antique vase and it would’ve had more personality. I felt like Harrow was trying to portray a mysterious handsome character but all I could picture was some grim basement dweller with mommy issues.

Arthur and Opal’s romance - I’m sorry, was the spark in the room with us or did this wet wipe of a “relationship” extinguish it? There was zero chemistry and even less “love” shown through the progression of their relationship, one minute Opal detests the sight of him and the next minute their necking on? The whiplash I got from that I swear! The whole romance added nothing to the story and was boring beyond belief.

The shining graces from this tale were Jasper, a character with a decent attempt at bettering himself despite his sisters choices and the world building which was pretty good, although at times rambling, especially when discussing Underland. However, the footnotes which disappeared just before half way through and gave next to no input to the story? What was that all about? I picked this up as it was marketed to me as a gothic horror, neither of which I got the vibe of throughout this.

This book was just a whole lot of maybes, almost and nothings. It maybe could’ve been good with better characters, we almost got a plot resolution but nothing really made me want to pick up this book day after day except the urge to get it out of the way for a better read. I don’t know how one book feels like you’ve wasted a year of your life but this was it.

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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raptorq's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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