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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
"๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด: ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.โ
This is actually my second attempt at Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I tried listening to its audiobook at first and I just didnโt vibe with it. But the ebook? It was mesmerizing!
This book is something special. Alix E. Harrowโs writing style is so beautiful and lyrical that I just want to highlight every paragraph of every chapter. How could such simple sentences be turned into works of art?
Every word was purposely written to create such an atmospheric world. I could picture this as a seriesโthat would be epic!
Opal, Arthur, Jasper, and even the side characters were expertly fleshed out. All of their conflicts and decisions (some that I donโt agree with), make sense to their personality. Even the side characters and their storylines were charming and engaging.
The romances sprinkled throughout the story were a nice breather from all the dark themes, as well.
The fantastical elements in this book I found very intriguing, quite similar to others already out there but Alix made it work so well in the story. Itโs interwoven into the bones of the book and significantly impacts the characters and it left them all changed by the end.
The author created such an atmospheric, dark, almost gothic world. Itโs just gorgeous how she can invoke such vivid imagery.
Through that, she told a story about the conflict of a small town and the rot generational trauma can cause. I couldnโt put this book down because of how beautifully it was written especially towards the end where the plot is hitting its resolution. And yes, the plot is also well-executed.
Read this if youโre a fan of Wednesday, Alice in Wonderland, or Grimmโs Fairytales!
๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด: ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.โ
This is actually my second attempt at Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I tried listening to its audiobook at first and I just didnโt vibe with it. But the ebook? It was mesmerizing!
This book is something special. Alix E. Harrowโs writing style is so beautiful and lyrical that I just want to highlight every paragraph of every chapter. How could such simple sentences be turned into works of art?
Every word was purposely written to create such an atmospheric world. I could picture this as a seriesโthat would be epic!
Opal, Arthur, Jasper, and even the side characters were expertly fleshed out. All of their conflicts and decisions (some that I donโt agree with), make sense to their personality. Even the side characters and their storylines were charming and engaging.
The romances sprinkled throughout the story were a nice breather from all the dark themes, as well.
The fantastical elements in this book I found very intriguing, quite similar to others already out there but Alix made it work so well in the story. Itโs interwoven into the bones of the book and significantly impacts the characters and it left them all changed by the end.
The author created such an atmospheric, dark, almost gothic world. Itโs just gorgeous how she can invoke such vivid imagery.
Through that, she told a story about the conflict of a small town and the rot generational trauma can cause. I couldnโt put this book down because of how beautifully it was written especially towards the end where the plot is hitting its resolution. And yes, the plot is also well-executed.
Read this if youโre a fan of Wednesday, Alice in Wonderland, or Grimmโs Fairytales!
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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
This book did a really good job of making flawed characters incredibly lovable. It's so easy for a "bad" character to be hard to read and frustrating, but Harrow did an amazing job of making Opal so lovable. The structure of this book was interesting. While I didn't feel like it was twisting all over the place, it also didn't flow the way I was expecting. That wasn't bad though, I just seemed to struggle to guess how much was left or at what point in the story we were. I feel like that mirrored the point of the story a bit. The epilogue was a bit too much of a bow on top, although I'm glad the footnotes were finally explained. I wish we knew more about Jasper at the end though! Overall, I really solid book though.
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
also the little lee mandelo reference, chefs kiss
Perfect mix of gothic, fantasy, and romance. Chefโs kiss!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tender, harrowing, and so so addictive. This was my first read of 2025 - it got me out of a real slump - and itโs going to be a difficult one to beat! A ghost story, a love story, and a mystery all in one - I have to thank the lovely cashier at my local book shop for recommending this one
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes