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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I probably would have liked this book more if I had read it versus listening to it. I didn't mind the narrator, but would have preferred someone who sounded like they were actually from Kentucky...
A southern Gothic beauty and the beast sort of story with a hopeful ending. I loved all of it.
Beautiful story, beautiful, poetic writing. I read this very quickly!
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I LOVED this book. Normally, my reviews of gothic books are something along the lines of “this wasn’t necessarily high quality, but I loved it anyway,” so it’s exciting to be able to say that this book was written well and fed my love of gothic books.
I won’t call this novel a mystery because it was easy to see all the twists and turns before they happened, but the suspense and atmospheric horror were done well. I’m also a sucker for the sentient house trope.
For me, the strength of this book comes from not getting tired of either Opal or Arthur. It would be easy for Opal to come across as overly jaded, cynical, and just generally annoying in her “it’s every woman for herself” mindset. It would be easy for Arthur to come across as a holier-than-thou “it’s for your own good” (which he does, a little bit) martyr who is only content to wallow in his self-pity. However, both of these characters toe the line but stay on the right side, Opal’s reactions, while occasionally annoying () seemed justified and didn’t make me roll my eyes constantly. Arthur comes across more as stuck in his ways than inflexible on principle. The side characters were all complex enough to feel distinct, but didn’t leave any questions unanswered.
The book was also the right length and complexity – I don’t find myself wishing for more or less pages and there are not plot points that I missed or didn’t want.
I won’t call this novel a mystery because it was easy to see all the twists and turns before they happened, but the suspense and atmospheric horror were done well. I’m also a sucker for the sentient house trope.
For me, the strength of this book comes from not getting tired of either Opal or Arthur. It would be easy for Opal to come across as overly jaded, cynical, and just generally annoying in her “it’s every woman for herself” mindset. It would be easy for Arthur to come across as a holier-than-thou “it’s for your own good” (which he does, a little bit) martyr who is only content to wallow in his self-pity. However, both of these characters toe the line but stay on the right side, Opal’s reactions, while occasionally annoying (
Spoiler
e.g., how much she was willing to entertain Baine, though I’m pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t an issue with ArthurThe book was also the right length and complexity – I don’t find myself wishing for more or less pages and there are not plot points that I missed or didn’t want.
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
1.5/5 stars.
I’m not the target audience for this book but every once in a while I try getting out of my comfort zone.
This time I was not successful.
I can’t say I liked much about this.
The only obvious positive is the cover, other than that nothing truly drew me in.
It was too long and not spooky enough.
The pacing was all over the place and I personally think the first 3/4 of the whole book could have been 2-5 chapters total instead of having so many unnecessary repetitive content.
Then, I don’t like books that stir you purposefully in the wrong direction because to me it feels like a shitty way to fill pages and this one does it multiple times.
None of the characters are particularly likable, meaning I was not rooting for any of them but they’re also not dark enough at the same time. The author even went out of her way on multiple occasions to describe how disgusting and ugly everyone in that town really was.
I could go on and on with similar issues but you get the point, I didn’t really like it so..
I’m not the target audience for this book but every once in a while I try getting out of my comfort zone.
This time I was not successful.
I can’t say I liked much about this.
The only obvious positive is the cover, other than that nothing truly drew me in.
It was too long and not spooky enough.
The pacing was all over the place and I personally think the first 3/4 of the whole book could have been 2-5 chapters total instead of having so many unnecessary repetitive content.
Then, I don’t like books that stir you purposefully in the wrong direction because to me it feels like a shitty way to fill pages and this one does it multiple times.
None of the characters are particularly likable, meaning I was not rooting for any of them but they’re also not dark enough at the same time. The author even went out of her way on multiple occasions to describe how disgusting and ugly everyone in that town really was.
I could go on and on with similar issues but you get the point, I didn’t really like it so..
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
"𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦.
𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴: 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦.”
This is actually my second attempt at Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I tried listening to its audiobook at first and I just didn’t vibe with it. But the ebook? It was mesmerizing!
This book is something special. Alix E. Harrow’s 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 series—that would be epic!
Opal, Arthur, Jasper, and even the side characters were expertly fleshed out. All of their conflicts and decisions (some that I don’t 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. It’s 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. It’s 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 couldn’t 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 you’re a fan of Wednesday, Alice in Wonderland, or Grimm’s Fairytales!
𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴: 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦.”
This is actually my second attempt at Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. I tried listening to its audiobook at first and I just didn’t vibe with it. But the ebook? It was mesmerizing!
This book is something special. Alix E. Harrow’s 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 series—that would be epic!
Opal, Arthur, Jasper, and even the side characters were expertly fleshed out. All of their conflicts and decisions (some that I don’t 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. It’s 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. It’s 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 couldn’t 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 you’re a fan of Wednesday, Alice in Wonderland, or Grimm’s 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.