A review by marie_mn
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

The way I loved this book. 

Like it literally spoke to me on a different level. 

It was fantastic, I didn’t want to finish it. I went in scared expecting a creepy haunted house story and turns out it’s actually a slow burn romance with Beauty and the Beast vibes set in a weird ass town and an even weirder house that’s kind of unsettling at times. 

From the start, I was drawn in by the writing. It was so atmospheric and haunting, but in a different way than I expected. I loved Opal and Arthur (and Jasper and Bev and Charlotte). To me, this was a love story first and foremost. It was beautiful, and I’ll think about Opal and Arthur for a while. The way they both were so lonely and felt so hopeless only to find each other in this strange place, I’m unwell. 

The characters really made this story imo, excellently written. For a while the story was an almost perfect mix of character- and plot-driven with a bit more focus on the characters. And I loved that, but I also think that’s why I didn’t enjoy the last few chapters that much. Because all of a sudden it got really plot heavy, and I wanted more time with these characters (and I also think the book could’ve been longer to really make this plot work). 

Overall, it didn’t take away from the experience that was this book though. 

Amazing read, I loved it!