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A review by wandering_seal
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this a lot - it's a creepy story with a fine little romance. The unveiling of the different layers of what happened through stories was really interesting, with the final layer suitably grim and unnerving.

That said, I've reached the end of the book and I find myself thinking not about Eden, but about Derry - King's Derry, specifically, the town where bad things happen and people either can't really acknowledge it or they just look away. The suffocatingness of it all. I wanted that here. Eden lacked that deep sense of horror - we were told it was there by Opal, but I never really felt it. Starling House was also not as gothicly described as I would have liked - or maybe this was all a bit too subtle for me. I'm mulling these over now not because I didn't enjoy reading this - I really did - its just that now I wish it had been more.
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