A review by _david_
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book reminds me of Life is Strange 3: True Colors. If you enjoyed either, you will also enjoy the other.

I thoroughly enjoyed the logic used by the characters in the book. If they're acting irrational or making assumptions, they're aware of it and/or it's challenged later on. For a second I thought a cliché (key location hidden in plain sight) would be dragged out, but then a main character just plainly said "of course I already looked there, duh" a few pages later.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the house. It reminded me of Encanto's house but in a horror setting. You'll probably enjoy the characters if you like YA's. They have a lot of growth to do with big impacts of their lives. At certain moments, the main character's self-pity annoyed me and
she never seemed to get that it was selfish to push so much of her own identity and values onto her brother
. Some of the antagonists are just almost pure evil without nuance, so you'll have to be okay with that.

The big lessons are a bit obvious in the book, but the main character actually points it out and sounds like she needs it, so I don't mind it as much.

A warning to people with trauma related to drowning or corruption (e.g. being blackmailed). Both are big themes in the book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings