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angorarabbit 's review for:

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
5.0
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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
Context: I read Ms Harrow’s The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage a few weeks ago and now I want to read all her stories and books. Why did we never get to read anything that good in American Lit classes? 
 
It seems that January is a little early to state my favourite book of 2025 but here we are. If this isn’t the best book I read in 2025 it had the most impact of any book I’ve read in the last few years. 
 
The story is mainly told in one character’s first person narrative with occasional omniscient third person interjections. At first the fmc is pretty unlikeable but as the story unrolls you begin to see why. There is also a small US town and a creepy house with a creepy person. 
 
The plot is good but it is Ms Harrow’s careful and detailed descriptions of her characters that really makes this book. She really gets how generational trauma is passed down and how it affects people, making them reject wants and hopes because the have been let down so many times before. How an entire town can turn away from something because it doesn’t fit the fantasy that someone has decided they all have. All I can say is that if you think this is just a romance horror novel you are missing the point.
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