Review: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (ARC)
From the publisher:
I dream sometimes about a house I've never seen....
Opal is a lot of things--orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier--but above all, she's a determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author ofThe Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.
All she left behind were dark rumors--and her home. Everyone agrees that it's best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur . Almost everyone, anyway.
I should be scared, but in the dream I don't hesitate.
Opal has been obsessed withThe Underlandsince she was a child. When she gets the change to step inside Starling House--and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund--she can't resist.
But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur's own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.
In my dream, I'm home.
And now she'll have to fight.
Welcome to Starling House: enter, if you dare.
Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ebook ARC of Starling House.
The story is haunting. It hits all the right spots to make it an amazing gothic horror, but it's also modern and Alix E. Harrow's writing style is accessible and easy to read. Opal is an incredibly imperfect and real main character who is easy to root for. Arthur is adorably awkward and the cast of side characters all have their own quirks that make them easy to love or hate. The story really picks up at the halfway mark and becomes unputdownable, but my main complaints come with the ending. While the main story wraps up very nicely, the main antagonist seemingly disappears without a trace or explanation. I was completely rooting for their downfall and / or grizzly ending through the entirety of the book and not having a conclusion for them is honestly maddening.
5/5 Stars
There is violence, gore and vague sexual content.
Starling House releases October 3, 2023.