Starling House
Ratings167
Average rating3.9
A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick ‘Alix E. Harrow is an exceptional, undeniable talent’ - Olivie Blake, author of The Atlas Six Step into Starling House – if you dare . . . Alix E. Harrow reimagines Beauty and the Beast in this gorgeously modern Gothic fantasy, perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab and Naomi Novik. Nobody in Eden remembers when Starling House was built. But the town agrees it’s best to let this ill-omened mansion – and its last lonely heir – go to hell. Stories of the house’s bad luck, like good china, have been passed down the generations. Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses, or brooding men. But when an opportunity to work there arises, the money might get her brother out of Eden. Starling House is uncanny and full of secrets – just like Arthur, its heir. It also feels strangely, dangerously, like something she’s never had: a home. Yet Opal isn’t the only one interested in the horrors and the wonders that lie buried beneath it. Sinister forces converge on Eden – and Opal realizes that if she wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it. Even if it involves digging up her family’s ugly past to achieve a better future. She’ll have to go down, deep down beneath Starling House, to claw her way back to the light . . . This is a romantic and spellbinding Gothic fairytale from Hugo, Nebula and Locus Award-shortlisted Alix E. Harrow. 'Starling House is Alix E. Harrow’s greatest work yet' - Ava Reid, author of Juniper and Thorn
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Popular Reviews
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If you're into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Locke and Key and Mexican Gothic then this book is for you.
A mysterious house with an even more mysterious owner, and the burgeoning dark secrets underneath threatening to swallow a town whole. This book was such a fun read!
Unfortunate Opal, not much of a family or history to speak of, she did her best to provide for her little brother, Jasper, and send him to greener pastures. The oppressive small town have bothered her and her kin long ago and would rather have them gone.
Opal somehow keeps her curiosity and wonder alive partially in part to her favorite book, The Underland, a Lewis Carroll-esque written by a previous owner of Starling House.
Then, Opal meets the current young legacy owner of Starling House and breadcrumbs turn into life or death decisions. Trust is earned and easily dashed.
I loved how all these storylines intersect as the characters get to know themselves and each other, all while they fight an even greater evil. Yet, The Big Bad is not painted in black or white but in satisfying shades of grey. The final hurrah, as characters dash forward to fulfill their purposes, felt earned and satisfying. Great book.
Reallllly thought this was going to be a five star read from the start, but then it took quite too long for the story to really progress. The writing style was way too descriptive at some points.
Actual rating: 3.25 stars
Although this has a pretty slow start to the storyline, the character building and mystery keep you hanging in till things begin to pick up. Where I thought the story would have a natural ending, I discovered the book was only half-way done, leaving one to wonder where the story could move to from here? I wasn't disappointed at the remaining half of the book, nor the epilogue.
