I do think I would read another Isabel Strychacz book because this one had elements I really enjoyed, but I just cannot get over the insta-love or the terrible decisions.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

A bit long and rambling for my tastes. I liked some of the elements. I liked that Starling isn't especially human. His character changes the most through the course of the book. And I liked the interplay between his relationship with the humans and the sisters trying to survive. These additional elements certainly elevate the plot. But the pacing is off and some of the details, while charming on their own, don't add enough to the plot to justify their inclusion.

I was so, so ready to fall in love with this book.

In the mysterious town of Darling, things are always happening at the home of Delta and Bee Wilding (aka The Wild West). The most notable of which is the disappearance of their father through one of The Wild West’s closets. So, it isn’t exactly surprising when one night a man falls from the sky into the Wildings’ backyard. So begins an adventure to uncover the mystery of where this alien comes from, why he’s here, and how to get him back among the stars.

Ok can we all just appreciate that cover for a minute?? It looks absolutely magical and wonderous and everything that this book wasn’t. I don’t know when I’m going to stop letting myself be deceived by cover art. Probably never.

I try not to be too negative in most of my reviews because hey, we all like different stuff right? But I’m seriously struggling to find something positive about this book. Perhaps it was a concept I would have enjoyed in my 13 year old John Green and very young YA romance phase- but I’m not even sure about that.


To start, the characters were all just so flat. Delta: annoying and obsessed with Starling, Bee: could have solved everything on page 1 with some communication, Tag: rich and “not like his father”, Starling: not like us humans but somehow falling in love with one. Where is the depth?? These things are all. They. Talked. About. It got so repetitive I wanted to throw my kindle.

Which leads me to the fact that absolutely nothing happened in this book. They drove around, ate at a diner, and pined internally nonstop. And the villain? Another caricature. I couldn’t take anything about him seriously, I don’t even think he had motive. Just some weird inexplicable desire to eliminate the two “freaks” in town (who were children!!). The extent to which he went was weird and not very believable.

Finally, the magic system/world building. It made no sense. 0. No explanation. Why is this house magic? Why is it the only house in town that’s magic? Why can stars fall to earth? Why do they present as people? And why do they have weird tattoos and pointy teeth and survive on human alcohol? NOOOOO IDEA. I wish I could say it made it atmospheric at the very least but nope.

Part I’d the problem may have been my expectations. I really wanted a prose-y magical realism book similar to How it Feels to Float or The Astonishing Color of After. Which, I can’t say a book is bad just because it isn’t what I was expecting. So for that I’ll give it 2 stars. But if you aren’t a fan of cliche, young YA alien romance, I’d skip this one.


Rating: 2/5
Pacing: slow
Intended audience: YA
Content warnings: attempted murder

I decided against posting a review since I follow the author and genuinely like her. I also decided against it because the reason I didn’t like this book was reasons totally on me. I don’t like alien love stories. I just can’t do it. So I could not get into this story at all. Thank you so much though.

The word star appears in this book over one thousand times. This book was so frustrating, largely because the writing style is something I've named "everyone thinks a lot". Delta constantly thinks about Starling, and leaving. Bee thinks about Delta. Starling thinks about leaving, and Delta. And Tag thinks about how hard it is to be very rich when no-one likes you. And they think about these things, on repeat, for the entire book.

The blurb promised me a little sci-fi mystery, but the book offered me no explanations. Any mystery was literally chalked up to "eh, it's just like that I guess". The town of Darling was small town American, and it always gave the vibe that there was something off with the town, as if it was on a separate plane of existence from the rest of the world, but this was something that was never explored.

Delta thinks about Starling, Starling thinks about Delta, and that's all the story cares about. This all consuming love made the story feel like an early 2010's Paranormal Romance, rather than a sci-fi, and it was so tedious to read when there was literally nothing else interesting to read about. The story didn't care about world building, or solving any mysteries, or character growth. Just the romance.

I had such high hopes. Starling sounded so wonderful and beautiful, but sadly I was so disappointed. The first few chapters I really enjoyed but then it went downhill for me. I was bored and I just don’t think the writing style was for me. I skipped to the end and I was even more disappointed.

A lush, atmospheric YA read that inserts an unexpected amount of beauty into what is essentially an alien romance. The quaint town of Darling will charm your socks off, and the emotional ties between Starling and Delta will sneak up on you before the end of the book. The many narrators help to keep the story flowing, and I found that, for a long book, it didn't feel stuffy or stunted in pacing. Highly recommend to the dreamers and romantic at heart.

I read a super early draft of Starling, and I can’t believe that it’s out already! I’m definitely a little biased in my review, but I adored Starling so much (both the original version and the published one). If you’re looking for small town ~vibes~ that reminded me of The Raven Cycle, definitely pick this one up!! The romance is also just perfect. Isabel has definitely written an unforgettable book and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.. Now I just need to wait until my preorder arrives!

While I struggled with this one a little bit on the reading journey, I needed to read it in it entirety to fully appreciate it. This is a story that had me fuming at times. And when I say it was the story that had me fuming, I mean the characters and their actions!!! Overall this book is solid, though. This is heartwarming and intense in emotion.

There are four main characters in this book: Delta, he younger sister Bee, Delta’s (sort of) ex boyfriend Tag and the mysterious boy who falls from the sky, Starling. In the town they live in, Delta’s family is outcasted and thought of as weird. It doesn’t help that Delta and Bee’s father really is weird and that he literally disappeared months ago. But he has always instilled in his daughters the understanding and the love of the unknown and unexplainable. These are things that the mayor of their town does NOT agree with. Mayor Rockford, Tag’s father doesn’t even hide his distaste for the family, causing a major rift between Delta and Tag.

When a meteor shower hits and something falls on Delta’s property, she isn’t the only one who notices. And the beautiful boy that she finds is in real danger if Mayor Rockford learns of his existence.

So begins a series of events, decisions and actions that will leave you questioning people’s motives… the one thing that had me in the fence about this book was that all four of these main characters all act in a way that they outwardly portray as live, but in actuality, their actions are incredibly selfish. For one reason or another, their decisions and actions are made to benefit themselves under the guise of doing what is right. It definitely becomes clear and they see the flaw in the design, but it doesn’t change the act that what’s done is done.

Even still, this book was really something and I could definitely understand the rationality of each person and the choices they made. This book had a whole lot of love in it and quite a bit of pulse pounding adventure.

I like the idea of Starling.

Exploring the dynamics and quirks of a small town parallel to a family who lives on the fringes. Who feels outcast and strange, similar to the comparison of Edward Scissorhands. As the reader, Strychacz quickly paints a picture with sharp and defining marks on the towns views of the Wilding sisters. You get the same vibe as Tim Burton created in Edward Scissorhands. You have the picture perfect Victorian homes lined in neat rows. While on the outskirts you have the Wild West, where the Wildings live. Surrounded by woods and what feels like uncharted territory.

Though Strychacz writes a story of small-town prejudices, the supernatural, and the suspense of the Wildings finding their father, the book tends to be melodramatic.

With an unhurried pace, extensive portions of sometimes drawn out exposition, a romance that felt a bit forced, even over the top, and an epilogue that felt too cookie cutter neat, Starling did have its moments. Like a Roman Candle, there are a few sections that bursts with energy, with brilliant trails of star dust into the nights sky. Only to sputter out, leaving you wondering and slightly disenchanted, after a handful of glittering minutes.

Even though this book wasn’t for me, readers who enjoy this genre will be entertained and thrilled by Strychacz’s debut about loyalties and their consequences, friendship new and old, and the unexpected like a celestial boy falling from the sky.

Happy Reading ~ Cece

That cover is everything. It’s the reason I knew I had to read this book. I was intrigued by the idea of an Edward Scissorhands approach but it actually feels a lot more like ET. The story centers around two sisters, Delta and Bee, as they try to hide the disappearance of their father in the small strange town of Darling. Although beautifully written there is a flow to the story that makes it feels like it drags along. The best parts of the story are the house and the way it interacts with the girls as well as the mystery surrounding their father. Delta and Starling aren’t really much of a draw and I found myself more interested in reading about Bee and Tag. I was hoping for more magic to present itself whether through Starling or Delta but that doesn’t happen and was sort of a let down. While it was definitely a slow burn romance and had certain lines that were really touching I wasn’t invested in the characters. The ending felt rushed and didn’t leave us with much of what life was now like for Bee and Delta. Although I wasn’t amazed by the story it was a nicely written book and I’m sure many will enjoy it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

This one missed the mark for me, a bit. Usually, I would say that the disconnect is from my medium-feelings regarding fantasy, but I don’t think that’s the case this time around.

Starling is the story of the town of Darling and, specifically, of Delta Wilding and her sister, their missing dad, Delta’s on and off again boyfriend, and a star that fell to earth in the body of a boy who goes by the name of Starling. If this seems like a lot of information all up front, that’s also what the book felt like. There was so much exposition and setup that by the time the plot really got kicking, I found my attention kind of all over the place.

Usually I love books that have multiple perspectives, but Delta was so heavily featured that when we dipped into another character’s thoughts, it didn’t do what I think Strychacz was hoping it would. I find myself gravitating towards Tag and Bee’s chapters just as a break from Delta’s and Starling’s.

For everything that the beginning set up, the ending did not exactly deliver. At the 90% mark, I was skeptically raising an eyebrow as I read because I didn’t know how everything was going to be concluded in such a small amount of book and it… wasn’t. The ending felt rushed and was not satisfying. The one time I wanted more insight into all of the characters and I didn’t get it. I’m not one to often complain about things being left unturned but I am this time.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad read, but it wasn’t one that will stick out for me in the years to come.

3 stars.

4 STARLINGS
This was so cute! At first, I got House of Hollow Vibes, but overall, it's more of if E.T. was a teen romance. Delta was a really likeable character and I just wanted the entire universe for her. Other characters like Bee and Tag were really well-developed for non-main characters in a YA book. And then Delta and Starling (i.e. Star King) - they were so cute and I really appreciated that it was not an insta-love trope scenario because I don't think that would have been very true to Delta.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishing house for a chance to read an ARC of this book!

Starling opens in the small town of Darling, which is odd in a nebulous sort of way. It's a little magical, but also a little plain, much like the Wild West, a house on its outskirts that is a little magical, but also a little not. The Wild West houses two sisters, Delta and Bee, who are pariahs, but also not pariahs (the town hates them for nebulous reasons, yet they are invited to all the cool kid parties). Delta desperately wants to leave, and Bee desperately wants to keep Delta with her, and ever since their father disappeared into the Wild West's closet things have been getting harder. Then an alien boy falls out of the sky and lands in their back yard. The two girls rush to hide him before humanity has its way with him, notably Darling's evil mayor, who will do anything in the name of protecting Darling and his son, Tag, from the unexplained weirdness that is the Wilding sisters.

Starling is a character-driven romance and sister story. It's a bit slow-paced, embroiled in keeping an alien hidden amongst the pulling apart of relationships. Delta and Tag are starting and stopping, Delta and Bee are locking horns, and Delta and Starling are concerned with how love can overcome cosmic rules and the fundamental limits of humanity. It's a pretty book that verges on overwrought occasionally, but I think it achieves what it sets out to do and will be attractive to the more cerebral young adult romance readers.

Than you to Netgalley and the publishing house for a chance to read an ARC of this book!
I have had Starling on my want to-read TBR for months now and am absolutely thrilled to be able to read an early copy! Strychacz has a mastery of atmosphere—chiseling and sculpting the setting into a character itself, haunting and alluring. The luscious prose only deepen the experience, leaving me breathless. The narration, cast of characters, whirlwind romance will sweep you off your feet right into the fall season!

There are some writers whose stories I love, and some whose writing I love...and then there are a few who make me fall head over heels for both. Authors like Neil Gaiman, Laini Taylor, and Natalie Lloyd... and now Isabel is another!! ⁣
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I was drawn in from page one by her cozy descriptions of the small town of Darling. It made me feel the way autumn mornings do, with a gentle chill in the air and the smell of falling leaves. ⁣⁣
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I read it one slowly because I'd been looking forward to it since I first heard about this story of small-town sisters, a boy who fell from the stars, and a whimsical old house that's just a little magical.
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I loved how vivid the setting is. And I'm so here for the complex sister dynamic, and the mysterious, eccentric love interest. Plus the pickup trucks and flannel shirts and cozy small town setting gave me that fabulous fall feeling that I absolutely loved!!!

It's definitely a new favorite for me.

Lush romance with a dash of sci fi and fantasy. I couldn't ask for more! Really enjoyed this book. Pacing can be a tad slow but not unbearable!

I'll admit that I didn't quite understand this book. The Wilding sisters, 18 year old Delta and 16 year old Bee, live in a small town, in a house dubbed the Wild West, which is on the outskirts of town. Townsfolk don't seem to like them or their eccentric father, who a walked into a closet a few weeks ago and never came out

One day, something falls from the sky. Everyone thinks it was a meteor, but of course it lands on land owned by the Wildings, so the girls investigate and discover an alien boy.

The rest of the book is spent trying to keep the alien boy hidden from others (think: E.T. in the 80s) and Delta's feelings for him. Human-alien love ensues and it just goes back and forth about whether the alien boy (Starling) can stay on Earth or not. Not my thing, as it was not relatable.