Either Opal or the town of Eden is cursed. Possibly both. Bad luck and vibes are all she knows, but she's determined to stick it out long enough to provide a brighter future for her beloved little brother, Jasper. So when the mysterious occupant of the even more mysterious Starling House offers her a job, her need for money combined with the strange pull of the house itself are impossible forces to resist. She's soon sucked into a complex puzzle, unraveling history and staring down eldritch magic to find out who she really is and save everyone she loves.

I've read all of Alix E. Harrow's books and she never fails to amaze. I'm especially loving this traipse into the gothic. A story that manages to be grungy and sensual, horrifying and tender, told in her compulsively readable style. I'll be thinking fondly of Opal and Arthur for a long time.

A gothic, Rust Belt haunted house story for the 21st century! It's about looking to find a place that feels like home, and the stories that place tells about us in turn.

This book did not disappoint, it definitely delivered on everything it promised. A Southern gothic with a creepy house? Yes. A very creepy book within a very creepy book? 100%. A haunted looking man that is compared to a bird? You bet. And best of all, an absolutely feral woman who spits curses and throws punches, who will do absolutely anything to take care of the most important person (persons???) in her life? Opal is that and more.

This book is about family and home, the ones you inherit and the ones that you don't. It has a heart-achingly beautiful as it is ugly romance between two people desperate to find a way out. It touches on the horrors that white rich men will inflict upon people just to get another 0 added to their bank accounts, from 200 years ago to present day.

I absolutely loved this book. The prose had teeth and wasn't afraid to bite, the characters jump off the page, and the story will certainly stick with me for years to come.

Alix Harrow wrote a haunted house book? Sign me up! I liked this a lot, though it wasn't as mind-blowing as January or Once and Future Witches. Still, a solid haunted house story with a bit of a meta-framing (footnotes!) which I always love.

A note: this ARC is AWFUL. Really poorly formatted, with some weird paragraph breaks, dialogue spacing, and broken footnotes that show up in the middle of the chapter. While this did not affect my rating, please take note if you're considering requesting / downloading!

Full review from my blog:

Like Alix Harrow’s other heroines, orphan Opal is a savvy, strong-willed girl. She’s a Kentuckian, so she’s also willing to bend (or break) rules or face down any danger in order to fight for her kin. STARLING HOUSE is also a flipped fairy tale like Harrow’s Fractured Fables, but to tell you which fairy tale is flipped in particular would be a spoiler, and anyway, the novel is an amalgam of many mythical tropes with modern themes of racial identity, oppression, found family, and inclusion, which are hallmarks of Harrow’s work. THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY* and THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES are progressive, envelope-pushing novels.

STARLING HOUSE flips the Girl-Meets-House trope. Starting with JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte, a white girl is supposed to flee the spooky house, whether she comes back or not. Possibly she should flee in terror with porcelain bosom heaving, as per innumerable pulp book covers (check out this blog dedicated to Joan Aiken for examples including JANE EYRE). Besides not being white, Opal just ain’t the running, or terrified type. The novel does have a male heir, brooding appropriately, in the haunted house. Best to set aside your expectations where he is concerned.

Gutsy and indomitable Opal reminds me of Ivy Rowe of FAIR AND TENDER LADIES by Lee Smith (Berkeley/Penguin Random House, 2011), and of Kentucky misfit Dawn Jewell in the Canard County KY trilogy by Robert Gipe (Ohio University Press, 2015, 2019, 2021). Opal also reminds me strongly of El, the star of Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy (Del Rey/Penguin Random House, 2020, 2021, 2022). Without giving much away, both young main characters are quick with a hilarious comeback.

The fictional small town of Eden, Kentucky is instantly familiar to native Appalachians like me. A few wealthy families who’ve long been in charge of exploiting natural resources and labor for generations have all the money, and the rest of the population is barely scraping by. Opal has tenuous custody of her intelligent teenage brother, and she has big dreams on his behalf. Change the Darrell Scott song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” to “You’ll Never Leave Eden Alive” and that is the destiny for her brother that Opal will risk everything to prevent.

I was breathless as I approached the denouement of this novel. My heart was pounding. The ending was brilliant and a total surprise. Starling House is indeed haunted, but every time you think you know precisely how the house is haunted, Harrow throws you another curve ball. Only scrappy Opal can decipher the many tales that swirl around Starling House just like its flock of starlings.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow is a gripping and eerie tale of a small town haunted by secrets that won't stay buried. The book revolves around the mysterious Starling House and the reclusive heir, Arthur Starling, who lives there. Opal, the protagonist, knows better than to meddle with haunted houses and brooding men, but an unexpected job offer takes her to Starling House, and before she knows it, the house begins to feel like home.

As the story unfolds, sinister forces converge on Starling House, and Opal and Arthur find themselves facing a dire choice: confront the buried secrets of the past and their own fears or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares. Alix E. Harrow's writing is atmospheric and captivating, drawing the reader into the mysterious world of Starling House and Eden, Kentucky.

The characters are well-drawn and engaging, and the plot is full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing until the very end. Harrow's use of Gothic tropes and eerie imagery adds to the sense of foreboding that permeates the book, making it a perfect read for fans of dark, atmospheric fiction.

Overall, Starling House is a haunting and atmospheric read that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. It is a story of buried secrets, ghosts, and the power of home, all wrapped up in a gothic tale that is sure to captivate readers.

5/5
With Starling House, Alix E. Harrow captures a festering darkness in a small Southern town determined to move on from its unsavory history, and the strange house caught up in the center of it. A feral heroine and tortured heir come together under the weight of their pasts to confront demons that are more real than they could have ever realized. Alix E. Harrow is a brilliant storyteller, reaching into those dark places that must be uncovered and exposing them to the light of day, all in her own time. This twisted story will drag you down into the depths of the earth where the truth lies, and leave you clawing for more.

A more in-depth review will be provided on my blog closer to publication.