Gothic fantasy can be a big hit or miss for me but thankfully Starling House was the former. With a cursed town, a literally haunted house and prose that creeps into the crevices of your mind, what more could you want? I absolutely adored the eerie vibes this book brought and especially our main character (who was willing to risk it all and is apparently way more courageous than me because I would have run the other way like fifty times) was just an absolute joy. Highly recommend to fans of dark, spooky vibes and settings that stick with you.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this novel. Check it out! It is worth picking up and taking home for the weekend! #NetGalley #Edelweiss

I really enjoyed this story and it's influenced me to read some more gothic house inspired books on my shelf. But after Opal was arrested, I was a little confused and couldn't follow the plot as well. That's my only critique. I loved Opal and the house and the storytelling.

Starling House is a contemporary gothic fairy tale about an ugly old house full of secrets, the unfortunate man doomed to be its caretaker, and the desperate young woman who may hold the key to turning things around.

The story is more archetypal than super unique -- heroine Opal struggles to make ends meet, and so takes a job cleaning Starling House so she can earn enough for her brother's tuition. She's scrappy and sarcastic, with enough street smarts for the entire family. Starling House caretaker Arthur is reclusive and beastly -- almost literally: the story often compares him to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, to the point that in one scene, he saves Opal from wolves and she dresses his wounds. The comparisons to Wuthering Heights also get heavy-handed; 'Heathcliff' must have been mentioned at least a dozen times. 

But somehow, Harrow manages to make it all work. Underpinning the conflict is an evil developer who wants to purchase the land Starling House is on, and this developer's minion flip-flops between bribing and blackmailing Opal for helpful intel. There's also an old children's tale from a woman who lived in the house centuries ago; a story about monsters who live beneath the grounds and are both fearsome and comforting for young girls.

This isn't really the type of story I would normally pick up, yet Harrow's writing drew me in. The author does a great job in interweaving fairy tale elements with contemporary real world struggles. And despite the archetypal associations for some characters, she's also succeeded in creating compelling individuals to root for. I respect and admire Opal's fierce determination to provide for her younger brother, and Arthur's equally fierce determination to be the last person doomed to be Starling House's caretaker. The way Opal and Arthur move through the conflict is very much within an eerie dreamscape, yet also very much infused with tangible trauma, and very real work needed to move past it.

Minor note but it matters: I also very, very much appreciate that both Arthur and Opal are described as unattractive. And not just in a 'they feel ugly but everyone else sees how gorgeous they are,' nor even in a 'they're ugly to everyone but each other,' but that they actually seem unattractive on an objective level. As much as they are attracted to each other, and as much as they admire each other's traits, neither Opal nor Arthur describes the other as beautiful or handsome. And among the other characters, even those who love them aren't complimenting their looks. The whole 'feels ugly but is actually gorgeous' trope is used so often that I very much appreciate Alix E Harrow for letting these characters simply be ordinary-looking, perhaps even ugly. Because it isn't just the gorgeous Hollywood look-a-likes who can save the day.

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Thank you to Raincoast Books for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

100/10 recommend. The language was beautiful, story unique and meta story within a story was fantastically done. I loved the darkness but simultaneously innocent nature of this book. I love Alix Harrow’s writing style so much.

I don’t normally read fantasy, but I love a creepy house. Opal is struggling to keep her head over water. She’s the guardian of her 16 year old brother, lives at a motel, and works sporadic shifts at Farmers Supply in Eden, Kentucky. Her mother died 10 years ago, leaving Opal to do what it takes to survive. Opal dreams of the creepy, historic house on the hill, Starling House. No one ever comes in, no one ever comes out. The most famous Starling, Eleanor, wrote a terrifying children’s book. She disappeared one day, with no trace of her ever found. When the current owner of the house, Arthur, offers Opal a cleaning job, she jumps at the chance to get inside the mysterious house, but what will it cost her? I couldn’t put this down. Opal was a hard woman, but you understand why. I loved her story, and highly recommend this for a late night thriller. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Alix Harrow has written another fantastic book. I adored Starling House almost as much as The Ten Thousand Doors of January. Opal was an engaging and well-written character. Her perseverance, stubbornness, and a never-ending search for a place that felt like home endeared her to me. I find Harrow’s descriptive writing enchanting and look forward to her future stories.

The town talks about Starling House. It is a large mansion, stuck way back in the woods and its sole occupant is a mystery who is rarely seen. The house was built by a woman who married two brothers, both of whom stole her money and were found dead after establishing the town's major industry, the mining of ore beneath the land. Now Arthur Starling hides in the house and talks to no one.

Opal lives in the town but is not a leading citizen. She lives in a motel along with her brother, Jasper. She took over being Jasper's guardian when their mother was killed in a car wreck. Opal isn't popular; the town looks down on her poverty and willingness to do whatever it takes to protect Jasper. She ekes out a living at a local farm supply store as a cashier but Opal has been dreaming about Starling House.

One night, walking home, she stops at the gates of Starling House. She is shocked when the gates open but goes into the grounds where she runs into Arthur. She is terrified but when he offers her a job as a housekeeper making twice what she was making as a cashier, she agrees. She only hopes she doesn't have to see this strange, odd man very often.

As time goes on, Opal starts to feel something for Arthur and apparently, he does for her as well. But Opal is being blackmailed by a group to send them pictures of the house and its layout. They suspect there are things they want hidden there. There are also rumors of beasts that occasionally appear but seem to disappear. Is Arthur involved in their appearance and disappearance?

This is a lovely gothic mystery that will warm the reader's heart. The blossoming love story between Arthur and Opal, both outcasts but will huge protective sides to their characters, is fascinating. The old legends of the town, some true, some not and the discoveries about her own family that Opal slowly learns racket up the tension until a climatic revelation. This book is recommended for fantasy and horror readers.

A story that is part fantasy, part horror about a house in Kentucky with a sinister past. The book starts off slowly but picks up and then moves at lightning speed.

This is not my usual genre, but there was something about Starling House that drew me to reading it. Starling House draws our protagonist Opal to it like an old friend. After Opal accepts a job offer from creepy Arthur Starling, she spends every day cleaning the filthy house. She gets to know the house and the house gets to know Opal. It affects her dreams at night and her perceptions during the day. As she gains the trust of both the house and its guardian Arthur, she begins to understand what it means for somewhere to feel like home. She and Arthur have fallen in love, but first they must defeat the sinister monsters locked deep inside the house. Will either one of them survive in order to remain guardian of Starling House?

I enjoyed this book more than I expected. Gothic romance, along the lines of Wuthering Heights, is always good for my soul. This book was not perfect, by far, but I was captivated by the characters and the story. One complaint: the characters in this book would have saved themselves a lot of heartache if they had only actually had conversations with each other; not just Opal and Arthur, but every single character in the book. Of course, where would the drama be if that happened? My other complaint: the ending; I was confused by the way the final battle ended. Without these two issues, I would have given this book a 5.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes their romance gothic and their horror on the light side (it's almost more fantasy than horror). Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have tried a few books by this author and well I am sad to say that this will the last of the stories I give myself to. I have not enjoyed any of this authors writings. This one had the same issues as the others. They were just hard to follow and boring.

There was just so much to love about this one! Compelling characters, evocative writing, intriguing mystery... This one was definitely a treat! Definitely checked all the boxes for a gothic fairy tale!

Very atmospheric and spooky read, with a lot of humanity at its heart! Flawed, imperfect main leads that you will be able to relate to and sympathize with. Worth the read!

I love everything Alix E. Harrow has written, so it’s no surprise that I love this. Starling House is possibly my favorite book of 2023 😍
Starling House is many things: A ghost story, a romance, a family drama, a haunted house saga, an exploration of rage and exploitation. It’s full of dark shadows and foreboding vibes, a story about the monsters that lurk in imagined places and those that exist in the harsh light of the real world. It’s about lost people and broken places, and the longing for a place to belong.

Opal has been raising her younger brother since their mom died, and her only focus is making enough money to get Jasper out of Eden, a dying coal town. But Opal has dreams about the Starling House, of claws and teeth and monsters, and she’s drawn to it. A chance encounter with Arthur Starling gets her a well paid house cleaning job at Starling House, but before long the house starts to feel like something Opal has been afraid to dream about - a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a decision to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares. If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.

Opal is cynical, clever, prickly, selfish and brave. She does what she has to do to survive, and I’ve never rooted for someone as much as I rooted for her.

From the author: “I think what I wanted to say about class and poverty is that poverty is a form of violence and horror in and of itself," Harrow says, "and that those experiences do emotional and physical harm.”

Harrow is a brilliantly gifted writer and I recommend everything she’s written ❤️

This was really beautifully written but took me forever to get into. The plot took a direction I was not expecting and by the end I wasn't sure how I felt about all of it. Not my favorite but I can see why many people would love this.

Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!

Look. I love a novel with footnotes. Footnotes in a novel happen when the author has a world that is so big and rich that it has to spill over into the margins of the book to fit it all in. Starling House starts out with footnotes. It has haunted houses, and haunted families. Sure, the main character, Opal, can verge on being nothing just a Tragic Example of Poverty and Pain, and the romance a little pat, however Harrow's love of language, world building, and the occasional snarky aside kept me engaged through out.

A gorgeous southern Gothic tale from Alix E. Harrow. I absolutely loved the combination of fantasy, horror, and Gothic elements. The amazing characters are amazing, despite their flaws, and I loved all of the interactions between them. This book also depicts one of the best sibling relationships I've ever read. This will easily make my 'best books of the year' list!

I've loved Alix Harrow's past books and novellas, but this was not my favorite of hers. Still compelling and incredibly readable, but something about it didn't fully land for me.

When Alix writes a book, I read it. This was a very interesting take on a haunted house. We have a scrappy protagonist Opal who tends to make the worst decisions unless it involves her brother Jasper who she will do anything for. I liked how Alix worked in a little romance as well with Arthur, the current owner of the Starling House. The house itself was like it's own character and I enjoyed how we were slowly putting the pieces together. I was expecting a little more "magic" based on Alix's other books, but as always her writing was phenomenal.

A haunted house written by Alix Harrow?? Sign me up! Alix Harrow can do no wrong. I will read any book, genre, trope, phone book or list she decides to write. Starling House is immersive and original. I devoured it!