𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧
Truly Langford-Bardot has spent her life pretending to be normal. No one knows about the monsters that stalk her sleep, or that she was left inside a cardboard box on the steps of a church as a newborn. After being forced out of her dream job, she’s working a dead-end one when a mysterious stranger arrives with proof she’s heiress to a Victorian mansion in a ramshackle neighbourhood.

But upon entering her new home, Truly accidentally unlocks a door to a magical realm, releasing an ancient evil from its prison, along with a dark family secret. Hunted by those who rule the mirror kingdom, Truly meets Westvane, the queen’s slayer, and is given an ultimatum: help him recapture the monster she set free and kill the queen, or be executed for opening a portal to another world.

A spellbinding novel about a woman born to stand in the breach between parallel worlds where revolution is imminent, honour means littler and the stakes are life and death. A book fulled with dark family secrets, parallel worlds and magic beyond your wildest dreams. But sometimes those dreams can only take a second to turn into nightmares. An epic read that will keep you up at night.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯

I loved the premise of The House of Starlight & Shadow and was so looking forward to reading it but sadly it didn't work for me and I DNFed at 11%. I didn't like the way things were explained that were self explanatory. It had potential but I felt like it was trying too hard to be something that it wasn't.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Well… it was nice, not gonna lie. My problem was that I got through half of the book and I felt i nothing happened. I hate too-slow burns. I would love to see westvane and truly fall in love tho, they were really cute together .

DNF- 50%

Thank you NetGalley and Oliver Heber Books for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which is available October 31,2023.

I didn’t like it. I was bored. But just because I did not find the story great or the characters engaging doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give this book a chance. The concept is cool as hell. The execution just needs a wee bit of work. I will be buying this and giving it another chance

Thank you to Coreene Callahan and NetGalley for the opportunity to review The House of Starlight & Shadow.

This book is a whirlwind of action and adventure. I honestly felt a little disoriented at times when I was trying to figure out what was going on. The POV of the story frequently shifts, sometimes in the middle of chapters. I would have like to see subheadings with the POV characters' names to help streamline the reading.

While this book was categorized as having romance, I didn't really get that at all. It feels more like "unlikely friends," than any romantic trope. There's also found family, which I really enjoyed experiencing with several of the side characters.

I had a hard time picturing some of the characters and would have liked to see more physical descriptions, or even be reminded of physical characteristics. It was a little difficult to picture them because of this.

The world-building is fascinating! I definitely wanted to know more about the world, but the pace of the story didn't allow much for it. I think this book is probably the start of a series, as the ending leaves a lot of loose ends to be tied up at a later point.

Rating: 3/5
Spice: 0 /5

I enjoyed this fantasy tale with significant world building and character development. Truly inherits a home and new role when she turns 27. Her new vocation entrusts her to open doors from Earth to other planes. She also is entrusted with powers that she will need to learn how to use to perform her job and keep herself and others safe. The new friendships she makes are enheartening and make the adventure and goals even more important. I read this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not totally my style but good for the story. I am into more fantasy than this book offered so it wasn't quite up my alley. I do encourage you to read it however and see how you like it yourself!

I'm usually not a fantasy reader but I do read Coreene Callahan's books so I was eager to give it a try. I loved it. I like the imagination, the new realms. I loved how it blended earth realm to Azlandia. Though this book had no romance (which I'm used to) it didn't lack. There is something building between Truly and Westvane. They gravitate around each other. They respect each other.
I'll be honest Earl creeped me out but I still loved his character. Montrose is perfect for the trio. I'm so looking forward to book 2 of the series. Can't wait to see new species. I would like old friends to come together and make new beginnings as well.

First of all, I would like to say thank you to the author and Net Galley for the ARC.

While I managed to finish the book, I feel it will be unlikely that I will be reaching for the next installment. The plot idea was excellent, but I feel like the execution was not carried out well. I also struggled with the changing perspectives throughout the novel, especially when the characters lacked descriptions. I really enjoyed the MC and FMC's chemistry, but it was not enough for me to want to find out how their story continues in the next instalment.
I am sure other reviewers found it much more up their alley and I know they will be ready to pick up the next one, but I won't be.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oliver Herber Books for providing the ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I did not expect to like it as much as I did, but I managed to devour this book tonight and color me intrigued.

First and foremost, Truly and Westvane have some really good sarcastic banter. It's one of my favorite things to see in books, just because it's something I identify with as well. I loved the pacing - it seemed like nonstop action the second the first act ended up until the end. Lots of everything happening at the same time and it really put into perspective how difficult it was for Truly in some of these instances.

A few things I didn't like: how Truly seemed to have an endless well of energy as she traipsed all over the Mirror World, how quickly she was able to pick up her magic, and honestly that the book felt more like a setup for book 2 than a true series starter.

Overall, I really enjoyed and I am looking forward to the next one!

This was fun and intriguing fantasy read.While it did ave some familiar themes and happenings that are common in fantasy reads (esp fae ones), it did also have some unexpected things and characters in it. I very much enjoyed the magical house aspect and the amusing not as they seem side characters. I am much looking forward to finding out what happens in future books in this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Coreene for an ARC copy of this book!

Things I really liked about this book are the found family aspects as well as the a protective MMC and a powerful FMC. I thought the main characters were fun and I liked their dynamic together, especially how he called her Princess. That being said, I think the worldbuilding needed some tweaking and the characters did not have detailed descriptions. I was having trouble picturing a lot of the characters based on how they were explained.

It's a good book but I think it could have used another round of editing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Oliver Heber Books, and the author for the opportunity to receive an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love found family, a powerful FMC and protective MMC. The world crossing was really interesting! There are some super cool plot points (I’ll leave you to discover these yourselves as I don’t want to spoil anything). This was a cool concept but I do think there’s an opportunity for further character descriptions and further world building. Labelling whose POV it is in a chapter would also be valuable. I think it just comes down to a bit more refining. I am excited to keep reading further work from Coreene though!

This one was action packed and fast paced. Truly inherits a house and is thrown into a whole new world, literally, when she learns that she is the door master. Westvayne is tasked with bringing her back to his queen, but as they travel together trying to figure out Truly's magic and he realizes she knows nothing of her magic, he changes his mind.

Westvayne wants his freedom, but will Truly be the price, or will they work together to find another way?

I kept waiting for them to become more than friends, but that wasn't in the cards for this one as they grew closer. They came together enough though that it may still happen!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book was a great female coming into her power story. This book has magic, a strong female lead, a strong male lead that you can't decide if you love or hate and found family. This is the first book in a series and I cannot wait to read the next. I greatly enjoyed this author's storytelling style and will be reading more of her books.

Truly, an orphan who has learned to take care of herself and not trust anyone others. She is working a dead-end job as a private investigator when a stranger finds her to tell her she is an heiress to a mansion. In her new house Truly accidentally opens a door to a realm of magic unleashing a evil creature and her families secrets. She begins to be hunted when she meets Westvane who gives her a deal. The deal is to help capture the monster she let out and kill the queen of the magic realm. If not, then they both will be killed for what they are.

“The House of Starlight and Shadow” by Coreene Callahan has so many things I liked. Some aspects of the story I didn’t like was how into cars Truly is. I’m not a car person and for me it didn’t add to her character or anything. Plus driving a car as a private investigator doesn’t make sense to her trying to be incognito. I did like so many other things though. I like the bird tattoo that is an actual bird. And most of all, I loved Westvane and wish there was even more of him. His backstory is so tragic that I wished for an entire book to his pre-existing life before the events of this story. I wholeheartedly give it a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

Travelling between two different worlds, one with and one without magic. I like how it connects the modern world with a fantasy realm just a doorframe away. I love the banter and connection of the MMC & FMC. I found it hard to follow at times, especially when a new monster was introduced. Maybe not quite enough fluid description. And then it almost felt like there was too much squashed into the book. I think the beauty of a fantasy book is really getting to know the world, where this one dove right into the action with bits and pieces of the world thrown in.

Thank you, first and foremost, to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to review. When I read the synopsis and saw that this was set in Philly, I was very excited! This is definitely a light hearted read for those seeking something a little easier to digest.

And world-crossing monsters seemed appropriate for this time of year and I was excited to explore more.

However, as the world building began to take place, there were just some elements that didn’t make sense and the fact that they were glaring obvious (ex. Technology and traffic signals) was distracting and took away from the story overall.

I wish that some additional tweaks would’ve been made to tighten this up because the idea was there but the execution was just lacking somewhat for me.

Once again, I appreciate the opportunity to review and wish the author the best in their endeavors.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️💫

★ ★ ★ ★ //5

The House of Starlight & Shadows
by: Coreene Callahan

THOUGHTS:

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to read an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

If you love :

-Magic
-Found Family
-Adventure

This book is absolutely for you!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the storyline/plot and characters were all well written and it kept me turning the pages. I took a few days to read this book so that I didn’t feel rushed and had to take a few breaks with it because there were a few places where I just felt it fell short BUT that didn’t mean it wasn’t a great wonderful and enjoyable book. You give me a book with gargoyle as a BOSS like WHAT?! That already snagged me. I loved Eastbrook and adored Truly. I cannot wait for #2 to come out so I can see what else is going to follow after this one sadly ended. I will be keeping an eye out for more from Callahan.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐(3/5)

Review:
⚠️MAY HAVE SPOILERS! ⚠️
Sad to say I DNF around 50% 😬 I hate not finishing a book. I just couldn't do it. I was bored. There are a lot of world-building flaws. There weren't many character descriptions at the beginning of the book. You had no idea what half the characters looked like. The magic and lore weren't executed well. The MFC seemed to figure out her magic without much help even though she didn't know how to use it. There wasn't much explanation in the book on how she figured it out herself. At least from what I read. Regarding the MMC's personality, I liked him at first, but his change in personality as the book went on after meeting the MFC was disappointing. He always called her Princess which got annoying quickly. I also don't know how he would know what some things are in the human world if he had never been there. I wish there were labels on the chapters when the POV changed. I got confused sometimes. This book has so much potential. It was lacking that spark for me. I wanted to like it from reading the book's description. 🥺