Starling House by Alix E. Harrow Published by Tor Publishing Group on October 3, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary, Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy, Fiction / Gothic
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Library
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
“This book has everything you could possibly want this fall...a cursed town, a haunted house, a vivid & eerie setting—plus, characters willing to risk everything.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club October ’23 Pick)
Starling House is a gorgeous, modern gothic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
I dream sometimes about a house I’ve never seen....Opal is a lot of things—orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier—but above all, she's determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.
All she left behind were dark rumors—and her home. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.
I should be scared, but in the dream I don’t hesitate.
Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House—and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund—she can't resist.
But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur’s own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.
In my dream, I’m home.
And now she’ll have to fight.
Welcome to Starling House: enter, if you dare.A Book of the Month Club Pick
An October 2023 Indie Next Pick
A LibraryReads October 2023 Hall of Fame Pick
Apple, Best Books of October
EW.com, Fall Book Must Reads 2023
Washington Post, Noteworthy Books for October
Paste Magazine, The Must-Read Fantasy Books of Fall 2023
PopSugar Best New Fantasy Books of 2023
BookPage, Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023
Observer, Must-Read Books of Fall 2023
Polygon, 12 Best New SFF for the Fall
LitHub, October’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
Bookish, October’s Most-Anticipated Books
Gizmodo, October's Huge List of New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror BooksAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
My Review:
I took this book out from the Libby App at my local library (insert plug here to use your libraries) because I found the cover beautiful and intriguing. I had never heard of this author before, but I am always game to try a new author when the book looks interesting. Besides, I should also mention that this was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick not too long ago, and really, I can see why even though I do not participate in her book club.
Starling House is a home like none other in Eden, Kentucky, a rural run-down town. It happened to appear one day when the town’s author and illustrator, E. Starling, disappeared in the nineteenth century. She wrote and illustrated a book called The Underland, which is what she was known for in this little town. The odd thing about her disappearance was that there was no trace of her left behind, and she was never found again. This home has a way of calling people to it and making them wards or guardians of the place and its property. The home tends to call homeless individuals without any ties to anything. Many people have died protecting this home, but from what the townspeople do not know. They have learned to stay away from the home and the people who reside within its walls. The current guardian is a young man called Arthur Starling. Oh, you should know that when someone becomes a guardian, they take on the last name Starling. No one has seen Arthur in years; they believe that he is the reason why his parents are dead. They believe that he murdered them. The townspeople have come to this conclusion because of how long it took him to call the police and how he acted when they arrived like he had no remorse and the cops were wasting his time; after all, he had a meal to get to.
Opal’s story is not a happy one and maybe that is why Starling House keeps calling to her over the years. You see, Opal’s father was unknown to her, and her mother died when she was just a teenager in a car accident in which, sadly, Opal was a passenger. Opal survived, of course, but her mother did not, and Opal blamed herself for years. Luckily, her little brother Jasper was not involved in the accident, but now he, too, was without a mother. Now, the problem comes that Opal is underage and has a baby sibling, but she does not want them to be separated, so she forges some signatures and changes her age, which allows her to keep her little brother. Housing is not a problem because her mother had arranged for them to live in a motel room rent-free, so that is good and, well, frankly, sad at the same time. Another problem she must face is providing for them both which she relies on skills she learned from her mother. Opal’s mom taught her how to steal, lie, and talk her way into what she needs. These are the skills she uses to provide food for them both. She works a dead-end job that she does not enjoy. Opal is determined, however, to get her now teenage brother out of the dead-end town. He is smart and talented, and she is determined to send him to a private high school where he can have a shot in life. The tuition is expensive, but she is willing to do whatever she can to get him there.
One night, on her way home from work, she decides to walk past Starling House, and little does she know at the time, this little walk will change her and Jasper’s lives forever. Arthur Starling is lurking behind the shadows, watching Opal before he decides to come out and startle her. She tries to use her charms on him, but it gets her nowhere. She feels uneasy, and when he calmly tells her to run away, she does. Opal’s curiosity gets the best of her, and she returns days hoping to see this man whom she finds peculiar both in looks and manner, not to mention the inside of the home. The home that has plagued her dreams for years. Lucky for her, she manages to speak with Arthur again and gets herself a job as a full-time housekeeper in the home. The pay is unbelievable, and the things that she can steal from the home will give her enough to hopefully get Jasper out of town.
The things that begin to happen once Opal takes this job is downright weird. The house seems to accommodate her, and things just do not make sense within the interior of the place. I should also point out that once she takes this job, she is approached by a corporate woman asking her for information both on the home and Arthur. She offers to pay Opal a lot for this information and her spying capabilities. Suspicious right? Why does this company care so much about the property and the guardian? Also, why does Arthur always seem to have injuries he cannot explain? Is he hiding something? Are they in danger?
If you enjoy stories about enemies to lovers, magical homes, small towns, secrets, scary invisible beasts, sketchy people, and found family, then maybe give this book a go. I enjoyed the story and am happy to have read it. I do not believe this will be the only book I will pick up by this author. Have you read anything by this author before? If so, what have you read? Reader, I am always interested to hear your thoughts and recommendations. Until next time, Happy Reading.
Trigger Warnings:
- Violence
- Parental Death
- Attempted Incest
- Alcohol Abuse
- Depression
- Drugging
- Mentions of Slavery
- Racism
- Murder
- Car Accident
- Classism