Title: Starling House
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Series: N/A
Dates Read: 05 – 07/08/2024
Published Date: 03 October 2023
Genre: Fantasy, Gothic Horror
Pages: 309
Content Warnings (May contain spoilers)
Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts.
Who is this for? Teenagers, Young Adult, Adults
This book covers:
Format/Disclosure: Library, paperback
Rating: 1.75 ⭐
Review:
I first heard about this book in 2023 and added it to my holds at my library the month it was released, and finally in August of 2024, the book became available. I read it over 3 days, and although I found the actual writing to be superb, the plot/story itself was quite subpar. It’s said that this book is a gothic horror, and maybe it’s because of my lack of experience with gothic horrors, but it just seemed to miss the mark for me. It almost felt like a gothic horror for children, since it wasn’t actually scary.
Opal is our main protagonist – a child forced to grow up too soon when her mother dies in a car accident, and she feels obligated to raise her younger brother. The story constantly speaks on how close Opal and Jasper are, yet there seems to be so many times that Opal doesn’t tell Jasper something, which seems odd when in the second breath, the author is reminding you of how close they are. Jasper also seems often dismissive or hostile towards Opal, which also doesn’t really track if they’re meant to be as close as they’re described to be.
Arthur is one strange cat – His character comes across as quite wooden/two-dimensional and he’s never really fleshed out properly. The relationship between himself and Opal seems to be one of proximity/because they’ve never actually experienced anyone else even tolerating them, not because they are actually attracted to each other. I guess when your option is nothing or someone who seems sort of okay, I guess, then you’ll choose the latter.
The ending of the book was also quite a letdown – it felt like the entire book was reaching and reaching for a climax that just never came. Once we get to the Underworld (Which felt to be so late in the book, considering the world building didn’t really build all that much), the interactions with Nora Lee and the outcome seemed to happen so quickly, and also so easily.
The inclusion of the secret mob who wanted nothing more than access to Starling House seemed like an odd inclusion, since at no point did it really feel like it was actually adding anything to the story. If that entire part had been cut out, I don’t think the story would’ve been all that different.