Review of Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Starling House Illumicrate version

Starling House by Alix Harrow is a solid choice (3.5 stars) for an adult reader who doesn't enjoy the horror genre but wants a creepy gothic vibe in a standalone novel.

We follow Opal and her brother who are currently living in a motel after the devastating loss of their mother. Opal entire life revolves around giving her little brother a better chance at succeeding in life than their current station will allow. In order to make more money, Opal makes the befuddling choice of choosing the clean the local haunted mansion in the employ of a handsome young owner, who - as coincidence would have it - has also devastatingly lost his parents. There is a bit of corrupt corporate big business using methods of intimidation to frighten Opal but the swampy southern setting and the elements of magical realism and ghostly apparitions add to the spookiness the most. The twists and turns of the ending are intriguing and satisfying and while some aspects are not easily predicted, others are.

I could have loved this book but at the conclusion thought there was a loss in not playing up a theme reminiscent of du Maurier's Rebecca having moral ground and wanting revenge.

As an adult novel, I'd like to have more adult main characters (in age and maturity level). What’s wrong with a mid-thirties main character? The youngness of Opal and Arthur just pulled in motivations inspired by youth and inexperience, which felt much more befitting of theYA genre.

Some of the language at the beginning was jarring (curse words in situations that just don't warrant that language) but then the cursing basically just stopped. So since the characters are - and act - young, are the curse words at the beginning the way to make this seem to be more of an adult novel?

The copy I ordered from Illumicrate is beautiful though so at this point, I will be keeping Starling House on my shelf!

Side note: I am extraordinarily glad the publisher and author choose to leave THE out of the title…we overuse that word in titles.

{Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.}