Book Review: The Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Isn’t it lovely when you fall in love with a new author, and they have a wonderful backlog of books for you to dive into? I’ve been hearing of Alix E. Harrow for ages, then read The Six Deaths of a Saint (loved it!), and then The Everlasting (favorite book of the year!), and now here I am, loving The Starling House as well. 

I was a little afraid going into it, I must admit. The Everlasting and The Six Deaths of a Saint are so similar that I feared I wouldn’t like something different, that it would be — well, not the same. And the beginning did have me nervous too. It’s a slow start, the mystery of it all takes a moment to build. It took me a few days to get to around 20%, then I finished the rest in a day (that’s how amazing it is!). 

First of all, the prose is so good. There’s something about the way Alix E. Harrow writes that just works for my brain. Her language is sharp but poetic, lush, haunted, and flowery in the best way possible. It pulls you in and weaves itself around you until you cannot look away. If I could, I would highlight the entire book, all of those specific, wonderful turns of phrases and descriptions. The atmosphere is perfect — a claustrophobic small town on the brink of collapse, an eerie mansion overlooking it all, local legends told many times over, in many different ways, mysterious, dangerous people digging around for information, and more!

And Opal is such a great main character. She’s doing everything she can to get her little brother out of Eden, Kentucky, their small town — she isn’t afraid to steal and cheat, work odd jobs, deny herself everything. And all the while she’s enchanted by the idea of The Starling House, of a place to belong, a home to return to. She’s rough around the edges, but beneath it all, she’s caring, a gentle soul handed all the wrong cards. 

Her brother Jasper is not just an inconsequential side character either. This book cares a lot about him, even though we see things mostly from Opal’s perspective, you can tell that Jasper is going through his own stuff. 

And then there’s Arthur Starling, the warden of the eponymous house. I just love how Alix Harrow writes men. At the start he may seem like the kind of man most romantasy books go on and on about, but once you get to his chapters, you realize how pathetic (complimentary) he is. He’s grieving, haunted, imprisoned, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. And so soft, especially for Opal. 

Both of them are broken characters in their own way, and both of them are their own jailers, insistent upon removing even the slightest joy from their own lives, believing they don’t deserve it. But when they meet each other, this becomes harder than ever. 

I loved how they fell in love, and how they still cared so much for everything else, not just themselves. Usually, when the characters fall in love, their initial motives (saving siblings, the world, etcetera) disappear entirely. But here they play a valuable role, and create tension between Opal and Arthur because their goals are simultaneously aligned and not. 

If you’re reading this book for the horror aspect, I would say maybe don’t — yes, it’s sort of creepy, but the horror is more subtle. There are no jump scares, no ghosts, zombies or whatever else you may be expecting. You won’t feel true terror by reading The Starling house. But there’s plenty of dread and eeriness. I’d say this book is more of a fantasy thriller (?) with undertones of film noir and mystery, topped off with a B-plot romance story. 

This book is heavy in themes, though. Poverty, forgotten towns, corporate exploitation, legacy and myth, sins of our ancestors, family and so much more. It’s also a lot about community and our responsibility towards each other as human beings. About not looking away and what happens when we do. What happens when we let things happen because of fear of the rich and powerful. The real world doesn’t feel separate from the fantasy, but rather an active part of it. It left me thinking about my own small town and its sins, how much we’ve collectively looked away from as a world. 

This is the power of fantasy here, and why this genre is so important — especially once you learn that the story of Eden isn’t as fantastical as you may believe (always read author’s notes, people!). 

So yes, the story stuck with me.  Starling House is a rare book where the mood, the characters, the metaphors all merged into one reading experience I didn’t want to end. I highly recommend it, especially for the autumn/winter season. It’s a powerful, wonderful story that will hopefully stay with you too. Happy reading!