Review: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This was a strange, dark fairy tale come to life.  I feel like every small town has a creepy house with a creepy backstory.  This town is no different, Starling House is strange and everyone steers clear of it.  The house's namesake was a recluse and she wrote a strange children's book that only became popular after her disappearance.  Her family and the house are surrounded by rumors and stories, but no one knows the truth.  The current resident, Arthur is also strange and reclusive and no one knows much about him.  Opal has had strange dreams about Starling House for as long she can remember.  She and her younger brother have not had an easy go at things since their  mother died.  Opal will do anything to keep her brother safe and give him a better life.  She approaches Arthur for a housekeeping job, and while everyone else in town fears the house it strangely feels like the one place she belongs.

The longer Opal spends at the house, the more she discovers about it, the Starlings, and Arthur.  There are some truth to the rumors, but there is so much more happening on the Starling property and Opal and Arthur have to figure out how to protect the town from the monsters both real and imagined.

This is one of those books that you finish and you go "What did I just read?"  I feel like I need to read it again.  Harrow's prose is beautiful and the story is well written, but it isn't going to be for everyone.   I was at about the 70% mark and I was unsure of how things were all going to come together, but they eventually did towards the end.  I have to admit I was confused as to what was going on through most of the book.  The author uses metaphor throughout, and it isn't until the very end that we find out what the main message is.  

There is a mild romance between the two main characters, however I didn't feel the chemistry between them at all.  The romance fell short for me.  I also found the main characters to be unlikable and in a story where there is a good vs evil plot I want to root for someone.  The character development also missed the mark for me.  I really liked the concept of the house being sentient, but I wanted more of the house and less of Opal acting out and having tantrums.  I did appreciate the atmosphere and the descriptive nature of the writing.

Overall, this book was OK for me.  I feel like this book is either a you absolutely love it or you don't kind of book.  It was lacking in the horror elements I wanted to see from a book with a gothic haunted house with terrible monsters.  The pacing and characters didn't appeal to me personally but I think there are others out there who are going to love this book.   The author tackles some important messages, but the way the story is told didn't appeal to me.  

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