Starling House; Alix E. Harrow

Harrow does a lovely job making the actual house that is Starling House become a living, breathing entity that seems to care for the unwanted things in Eden, like Opal and Arthur. Coiled up within the house is a mystery as to who the Starling’s are, and why they are so steadfast on never ever letting the coal company, run for generations by the Gravely family, have access to their land. But loneliness is an insatiable beast of its own, and when two lonely young adults find themselves in the same orbit, one small act of kindness unleashes the very thing the Wardens of Starling House have been tasked with keeping at bay for generations.

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I really did love both Opal and Arthur’s characters. They aren’t these traditional, gorgeous heroes, but the broken cast offs of an unremarkable little town; neither beautiful but both made of steel and unwavering duty. Harrow gives a masterclass in analogies that really brings the characters, the house, the spookiness of Eden, and the many mysteries to life in a dark and, at times, really creepy way. But for a book that is barely 300 pages, it is a very slow, slow burn read.

That’s really my biggest issue with the book. That for a story that’s so intriguing and spooky with so many layers as to the history of the land itself, you would think everything would move faster. But it doesn’t, and a book I thought I would fly through took me far too long to finish, despite the loveliness of the prose and Opal’s sharp smile. The book had too many “almosts” in it, as well. It almost had something poignant to say about class and race. It almost had a good resolution to the several plot points. A lot of those “almosts” sadly revolve around Jasper who ended up existing mainly to be motivation for Opal and I have… mixed feelings about that to say the least. I liked the sibling dynamic between Opal and Jasper, I just wish he didn’t only exist to give Opal a purpose. And while I loved the house and the secrets it hides it also could have used a bit more world building. It has some, but feels very minimal in comparison to how much time is spent on Opal playing housekeeper.

All in all, I think I liked this book more for the writing and the gothic, paranormal atmosphere then the actual story itself. The book was, sadly, just too slow for what the plot really needed and more needed to be done around the class and race aspects the story brings up and then just kind of… drops. Which is why this is a fairly low 4 star read for me, the only thing that keeps it from being a 3.5 star is that I’m a sucker for lovely writing, so I definitely will be reading more by this author in the future!