Starling House by Alix E Harrow

Starling House by Alix E Harrow

I have been waiting to read this book since it was released in October 2023. I was so excited to have it, I ended up reading it in two days. Starling House is a little bit spooky, but I would not say that it is scary at all. In fact, Starling House itself is supposed to be haunted, but I just found the house adorably charming. It was well worth the wait and I can't wait to read more by Alix E Harrow. This book deals with the death of a parent, a car accident, drowning, and arson.

Opal is a down on her luck twenty-something who has taken care of her younger brother since their mom died in a car accident. Nothing ever seems to go their way, they have a string of bad luck that stops just before it gets dangerous, like getting your foot stuck as you're swimming but being able to pull it out right at the last minute. She doesn't dream of much, her only thought is getting her brother out of their judgmental, dying little town, but she does dream of Starling House. One day, she stops to look at the gates separating the house from the rest of the town, and gets caught by the house's current resident, Arthur. She walks away with a job that just may turn her fortunes around.

This book was simultaneously infuriating and so easy to read. Infuriating because the two main characters both have pretty large chips on their shoulders and refuse to accept help from anyone. So easy to read because, despite their large chips, the characters were so loveable. I was rooting for both of them, and the house, from the very first pages. The story is sometimes dark, always mysterious, and ends in a very interesting way that I did not expect. The plot is always moving forward, Opal is constantly finding little discoveries about Arthur, about her mother, about the author E. Starling and the history of their town, but the real treasure is watching Opal go from the person she has had to be and become the person that wants to be instead.

I'm giving Starling House by Alix E Harrow 4.25 stars out of 5. There's a tiny bit of romance, the spice level is a 1 out of 5. An fun, easy read and I can't wait to read some of the author's earlier works.

For more from Alix E Harrow, check out her website at https://alixeharrow.wixsite.com/author

Pairs well with a bad attitude and a bowl of chili.