Book Review: ‘Starling House’ by Alix E. Harrow

Starling House is a stand-alone novel by Alix E. Harrow. The book falls into the genres of supernatural and a haunted house mystery.

The novel follows Opal, a young woman in her twenties, who is raising her younger brother Jasper after the sudden death of their mother. The impoverish Opal jumps at the chance to become a cleaner for the imposing manor Starling House. But the house seems to have a mind of its own and its sole occupant Arthur is determined to keep its secrets. Around Opal is a town cursed with bad luck, an insidious and wealthy mining family hell-bent on getting their own way, and impossible monsters that come out of the fog.

Books I enjoy tend to fall into two categories. The first category features books that take me a little while to properly get into the story before I start to enjoy them. The second category features novels that, by the end of the first chapter, I already know I’m going to have a great time reading. For me, Starling House fell into this second category.

Harrow has an easy writing style that causes the story to flow really well and which helped me to easily visual the characters and the town; as well as the unfolding events of the novel.

I found Opal to be an immediately endearing character. We quickly learn that she has been dealt a terrible hand in life but, despite all the hardships she has and continues to face, Opal refuses to give up. Some readers might be put off by her stubborn and abrasive attitude but it quickly became clear that this was a character who leads with her heart. Opal’s sole motivation is to create a better future for her younger brother. I was constantly rooting for her to succeed throughout the novel.

I’m not always the biggest fan of the horror genre but Starling House provided the perfect amount of thrills and suspense without leaning too much into gore or violence.

Typically in literature a haunted house is portrayed as a malevolent presence within the story which can both hinder and terrorise the characters. While this appears initially true of Starling House, Harrow instead designed an entertaining entity with a distinct personality and moods. For example when Opal starts cleaning long-ignored rooms, the house appears to enjoy the attention and makes the rooms warmer and brighter for her. But when Opal and Arthur row the house shows its disapproval by spoiling the food and making the rooms dank and dreary. The haunted house aspect quickly became one of my favourite elements of the book.

With believable characters, intriguing mysteries, interesting locations, and a comfortable number of scares and thrilling moments – Starling House has become one of my new favourite ‘spooky’ books.

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