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alibraryinthegloaming's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
also, Harrow's writing is EXQUISITE. i need to devour everything she's ever written expeditiously !!
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
kaigar96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Starling House is a fascinating idea for a story: a gothic house, a disappearing author, a town rooted in mystery and secrets. All the ingredients sound like the recipe for the perfect fall book, but they just weren’t enough.
Each chapter followed the same format (Opal goes to clean the house, Arthur is broody, Opal goes home to her life of misfortunes, Opal loves her brother) and repeat. For a book that was just over 300 pages it felt far too long and could’ve been, honestly, 100 pages shorter. By 200 pages in, I wanted to put it down and forget about it.
Let’s talk about why the book wasn’t enough for me:
- Footnotes: an interesting writing technique, but wasn’t used consistently. I don’t understand why an author would use footnotes and then stop stop about half way through.
- Romance: if there’s going to be a romance, there needs to be more to make to me care. Or use none and keep it as a friendship.
- Characters: if these characters have a hard life, show don’t tell. I get it, they live in a motel. I get it, she works hard. But show some of these scenes more to make me care about them.
- Themes: the book follows interesting themes about marginalized peoples, slavery, etc. but I wish it was incorporated more organically, especially in the beginning. I felt like there was almost too much exposition towards the end to tell us how these characters and their experiences intertwine.
To me, Starling House suffered from first draft syndrome. It had everything I love in books, but just wasn’t executed in a way I could love. I recommend trying out the first few chapters. If you’re really interested and don’t find the pacing too slow, then this might be for you.
Moderate: Death, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
The author deals with serious topics such askaneebli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Incest, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
kiragreads's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest, Sexual content, and Slavery
katebee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Blood and Alcohol
Minor: Slavery
sunbearbeam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury
steph_weigle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death and Self harm
Minor: Racism, Car accident, and Death of parent
mjverrall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Incest and Slavery
r_clark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Alcohol