A review by hagwife
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Starling House holds a special place in my heart among Alix E. Harrow's books. I love that she keeps some of her trademark elements (faerie tales, vibrant and flawed characters, fuck you's to the patriarchy, etc.) and this time mixes it with Southern Gothic and horror elements. The result is a brooding fantasy novel that combines family, monsters, the House, and the all-too-real violence of small-town nastiness into something biting and beautiful.

I love that the characters' flaws have rhyme and reason and the chance to change; morally grey characters are always one of my favourites, but neither Opal nor Arthur nor Jasper are flawed for the sake of being flawed. They're all aggregations of their lived experiences,  of inherited traumas and expectations that they didn't ask for, even as they continue to perpetuate some of them.

I love that this is a haunted house mystery without the haunting necessarily being about the house. Harrow's Starling House is less in the company of Hell House or Hill House, but that of Mervyn Peake's Gormengast, Susanna Clarke's the "World" from Piranesi, Jeanette Winterson's Tanglewreck, Tilly Walden's castle in The End of Summer, and Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle. 
It has a life of its own, but it's not really a haunted house. The haunting is separate and the House merely does its best to contain it.


Concerning the end of the book, I wanted perhaps just a bit more.
I understand that part of the healing process here is that while "angry gets shit done", in order for Opal, Jasper, and Arthur to move on with their lives, they, along with Eleanor, have to put down what they can. The finale allows for the main characters to get the time they need to carve out a life for themselves and dream about a future that has hope and not despair. I just wish that perhaps those who had it coming had a little more actually come to them.


For those who liked this book, especially the gothic and horror elements, I highly recommend Cherie Priest's The Toll.
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