I Dream Sometimes About A House I've Never Seen

I recently finished reading Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. This was OwlCrate's October adult book.

This exclusive edition features an exclusive cover designed by @rosdottir , with a reversible dust jacket by @spookgeist , a foil hardcover case designed by @divineliterary, and foiled end pages by @anta_arf. The book is also digitally signed by author Alix E. Harrow on an author page designed by @divineliterary with an author's letter and bonus content bound into the book, a ribbon bookmark, and features pale purple sprayed edges.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT*

  Rating: 4/5 stars

"Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland--and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it."

The writing is gorgeous and incredibly atmospheric. I adore the setting and atmosphere (and vibes) of Southern Gothics, and this book could not have done these more brilliantly.

The town of Eden is a town plagued by its history. These roots entangle with and are so deeply entrenched in the present that it is impossible—wrong, even—to separate them from one another. It bears a looming, twisted history that the people who live there find much easier to ignore than to confront. Thus is the morality of Eden; rumors whispered on the wind but never spoken aloud with the weight of truth, troubled people better ignored than helped, immoralities better forgotten but sins never forgiven.

The characters of this town are broken and flawed, but they are survivors above all else. We follow those abandoned on the outskirts of this small community, those that lurk in the cracks, those that don't fit into Eden's masquerade.

I loved Opal, she's an amazing main character to follow. She's survived Eden for so long by the scraps of her teeth and she knows there are places better, places that she will do anything to make sure her brother can escape to. Everything she does is with him in mind, burying her own wants and dreams to ensure that he's the one who survives this cursed town.

I always adore complicated and emotional sibling relationships in books and this one is written so well. They have their jagged edges, they can't help but cut each other when they go in to hold one another, but above all else, they love each other and will do anything to ensure the other's safety and happiness. There's so much guilt and blame and grief churned up inside this already complex dynamic that it can't help but bleed a little before it can scab over. But I think what's so beautiful about relationships like these is that they know they have a long way to go before their wounds can become scars and cease paining them, but they are willing to do everything it takes in order to achieve that end.

I adored all the characters we met in the shadows of Eden, all the characters unaware that maybe the family they were searching for was lurking in the shadows with them.

Starling House is delightfully gothic and alive under our feet. Every creak of the floorboards and groan of the pipes adds such life to the world and to the sentience of this house. Every step we take further into it makes it feel more like a home. 

With characters so desperate to be loved, to be held in safe arms, and sung softly to sleep, it is no wonder that this pit of yearning is so easily opened inside all of us. It's no wonder that we, alongside Opal, want to make this a home.

Opal must look the dark truth of her town in the eyes and bear witness to its damage. Will she cut and run like she always does when she's counted too many losses, or this time—the time when it truly matters—will she stay and fight? Is there anything left of her town that is still worth saving? Is there anyone inside it who doesn't deserve to rot?

There are places better than Eden, but maybe Opal doesn't want better. Home is not always a place and I think the characters of Eden will convince you of this, perhaps as they discover it for themselves.

I adored these characters clawing at the walls, spiteful and brave and blazing enough to demand their own survival. I adored the Southern gothic elements infused into the atmosphere, into every songbird's call, into every whisper of mist. I adored the romance that flickers throughout it all like the last flame on a cold, dark night, signaling home like a lighthouse, connecting two lonely souls lost at sea.

The characters are what make this book brilliant; their ferocity and their determination, their never-ending love—even when it's difficult, even when it's the hardest choice in the world.

I highly recommend this book as a perfect spooky, gothic read. October is the best month for it, (as I've said over and over and over again) the writing is extraordinarily atmospheric.

Check out Starling House, and discover what lies inside the Starling House.

Happy Reading :)