• Starling House

  • A Reese's Book Club Pick
  • By: Alix E. Harrow
  • Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
  • Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,201 ratings)

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Starling House  By  cover art

Starling House

By: Alix E. Harrow
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

“This book has everything you could possibly want this fall...a cursed town, a haunted house, a vivid & eerie setting—plus, characters willing to risk everything.”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club October ’23 Pick)

Starling House is a gorgeous, modern gothic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January.

I dream sometimes about a house I’ve never seen….

Opal is a lot of things—orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier—but above all, she's determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

All she left behind were dark rumors—and her home. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don’t hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House—and make some extra cash for her brother's escape fund—she can't resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur’s own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.

In my dream, I’m home.

And now she’ll have to fight.

Welcome to Starling House: enter, if you dare.

A Book of the Month Club Pick

An October 2023 Indie Next Pick

A LibraryReads October 2023 Hall of Fame Pick

Apple, Best Books of October

EW.com, Fall Book Must Reads 2023

Washington Post, Noteworthy Books for October

Paste Magazine, The Must-Read Fantasy Books of Fall 2023

PopSugar Best New Fantasy Books of 2023

BookPage, Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2023

Observer, Must-Read Books of Fall 2023

Polygon, 12 Best New SFF for the Fall

LitHub, October’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

Bookish, October’s Most-Anticipated Books

Gizmodo, October's Huge List of New Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Books

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2023 Alix E. Harrow (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"As knife-edged and sharp as its protagonist...A smart, spectacular contemporary Gothic that will leave its roots in you and linger in your dreams."—Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

"Alix E. Harrow is an exceptional, undeniable talent, and Starling House, with its gentle reassurances of the homes we make and the love we deserve, is more than satisfying. It’s pure loveliness in book form."—Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

"Gorgeous, poignant, and honest—an unforgettable read."—Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

What listeners say about Starling House

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great spooky atmosphere captured well in audio

A southern gothic set in a coal mining town in Kentucky, this story is steeped in fictional history and lore and gives you a beautiful sense of place. The descriptions and imagery are wonderful. There are elements of horror - think more fantastical Stephen King or T. Kingfisher - and a little romance to round it all out. I found this to be less of a dark fairytale and more of what happens when you discover the fairytale is real.
There is a dark, spooky atmosphere in a town known for its bad luck, whispers of monsters, and hints that maybe greed led men to dig so deep for coal they perhaps found something darker.

While there is a lot going on, I think the pacing of this story is really good. It builds using footnotes and a change of POV which lends well to the suspense. There are stories told within the story as the protagonist, Opal, begins to discover the truth about Starling House.

Speaking of Opal, I loved her. She made for a fun narrator. She is plucky and sarcastic, cut-throat and clever. Imperfect, not beautiful - “sharp and a bit crooked”.
The love interest, Arthur, and only remaining Starling, is at first cold but through his POV you learn he is the classic tortured hero who is kind and so lonely underneath the hard shell. I really enjoyed the glimpses into the Starling House from his role. And while this romance is more of a subplot, it still has its cute moments as these two are drawn together.

This book was not what I expected, it was better and it set such a great atmosphere. I really enjoyed this read and I think it will stick with me for a while.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

No spoilers. Took a chance. No regrets. Enjoyed every minute. Planned to listen over a couple weeks. Instead, finished by the end of the weekend.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good book, some surprises

A unique story with a flavor similar to that of Guillermo del Toro storytelling.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book! Kept me intrigued!

Wonderful story and extremely well written. Kept my attention all the way through, and left me wanting more!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful fantasy read!!

As a Teacher, I can see this being used in a high-school ELA class. It was just enough darkness to evoke emotions and the plot kept you nailed to every chapter! The movement between characters was wonderful and the narrator was entertaining!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not my favorite

I liked the premise of the story but I did not like the over the top writing style and the one dimensional characters. I DID like the arch of the story but the dialogue seemed so unbelievable that I quickly lost interest

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Okay story

Okay read. If you don’t want too much fantasy and you don’t like exploring fantasy ideas but you still want a fantasy vibe but you don’t want cozy fantasy you want mystery fantasy then you get this monster house fan fiction

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I didn’t want it to end.

Everything about this books is fantastic. The narration is wonderfully done. This is so different from what I normally read and I’m so glad I did.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not my thing

I bought this with credit on a whim. I saw it was Reece’s Book Club and read it would be a good one for October. It was good for October but I didn’t like the story. I liked it in the beginning but then it just became something that isn’t my style. I should’ve read more about it before I bought it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Such a great book!

I’m normnot into these types of tales but omg it was so good! Thank you ❤️

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