Starling House

A Reese's Book Club Pick

De: Alix E. Harrow

Narrado por: Natalie Naudus

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)

“The moody prose and atmospheric setting are brought to vivid life by Naudus’ lyrical rendition. This gothic horror novel keeps listeners guessing whether the monsters are real or crafted from the depravities of the unequal power dynamics of class, gender, and race.” — Booklist

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.

Boring

I found this book boring, long and slow. It was not spooky or intriguing. I am not a fan not sure why everyone else thinks it is great. I can not recommend this book.

Monster House: A Love Story

An engaging gothic fantasy horror! Although, I tend to enjoy more horror elements in my horror books, I found this book, perfectly lovely, and found myself unable to put it down. 

I mostly loved this book.

Beautifully written, but at times I was ready for the story to move along before it moved along.

Perfect

Loved this book so much! A love story & woman rising from the ashes with some supernatural thrown in

Loved the book, such a great story!!

I love not having to follow a long winding series for once, but this book really does have everything you could want. No sappy romance, I really don't get into that. This book has just the right amount.
It also feels very real. Like this maybe, possibly, could happen.
I did not like the narrator. Not so much that it threw me off, just thought I should include it. She was very sharp, but breathy. Just weird.

A Wonderfully Haunting Listen

Natalie Naudus is a favorite narrator of mine! Relatable characters and an amazing story from Alix Harrow. I was hooked in every way possible to this story and these characters. It wasn't just the main characters that pulled me in. I cared about every single one worth caring about and loathed the existence of those who irked me. Recommend 100%.

Captivating

I stayed up into 0200.. I had to work the next day and be UP by 0500.. I couldn't stop listening. I was as trapped as Eleanor Starling.

Perfect All Hallows Eve & Day of the Dead read

The narrator was fantastic & carefully selected for this novel for maximum effect. I found it to cover several genres namely horror, fantasy & romance. Worth the time & money/credit.

Utterly breathtaking

A slow-burn, historical romance-horror.
A strong, chilling tale, with good bones, and a bright hearth. Excellent, riveting performance.

Good but could have been great

I loved the actual plot or storyline (I’m from Kentucky) but I felt the fantasy part of the story wasn’t well developed or well written. Some things weren’t explained well and you just had to roll with it. The monsters, fighting the monsters and under land fell short and was overshadowed by Opal’s daily life and budding romance with Arthur. Even the house being somewhat alive and responsive to Opal was just accepted as normal day to day. Oh and I didn’t have to walk far because the house rearranged the rooms … oh well I’m gonna dust some shelves.