Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (audiobook)

Pages:  320 

Publisher: Tor 

Released: 31st of October 2023 

A grim and gothic new tale from author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can't stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.

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 choice 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.

What I Have to Say 

 I adored this book, but I was very aware while reading it that it's not the sort of book everyone will like. It is a book of vibes and while there is a plot, it's very slow to start and for most of the book it's happening in the background. I personally adored the vibes and was very happy to just sink into the book and enjoy it, but I know other people have had problems with books like this, so I wanted to issue a warning. 

I loved the themes of finding a home in this book. The main character Opal lives in a motel room with her brother and there were other characters looking for a home in Starling House too. It was very much a book about finding where you belong as much as it was of haunted house vibes. 

I also have to say it was refreshing to see a story that didn't shy away from the realities of rich families in America who've made all their money through colonialism and slavery. Alix E. Harrow has always been very good at this and it's good to see that not only acknowledged but made a big part of the plot. 

The narrator was excellent and she gave a sort of dream like quality to the book that really really fit well with the aforementioned vibes. I would recommend having a hard copy of the book to refer back to though as there were places I wanted to look back to confirm the details of, especially with the different stories of Starling House. 

If you like a book with good vibes, this is a great choice! 

4 stars 

 My thanks go to Tor and Netgalley for providing me with a gifted copy of this book for review. 

Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 304

Publisher: Hatchette Children's Group 

Released: 9th of March 2017 

Sophia has seven days left in Tokyo before she moves back to the States. Seven days to say good-bye to the electric city, her wild best friend, and the boy she’s harbored a semi-secret crush on for years. Seven perfect days…until Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Japan and ruins everything.

Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak, and the last thing Sophia wants is for him to steal her leaving thunder with his stupid arriving thunder. Yet as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were stable begin to explode around her. And Jamie is the one who helps her pick up the pieces. Sophia is forced to admit she may have misjudged Jamie, but can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?

What I Have to Say 

This book had some cute moments, some awesome, crazy adventures in Japan, but it also had a lot of complicated romance. I wouldn't call it so much a love triangle as a ball of wool that has become so tangled up that untangling it is impossible and you have to resort to using scissors or just give up. Everyone in the book was in love with someone else and no one seemed to be in love with a person who actually loved them back. It's not the sort of romance that I enjoy and it just made me annoyed with everyone. 

Sophia's attitude really bothered me. Her feelings for Jamie were obvious from the moment he arrived back in Tokyo and yet she continued to pine after David, who she never even told about her feelings. Her dismissal of David's girlfriend was the worst though. She completely ignored her most of the time, without even attempting to make her feel like part of the group even though the girl felt like things were a lot different. She basically didn't see her as a human being with feelings. I didn't like that and honestly wanted to slap Sophia half the time. 

The book also had a lot of good parts though. It delved deep into how it feels for someone who is constantly shifted from country to country based on her parents whims. Okay not their whims, their jobs but still. It dealt with Sophia's feelings of abandonment from her father who has a perfectly stable life in Paris with his new family leaving no room for Sophia and her sister who are forced to move about between Japan and America with short holidays in Paris, never feeling like they belonged anywhere. This was all explored so deeply and I feel captured the feelings that these kids go through, though naturally I cannot say for sure because I've never been in that situation). 

Also as I said at the start, fun, crazy adventures in Shibuya with Jamie and Sophia. Arcades, Karaoke and Ramen with a side of Matcha lattes. What more can you ask for in a date? 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hatchette for providing me with this copy for review.