Starling House: A Reese's Book Club Pick

Alix E. Harrow

Oct 2023 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Natalie Naudus

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

I loved parts of Starling House. The story starts strong, with all the spooky vibes of a gothic novel. I felt the tension, and the questionable activity within the house had me on edge. Then we veered into a lot of drama with a YA vibe, as well as a budding love/hate romance. I wanted more of the claustrophobic gothic feel, more about what was going on within the house, and less of the dramatics. The final quarter ramps up the pace and creepiness, providing a wild ride to the end. The overall focus was on elements of family, belonging, and finding your place in the world, which was fine, but not the gothic tale I was expecting. I’m not sure it all quite fit together for me. Natalie Naudus, the narrator, does an excellent job and kept me fully engaged throughout. *On a side note, this story incorporates footnotes, which jarred me out of the story each time and didn’t add enough substance to make a difference.* Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free download!

4.5 Stars. This...once again...is not my normal genre. It was dark in it's setting and in it's characters. There were actual monsters and bloody fights. There was also Opal. She's been struggling to keep her head above water (sorry, no pun intended if you've read the book) and keep her brother on the straight and narrow path pointing directly out of Eden. Opal's hard life definitely had sharpened her attitude over the years, so she was perfect to deal with Arthur, the keeper of Starling House. Both he and Starling House are full of dark secrets. But will Opal be able to lighten things up for him and the house? I listened to the audio version narrated by Natalie Naudus. Boy did she do a great job! I was right there with Opal and all the creepy, crawly things. Even the music at the end got me. Thanks to Macmillan audio for the gifted copy of this audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

This book starts off scary, as though it will be another Amityville. But it changes into something delicate, strong and loving. Well worth the read -- it picks up 30% of the way in

About the author

Alix E. Harrow is the Hugo Award winning author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Once and Future Witches, and various short fiction. Her Fractured Fables series, beginning with the novella A Spindle Splintered, has been praised for its refreshing twist on familiar fairy tales. A former academic and adjunct, Harrow lives in Virginia with her husband and their two semi-feral kids.