MoodReads - Romance Book Discovery

Beta soft launchEvery book’s tags are being checked by hand ✨ some categories are fuller than others while I work through them all ✨

Cover of Starling House

Starling House

by Alix E. Harrow

🌶️fade to black·spoiler

Why Read This?

You'll experience a cathartic journey of confronting past traumas and finding hope in unexpected places, wrapped in lush, atmospheric prose.

Synopsis

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.

At a Glance

3.78 ★ Goodreads
Spice Level🌶️fade to black
Endingspoiler
PairingM/F
Romance Pacingslow burn

Top Tropes

forced proximitycaretaking romancehidden past revealed

Mood

gothicmysteriouseerieatmosphericmelancholic

Book Details

Goodreads Rating

3.78 ★

Page Count

308 pages

Published

2023

Primary Genre

Gothic Romance

Pairing

M/F

POV

Dual POV

Romance Pacing

Slow Burn

Audiobook

Available

Yes

Format

Standard

Narrator

Natalie Naudus

Narrator Count

Single

Tropes

RomanceMagicActionAngstWorld
Theme Constellation

Mood & Vibe

Mood

sign in to see writing style, pacing & more

Characters

FMC: damaged survivor sign in to unlock

Spice Details 🌶️

N/A sign in to unlock

childhood traumadeathemotional abusetraumaviolencecaptivitygriefpovertywar

World & Setting

gothic sign in to unlock

Reading Context

cathartic release sign in to unlock

Similar Books

Cover of The Hacienda

The Hacienda

Isabel Cañas

🌶️·dual POV
forced proximityhidden past revealedrescue romance
Cover of Belladonna

Belladonna

Adalyn Grace

🌶️·third person·
forced proximityhidden identityadventure romance
Cover of Heart's Blood

Heart's Blood

Juliet Marillier

🌶️·third person
beauty and the beastcursed love interestfairytale retelling
Cover of DarkhouseKU

Darkhouse

Karina Halle

🌶️·first person
forced proximityworkplace romancehidden past revealed
Cover of The House Saphir

The House Saphir

Marissa Meyer

🌶️·first person
fairytale retellinghidden identityblood feud romance
Cover of Within These Wicked Walls

Within These Wicked Walls

Lauren Blackwood

🌶️·first person
cursed love interestforced proximityhidden identity
Cover of The Year of the Witching

The Year of the Witching

Alexis Henderson

🌶️·third person
blood feud romancecursed love interesthidden past revealed
Cover of Where the Dark Stands Still

Where the Dark Stands Still

A.B. Poranek

🌶️·first person
captive romancecursed love interestforced proximity

Short Takes

quick 280-character reactions for this book. drop a thought, rate the vibe, keep scrolling.

Sign in to share your take.

Loading...

Book Chat

Talk about Starling House with other readers