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Title: Starling House

Author: Alex E. Harrow

Pub. Date: October 23 2023

Genre: Gothic Fantasy/Horror

Format: Physical Illumicrate Edition

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 308

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It’s become a summer time tradition for me to read at least one horror book and since Alex E. Harrow has been on my list of authors to read from this year, here we are! Starling House was actually an eARC I received last year but never seemed to be in the right mood for it, not picking it up sooner was a mistake. This book is a whole vibe whether you’re looking for a creepy house to get sucked into or not. We meet our MC Opal while she’s living in a motel in Eden town Kentucky with her sixteen year old brother Jasper. Orphaned and homeless, they’ve learned how to get by on their own in a town where none of its residents have much luck anyway. Think dirty running water and smoke filled skies stemming from one greedily owned coal mining company. In Eden there is also the Starling property with a big mysterious house previously owned by Eleanor Starling, a recluse 19th century author who disappeared. Starling wrote a children’s book titled “the Underland” which featured beasts of all forms, her book eventually being deemed too dark for continued circulation. The Starling house has seen many warden’s and whenever one dissapears or dies, another shortly arrives. Opal who once was an aspiring author, is intrigued by E. Starling and so she finds a way to get hired as a cleaning lady by the current warden Arthur Starling. Opal soon finds out she isn’t the only one interested in the Starling house and the powers that be will stop at nothing to uncover its secrets.

We love books that feature books in them, almost always they serve the purpose of pulling the reader in. I’m already a sucker for small town vibes even when that town exudes “Do Not Enter” vibes, sign me up! Starling House is slow paced with a healthy balance of plot/character driving the story. The warden of the Starling estate Adam Starling reminds me a bit of To Kill a Mockingbird’s Boo Radley but with a sword and secretly bad a**! the MC Opal is hard not to like, she openly admits to thieving for a good cause which in her case is her brother Jasper’s future. Although I typically don’t support stealing for a living, this town in particular is just rotten to its core. Opal and her brother Jasper are the town rejects but not a care is given to what other people think and I love that for them. We get a strong sibling relationship, found family that won’t quit on Opal, long buried town secrets, a house you’ll come to see the magic in, and a love story between two misfits. Centered at the heart of this story are themes of racism, incest, and grief. Some of these themes are a part of the towns history and others such as the racism Jasper experiences due to the color of his skin are also a driving force. The fictional town of Eden Kentucky with its coal mines that were historically mined by slaves is an important piece of the story. This was one key element I would’ve liked to see more fleshed out since it was referenced and does play a role in one of the characters lives. Haunting, atmospheric, gritty while also melancholy…just what I was looking for in a Gothic Horror read this summer 🖤

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Title: House Of Hunger

Author: Alexis Henderson

Pub. Date: September 22nd 2022

Genre: Gothic Horror/LGBTQIA+

Format: DRC

Publisher: ACE

Pages: 304

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╰☆☆ 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭. ☆☆╮

Marion Shaw is tired of the life she’s living in the slums scrubbing floors while being degraded on a daily basis. Home doesn’t provide much of a refuge for Marion who lives with her brother who is addicted to drugs and physically abusive. It is inferred that Marion’s brother is living with a terminal disease but it’s not spelled out on the page. His tight hold on Marion makes it impossible for her to build up a nest egg to get them out of the slums, what she makes in coin he finds. She knows very little of the North where wealthy nobles live in great houses consuming the blood of bloodmaids, when she comes across an ad in the paper calling for a new bloodmaid at the House Of Hunger. Countess Lisavet is mysterious and charismatic character, her doors always open to the noble elite with proclivities towards hedonistic activities. Marion’s blood has captured the interest of a traveling taster, one known to find bloodmaids with desirable blood and bring them North to the great houses. Lisavet is instantly drawn to Marion after tasting her blood and so begins their toxic love affair. Marion becomes obsessed with pleasing her Mistress all the while girls begin to go missing at night. She often wakes in the middle of the night to find Lisavet has left their bed but with no idea where she has gone. Questions begin to form with an unsettling feeling that things aren’t what they seem at the House Of Hunger. Things may actually be much darker than the vampiric tendencies of their Mistress. The House Of Hunger has its secrets and a history of violence that turns out to be a lot more than what Marion bargained for.

Whenever I sat down with this book, I found myself fully invested in our main character Marion. She’s gritty, a fighter, and as tough as the slums she comes from. She’s self aware and sees she’s become dependent on Lisavet’s validation just like the other girls in the house. Marion KNOWS she’s in a toxic relationship of sorts with Lisavet, and yet she still feels special and chosen when Lisavet removes Cecilia (previous First Bloodmaid) from her position to give to her. She is literally being bled dry by Lisavet and is willing to give her more, until she starts to see the parts of Lisavet reserved for the First Bloodmaid. The last 30% of this book really amped up the horror, I was cringing at some scenes and reaching for the lights during others! The ending however, was wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking. That being said, I’m probably in the minority group of readers that still found the House Of Hunger to be quite atmospheric even though the only setting we have is in the house itself. Alexis Henderson painted some vivid scenes of debauchery with nobles playing cat & mouse games into all hours of the night. There are also underlying themes to consider with the exploitation of young women of color that come from the poorer parts of the North. The power imbalance created by the socioeconomic disparities between the nobles from far North vs. the young women from Marion’s region. The gross abuse of power exercised by Lisavet and her ancestors is also lightly touched upon. That being said, at its core House Of Hunger is a gothic horror that delivers a good dose of mystery paired with a sense of urgency that’ll have you wanting answers for our MC. House Of Hunger was Nominated as a Goodreads Choice Award in the Horror category in 2022.

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