Dark Fantasy

Review: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

~ megs14malloy

Starling HouseStarling House by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

💚🖤💜💚🖤💜💚🖤💜💚🖤💜💚🖤💜💚

Starling House is darkly enchanting. A perfect October read!

If you’ve read my review of The Ten Thousand Doors of January, you already know that Harrow and I didn’t get off to the best of starts.

I could see glimmers of greatest, but that story just wasn’t for me in anyway. In spite of that, I never write an author off after just one try, so have picked up other works from Harrow since then.

I had a ton of fun with her Fractured Fables novellas and was ready to try this one out upon its release.

This story is set in the small town of Eden, Kentucky, known for being the home to a reclusive 19th-Century author and illustrator, who mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind her gorgeous gothic estate, Starling House.

We follow a young woman named, Opal, who hasn’t had it easy. She cares for her younger brother and works hard every day to try to make ends meet. She wants a better life for him and sacrifices a lot.

Through a series of interesting events, Opal ends up with a job offer to work at Starling House. She’s to become the regular housekeeper for the estate; trust, a full-time job.

Opal knows better than to mess with supposedly haunted houses, but regardless of her trepidation, she sort of needs this. Bonus, the house-cleaning position offers her the chance to get to know the last heir to the estate, the handsome, yet prickly, Arthur Starling.

The story involves a lot of history of the house, the property, the Starling family, as well as the growing relationship between Opal and Arthur.

I enjoyed learning about all that. Harrow made it so interesting. I just wanted to know more. I will note, there are footnotes utilized in telling this story, and although generally I am fairly ambivalent about their use, I felt here they worked quite well for providing the Reader with extra information needed to truly connect with this story.

Starling House includes a trope, or maybe it’s more accurate to call it a theme, that I have seen pop up recently in quite a few other novels. Most memorably, Hide, These Fleeting Shadows and Episode Thirteen.

If you have read any of these, you may know the concept I’m referring. For me, this is BY FAR, the best that idea, or concept, has been brought to the page recently. I haven’t enjoyed it in any other case, but there was something about the way Harrow told this story that just worked for me.

I loved how dark and whimsical this felt, almost like a Dark Fairy Tale, but while also containing an ‘our world’ modern feel. It was almost a story out of time. It made me think about that television show, Once Upon a Time. Not because of the content, but just the overall vibe.

I became quickly invested in this. Early on I was hooked. I loved how Harrow chose to tell and build out this story. It was easy to get invested in the characters and while I wasn’t at the edge of my seat, I still didn’t want it to end.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Adult Fiction with dark undertones. If unsettling atmosphere, potential whimsical monsters and dark fairy tales are your jam, you have to check this one out.

I’m so glad that I continued to pick up Harrow’s work and encourage every Reader to give authors a second chance. Delightful reads like this could be just around the corner.

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Review: Lakesedge (World at the Lake’s Edge #1) by Lyndall Clipstone

~ megs14malloy

Lakesedge (World at the Lake's Edge, #1)Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Lakesedge, the first book in Lyndall Clipstone’s YA-Gothic Fantasy Romance duology, World at the Lake’s Edge, delivered the exact vibes I was hoping for.

Dripping with angst, ’tis the season for this kind of story.

This novel released in 2021 and has been sitting on my shelves, glaring at me accusingly ever since. Last year, her sequel joined her on the shelf, and the judgement doubled.

Unable to handle their harassment anymore, and in the mood for a Dark Fantasy Romance that was going to serve Gothic Feels, I decided it was finally time to give it a go.

In this story, we follow 17-year old, Violeta, and her younger brother, Arien, 13. Violeta and Arien were orphaned when they were very young. They fled their original home after the deaths of their parents and were eventually found on a road beside the mysterious Vair Woods.

The woman who found them decided to take them in. Initially, all was well, but when Arien started exhibiting certain dark powers, the woman began to punish him, trying to rid him of these disturbing behaviors.

Leta, trying to protect her brother, would frequently be harmed and punished as well.

Her treatment of them continues getting worse. The night before a tithe day, things come to a head. They’re not sure how much more they can take and discuss running away.

On tithe day, a mysterious young man takes notice of Arien’s powers when they bubble up unexpectedly. The Monster of Lakesedge, Rowan, offers Arien the chance to come live at his estate, to learn how to control his peculiar powers.

It’s an intriguing offer, one the boy can’t and doesn’t want to refuse. Through some prodding, it is agreed that Leta will go along to Lakesedge as well.

Thus, Leta and Arien are able to escape their terrible home life, but what will their fate be now? It seems equally as dangerous. Can they truly trust Rowan?

They’ve heard terrible rumors about him and the estate is dripping with gothic dangers. Will they be better off than they were before, or will they become the next victims of the Monster of Lakesedge?

I thought this was a lot of fun. It definitely delivered me the vibes, drama and romantic angst that I was hoping for.

A dark tone is set within the first pages and just from that alone, I was hooked. It’s a compelling read and I flew through it. It had a great, dark Fairy Tale feel, and I was picking up slight Beauty and the Beast vibes, which I wasn’t expecting; a delightful surprise.

The sexual tension between Leta and Rowan was so dramatic and well written. I loved watching them learn about each other. They were drawn together like moths to a flame and I was here for every minute of it.

I also enjoyed the Elemental Magic system, which involved drawing sigils on the users body to control the elements and channel the spell. There were a couple of other women, Florance and Clover, who lived at the estate with Rowan, sort of like domestic help, and Clover, in particular, helped teach Arien and Leta about magic.

We love supportive teacher/student vibes.

The main drama focuses on a sort of curse that Lakesedge has on it, called the Corruption. It has poisoned the grounds and lake. Rowan has been searching for a way to clear the Corruption and he believes Arien can help.

Both Arien and Leta begin to fall in love with their life there. They begin to feel like they’ve finally found a home and they’re committed to helping Rowan any way they can. I loved that for them; how attached and comfortable they began to feel at the estate.

The concluding events were intense. There’s a dark spirit involved, the Lord Under, who seems particularly drawn to Leta. Through negotiations with him, Leta may be able to break the curse, but what will it cost her?

This wasn’t perfect. There were some aspects I felt could have been more clear, particularly towards the end, or some repetitive things in the middle section, that could have been taken out, but overall, I feel like this was a solid story.

It does end after a fairly large, life-changing event for Leta. While I wouldn’t necessarily call it a cliffhanger, it definitely leaves you wanting to know more; where the story will go from here.

Luckily, as mentioned above, I have the sequel at the ready and plan to be starting it very soon.

I would recommend this to YA-Fantasy Romance Readers, particularly if you enjoy a Gothic atmosphere, an engaging magic system and angsty romance.

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Review: Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons

~ megs14malloy

Find Him Where You Left Him DeadFind Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead is a YA-Horror release featuring Dark Fantasy elements based on Japanese folklore. To my delight, eerie imagery abounds!

In this story, we are following four teens, Madeline, Emerson, Owen and Dax. Four years ago, they, along with their friend, Ian, played a game in a local cave, as you do. Unfortunately, Ian never made it out. He disappeared and is assumed dead.

Unsurprisingly, the remaining kids were traumatized by the events of that day. A lot of blame got tossed around, anger and vitriol. They’ve been estranged ever since.

They never recovered from losing Ian and each struggled in their own ways. Madeline, for example, focused all her time on her swimming, cutting herself off from everyone. Taking it further, Emerson dropped out of school completely. All around, not a good time for anyone.

It’s now the end of their Senior year. They’re approaching adulthood, but things feel unfinished. That’s when a haunting presence, who looks like the long-missing Ian, begins summoning the group of friends back together again.

Reuniting, the group decides they need to finish the game they started all those years ago. They return to the cave to pick up where they left off. They’re at a loss though. Ian’s ghost dragged them here, but how is this going to help him?

As they restart the game, the teens are quickly sucked out of their reality and into a dangerous hellscape of Japanese underworlds. That’s where they meet Shinigami, the wise old woman who finally tells them the rules.

Collect seven stones by completing seven challenges. They have until dawn, or they risk getting stuck in the underworld forever. If they’re successful, it’s possible they could return home with Ian at their sides.

This forces the estranged teens to put their grievances aside. They’ve got to forget the past four years of bitter dislike and come back to a place where they can work together effectively and efficiently. They accept the challenge.

I really enjoyed my time with this story. I found it to be incredibly gripping and unique. I loved all the dark horror imagery based on Japanese folklore and the gaming element, including all of the challenges, was just such an experience.

I loved how quickly Simmons started with the dark content. It’s pretty much immediate, as you are meeting each of the four mains, you’re meeting them as they are encountering the eerie Ian-image for the first time. I thought that was a great way to kick it off.

I’ve read a couple of stories that follow this type of trip through the underworld facing different challenges plot, but this is the first time that it was a group, versus one individual. I liked the group because it added a lot of interesting personal dynamics.

There were times, in a couple of the challenges, where the imagery for me did get a little muddled; like I couldn’t really picture what was happening anymore. Overall though, I think Simmons did a wonderful job painting a picture for us on the page with her words. It was captivating.

There were some great twists as well. A big one, I definitely didn’t see coming. I wasn’t expecting anything twisted, so good on Simmons for fooling me like that.

I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy YA Horror with Dark Fantasy elements, particularly if you are a fan of Japanese folklore. Conversely, if you love Japanese folklore, or Anime, I also think this one is worth giving a shot, even if you aren’t necessarily a big YA-Horror Reader.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Teen and Macmillan Audio, for providing me a copy to read and review. I’m not sure, but I’m smelling a sequel on the horizon…

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