October Read: Starling House by Alex E. Harrow

 

I'm enjoying reading books that are equal parts fairy tale/gothic/slightly spooky/fantasy. It could be this time of year, when the night creeps in earlier, and the air is cool enough at night you just want to huddle on the couch and be cozy.

Starling House fit the bill, and while I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I was willing to take the ride. There's a lot going on here.

Opal lives in Eden, Kentucky-a small town limping along and prone to bad luck. Opal and her teenage brother Jasper live in room twelve of the local hotel. It's the only home they've had for years. Opal struggles to make ends meet and her one desire is to get her brother out of Eden. She'll do anything--lie, steal--to keep him safe and his asthma under control. Their mother died tragically years before in a car accident, where Opal survived, but remains haunted by leaving her mother to die. 

Then there's Starling House, that oh so very strange mansion surrounded by woods and closed off by a big metal gate. Sometimes there's a light in the uppermost window, but no one is ever seen coming and going. Opal walks by the home frequently, and is a bit obsessed with it and the legend of the author who built it- E. Starling. 

One day Opal finds out who lives there, when Arthur makes an appearance at the gate, warning her to leave. He's a disheveled young man who looks like he's battling something ominous. Opal is intrigued. She wants in. Arthur reluctantly offers her a housekeeping position, and Opal can't resist.

Starling House is unlike anything she could have imagined-the house itself is alive. It shifts, it reacts; it is helpful and sometimes it's not. Opal and Arthur get to know each other, but very slowly. Arthur is fighting literal monsters in order to protect the town of Eden.  The house is sitting on a horrible, horrible secret that only Arthur, as the Warden of Starling House, can destroy. Unless it kills him first. 

Ooh, there are layers in this novel. Home is a huge theme--the hunger Opal has for a home of her own-a place to feel safe. Home also means someone to come home to, which Opal and Arthur both desperately need. The town's horrible history of bad luck and tragedy, directly linked to the Gravely family and their coal mining operations and greed. Poisoning the ground for profit. A young girl creating a world that will protect her and punish those who used her. The strength of friendship and a made family. 

I loved the mix of fairy tale and horror. Opal is one tough cookie who never gives up on her desire for a home and a place to keep Jasper safe. When evil arrives in the form of Elizabeth Baine she is torn between protecting Jasper or giving up the secret of Starling House and betraying Arthur. 

I don't want to say anymore because this is a book that needs to be experienced. I'd say there's plenty to discuss in a book club setting. 

Thank you to Tor for an advanced copy to read and review! 

Rating: 4/6 for an intriguing novel about dreams, monsters, home, and a haunted town. The monsters in your dreams can be real! 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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October Read: Starling House by Alex E. Harrow

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Anyone with the name of Eowyn Ivey is required to write a magical, timeless novel set in the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1920's.  It's a given.  So glad she did--and I thoroughly loved it!

Jack and Mabel have come to the Alaskan wilderness to start over after a miscarriage ends their hopes of having a child.  It's the early 1920's, and Alaska is such a wilderness only the most brave and optimistic people tackle the land.  And those who want to flee heartbreak.  That's Jack and Mabel.  They are not youngsters with a dream in their minds and a gleam in their eyes; they are running away from all they know to start in the middle of nowhere in a land that does not suffer fools gladly.  

One snowy winter evening, Jack and Mabel pull themselves out of their rapidly spinning thoughts of failure, starvation, and ever present grief--and run outside to build a snowman in the swirling snow.  They quickly dress the snowman--now a snow child--with red mittens, and a red scarf.  It's a moment of serene beauty, quiet, and peacefulness in this novel that reminded me of being much younger, skating out on the lake behind our house at night--quiet, quiet, quiet.  Shhhh.  That is what this novel is about--quiet.  Nature.  The indifference of weather, the icy blast of wind, the unbelievable beauty of a single snowflake caught in the palm of the hand.  It's about grieving, healing, retaining hope, and learning to love again--or for the first time.  

The next morning, the snow child is ruined.  The mittens and scarf are gone.  And soon, Jack spies a young girl in the woods, wearing those very mittens and scarf.  She looks like she was created out of nature itself--was she?  Her name is Faina, and she is the center of this story--she is the fixed point from which this story progresses.  

I really did love the writing in this novel.  It truly is magical, and hopeful, and gives such an ode to Nature that it makes you want to run outside and play in the snow--or just take a silent walk during a snowstorm, enjoying the hush hush and the sound of falling snow.  It  is a great reminder of how connected we are to Nature--from which everything comes and returns.

Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book.  

Rating:  4/5 for writing style, well drawn characters, and a lovely story.  

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The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

A Great Tween Read: Reckless by Cornelia Funke

I read reviews about this book and it seems a lot of people are confused as to what age this book was meant for:  is it for Cornelia Funke's previous fans, who are middle schoolers, or for teens?  Well, I say it's appropriate for any kid or adult!  Cornelia Funke has turned to an older audience with her latest, Reckless.  I loved it.  It's a little dark, but nothing horrible.  The fairy tales we know don't always turn out the way we've been told.  The humans and the Goyls, which are people made of semi-precious stones from deep within the earth, are at war.  The humans are losing.  In steps a young man, Jacob, who has accessed this other world through a mirror in his father's study.  His father disappeared years ago, presumably through the mirror, leaving Jacob, his younger brother Will, and  his mother alone and with no answers.

Jacob has been going through the mirror for years, and is now a man in his twenties.  I think this is where people get confused as to the target audience; as though kids can't read about a twenty-something going on a quest.  Anyway, Will follows Jacob through the mirror, is attacked by the Goyl, and thanks to a curse of the Dark Fairy (mistress of the king of the Goyls),  is slowly turning into a Jade Goyl. Humans are becoming Goyls and joining the dark forces.   There are legends in the Goyl world about the jade bodyguard, who will keep the King from ever being killed.  Jacob is racing against time and the Goyl Army to save his brother before all of his humanity is gone, and he becomes a Goyl.

This book was really great.  There are sketches throughout the novel, which adds to the fairy tale aspect of the story.  It really is a fairy tale within a fairy tale; Jacob makes a living in this other world by finding and selling magical artifacts:  a piece of Rapunzel's hair, a rose that puts you to sleep and keeps you from aging, and fairies galore.  Cornelia Funke has created an amazing world--I think she's a fabulous writer.

So don't hesitate to read this novel.  Who cares what age it's meant for?  It's a well written, imaginative fairy tale that keeps you turning the pages, until the last sentence.  Can't wait for the next one!

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A Great Tween Read: Reckless by Cornelia Funke