For some reason, fantasy is so quintessentially Fall to me. So I’ve been snuggling into these fantasy releases from the end of Summer to the Fall and knew I had to share. Keep reading to see my thoughts on The September House, Starling House, and Bookshops & Bonedust.
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Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I 100% picked up this book because I saw that the audiobook was narrated by Natalie Naudus who is my favorite narrator. You know when a narrator’s voice and style of narration just hits the spot every time? That’s me and Natalie’s narration style. And Starling House did not disappoint. Natalie was able to bring this whimsical, decadent, and gothic feeling to an already atmospheric story. Starling House is perfect for anyone who ever wondered what it was like to live in a haunted house. Definitely not me, but if that was you, then you’ll want to check it out.
From the beginning, it’s clear that you have a sense of who Opal is. She’s fierce, used to having to take care of everyone else, and loves her brother. With footnotes, Starling House is a story about the ways a house draws us back. There’s an immediate sense of atmosphere, the ways a setting won’t let go of us. You can feel the weight of the shadows, the screeching of claws, and the smell of sacrifice. But even more so, Starling House also manages to be romantic. To feature a romance that has this almost fated “you need to leave to be safe” feeling to it. The love where you’d rather they stay away and be safe, than be at risk together.
If you also love a story about siblings and the bonds of family we fight for, versus the ones who only come when they need something, this is for you. It’s about the choices we make for home, for the future, or for better. The trauma of truth, but also the rotting of revenge and the pain of standing by. Find Starling House on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, Libro.fm, and Google Play.
The September House by Carissa Orlando
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.
Margaret is not most people.
Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Speaking of haunted houses, The September House is perfect for the spooky season. It’s great for those who don’t shy away from “The Shining” vibes, for the ghosts we share our homes with. What happens when we refuse to leave? What would a house do to us then? Orlando juxtaposes the past memories of moving into the house, the ways their relationship decayed, and the discoveries with the current moment. There’s this delightful tension between wondering what happened to Margaret’s husband, to the hauntings that come every September.
The unreliability in the narrator keeps readers on their toes. We wonder about the tides of domestic abuse that can creep up on us, while also feeling the rise of suspense from the supernatural. As we get to know Margaret more over the course of the book, a fear takes root. Reading Margaret’s perspective is almost like seeing reality just one shade away from reality. Where the shadows take on lives of their own. There’s a blurriness to the line of real and the unreal for us as readers, not only Margaret.
The September House is the ultimate horror read for me this year. I’m not normally a horror reader, but this one swept me away. Find The September House on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.
Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.
What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?
Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.
Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I love a good prequel moment and after the world was taken by storm by Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust is now on the scene. And it’s even more charming than before. For fans, this has the same charm and whimsy that readers will be expecting. I was so excited for this as well as being able to listen to the audio which is read by the author. And Baldree is a phenomenal narrator. Immediately Bookshops & Bonedust begins with the power of fiction to transport us. I know we can all relate to that!
If you love the trope of a reluctant reader who meets a bookseller convinced there’s a perfect book for each of us – then just stop reading and go pick this one up. I loved witnessing the evolution and re-vamping of a bookstore in Bookshops & Bonedust. As the book continues, we’re able to see Viv thaw even more which is saying something considering we all have seen Viv in the future! Many of the threads you’ve read about in Legends & Lattes are being planted like seedlings.
With unique and charming side characters, Bookshops & Bonedust is another charismatic and cozy release. Not only do we see characters finding a home in the store, as well as creating a community, we witness Viv coming to terms with, and beginning, her journey to wanting something else from life. Find Bookshops & Bonedust on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, Libro.fm, and Google Play.