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A review by betwixt_the_pages
The House of Starling by Ciara Hartford
5.0
Rating: 5/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: why??? Why?! WHY?!?!?!?!; I need these books to stop absolutely destroying me kthnxbai; intriguing, richly detailed world building; action packed and fast paced; surprising twists; believable characters; once again I am BEGGING YOU FOR BOOK 2
HUGE thanks to Ciara Hartford and Zephi Press LLC Publishing for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.
"Gods, Raemian! Why did you do this?" He hadn't meant to ask the question aloud.
"Because I will live from this, but Belkin could have died." She seemed so matter-of-fact. There was no tremble to her tone, no hesitation. "I saw the archer. I knew I couldn't stop her in time," she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slow. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." He rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Unless you die. Then I'm going to need an apology."
I am going to NEED to request that these books take a step back from absolutely DEMOLISHING my emotional stability for a moment and allow me to catch my breath, catch my thoughts, and try to piece my heart back together. Otherwise, this poor Penguin may NEVER recover from all these life-ruining reads! I don't know what it is about 2024....but these ARCs are FIRE, y'all, and they're burning me to cinders along the way.
This journey was absolutely NO different. The characters are realistic (while still maintaining their ethereal "fantasy"-ness of course). The dialogue is snarky, descriptive, and unapologetic. The world building is lush and richly detailed, each description bringing this read even more fully to life. The character motivations are believable and realistic, even when we aren't fully sure of all the WHYs behind the actions (I'm looking at you, Step-Mother Dearest). There is a bit of "instalove" happening BUT this is quickly resolved with the characters spending more time getting to know one another that I won't harp on it long. And the ending. BECAUSE OF COURSE the ending had to be a cliffhanger, and THE WORST POSSIBLE KIND. Because OF COURSE we had to be left picking up the shattered pieces of our hearts while desperately hoping, wishing, longing to know that everything turns out right in the end. Because OF COURSE Ciara Hartford would get us hooked....only to leave us absolutely hanging. HOW DARE.
Rae didn't try to get up. She preferred the hard ground to another assault. She could have fought back, but part of her still hoped there'd be a way out of this. She just needed to put the pieces together. But those pieces grew ever more slippery with blood.
I definitely recommend this to lovers of elves/elfin lore, star-crossed romances, and characters you will want to rip your heart out for. The pace is fast and entertaining, the prose is deliciously descriptive, and I ONCE AGAIN am desperate for the next book in the series. The battle is raging, Penguins...which side do you stand on?
Quick Reasons: why??? Why?! WHY?!?!?!?!; I need these books to stop absolutely destroying me kthnxbai; intriguing, richly detailed world building; action packed and fast paced; surprising twists; believable characters; once again I am BEGGING YOU FOR BOOK 2
HUGE thanks to Ciara Hartford and Zephi Press LLC Publishing for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.
"Gods, Raemian! Why did you do this?" He hadn't meant to ask the question aloud.
"Because I will live from this, but Belkin could have died." She seemed so matter-of-fact. There was no tremble to her tone, no hesitation. "I saw the archer. I knew I couldn't stop her in time," she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slow. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." He rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Unless you die. Then I'm going to need an apology."
I am going to NEED to request that these books take a step back from absolutely DEMOLISHING my emotional stability for a moment and allow me to catch my breath, catch my thoughts, and try to piece my heart back together. Otherwise, this poor Penguin may NEVER recover from all these life-ruining reads! I don't know what it is about 2024....but these ARCs are FIRE, y'all, and they're burning me to cinders along the way.
This journey was absolutely NO different. The characters are realistic (while still maintaining their ethereal "fantasy"-ness of course). The dialogue is snarky, descriptive, and unapologetic. The world building is lush and richly detailed, each description bringing this read even more fully to life. The character motivations are believable and realistic, even when we aren't fully sure of all the WHYs behind the actions (I'm looking at you, Step-Mother Dearest). There is a bit of "instalove" happening BUT this is quickly resolved with the characters spending more time getting to know one another that I won't harp on it long. And the ending. BECAUSE OF COURSE the ending had to be a cliffhanger, and THE WORST POSSIBLE KIND. Because OF COURSE we had to be left picking up the shattered pieces of our hearts while desperately hoping, wishing, longing to know that everything turns out right in the end. Because OF COURSE Ciara Hartford would get us hooked....only to leave us absolutely hanging. HOW DARE.
Rae didn't try to get up. She preferred the hard ground to another assault. She could have fought back, but part of her still hoped there'd be a way out of this. She just needed to put the pieces together. But those pieces grew ever more slippery with blood.
I definitely recommend this to lovers of elves/elfin lore, star-crossed romances, and characters you will want to rip your heart out for. The pace is fast and entertaining, the prose is deliciously descriptive, and I ONCE AGAIN am desperate for the next book in the series. The battle is raging, Penguins...which side do you stand on?