#BookReview: Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier

Synopsis: A dark YA fantasy debut perfect for fans of House of Hollow and Small Favors. In the wake of her father's death, a teen girl discovers a side of her family she didn't know existed, and is pulled into a dark--and ancient--bargain she is next in line to fulfill.

Kit's father had always told her he had no family, but four months ago his sudden death revealed the truth. Now she has a grandmother she never knew she had--Agatha Starling--and an invitation to visit her father's hometown, Rosemont.

And Rosemont . . . it's picture perfect: the famed eternal roses bloom year-round, downtown is straight out of the 1950s . . . there's even a cute guy to show Kit around.

The longer Kit's there, though, the stranger it all feels. The Starling family is revered, but there's something off about how the Starling women seem to be at the center of the all the town's important history. And as welcoming as the locals are, Kit can't shake the feeling that everyone seems to be hiding something from her.

Agatha is so happy to finally meet her only granddaughter, and the town is truly charming, but Kit can't help wondering, if everything is so great in Rosemont, why did her father ever leave? And why does it seem like he never wanted her to find it?



Goodreads | Amazon

Rating: 2 Stars
My Review: I have to say that whoever did the synopsis was right. This is very much for fans of House of Hollow and Small Favors which is most likely why, unfortunately this one was not for me.  This is one of those books that takes a while to get going, I felt like the first half of the book dragged so much with nothing really going on. The creepy factor was what I call scary light.  I think this one would work well for those who want a scary book but not a horror.  This in real life would be for those who would go to Micky's No So Scary Halloween vs. Halloween Horror Nights.  So if you are looking for a not so scary young ya story. Check this out. 

Review

“Like the town of Rosemont itself, outwardly lush and beautiful but steeped in sinister secrets, Linsmeier’s Starlings is a deliciously dark fantasy that I devoured in a single day.” —Amy Goldsmith, author of Those We Drown

“If you ever wished Stars Hollow had more things that went bump in the night, Starlings is for you! Linsmeier’s haunting mystery held me captive, eager to learn all of Rosemont’s dark secrets.” —Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows

"Linsmeier uses a delicate emotional palette to depict her plot, beginning with the subdued gloom and grief surrounding Kit and her mother. The suspense gradually grows to the nail-biting climax, and character development is so nuanced that the reader, like Kit, can't trust anyone. Fans of folk horror will be entranced by this suspenseful novel." —Booklist

"A foreboding, flower-filled, feminist horror story." —Kirkus Reviews

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Posted in: 2 Stars, Delacorte Press, Netgalley, Review, Young Adult