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margaret_k30's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Death
Minor: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Confinement, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Grief
katievallin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Grief, and Stalking
val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Stalking and Death
20sidedbi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
There's a bit where it starts to feel long, but stick with it! It's worth it!
Moderate: Stalking and Death
Minor: Violence and Fire/Fire injury
the_reading_wren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I should have been prepared by reading The Night Circus, but I forgot how the author creates a world for the reader to fall in love with before breaking it apart… and resolving the story in the most beautiful and satisfying way. I enjoyed spending so much time at the beginning of the book getting to know the main character and the beginnings of the many threads that later weave into the narrative. Then the second half became an un-put-down-able roller-coater ride!
Morgenstern’s talent for world-building I think comes from the sensory descriptions - the texture of a jumper, the taste of a drink, the richness of a voice, the sense of a space and the smell of a perfume are all given importance. But things are rarely over-described, making it feel like the storytelling is working with the reader’s own imagination.
Overall I think the diversity of the cast of characters was well done, bar a few missed opportunities for trans/nonbinary and better disability representation. Something I particularly noticed was that the main character’s mother is given a significant voice in the narrative, which is unusual in stories like this, and I appreciated it.
I’m really glad I listened to the audiobook; the cast is brilliant, and having different voices read different sections helps follow the flicks between times, people, places and books within books.
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Suicide
yrlaevelyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Moderate: Alcohol and Toxic friendship
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Stalking, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Death
donatio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes long books, with many many details, and doesn't need to feel all the feels to like a book. Anyone who doesn't like lingering pieces or is interested in action should probably try something different.
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Abandonment, and Alcohol
legs_n_chins's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
That said, this book took a little longer to convince me than The Night Circus. I wasn’t absorbed quite as quickly and I’m still not entirely certain I loved Zachary as the main character. Maybe because the characters were a bit less central than the ones in The Night Circus. I went in expecting something more tied to characters but, understandably, this isn’t tied to the characters as much as the story and setting itself.
In the end, I still came away breathless and smiling. I was thoroughly absorbed once I came around to the halfway point and I definitely got properly emotional in multiple places. It was thrilling and wonderful to read. The world building was really gorgeous, and I think anywhere where I felt there might’ve been holes or incomplete thoughts, I was satisfied knowing that maybe there didn’t need to be answers to everything. The mystery of everything that was happing was really fun, too. I liked not even knowing if I was supposed to be searching for answers or clues and it certainly kept me turning the pages.
This was definitely more narrative-driven than The Night Circus (though I hesitate to call it plot-driven just because there’s not really an obvious plot to point to in the strictest of terms) and for me it really, really worked. I would’ve liked more depth in the characters, but I understand where it maybe isn’t entirely necessary since the point of the characters was only to play a role in the story if not have a story unto themselves.
I really loved the folding and combining of the different stories, how Morgenstern wove all the narratives together and broken them apart. I like how it was all entwined and linked, but also separate. I loved being able to discover who was who in the stories and put names to characters and characters to times and places. It was very satisfying to be able to link things myself and still have surprises along the way. And even still, I feel like I have to reread this a few more times to actually pick up on everything!
Understandably, not for everyone, but it hit all my buttons and I was utterly enamored by it.
Also it was trippy as fuck to see my name as one of these characters lmao.
Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Stalking
There’s some themes along the lines of questioning reality or there being multiple realities. Can be a bit mind-bendy.eleanora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Alcohol, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy, Confinement, Torture, and Abandonment
peggychecksitout's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
As far as plot goes, it certainly doesn’t unfold in a linear fashion—I would probably describe it as almost labyrinthine, or maybe not unlike nesting dolls; stories within stories. I could even call it kaleidoscopic—fragments of seemingly disparate stories that come together at the end to form a pattern that we can behold for a beautiful moment, before it all changes. And change it does, as we are reminded throughout the book, what is a story, if not change?
This book also shows off Morgenstern’s greatest strengths: her world-building and her prose. Morgenstern can write; her prose is simply gorgeous. It is in turns whimsical, magical, dreamlike and playful. The images she conjures on these pages are nothing short of being frankly, almost tangible—sort of like waking up with your last dream still dancing around in your head before it softly fades with the intrusion of the morning light. There’s a definite fairy-tale vibe to the entire book, that again, goes along with the greater themes about storytelling. I think anyone who is a lover of books has dreamed, at least once, of stumbling across a doorway that leads to a magical library, and reading this book certainly makes me daydream about that scenario all the more.
If I had a quibble with anything, I would say the character work in this book isn’t the strongest, but I do think it’s still purposeful. The characters aren’t super fleshed out, instead, they have the same quality that characters in a fairy-tale do—they are there to serve the story, to supply metaphor and archetypes and literal anthropomorphic personifications of concepts, more than give us in-depth character studies, or feel like real people. This is okay to a certain extent, but it does mean that if your entry point into a story is through character, this might not be the book for you. There were moments towards the end of the story that didn’t hit quite as hard as I wished they would have, had the characters and their relationships to each other had a chance to be more drawn out.
It took me the better part of a week to read through it, but this book is a book that rewards you with slowing down and taking your time to read it, to really savour the stories within, and soak in all of its beautiful magic. It’s also, as I have now discovered, very wonderfully re-readable, where you can pick up on threads and clues you missed the first time around.
On the whole, my re-read of this book has cemented it as a forever favourite of mine. In fact, I have a quote from the book I would love to have a tattoo of one day, and there are ungodly things I would do for a ttrpg of The Starless Sea; there’s so much you could do with the Harbour alone—book themed dungeon crawls for daaaaaaays.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts