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attenaeus's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
The House of Sorrowing Stars mostly serves as a conversation around grief and how people may process grief in a variety of situations. It opens with our protagonist, Liddy, the daughter of a marchpane baker. She helps him in the bakery and is seemingly very content with her life, until her parents propose she marries one of the boys her age. Liddy refuses to marry him consistently, but is forced into the arrangement. After receiving a letter inviting her to the House of Sorrowing Stars, Liddy takes the chance and sneaks out in the night to travel into the country and join Vivienne at the house - one for those suffering from grief.
The premise of the book is uniquely interesting, as a fan of The Night Circus seeing the connection to it in blurbs made me incredibly hopeful. It is very low fantasy in that fantastical elements are seen as natural and are incorporated into an otherwise normal world very seamlessly. The characters and settings are delightful, each with vivid description and a clear picture of mystery accompanying them. The fantasy is located solely on the island the house is located on, keeping the fascination contained in a great use of setting. The setting is perhaps one of the books strongest qualities, alongside the house's residents.
This book was character focused. The plot itself revolved around each character's past and the way they handled grief in the present. Overall, I enjoyed this book! I had a good time reading it, however I had a few grievances that arose at around the 70% mark.
Mild spoilers beyond.
Every side character in this book has a very clear purpose laid out, except perhaps for Ben, the gardener. Vivienne, Eloura, and Ben, were all intriguing and served the narrative wonderfully. Vivienne established the mystery; Eloura and Ben provided different ways of solving the mystery in small ways until Liddy puts most of it together, and subsequently asks Vivienne. Eloura was our fantasy mystery solver, knowing the ins and outs of the magic in this world and giving pieces of it to Liddy as she discovers parts of it. Ben provides insight to Vivienne and her brother, Raphael, alongside the house's history itself.
Raphael and Liddy I struggled greatly with. Raphael as a whole had a well rounded story that tied a lot together, but his and Liddy's romance was infatuation and not much more. This book wasn't marketed as a romance, so the fact that it ended up somewhat centering around romance was a surprise. It wasn't unwelcome, a romance alongside the main plot is something I enjoy, but I didn't feel this was handled very well.
Liddy first meets Raphael in the dark, when she is absolutely not meant to meet him. He doesn't see her, but she is infatuated with him immediately. She herself is shocked by it, which I felt was a good sign as perhaps it would mean they would form a proper bond and slowly fall into romance. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Perhaps limited by the scope of what the book was trying to achieve, Liddy and Raphael rarely spoke together. Pacing wise, this worked in the books favour. Character wise, it did not work.
The infatuation continued on Liddy's end without much interaction with Raphael. They spoke twice and she was convinced he hated her and that she loved him, which was an intriguing dynamic. Not long after, however, Raphael nearly kicks a guy out because he was aggressive towards Liddy. Again, this would be fine, if it weren't for Raphael's clear motivations being affection towards Liddy. Cartwright is very clearly establishing mutual infatuation without delving into a personal connection between the two, which was disconcerting considering we were now more than halfway through the book. The personal connection didn't have time to be established, and it very much was not.
The two ended up getting together rather quickly. After being established that Liddy's purpose was to help Raphael, the relationship was rushed into being. I firmly believe that without a romantic relationship, Liddy could have still served her purpose incredibly well. There was no actual relationship between the two, just a physical infatuation, which made it hard for me to actually mesh with a lot of the last 30% of the book. While the conclusion itself was heartfelt and well handled, a lot of it felt slightly rushed and not fully established. I would have rathered a lot of the final events be sprinkled throughout the book, with the ending being focused in what was the final chapter. That could easily have been expanded and made more poignant, rather I got left wanting more at the end. It didn't feel fully explored and like there were a lot of emotions left on the table.
I also overall struggled with Liddy. Compared to every other character in the book, her lack of purpose was striking. It would have been better received on my end perhaps if she knew of her purpose early on, and was able to fully rise to the challenge. This would have also potentially solved my issues with the insta love, as the two could have bonded properly this way. Again, the book tried to accomplish a little more than what it was able to given the size of it. It would have benefited from a little more breathing room and time given to certain aspects. Instead, I was left wanting to perhaps experience the story from Ben's perspective, or even from someone who was a guest due to their grief. I recognise that this also would add to the plot in a way that the book maybe wouldn't be able to handle, but this is more just what I was left wanting for rather than an actual suggestion.
I'd like to reiterate that I did enjoy this book. It had a great premise and the actual ending was bittersweet and beautiful. It was incredibly well handled overall, and I really enjoyed the explorations of how different people might process grief in a variety of unsavory ways. The fantasy elements added to this story, the magic providing an outlet for grief, and the way it worked was done incredibly softly. It wasn't meant to be fully understood, it was meant to just be and that was executed very well.
This book would have received a 3.5-4 star review if it weren't for the lack of connection I felt to the MC, the insta love, and the slightly rushed last section of the book. As a whole it was well executed and beautifully written, if a little heavy-handed at times. I was left wanting slightly more in certain aspects, and wanting less in others. I am incredibly keen to see what comes of this writer in the future!
The premise of the book is uniquely interesting, as a fan of The Night Circus seeing the connection to it in blurbs made me incredibly hopeful. It is very low fantasy in that fantastical elements are seen as natural and are incorporated into an otherwise normal world very seamlessly. The characters and settings are delightful, each with vivid description and a clear picture of mystery accompanying them. The fantasy is located solely on the island the house is located on, keeping the fascination contained in a great use of setting. The setting is perhaps one of the books strongest qualities, alongside the house's residents.
This book was character focused. The plot itself revolved around each character's past and the way they handled grief in the present. Overall, I enjoyed this book! I had a good time reading it, however I had a few grievances that arose at around the 70% mark.
Mild spoilers beyond.
Raphael and Liddy I struggled greatly with. Raphael as a whole had a well rounded story that tied a lot together, but his and Liddy's romance was infatuation and not much more. This book wasn't marketed as a romance, so the fact that it ended up somewhat centering around romance was a surprise. It wasn't unwelcome, a romance alongside the main plot is something I enjoy, but I didn't feel this was handled very well.
Liddy first meets Raphael in the dark, when she is absolutely not meant to meet him. He doesn't see her, but she is infatuated with him immediately. She herself is shocked by it, which I felt was a good sign as perhaps it would mean they would form a proper bond and slowly fall into romance. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Perhaps limited by the scope of what the book was trying to achieve, Liddy and Raphael rarely spoke together. Pacing wise, this worked in the books favour. Character wise, it did not work.
The infatuation continued on Liddy's end without much interaction with Raphael. They spoke twice and she was convinced he hated her and that she loved him, which was an intriguing dynamic. Not long after, however, Raphael nearly kicks a guy out because he was aggressive towards Liddy. Again, this would be fine, if it weren't for Raphael's clear motivations being affection towards Liddy. Cartwright is very clearly establishing mutual infatuation without delving into a personal connection between the two, which was disconcerting considering we were now more than halfway through the book. The personal connection didn't have time to be established, and it very much was not.
The two ended up getting together rather quickly. After being established that Liddy's purpose was to help Raphael, the relationship was rushed into being. I firmly believe that without a romantic relationship, Liddy could have still served her purpose incredibly well. There was no actual relationship between the two, just a physical infatuation, which made it hard for me to actually mesh with a lot of the last 30% of the book. While the conclusion itself was heartfelt and well handled, a lot of it felt slightly rushed and not fully established. I would have rathered a lot of the final events be sprinkled throughout the book, with the ending being focused in what was the final chapter. That could easily have been expanded and made more poignant, rather I got left wanting more at the end. It didn't feel fully explored and like there were a lot of emotions left on the table.
I also overall struggled with Liddy. Compared to every other character in the book, her lack of purpose was striking. It would have been better received on my end perhaps if she knew of her purpose early on, and was able to fully rise to the challenge. This would have also potentially solved my issues with the insta love, as the two could have bonded properly this way. Again, the book tried to accomplish a little more than what it was able to given the size of it. It would have benefited from a little more breathing room and time given to certain aspects. Instead, I was left wanting to perhaps experience the story from Ben's perspective, or even from someone who was a guest due to their grief. I recognise that this also would add to the plot in a way that the book maybe wouldn't be able to handle, but this is more just what I was left wanting for rather than an actual suggestion.
I'd like to reiterate that I did enjoy this book. It had a great premise and the actual ending was bittersweet and beautiful. It was incredibly well handled overall, and I really enjoyed the explorations of how different people might process grief in a variety of unsavory ways. The fantasy elements added to this story, the magic providing an outlet for grief, and the way it worked was done incredibly softly. It wasn't meant to be fully understood, it was meant to just be and that was executed very well.
This book would have received a 3.5-4 star review if it weren't for the lack of connection I felt to the MC, the insta love, and the slightly rushed last section of the book. As a whole it was well executed and beautifully written, if a little heavy-handed at times. I was left wanting slightly more in certain aspects, and wanting less in others. I am incredibly keen to see what comes of this writer in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism
One of the side characters experiences a terminal illness in the background and passes at the end of the book as a result. A character is described as wanting to cause harm to another child after the death of her own, resulting in said character's death. This is in the past and is only ever described through one character to another, but does happen.ellenigrace's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, and Death
Moderate: War
Minor: Rape
lja207's review
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Some of the writing in this book is beautiful, but the characters lacked enough depth for me to truly care.
I hoped the women in this book would make a difference.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Child death, and Grief
rwal's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Grief
hitheremynameislisa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
One of the most beautifully written books I ever read. It made my heart ache in the best way and I'm sure the poetry hidden in these pages will stick with me for a long time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Child death
Minor: Blood, War, Animal death, and Physical abuse
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