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silentquercus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, and Grief
thepurplepixel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved The Night Circus. I didn’t think I’d find a tale that surpassed that in terms of its elegance and magical power. But here I am, drowning in honey and wine as my mind works to accept the close of The Starless Sea.
I love this book. There’s so much to ponder and consider, so many beautiful little details, so quiet and lovely. I feel like I did, like I do, when I walk through a quiet art museum, only leaving because I’ve been dragged out by closing time. I feel as though I’ve lost my breath. I was so gripped by this book, and I cannot stop thinking about it.
I love this book. I already know I’m going to reread this many times. Ms. Morgenstern, should you ever read this, thank you.
I love this book. There’s so much to ponder and consider, so many beautiful little details, so quiet and lovely. I feel like I did, like I do, when I walk through a quiet art museum, only leaving because I’ve been dragged out by closing time. I feel as though I’ve lost my breath. I was so gripped by this book, and I cannot stop thinking about it.
I love this book. I already know I’m going to reread this many times. Ms. Morgenstern, should you ever read this, thank you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
willowwastaken's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
A slow but enjoyable read. Lots of mysteriousness where I would get one answer and be given like 15 more questions.
The writing is beautiful and very detailed and descriptive. But can be overly descriptive and slows down the story quite a bit for me. I know it's to give the reader a lot of vivid imagery and create a certain atmosphere, but if you are like me and suspect you might have a level of aphantasia, it doesn't add to the story and kind of hinders/slows your reading progress if you read every word. I can't picture what is being described so I would've just preferred some of the minor details that were just to describe rooms or scenery taken out.
Lots of switching perspectives and little stories intermixed with the "main" story so if that's not your jam, this might not be it for you.
I feel like this is the sort of book you would reread to pick up on little things (hints or details that apply to something further along in the story) that you might miss like how you might rewatch certain shows to find easter eggs or when you realize an anime opening/ending was telling you everything before you got far enough along in the anime.
I think this book is for a certain aesthetic of reader so it's not as good as the people who hyped it up said it is. But it was still a worthwhile, enjoyable read. I can get the hype and would recommend it to one of my friends who fits into a part of that certain aesthetic, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
The writing is beautiful and very detailed and descriptive. But can be overly descriptive and slows down the story quite a bit for me. I know it's to give the reader a lot of vivid imagery and create a certain atmosphere, but if you are like me and suspect you might have a level of aphantasia, it doesn't add to the story and kind of hinders/slows your reading progress if you read every word. I can't picture what is being described so I would've just preferred some of the minor details that were just to describe rooms or scenery taken out.
Lots of switching perspectives and little stories intermixed with the "main" story so if that's not your jam, this might not be it for you.
I feel like this is the sort of book you would reread to pick up on little things (hints or details that apply to something further along in the story) that you might miss like how you might rewatch certain shows to find easter eggs or when you realize an anime opening/ending was telling you everything before you got far enough along in the anime.
I think this book is for a certain aesthetic of reader so it's not as good as the people who hyped it up said it is. But it was still a worthwhile, enjoyable read. I can get the hype and would recommend it to one of my friends who fits into a part of that certain aesthetic, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol
hazychapters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
First thing first, after finishing this book, I immediately search on Google "the starless sea ending explained". Because yeah, this book is one of them which make you feel dumb after finishing them.
Don’t get me wrong, the writing is beautiful, the characters loveable, the whole thing incredibly well constructed and imagined. But the thing is, I was clueless during the whole story, I understood very little and because of that, I’m mad.
And because I was completely lost sometimes and found some passages a bit boring, I put aside this book for days a few times, and I ended up even more clueless. So yeah, it was a ride, I honestly don’t know how to feel about this book. Maybe it wasn’t the right moment for me to read this book 😅
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicide, and Blood
solouncapitulomas's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
“Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does, somewhere, sometime. In one form or another.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Stalking
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, and Violence
brogan7's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Sometimes, when my partner and I watch a movie that makes him cry, he will say, afterwards, "I felt a little...manipulated." I have never understood what he meant before, until I read The Starless Sea. I wanted to keep reading but it also made me feel a little ill...and then at some parts, I did feel outright manipulated, like I no longer wanted her to shake the characters like rag dolls, I wanted them to...feel and move and choose more like people do.
This book is an extremely architectural book...its structure is a loop within a loop and then it even talks about is own structure within itself, which adds another layer to the structure. (Maybe because I'm geographically challenged, I got lost several times!)
I didn't mind the confusion and the looping tales and the return to certain themes (except, ahem, for all the drinking?), I didn't mind having to reread and look for clues and not knowing what was happening until several chapters later.
But I did mind the gratuitous violence, which sometimes felt so paper thin, it drained the story of gravitas, pow-pow-shoot-em-up, wait, what?
The book is sensually rich, there are always descriptions beyond description, though sometimes I felt a gap of characters, a richness of personality was missing...it was like watching a deck of tarot cards having a conversation with each other, instead of real people (and the deck spent a lot of time in hallways!).
What kept me reading was an interest in: some of the stories, which were so rich with symbols and archetypes; some of the characters, who were not necessarily the main ones; and, yes, the deep sense of a "puzzle" to it.
What almost stopped me was: how the author kept illuminating how her characters were just figments of her imagination, waving it like a flag in front of you as reader (you shouldn't be wanting to stop at p.450 of a 494 page book), and, a bit of over-the-top romanticism ( having a baby is described about as believably as having a hand cut off or Mirabel hauling out a gun and shooting the lamp to burn up the Collector's club ).
Overall, this is a deep fantasy and takes you well away from your day-to-day concerns, so if looking for a journey out of time and place, it's great.
This book is an extremely architectural book...its structure is a loop within a loop and then it even talks about is own structure within itself, which adds another layer to the structure. (Maybe because I'm geographically challenged, I got lost several times!)
I didn't mind the confusion and the looping tales and the return to certain themes (except, ahem, for all the drinking?), I didn't mind having to reread and look for clues and not knowing what was happening until several chapters later.
But I did mind the gratuitous violence, which sometimes felt so paper thin, it drained the story of gravitas, pow-pow-shoot-em-up, wait, what?
The book is sensually rich, there are always descriptions beyond description, though sometimes I felt a gap of characters, a richness of personality was missing...it was like watching a deck of tarot cards having a conversation with each other, instead of real people (and the deck spent a lot of time in hallways!).
What kept me reading was an interest in: some of the stories, which were so rich with symbols and archetypes; some of the characters, who were not necessarily the main ones; and, yes, the deep sense of a "puzzle" to it.
What almost stopped me was: how the author kept illuminating how her characters were just figments of her imagination, waving it like a flag in front of you as reader (you shouldn't be wanting to stop at p.450 of a 494 page book), and, a bit of over-the-top romanticism (
Overall, this is a deep fantasy and takes you well away from your day-to-day concerns, so if looking for a journey out of time and place, it's great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Depression, attempted murder, gratuitous violencenorwegianforestreader's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
ashleyreads88's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? No
The Starless Sea is a beautiful book. At times, I found it confusing due to the multiple storylines. The storylines did all come together nicely. Another thing that was confusing at times was all the different characters and their stories. I did enjoy this book, and how much of a dark, mysterious adventure it was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Stalking, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping and Alcohol
falltumn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
actual story content is solidly a 5 star, but the way the book is structed is 4.25/4.5 out of personal preference. i highly recommend reading book 1-3 in the order of the short, abstract stories first in Whole, and then reading the rest of the book. i found the constant interrupting of events grating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Stalking
Minor: Animal death