Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Starless Sea

It is an extremely fun book with twists and turns I was never expecting. I love the layers and hidden easter eggs in the story. Definitely the kind you have to read more than once to fully grasp.

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parisreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

One day, Zachary Ezra Rawlins checks out a strange book from his university's library and finds himself reading about himself. When he tries to investigate the origins of the book, he finds himself caught up in a mysterious and magical world of stories and Fate.

This is definitely my favorite book of 2021 (so far)! Like The Night Circus (also by Morgenstern), The Starless Sea is slow-paced and beautifully atmospheric, and the setting is as much a character as the actual characters. It doesn't just follow one or even multiple characters, but jumps around between different times and points of view and stories-within-the-story. I loved the meta and how it's a book about books and storytelling and readers. The romance was very much a subplot, which I don't mind at all, but it did feel a bit underdeveloped (my only complaint with the whole book). Despite the slow pacing, I read this book pretty fast until about the last hundred pages, when I stopped for a while because I didn't want it to end!

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me this before I read books):

Happy! (It doesn't seem like it's going to be until right at the very end though!)

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allisoncc's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

14.07.2022 (Reread)
I'm still loving it with all my heart.
What an amazing feeling to be back in this world with these characters. I enjoyed it very much to discover all the small details and references I missed the first time. I will definitely have to return to the Starless Sea at some point.

16.06.2020
I love these characters SO SO SO SO much! They feel so real, like actual friends. They've become so dear to me and will always have a special place in my heart.
I'm in love with the setting, I'm sad I have to leave it behind. My heart breaks when I think about it.

I have so much to say but I can't find the words.
This was just perfect for me. All the details, all the wibbly wobbly stuff, all the fairy tales, all the puzzles, all the different parts of the story coming together in such a chaotic, weird but also satisfying way, all the references, all the meta about story telling, all the scenes that read like point and click adventures or pen and paper RPGs, all the epic locations, all the beautiful writing, the meaningful quotes and the humour. All the love!

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