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bookwormchels's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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? N/A
3.0
jholland99's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Reading this book felt a lot like healing my inner child. An echo of the feeling you get lying in bed while someone you loves reads you a bedtime story. It is enchanting and complicated and yes I was confused for a lot of it but I am utterly in love and obsessed with the storytelling all the same.
carold_'s review against another edition
3.0
i truly believe there is a starless sea now and you can't tell me otherwise
tamsynday's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
irishbookgirlies's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
irishbookgirlies's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
marieadrianna's review against another edition
1.0
The hype is not real here, I have zero clue what is going on in this book. No time to waste trying to finish and understand it so I had to quit.
aggy3's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
stacemiddleton's review against another edition
3.0
The starless sea made me sad. I loved the night circus so much, it's one of my all time favourite books. So much so that I spent way too much money on a nice edition.
The problem is the starless sea doesn't recreate that magic - however hard it tries to. It's overly complex and it's like the author is trying to rekindle the same fire but can't. This book was very confusing and wasn't a light read at all. There was so much packed in the pages, so many symbols and formats, it all got so confused. The poetry and flowery verse that called to me so much in her previous book was nowhere to be found in this one.
Don't get me wrong, Erin does a fabulous job at world building but I think she'd bitten off more than she could chew with this one. It was too ambitious. There were too many locations and characters and stories that the reader loses track (and interest) pretty quickly. By the time I got to the book entitled 'The secret diary of Katrina Hawkins' I was thinking who? It soon dawned on me that it was Kat, but it seemed weird to use her full name for the first time.
I couldn't connect with the characters the same way. There was none of the warmth and charm of Poppet and Widget, Zachary bored me. We didn't really see his personality or his motivations, he just seemed to follow the story like a confused hare in the headlights. I couldn't find myself routing for him. Why was he special? We don't know. Another problem I had is that Zachary and Dorian seemed to blend into one, they didn't seem distinct at all, just more moving parts in this story.
I did enjoy the queer rep. It's something I haven't really seen in a book such as this before and I love it's inclusion. It wasn't trying to be a coming out book, it was just there and part of Zachary's identity, as it should be. It wasn't the focus, just like a book about straight characters wouldn't be all about their straightness.
I also found it so refreshing to see the friendship between Kat and Zachary, I was so glad that our author didn't try to make them a thing and represented friendship between a man and woman as being just that, nothing more. There was no line blurring, no will they, won't they for cheap kicks. She understood the assignment (and more importantly who her characters are).
Eleanor was by far the most interesting character in the book but so much was left unanswered in the snippets we got of her. Why rabbits? Other than to conjure up references to Alice in Wonderland ofc. Did she give up on finding Simon? Why? Why did her and Simon have so much dislike (I mean they didn't talk about her nicely) for their own daughter? Why didn't they try and find her?
Also the animals. The. Animals. So we have mice, rabbits, cats, owls, bees and a stag. All but the kitchen sink was thrown at this book. There's a ridiculous menagerie going on and the symbolism is lost because there's too many.
There were also way too many forced connections. I think the author tried to take you on a journey but the twists of the relationships between the characters seemed artificial and like cheap glue trying to hold the story together and give it some kind of meaning.
All that said, this wasn't a bad book, especially if you like fantasy, but it missed the mark for me. It was very trippy and I closed the last page thinking 'what did I just read?' Nevertheless, I'd pick up any works that Erin puts out and be more interested to see what direction she takes her readers in next.
The problem is the starless sea doesn't recreate that magic - however hard it tries to. It's overly complex and it's like the author is trying to rekindle the same fire but can't. This book was very confusing and wasn't a light read at all. There was so much packed in the pages, so many symbols and formats, it all got so confused. The poetry and flowery verse that called to me so much in her previous book was nowhere to be found in this one.
Don't get me wrong, Erin does a fabulous job at world building but I think she'd bitten off more than she could chew with this one. It was too ambitious. There were too many locations and characters and stories that the reader loses track (and interest) pretty quickly. By the time I got to the book entitled 'The secret diary of Katrina Hawkins' I was thinking who? It soon dawned on me that it was Kat, but it seemed weird to use her full name for the first time.
I couldn't connect with the characters the same way. There was none of the warmth and charm of Poppet and Widget, Zachary bored me. We didn't really see his personality or his motivations, he just seemed to follow the story like a confused hare in the headlights. I couldn't find myself routing for him. Why was he special? We don't know. Another problem I had is that Zachary and Dorian seemed to blend into one, they didn't seem distinct at all, just more moving parts in this story.
I did enjoy the queer rep. It's something I haven't really seen in a book such as this before and I love it's inclusion. It wasn't trying to be a coming out book, it was just there and part of Zachary's identity, as it should be. It wasn't the focus, just like a book about straight characters wouldn't be all about their straightness.
I also found it so refreshing to see the friendship between Kat and Zachary, I was so glad that our author didn't try to make them a thing and represented friendship between a man and woman as being just that, nothing more. There was no line blurring, no will they, won't they for cheap kicks. She understood the assignment (and more importantly who her characters are).
Eleanor was by far the most interesting character in the book but so much was left unanswered in the snippets we got of her. Why rabbits? Other than to conjure up references to Alice in Wonderland ofc. Did she give up on finding Simon? Why? Why did her and Simon have so much dislike (I mean they didn't talk about her nicely) for their own daughter? Why didn't they try and find her?
Also the animals. The. Animals. So we have mice, rabbits, cats, owls, bees and a stag. All but the kitchen sink was thrown at this book. There's a ridiculous menagerie going on and the symbolism is lost because there's too many.
There were also way too many forced connections. I think the author tried to take you on a journey but the twists of the relationships between the characters seemed artificial and like cheap glue trying to hold the story together and give it some kind of meaning.
All that said, this wasn't a bad book, especially if you like fantasy, but it missed the mark for me. It was very trippy and I closed the last page thinking 'what did I just read?' Nevertheless, I'd pick up any works that Erin puts out and be more interested to see what direction she takes her readers in next.