Reviews with content warning for Death - The Starless Sea

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

145 reviews

noahfr1day's review

5.0

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective 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: Complicated

To me, this book was perfect. I loved everything about it. I felt like I was being taken on a wonderful journey,

riding a train through the states, an elevator down into the depths of the earth, walking through the Harbour’s tunnels with a cat at my heels and sailing a boat across a sea of honey.

. In some ways, I feel like I am still on the journey; there are lots of things in this book that have stayed with me (and I’m writing this review a year after finishing this book for the first time). The quote ‘endings are never truly endings no matter how the stars might wish it so’ feels very true.

I get irrationally angry whenever people criticise this book, but it won’t be for everyone. If you need a linear plotline to enjoy a story, the starless sea might not be for you. However, if you like beautiful writing and loveable characters (including the ‘villains’), and you want to read a book that is essentially a love letter to stories, this book is perfect.

Content Warnings

my_plant_library's review

4.5

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

trishasthoughts's review

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful 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: Complicated

The way Erin Morgenstern wrote this book with so many intricacies and its own deeply interwoven mythology is violently genius. It took me a while to work through this one but those last two parts were worth the wait. I got chills all over my body when it all started to come together.

Morgenstern has a really creative way of telling stories. Her narrative style is so unlike anything else out there and so unique from book to book. It makes me excited for what’s next from her.

I loved the world-building in The Starless Sea. Everything is so descriptive down to the minutiae. It made me long to be at the Harbour with the cats and cozy reading rooms and the Kitchen providing endless snacks and coffee. I loved each and every character in this book. Morgenstern even builds sympathy for the villain through different characterisations.

I would recommend this book to absolutely everyone. It’s brilliant!

Content Warnings

saoreads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

From start to finish the goosebumps never left me! This book is so dreamy and has a lot of plot twists which can really suprise you in every nook and corners of it. Bees, keys, swords, crown, hearts, and feathers - these themes got me hooked. I love how the story building went throughout the reading process. The mini-tales are definitely my favorite! It captured the essence of love for books and connections (cats also) which is such a precious gift for readers and dreamers alike. Never thought Kat would play a big role for a new beginning. All loose ends weren't cut off, it had its own end tied to perfection.

Content Warnings

cherry__tomatoes's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The first 300 pages of this book confused the living life out of me, with the constant short stories and myths I was very confused. During these first 300 pages no huge plot was established and the first 300 pages weren't very captivating. But once I passed page 300 the book become one of my all time favorites, the symbolism each character represents is amazing. I feel like nothing was really connecting in the first 300 pages but everything started to make sense after little snippets of information were revealed. The last 200 pages really saved this book from being a one star review to a four star, the plot twists and truths revealed is impeccable, everybody isn't who you think they are. The ending was very good and very satisfying. My one problem with this book, as stated before, was the first 300 pages were really boring and not very attention grabbing but the ending and everything unravelling makes it better, definitely worth the read.

Content Warnings

libbyhb's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

This is such a pretty, well-written, and well-conceived story. I love a story about stories, and this is a perfect example of that concept done well. The main story following Zachary was interesting, but what made The Starless Sea great was the interweaving of that narrative with excerpts from other stories that all came together to create the full picture of the world by the end. This is kind of a difficult book to describe/review, but the vibes and writing were wonderful! Loved it.

Content Warnings

dannythestreet's review

5.0

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

This whole book is a metaphor (but still a book). You are just trying to keep up with all these symbols until you give up and sink into it. That was a wonderful experience for me, the writing style is the best thing that can happen to anyone and the atmosphere of the book makes you never want to get back to the real life. The character dynamic was also just magical and I'm glad I went on this journey with them

Content Warnings