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adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Incredible read. Vibes and vibes only. No plot. This is my favourite book out of anything ive ever read. Prose is exquisite.
Diversity is complicated because the main character isn't white, but his race isn't explicitly stated from what i can remember.
Diversity is complicated because the main character isn't white, but his race isn't explicitly stated from what i can remember.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Zachary Ezra Rawlins è un personaggio-vettore in una storia in cui il mondo stesso fa da protagonista. La storia è tracciata, scritta da qualche parte e qualcuno la sa già, il nostro compito è quello di consultare le fonti e unire i puntini. Questa non è una lettura semplice, al contrario di quanto si può pensare all'inizio per via dei dialoghi semplici dei primi personaggi. Ogni dettaglio è importante, ogni personaggio non è lì per essere solo se stesso ma per raggiungere uno scopo in una storia-puzzle. Lavorano tutti, come un alveare, per trovare il finale, e l'inizio, della storia.
Le descrizioni sono magnifiche, creano degli scenari che lasciano a bocca aperta il lettore e aggiungono un tocco di magia alla narrazione. Non avendo mai letto Harry Potter, il massimo che posso sognare è quello di passare una settimana della mia vita nel Cuore del Mare senza stelle, oppure una notte nella Locanda tra i due mondi.
Da inizio a fine una storia che non perde il suo ritmo, che ti fa venire voglia di continuare a leggere per la trama, i luoghi e i personaggi.
Le descrizioni sono magnifiche, creano degli scenari che lasciano a bocca aperta il lettore e aggiungono un tocco di magia alla narrazione. Non avendo mai letto Harry Potter, il massimo che posso sognare è quello di passare una settimana della mia vita nel Cuore del Mare senza stelle, oppure una notte nella Locanda tra i due mondi.
Da inizio a fine una storia che non perde il suo ritmo, che ti fa venire voglia di continuare a leggere per la trama, i luoghi e i personaggi.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Alcohol
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
made me fall in love with reading again. yes the plot is vague, yes the resolution was confusing, but the experience of reading it? top-tier.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Stalking
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Stalking
Moderate: Blood
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
no idea what was supposed to be going on but in a very cool fun way. v much no plot just vibes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Violence
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Very much ✨all vibes no plot✨ The characters are very flat, the romance felt very thrown in and instalovey. I liked the setting of the harbor with all it’s different rooms, the writing style of course, the vibes. This is one of those books that had so much potential because the concepts are really cool, but it just didn’t deliver and I was pretty disappointed.
The in-story book chapters were my favorite part, which is apparently an unpopular opinion? Idk I just thought the mini stories in those chapters were much more interesting than the main story jdashjdkgs. If Erin Morgenstern ever decides to write a short story collection I would love that
My main disappointment was that the synopsis made it sound like Zachary would get to see the starless sea in it’s prime. I was expecting a good portion of the story to take place there, but Zachary only gets to see it after it’s basically destroyed. And that part was like a fever dream and super confusing. It’s implied that he gets to see it after the book ends, but we don’t get to see it with him. I wanted a story that took place there. I think that could’ve been so cool.
The in-story book chapters were my favorite part, which is apparently an unpopular opinion? Idk I just thought the mini stories in those chapters were much more interesting than the main story jdashjdkgs. If Erin Morgenstern ever decides to write a short story collection I would love that
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death, Sexual content
-Poisoning (survived)
-Stabbing
-Major character death (sort of)
-Suicide mention
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Despite my not-quite-5-stars, this is my favourite book. Hands down. Maybe I’m personally just fascinated by metafiction, the concepts of stories and endings, chaotic structures and fantastical philosophy, because I know a lot of people don’t love the way this book lacks focus on characters and has a fragmented structure, but the whole thing is so MOVING to me. It’s an ode to stories and to endings and explores fate and one’s place within it, all through the lens of a thoughtful, young, gay uni student.
If you read this and didn’t like it the first time, I highly recommend you try it again!! I hated it the first time because it wasn’t at all what I expected, but once you know what to expect, you can actually appreciate the symbolism, ambiance and purpose behind the novel. You’ll come to understand it to be a bit like Alice in Wonderland with deliberacy behind its chaos, despite the somewhat regular structure of the first half of the book. I took off half a star because I feel like the structure could have been refined further, but all in all, BEAUTIFULLY written and I honestly recon I’ll end up getting a tattoo related to this book some day :)
If you read this and didn’t like it the first time, I highly recommend you try it again!! I hated it the first time because it wasn’t at all what I expected, but once you know what to expect, you can actually appreciate the symbolism, ambiance and purpose behind the novel. You’ll come to understand it to be a bit like Alice in Wonderland with deliberacy behind its chaos, despite the somewhat regular structure of the first half of the book. I took off half a star because I feel like the structure could have been refined further, but all in all, BEAUTIFULLY written and I honestly recon I’ll end up getting a tattoo related to this book some day :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Sexual content, Pregnancy
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Starless Sea reads like a book for book-lovers. Erin Morgenstern presents a secondary fantasy world, accessed through magical doors, full of stories and the people who protect them. More than one character explicitly references going through the wardrobe to reach Narnia, and the early sections of The Starless Sea filled me with that same longing to escape into a magical idyll. Of course, these other worlds are rarely perfectly peaceful, otherwise there’d be no conflict and no story. Erin Morgenstern does a good job of balancing the appeal with the danger. The Starless Sea has more bite than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but doesn’t tip over into brutal cynicism like The Magicians.
As befits a book about a magical world full of books, The Starless Sea also delves interestingly into metafictional discussions about what makes a story, and what makes a good story. The characters of The Starless Sea would make an interesting book club. Within Erin Morgenstern’s narrative, there are smaller stories-within-stories, none of which were recognisable as retellings, but most of which had an effective archetypal fairytale vibe. Unfortunately, the overarching plot doesn’t hang together quite as well. The story was hazy, never quite coming into focus, which made it difficult to build up (or understand) the stakes. Erin Morgenstern’s prose is so lovely that The Starless Sea was still enjoyable, but it didn’t have as much impact as it might have done if the narrative had set things up on a slightly firmer ground.
A reread of The Starless Sea would be interesting, to see whether the stories-within-stories knit together with the main narrative to make the whole thing feel more grounded and immediate. If you like reading about reading (presumably you do, since you’ve read this…) it’s definitely one to add to your TBR!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail