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adventurous
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
Minor: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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:
No
Trigger warnings for The Starless Sea include: Anxiety, panic attacks; multiple deaths; themes of death; Suicidal ideation mentioned; Forced drug use; Removal of a tongue mentioned; Branding, Kidnapping, Drowning and Animal death mentioned.
☆
☆
It's safe to say that was one of the wildest rides I've ever had with a book. Usually I'm not a fan of multiple points of view in the books I read because I find it easy to get things mixed up. But with this one each story within a story was individual and easy to distinguish from one another.
~
I loved the simple gay representation you find in the main character Zachary, as well as Dorian, and in Kat (though in passing mention). The fact that there are queer characters doesn't have any bearing on the story, which I find is actually quite nice. Having a story that doesn't revolve around one or more of the characters being some flavour or LGBTQ+.
~
Reading some other reviews online when I'm writing this I have found some useful explanations as to how the characters fit into the fairytale being woven from the beginning. Who each character is, whether that's the Pirate, Fate, the acolyte, Allegra and the Guardian. Characters are mentioned and talked about in different books within the books. It has multiple stories within it, and eventually they all fit together and interweave, but I appreciate it might be a little more challenging for some to piece together who's who.
☆
☆
It's safe to say that was one of the wildest rides I've ever had with a book. Usually I'm not a fan of multiple points of view in the books I read because I find it easy to get things mixed up. But with this one each story within a story was individual and easy to distinguish from one another.
~
I loved the simple gay representation you find in the main character Zachary, as well as Dorian, and in Kat (though in passing mention). The fact that there are queer characters doesn't have any bearing on the story, which I find is actually quite nice. Having a story that doesn't revolve around one or more of the characters being some flavour or LGBTQ+.
~
Reading some other reviews online when I'm writing this I have found some useful explanations as to how the characters fit into the fairytale being woven from the beginning. Who each character is, whether that's the Pirate, Fate, the acolyte, Allegra and the Guardian. Characters are mentioned and talked about in different books within the books. It has multiple stories within it, and eventually they all fit together and interweave, but I appreciate it might be a little more challenging for some to piece together who's who.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
I knew this book deserved five stars before I even finished. The writing was so beautiful and whimsical and ethereal and poetic! The stories within the story were so interested and it was SO cool that they contributed something to the plot and were not just random stories (I would not mind if it was the latter tho). Zachary was really relatable and funny and it was nice to see him being more independent from Sweet Sorrows as the story goes, following his own path. I wish his relationship with Dorian was more developed but, again, I don't mind at all they were still cute and ofc they made me cry! I was so happy to see a specific side character(iykyk) have the spotlight towards the end I love them so much!! ALSO the aesthetic of this book!!! It's not exactly dark academia but kinda close I don't know really xD But what I kniw is that I want to go there SO BADLY!! An underground library, full of ballrooms mysteries and CATS?? SIGN ME UP RIGHT NOW!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Stalking
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Lesbophobia
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Suicide, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy