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mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So convoluted and dense, and yet I cannot tell you a single concrete meaningful thing about the world, story, or characters. A perfect example of style over substance -- and not even a great style at that, because a million run-ons without a comma in sight (except in splices, i.e. where they're not supposed to be, and god forbid any semicolons or em-dashes) and shallow imagery repeated ad nauseam do not constitute strong, profound writing. Especially when they're surrounded by weak verbs and dry statements; a lot of descriptions start with the classic grammatical expletive "there is/are." If these quirks were only in one section, it might have been fine, but all of the narrators sound virtually identical. Rather than consciously breaking grammatical customs to create some obvious effect or unique voice, then, it reads like unnecessary padding or honest errors.
I can't even comment in depth on the other elements, I feel like, because what little is there gets completely overpowered by the writing. I don't mind purple prose or stylistic experiments, but they need to be supplementing an actually compelling narrative and/or about 70% shorter. Here, though, if you take away the technical frills, you're left with 500 pages' worth of a bunch of scattered concepts that could have been interesting but don't amount to much in execution.
I wasn't super impressed by The Night Circus when I read it either, but I don't remember it being quite this insufferable, so maybe there's some sophomore slump effect going on. Either way, a pretty big disappointment, and irritated me so much at times I would have definitely thrown a physical copy. Honestly, I blame the editor -- if anyone did indeed edit this -- more than Morgenstern, because a good editor might have at least said, "Hey, so if you aren't going to follow a coherent plot or fully flesh out any of your characters, maybe you could at least punctuate your writing so it's readable?" Alas, clearly nothing of the sort happened, and the certain kind of reader I am suffers for it.
I can't even comment in depth on the other elements, I feel like, because what little is there gets completely overpowered by the writing. I don't mind purple prose or stylistic experiments, but they need to be supplementing an actually compelling narrative and/or about 70% shorter. Here, though, if you take away the technical frills, you're left with 500 pages' worth of a bunch of scattered concepts that could have been interesting but don't amount to much in execution.
I wasn't super impressed by The Night Circus when I read it either, but I don't remember it being quite this insufferable, so maybe there's some sophomore slump effect going on. Either way, a pretty big disappointment, and irritated me so much at times I would have definitely thrown a physical copy. Honestly, I blame the editor -- if anyone did indeed edit this -- more than Morgenstern, because a good editor might have at least said, "Hey, so if you aren't going to follow a coherent plot or fully flesh out any of your characters, maybe you could at least punctuate your writing so it's readable?" Alas, clearly nothing of the sort happened, and the certain kind of reader I am suffers for it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Torture
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
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
Argh, this book was so close to almost-perfect but just missed the mark for me with its ending. Worth reading for its beautiful descriptive writing and quip-laden prose - yet this comes at the expense of slightly underdeveloped characters, motivations and plot. A wonderful showcase of aesthetic with a frustrating lack of resolution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Pregnancy
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
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:
Complicated
This is definitely a modern epic! It is slow to start and picks up at the middle of the book…it took me three weeks to read 50% and then three days to finish it. It is a winding adventure that centers around the concepts of storytelling, reality, destiny, and companionship. Now that I’m done I find myself wanting to go back to read parts again. A sign of a compelling and well written novel!
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The overall plot had some interesting story lines and was descriptive, but there wasn't much emotional depth and the characters really didn't seem to grow or develop at all. The main character really didn't progress on his own things just seemed to happen to him after the first few chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-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:
Complicated
Writing a story about the power of stories is a brave thing for an author to take on, and Erin Morgenstern shows she’s a master storyteller in The Starless Sea.
I should have been prepared by reading The Night Circus, but I forgot how the author creates a world for the reader to fall in love with before breaking it apart… and resolving the story in the most beautiful and satisfying way. I enjoyed spending so much time at the beginning of the book getting to know the main character and the beginnings of the many threads that later weave into the narrative. Then the second half became an un-put-down-able roller-coater ride!
Morgenstern’s talent for world-building I think comes from the sensory descriptions - the texture of a jumper, the taste of a drink, the richness of a voice, the sense of a space and the smell of a perfume are all given importance. But things are rarely over-described, making it feel like the storytelling is working with the reader’s own imagination.
Overall I think the diversity of the cast of characters was well done, bar a few missed opportunities for trans/nonbinary and better disability representation. Something I particularly noticed was that the main character’s mother is given a significant voice in the narrative, which is unusual in stories like this, and I appreciated it.
I’m really glad I listened to the audiobook; the cast is brilliant, and having different voices read different sections helps follow the flicks between times, people, places and books within books.
I should have been prepared by reading The Night Circus, but I forgot how the author creates a world for the reader to fall in love with before breaking it apart… and resolving the story in the most beautiful and satisfying way. I enjoyed spending so much time at the beginning of the book getting to know the main character and the beginnings of the many threads that later weave into the narrative. Then the second half became an un-put-down-able roller-coater ride!
Morgenstern’s talent for world-building I think comes from the sensory descriptions - the texture of a jumper, the taste of a drink, the richness of a voice, the sense of a space and the smell of a perfume are all given importance. But things are rarely over-described, making it feel like the storytelling is working with the reader’s own imagination.
Overall I think the diversity of the cast of characters was well done, bar a few missed opportunities for trans/nonbinary and better disability representation. Something I particularly noticed was that the main character’s mother is given a significant voice in the narrative, which is unusual in stories like this, and I appreciated it.
I’m really glad I listened to the audiobook; the cast is brilliant, and having different voices read different sections helps follow the flicks between times, people, places and books within books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Torture, Pregnancy, Abandonment
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
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