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A review by nclcaitlin
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
4.0
This is a reader’s love letter. A ballad. An ode.
I was so scared going into this book. People seem to either love it or hate it, and I typically need a driving plot and strong characters to enjoy a story and a lot of reviewers complained this was meandering and plotless. I disagree. I fell in love.
“Do you believe in the mystical, the fantastical, the improbable, or the impossible? Do you believe that things others dismiss as dreams and imagination actually exist? Do you believe in fairy tales?"
Far beneath the surface of the earth, hidden from the sun and the moon, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories.
Zachary stumbles across a book that narrates a long-ago incident from his past that was never related to anyone. From there, he follows whatever lead he can searching for the Starless Sea hinted at in the volumes contained in this book.
Told non-conventionally, this is a story containing stories that all link to the Starless Sea and the library. It is hard to connect all the pieces together and you echo the confusion faced by our protagonist Zachary. The book itself puts it aptly:
For every connection they make between one book and another there are more that don't fit. Some stories seem completely separate and distant and others feel explicitly connected to the story they have found themselves in together now.
Morgenstern seems to know what readers will be thinking before we can put it into words.
I admit to the first 75% being a lot stronger to the last 25% where it just becomes a lot more surreal, crazy, and loose.
This had the potential to be a 5 star ⭐️ read, but the ending left me disappointed and feeling slightly cheated. However, I have to use Morgenstern’s own words:
Or maybe that's what I got out of it and someone else hearing the same story would see something different.
I am very glad I did read this!
There’s a sentient kitchen, lots of cats, owls, an abundance of pastries and tea.
I would be hesitant to compare this to other books but I would recommend this if you enjoyed (or even if you didn’t as I admit to not loving all of the following):
- Ten Thousand Doors of January
- Piranesi
- Lonely Castle in the Mirror
- Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
I was so scared going into this book. People seem to either love it or hate it, and I typically need a driving plot and strong characters to enjoy a story and a lot of reviewers complained this was meandering and plotless. I disagree. I fell in love.
“Do you believe in the mystical, the fantastical, the improbable, or the impossible? Do you believe that things others dismiss as dreams and imagination actually exist? Do you believe in fairy tales?"
Far beneath the surface of the earth, hidden from the sun and the moon, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories.
Zachary stumbles across a book that narrates a long-ago incident from his past that was never related to anyone. From there, he follows whatever lead he can searching for the Starless Sea hinted at in the volumes contained in this book.
Told non-conventionally, this is a story containing stories that all link to the Starless Sea and the library. It is hard to connect all the pieces together and you echo the confusion faced by our protagonist Zachary. The book itself puts it aptly:
For every connection they make between one book and another there are more that don't fit. Some stories seem completely separate and distant and others feel explicitly connected to the story they have found themselves in together now.
Morgenstern seems to know what readers will be thinking before we can put it into words.
I admit to the first 75% being a lot stronger to the last 25% where it just becomes a lot more surreal, crazy, and loose.
This had the potential to be a 5 star ⭐️ read, but the ending left me disappointed and feeling slightly cheated. However, I have to use Morgenstern’s own words:
Or maybe that's what I got out of it and someone else hearing the same story would see something different.
I am very glad I did read this!
There’s a sentient kitchen, lots of cats, owls, an abundance of pastries and tea.
I would be hesitant to compare this to other books but I would recommend this if you enjoyed (or even if you didn’t as I admit to not loving all of the following):
- Ten Thousand Doors of January
- Piranesi
- Lonely Castle in the Mirror
- Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.