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abi_sarah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
<spoilers>
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Zachary and Dorian - it was well paced and very well written. The character development of Z was one of the moment gripping parts of the novel, it kept me wanting to read on. I particularly enjoyed the scenes in which Z was at University, it felt very nostalgic to read and the awkward encounters of young adults rang true with my own experiences, making the story very relatable at that stage.
I very much enjoyed the exploration of Zachary’s heritage and the reader’s discovery of his familial history along with him. I enjoyed the (at first) hidden connections between characters which became apparent later in the novel. I love stories where things all link up in the end.
I got a little lost towards the end and genuinely have no idea how they ended up in the Starless Sea?!
I enjoyed the premise of an ocean of honey - it was so improbable, yet still made so believable by the writing. It was an interesting twist which actually contributed a lot more depth to the story than I first thought.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Zachary and Dorian - it was well paced and very well written. The character development of Z was one of the moment gripping parts of the novel, it kept me wanting to read on. I particularly enjoyed the scenes in which Z was at University, it felt very nostalgic to read and the awkward encounters of young adults rang true with my own experiences, making the story very relatable at that stage.
I very much enjoyed the exploration of Zachary’s heritage and the reader’s discovery of his familial history along with him. I enjoyed the (at first) hidden connections between characters which became apparent later in the novel. I love stories where things all link up in the end.
I got a little lost towards the end and genuinely have no idea how they ended up in the Starless Sea?!
I enjoyed the premise of an ocean of honey - it was so improbable, yet still made so believable by the writing. It was an interesting twist which actually contributed a lot more depth to the story than I first thought.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Alcohol
shay43geek's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Stalking
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
ambenicole418's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
5.0
“A game or a book that has meaning to me might be boring to you, or vice versa. Stories are personal, you relate or you don’t.”
10/10!!! NO NOTES!!!💖🐰🏴☠️⭐️🌊🍯🐝🗝️🗡️ Pass go 5x, build a hotel on Park Place, and collect 1 million dollars!!
This book was fantastic! I purposefully took so long to finish it because I just did not want it to end. I literally cried when I finished it, not only because it was beautiful, but also because it’s over now and I’ll never be able to experience it for the first time again 🥹, and now I have absolutely no idea what to do with myself 😭. Reading The Starless Sea is like reading a jigsaw puzzle. There are all of these stories that you know connect in someway, but you’re unsure how until the very end when you finally see the whole picture. And it’s absolutely stunning🥹.
I will say though if you are a plot girly and like stories with a very forward narrative then this book is NOT for you. However, if you love magic, whimsy, fairytales, myths, stories within stories, a little bit of romance, endings that aren’t really endings, and non-traditional forms of storytelling THIS is the book you’ve waiting for! 🩵🐝🗝️🗡️
Pro tip: I read this book while listening to the “Ambient Dreamscapes” playlist on Spotify and it was the PERFECT ambience for the story. That playlist matches the vibe and tone of this book to a T. In fact, if you told me Ms. Erin Morgenstern herself created that playlist specifically for The Starless Sea I would believe you.👌🏽😊
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
cglharmony's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is absolutely stunning. A love letter to stories and a meditation on fate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Death and Suicidal thoughts
ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.25
Atmospheric, loved the world building. I actually really enjoyed all the jumping around in time and stories though can see why others wouldn't. Very close to a 4.5 for me but just didn't quite get there because some sections of the beginning did drag on a bit.
CW: Don't bother picking this up if you DNF a book as soon as there's a slight Harry Potter reference in a book bc there's a couple minor ones in here.
CW: Don't bother picking this up if you DNF a book as soon as there's a slight Harry Potter reference in a book bc there's a couple minor ones in here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Stalking
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
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, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
witheringcarnelians's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
It took me a while to get into reading this book Ngl but it is now defined one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. There’s something so enthralling about it and the prose. The characters and the stories.
I’ll be thinking about Fate and Time and the inkeeper and the moon until I die I think
I’ll be thinking about Fate and Time and the inkeeper and the moon until I die I think
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
tab9's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Death and Stalking
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
madipenn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Absolutely captivating story telling, blurring the lines from fairytale, fantasy, and wonder with romance, tragedy, and "reality". The moment you think you know what is going to happen next, you're taken on another twisting journey leaving you reaching for the next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death and Torture
Minor: Suicidal thoughts