Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Starless Sea

This book made me fall in love with reading again. A total escape, and actually a pretty cozy read. Every time I picked it up, I would get lost reading for multiple hours. I would highly recommend it!

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective slow-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

3.5

I will admit, I did space out during parts of this audiobook and I don't remember all of it, but I enjoyed the ride. There are so many reoccurring symbols and motifs, and trying to follow along and put the pieces together and catch the callbacks is fun. I loved the tone of the present-day chapters from Zachary's perspective, I got a chuckle out of those a few times.

I loved the kitchen, and I loved the later chapters from Zachary's friend's perspective as she was trying to find him.

I loved how many random cats there were. I do wish I had been able to pay more attention, but sometimes the more poetic/metaphorical parts would lose me and I'd drift for a while until I realized I was missing stuff. I basically blacked out for most of the ending, but I think I got the general idea? 😅 I probably would have enjoyed the story better if the book had been a bit more concise, but I think that might also be a detriment for other people who love it the way it is, and maybe wouldn't have fit with the tone the book was trying to convey.

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kcarney86's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

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chelonie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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the_reading_wren's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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.

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legs_n_chins's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The Night Circus is my favorite book, so sight unseen this was already an easy sell. I love Morgenstern’s writing style and the way she describes such vivid settings and crafts her world are things that really appeal to me.

That said, this book took a little longer to convince me than The Night Circus. I wasn’t absorbed quite as quickly and I’m still not entirely certain I loved Zachary as the main character. Maybe because the characters were a bit less central than the ones in The Night Circus. I went in expecting something more tied to characters but, understandably, this isn’t tied to the characters as much as the story and setting itself.

In the end, I still came away breathless and smiling. I was thoroughly absorbed once I came around to the halfway point and I definitely got properly emotional in multiple places. It was thrilling and wonderful to read. The world building was really gorgeous, and I think anywhere where I felt there might’ve been holes or incomplete thoughts, I was satisfied knowing that maybe there didn’t need to be answers to everything. The mystery of everything that was happing was really fun, too. I liked not even knowing if I was supposed to be searching for answers or clues and it certainly kept me turning the pages.

This was definitely more narrative-driven than The Night Circus (though I hesitate to call it plot-driven just because there’s not really an obvious plot to point to in the strictest of terms) and for me it really, really worked. I would’ve liked more depth in the characters, but I understand where it maybe isn’t entirely necessary since the point of the characters was only to play a role in the story if not have a story unto themselves.

I really loved the folding and combining of the different stories, how Morgenstern wove all the narratives together and broken them apart. I like how it was all entwined and linked, but also separate. I loved being able to discover who was who in the stories and put names to characters and characters to times and places. It was very satisfying to be able to link things myself and still have surprises along the way. And even still, I feel like I have to reread this a few more times to actually pick up on everything!

Understandably, not for everyone, but it hit all my buttons and I was utterly enamored by it.

Also it was trippy as fuck to see my name as one of these characters lmao.

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eleanora's review against another edition

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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

4.5

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strawberrypinch's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

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