Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Starless Sea

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.

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kedalrymple's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

4.0

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!

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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Absolutely brilliant.
There's a bit where it starts to feel long, but stick with it! It's worth it!

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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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