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yrlaevelyn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
donatio's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
So I know people have mixed opinions on this book. On the one hand I did like her writing style and the sheer amount of stories mixed together so that it actually makes sense. On the other hand I didn't feel many emotions, I felt that the plot was more background while the prose was in the focus. And I like prose in books, but a moment when everything comes together or when I couldn't put the book down because it was so exciting never came. Some things were introduced and never talked about again although it could have been interesting Like the fact that Dorian speaks so many languages. I wasn't really investigated in the characters' stories as I was with other books. e. g. When Zachary died I didn't cry, I was just wondering what was going to happen next, especially since it was already said that he and Dorian would visit his mother one day.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes long books, with many many details, and doesn't need to feel all the feels to like a book. Anyone who doesn't like lingering pieces or is interested in action should probably try something different.
I'd recommend this to anyone who likes long books, with many many details, and doesn't need to feel all the feels to like a book. Anyone who doesn't like lingering pieces or is interested in action should probably try something different.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Stalking, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
hmbrokaw's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Love the vibes! Very meta though. I want to be Zachary Ezra Rawlins. I may be him already (same age, last semester of grad school, January…)
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Kidnapping
peggychecksitout's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
5.0
The Starless Sea is an ode to stories; it is about why stories and storytelling are important, as much as it is about those who love stories and why they do. And while it points out the whys and wherefores of storytelling, it also shows you the how of storytelling; this book is quite meta. You, dear reader, are reading a book, about a character who is also reading a book, in which there is a story about himself. As you continue reading, you also get to read all the stories in the book that he is reading, while reading about him reading them, and while he is trying to solve the mystery that connects all these stories to the larger mystery surrounding his current predicament, you are too. Morgenstern isn’t afraid to show her authorial fingerprints upon the story— and that’s part of the point here: a book is someone telling you a story—there is a storyteller always present that is not just the protagonist.
As far as plot goes, it certainly doesn’t unfold in a linear fashion—I would probably describe it as almost labyrinthine, or maybe not unlike nesting dolls; stories within stories. I could even call it kaleidoscopic—fragments of seemingly disparate stories that come together at the end to form a pattern that we can behold for a beautiful moment, before it all changes. And change it does, as we are reminded throughout the book, what is a story, if not change?
This book also shows off Morgenstern’s greatest strengths: her world-building and her prose. Morgenstern can write; her prose is simply gorgeous. It is in turns whimsical, magical, dreamlike and playful. The images she conjures on these pages are nothing short of being frankly, almost tangible—sort of like waking up with your last dream still dancing around in your head before it softly fades with the intrusion of the morning light. There’s a definite fairy-tale vibe to the entire book, that again, goes along with the greater themes about storytelling. I think anyone who is a lover of books has dreamed, at least once, of stumbling across a doorway that leads to a magical library, and reading this book certainly makes me daydream about that scenario all the more.
If I had a quibble with anything, I would say the character work in this book isn’t the strongest, but I do think it’s still purposeful. The characters aren’t super fleshed out, instead, they have the same quality that characters in a fairy-tale do—they are there to serve the story, to supply metaphor and archetypes and literal anthropomorphic personifications of concepts, more than give us in-depth character studies, or feel like real people. This is okay to a certain extent, but it does mean that if your entry point into a story is through character, this might not be the book for you. There were moments towards the end of the story that didn’t hit quite as hard as I wished they would have, had the characters and their relationships to each other had a chance to be more drawn out.
It took me the better part of a week to read through it, but this book is a book that rewards you with slowing down and taking your time to read it, to really savour the stories within, and soak in all of its beautiful magic. It’s also, as I have now discovered, very wonderfully re-readable, where you can pick up on threads and clues you missed the first time around.
On the whole, my re-read of this book has cemented it as a forever favourite of mine. In fact, I have a quote from the book I would love to have a tattoo of one day, and there are ungodly things I would do for a ttrpg of The Starless Sea; there’s so much you could do with the Harbour alone—book themed dungeon crawls for daaaaaaays.
As far as plot goes, it certainly doesn’t unfold in a linear fashion—I would probably describe it as almost labyrinthine, or maybe not unlike nesting dolls; stories within stories. I could even call it kaleidoscopic—fragments of seemingly disparate stories that come together at the end to form a pattern that we can behold for a beautiful moment, before it all changes. And change it does, as we are reminded throughout the book, what is a story, if not change?
This book also shows off Morgenstern’s greatest strengths: her world-building and her prose. Morgenstern can write; her prose is simply gorgeous. It is in turns whimsical, magical, dreamlike and playful. The images she conjures on these pages are nothing short of being frankly, almost tangible—sort of like waking up with your last dream still dancing around in your head before it softly fades with the intrusion of the morning light. There’s a definite fairy-tale vibe to the entire book, that again, goes along with the greater themes about storytelling. I think anyone who is a lover of books has dreamed, at least once, of stumbling across a doorway that leads to a magical library, and reading this book certainly makes me daydream about that scenario all the more.
If I had a quibble with anything, I would say the character work in this book isn’t the strongest, but I do think it’s still purposeful. The characters aren’t super fleshed out, instead, they have the same quality that characters in a fairy-tale do—they are there to serve the story, to supply metaphor and archetypes and literal anthropomorphic personifications of concepts, more than give us in-depth character studies, or feel like real people. This is okay to a certain extent, but it does mean that if your entry point into a story is through character, this might not be the book for you. There were moments towards the end of the story that didn’t hit quite as hard as I wished they would have, had the characters and their relationships to each other had a chance to be more drawn out.
It took me the better part of a week to read through it, but this book is a book that rewards you with slowing down and taking your time to read it, to really savour the stories within, and soak in all of its beautiful magic. It’s also, as I have now discovered, very wonderfully re-readable, where you can pick up on threads and clues you missed the first time around.
On the whole, my re-read of this book has cemented it as a forever favourite of mine. In fact, I have a quote from the book I would love to have a tattoo of one day, and there are ungodly things I would do for a ttrpg of The Starless Sea; there’s so much you could do with the Harbour alone—book themed dungeon crawls for daaaaaaays.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Stalking
strawberrypinch's review
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
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, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
mxbluet18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Trigger warnings for The Starless Sea include: Anxiety, panic attacks; multiple deaths; themes of death; Suicidal ideation mentioned; Forced drug use; Removal of a tongue mentioned; Branding, Kidnapping, Drowning and Animal death mentioned.
☆
☆
It's safe to say that was one of the wildest rides I've ever had with a book. Usually I'm not a fan of multiple points of view in the books I read because I find it easy to get things mixed up. But with this one each story within a story was individual and easy to distinguish from one another.
~
I loved the simple gay representation you find in the main character Zachary, as well as Dorian, and in Kat (though in passing mention). The fact that there are queer characters doesn't have any bearing on the story, which I find is actually quite nice. Having a story that doesn't revolve around one or more of the characters being some flavour or LGBTQ+.
~
Reading some other reviews online when I'm writing this I have found some useful explanations as to how the characters fit into the fairytale being woven from the beginning. Who each character is, whether that's the Pirate, Fate, the acolyte, Allegra and the Guardian. Characters are mentioned and talked about in different books within the books. It has multiple stories within it, and eventually they all fit together and interweave, but I appreciate it might be a little more challenging for some to piece together who's who.
☆
☆
It's safe to say that was one of the wildest rides I've ever had with a book. Usually I'm not a fan of multiple points of view in the books I read because I find it easy to get things mixed up. But with this one each story within a story was individual and easy to distinguish from one another.
~
I loved the simple gay representation you find in the main character Zachary, as well as Dorian, and in Kat (though in passing mention). The fact that there are queer characters doesn't have any bearing on the story, which I find is actually quite nice. Having a story that doesn't revolve around one or more of the characters being some flavour or LGBTQ+.
~
Reading some other reviews online when I'm writing this I have found some useful explanations as to how the characters fit into the fairytale being woven from the beginning. Who each character is, whether that's the Pirate, Fate, the acolyte, Allegra and the Guardian. Characters are mentioned and talked about in different books within the books. It has multiple stories within it, and eventually they all fit together and interweave, but I appreciate it might be a little more challenging for some to piece together who's who.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Stalking
anapthine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Kidnapping
chattie_the_mad_chatter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.75
This book was a gorgeous whimsical Fantasy full of mystery and books within books.
I loved the love for books, the magical mysterious library and after halfway through I fell in love with the characters too.
If you enjoy non-linear plots and weird and wonderful in your books, you will enjoy this.
I love the kitchen, I loved piecing things together. There were some ot threads I would have enjoyed less detail and others more, but generally I loved this book abd had a great time reading it abd hanging out with other book lovers.
I loved the love for books, the magical mysterious library and after halfway through I fell in love with the characters too.
If you enjoy non-linear plots and weird and wonderful in your books, you will enjoy this.
I love the kitchen, I loved piecing things together. There were some ot threads I would have enjoyed less detail and others more, but generally I loved this book abd had a great time reading it abd hanging out with other book lovers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Kidnapping
hazychapters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
First thing first, after finishing this book, I immediately search on Google "the starless sea ending explained". Because yeah, this book is one of them which make you feel dumb after finishing them.
Don’t get me wrong, the writing is beautiful, the characters loveable, the whole thing incredibly well constructed and imagined. But the thing is, I was clueless during the whole story, I understood very little and because of that, I’m mad.
And because I was completely lost sometimes and found some passages a bit boring, I put aside this book for days a few times, and I ended up even more clueless. So yeah, it was a ride, I honestly don’t know how to feel about this book. Maybe it wasn’t the right moment for me to read this book 😅
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
gisblanketfort's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
I knew this book deserved five stars before I even finished. The writing was so beautiful and whimsical and ethereal and poetic! The stories within the story were so interested and it was SO cool that they contributed something to the plot and were not just random stories (I would not mind if it was the latter tho). Zachary was really relatable and funny and it was nice to see him being more independent from Sweet Sorrows as the story goes, following his own path. I wish his relationship with Dorian was more developed but, again, I don't mind at all they were still cute and ofc they made me cry! I was so happy to see a specific side character(iykyk) have the spotlight towards the end I love them so much!! ALSO the aesthetic of this book!!! It's not exactly dark academia but kinda close I don't know really xD But what I kniw is that I want to go there SO BADLY!! An underground library, full of ballrooms mysteries and CATS?? SIGN ME UP RIGHT NOW!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury