Reviews

The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern

Only show reviews with written explanations

fiberreader's review against another edition

5.0

This is a book that I think I’m going to have to read again (at least once, if not more) to get a better understanding of what it was that I read. There is no clear way to describe the plot of this book, and frankly at the end I still wasn’t completely sure what happened, yet I loved every word of it. To enjoy this book, you need to suspend all you know of how a story should unfold — you can’t expect the traditional arc of conflict followed by the resolution. Rather, you need to let the story just *be* and accept that things are messy and unresolved and confusing. I suppose that in many ways, that’s what this book is about: that in real life, stories are messy and complicated and frequently lack a satisfying denouement.

The real beauty of this book, and the heart of my enjoyment of it, is the writing. Morgenstern has a real mastery of her words and weaves some truly exquisite phrases and passages. The highlights I made as I read often weren’t key elements of the story but rather phrases or passages that I felt were particularly well written. I do hope that she continues to write, and I’m already looking forward to my first reread of this book.

beasbooks17's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This is a love affair of 'books', Erin Morgenstern is a magician of enchanting words and dream like worlds. Another example of her skill of descriptive writing, is laid bare in The Starless Sea as her ability to set the scene and transport you to her world is shown again and again. if what you are looking for is to be lost among the pages (though truly lost at some points as the story seemed to stray a little too far into descriptive text more than keeping the story moving) then this is the read for you.

I enjoyed the worlds created and as usual was pulled into the honey soaked words that Erin Morgenstern seems to effortlessly lace onto the page. Though if I am honest, the lead characters felt a little flat to me without any depth to hang on to and I was indeed 'lost' on more than one occasion as to what the 'story' was and where it was leading. It felt a lot like wandering through the pages (all be it taking the scenic route!) trying to find my way back at some points.

In saying that, I'd read The Starless Sea again for all the beauty in the scenes and the imagination of Ms Morgenstern which seems to know no bounds.

ilovehigh_fantasy777's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

5.0

jane_bee28's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

4,75/5 Stars

banhart04's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No

3.0

Didn't understand it. Am I dumb? Definitely not as good as The Night Circus.... Wasn"t a fan of all of the "name dropping"... yes we get it, you know books. I also didn't like the characters (especially Zachary). I don't why 3 stars, maybe because I still read the entire book and some parts were kind of beautiful.