Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Starless Sea

A slow but enjoyable read. Lots of mysteriousness where I would get one answer and be given like 15 more questions.

The writing is beautiful and very detailed and descriptive. But can be overly descriptive and slows down the story quite a bit for me. I know it's to give the reader a lot of vivid imagery and create a certain atmosphere, but if you are like me and suspect you might have a level of aphantasia, it doesn't add to the story and kind of hinders/slows your reading progress if you read every word. I can't picture what is being described so I would've just preferred some of the minor details that were just to describe rooms or scenery taken out.

Lots of switching perspectives and little stories intermixed with the "main" story so if that's not your jam, this might not be it for you.

I feel like this is the sort of book you would reread to pick up on little things (hints or details that apply to something further along in the story) that you might miss like how you might rewatch certain shows to find easter eggs or when you realize an anime opening/ending was telling you everything before you got far enough along in the anime.

I think this book is for a certain aesthetic of reader so it's not as good as the people who hyped it up said it is. But it was still a worthwhile, enjoyable read. I can get the hype and would recommend it to one of my friends who fits into a part of that certain aesthetic, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.

Content Warnings

decklededgess's review

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adventurous funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

trigger warnings: missing person, murder attempt, torture, death, stalking

I didn't particularly like Nigh Circus but my experience reading this has given me a better understanding of what I missed in my reading of NC. Erin Morgenstern's books require that you put in effort to carve out the plot for yourself from the layers and layers of stories that she frontloads. And after you put in the effort to map out your understanding of the book she rewards you with incredibly gratifying reveals that knit the book together into one seamless plot. As someone who has like 2% understanding of symbolism, I was rather proud of myself for understanding this book but I'm sure rereads will reveal dozens more layers.

This is a book for your whimsical dark academia aesthetic book lovers. It's a book about books for the bookish folk who long to disappear into the story itself.

Incredibly immersive and easy to get lost in.

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norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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stellarheroics's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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dannythestreet's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This whole book is a metaphor (but still a book). You are just trying to keep up with all these symbols until you give up and sink into it. That was a wonderful experience for me, the writing style is the best thing that can happen to anyone and the atmosphere of the book makes you never want to get back to the real life. The character dynamic was also just magical and I'm glad I went on this journey with them

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oliverreeds's review

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adventurous emotional 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

4.75

i really, very greatly enjoyed this book. the book is basically a set of artfully woven stories from the past, present, future, and fairy tales that all feed into each other and all connect in literally the most beautiful ways. the characters are fleshed out. the writing is easy to read and yet poigniant. it was a little slow getting into the book because every other chapter is a "random" fairy tale which made getting to know the characters a little difficult for me, but less than half-way in, i was hooked. the romance is also magnificent and while important to the book/story, doesn't take away from the world-building or characters. my only issue with this book is that the time spent in the under-world with the starless sea takes up a LOT of time and was very confusing for me to read. i didn't quite understand what was going on (although kat's interludes helped a decent bit and were a fantastic addition to this story), and since i didn't understand, i got bored for like 75 pages. to be fair i was also never super sure what

Spoiler

dorian and zachary were doing in the under-world starless sea place. zachary was trying to find dorian and vice versa but there were so many strange side quests that happened, i started getting confused. i also wanted more on the Zachary/Dorian romance. i thought what was written was great, but i wanted more on where it came from. why were they so in love all of a sudden. i think that this book could have benefitted from additional scenes in which we got to see their relationship bloom a little more

Spoiler

. all said and done, this book is an incredible display of the author's knowledge of craft, attention to detail, and incredible mind when writing stories. she literally killed it. like every character is so important and it was beautiful and incredible, which is why i gave this book such a high rating despite my two qualms.

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