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daisytille's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Loved this book up until the last hundred pages or so. By then, the everything gets so convoluted (which might be the point?) and the prose reaches a point where you can’t ignore the repetitive language anymore that it took me out. Also wish more things about the world were answered. But, I overall really liked it and it sucked me in right away! I lovedddd seeing stuff fit together and thought the overall structure was cool. Much preferred this to The Night Circus due to the mystery element I think, but it is similarly open ended. Also this book gives me a really distinctive 2010s vibe that is neither good or bad, it’s just so obvious it was written and takes place then lol.
annanar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
n_kissel211's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mistymeadows's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
ajenkies4's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
cipotalectora's review against another edition
2.0
“Which way is the Starless Sea?”
I envy everyone who enjoyed the journey to the Starless Sea, because I sure didn’t.
I'm still debating whether I want to rate this 1 or 2 stars. I didn't hate it, but I didn't enjoy most of it.
The Starless Sea follows Zachary Ezra Rawlins as he finds a mysterious book in his school's library. What frightens him the most is how the book features him in it, and Zach slowly becomes a part of the mystery surrounding the book he picked up, thrown into an enchanting world of mysteries and magical creatures, time and fate, and truths about his own self.
I honestly feel like there isn't much to say to describe what this book is about because it's really just that.
My good friend Melissa told me to read this as if it were a video game, and I gotta say, I'm glad she did. Video games, specifically the action kind, take time to build up, tension rises throughout the game, and the plot is plodding because you're unsure where it's gonna go. And I think that's how The Starless Sea felt. If I had read this with the perspective of reading any other kind of book, I feel like I would have disliked it even more.
I found myself both enjoying this but also feeling agitated as I kept going. It wasn't really so much at the book's slow pace and how long it felt, but at how underwhelming it was. I was enjoying the first part of this. I wanted to read this as quickly as possible because of that, but then I realized how it would be better if I took my time reading it, reading a couple of pages here and there instead. I'd like to say it made the reading experience better, but I feel like it wouldn't have mattered in the end, and I would have probably felt the same way.
I thought taking it slow was a better approach because of how slow the book is and because I felt like I could have missed something important if I read quickly or skimmed. However, that is exactly what I found myself doing. I became impatient and bored, and it happened quicker than I thought it would. It took me more than a month for read this. Part of it was because I was taking it slow, another part of it was because I was dreading it and didn't want to read anymore.
“We are all stardust and stories.”
Some say this book has no plot, and I'd have to both agree and disagree. The plot here is really how Zachary finds himself in this magical and mysterious world as he tries to uncover the truth about the book he found at the library, the mysterious Starless Sea, Dorian, himself, his mother, and many others. There are obstacles in his way, such as Time and Fate, a villain trying to change what destiny calls for, a ginger cat, secret passageways, and more. I do, though, think reading this and taking it with a different approach can give the impression that it doesn't have a plot, but then again, I read this as a video game, and video games take time. With that being said, I have to say that many may find the plot non-existent or overall underwhelming because nothing else happens in this book. There is really no conflict to make the story more entertaining, other than Zach trying to figure everything out, which was figuring out the way to the Starless Sea. But other than that? Nothing.
You don't know where you're going with The Starless Sea, and I think that's what makes the mystery of it all the better. Yet again, I won't deny that I became bored after 150 pages or so. I complained about this already, but I grew annoyed every time Zach's chapters started with "Zachary Ezra Williams." I've never become so infuriated with a line before until now. I can still hear myself reading it.
The relationship between Dorian and Zach has got to be one of the most laughable and underdeveloped relationships I have ever read about. The blurb fooled me into thinking Zach would find himself discovering the Starless Sea with Dorian, but I was completely wrong. Dorian started getting his chapters more towards the end, and when he was mentioned in the chapters with Zach, he was always disappearing. The tension, angst, and overall connection between the two were entirely non-existent. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was reading this line correctly:“I need you to know that what I feel for you is real. Because I think you feel the same. I have lost a lot of things and I don’t want to lose this, too.”
I'm confused.
It feels ridiculous, really.
This man disappeared from Zach more than once (for reasons I understand) and the two never even connected, and I'm expected to feel they had some sort of relationship? I knew there was LGBTQ+ representation in this, but I didn't even know it would be with Dorian if I'm honest. When I read about Dorian in the blurb, I thought Dorian would be some associate or someone who accompanied Zach. Not to mention that when Zach and Dorian met, I thought of him as a much older person. Also, adding on to that, the representation in general just felt...absent.
And there was never even a hint that Dorian was gay? Or that he had feelings for Zach? Their relationship lacked in every aspect. There was never a moment where the two could even find time to get to know each other. I feel like Dorian knew Zach much more, but that's because of where Dorian came from and who he is. On the other hand, Zach was never even doing anything other than trying to figure out what the fuck he was supposed to do with the book he found.
“A story is like an egg, a universe contained in its chosen medium. The spark of something new and different but fully formed and fragile. In need of protection. You want to protect it, too, but there’s more to it than that. You want to be inside it, I can see it in your eyes. I used to seek out people like you, I am practiced at spotting the desire for it. You want to be in the story, not observing it from the outside. You want to be under its shell. The only way to do that is to break it. But if it breaks, it is gone.”
There's so much that happens in this book, yet so very little.
I found myself not caring about Morgenstern's fictional stories, which were added to undertand the book Zach found better, but they were only getting longer and longer. My patience was only getting lower and lower.
They describe The Starless Sea as a love story to storytelling, to literature. Zach is a video game lover who finds escapism in books. There's nothing better than reading books about books. However, the potential and excitement lacked. Going into this with minor expectations is best, simply because there is nothing you can expect from other books that you will get here: Character development? Tension? Conflict? Love? Build-up? None.
There is no emotion in this book. I think one's enjoyment of this will depend on how it's interpreted.
The best thing about this was definitely the writing. Erin Morgenstern writes beautifully. Her imagery and prose are vivid, but it only took me a short while to start comparing it to [b:The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue|50623864|The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584633432l/50623864._SY75_.jpg|46895612], which I also didn't enjoy. It got to the point where it was too ridiculous for me to read because of the emotions I was expected to feel that I just didn't feel anything anymore.
I'm upset I didn't enjoy this. I've heard so much about Erin, especially about [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387124618l/9361589._SY75_.jpg|14245059], which I plan on reading at some point. I had already heard mixed reviews about this, but considering I enjoyed the first 100 pages or so, I expected to continue liking where the story was going. Perhaps you will like the ride to the Starless Sea more than I did, but for me, it just felt repetitive, bland, and underdeveloped.
The path that leads to the end.
klaireparavel's review against another edition
What a collection of paragraphs. Some of this was incredibly good while a lot of it was not. All of it written beautifully but so much feeling pointless and dull and inconsequential. After spending 18+ hours with this audiobook I should be feeling more than meh about the whole package.
ruby_99's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
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
3.75
zainacoll's review against another edition
5.0
I gave this book 5 stars because another rating didn’t feel right. Beautifully crafted and compelling in a majority of its parts. I wish I had read it in print rather than listening to the audiobook because there were sections I needed to reread and that was just not possible in the format.