The Starless Sea

“These doors will sing. Silent siren songs for those who seek what lies behind them. For those who feel homesick for a place they've never been to. Those who seek even if they do not know what (or where) it is that they are seeking. Those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.”

I read this book in December and it's February now and I'm still thinking about it (and all the confusing things that happened near the end). Safe to say, that a lot of the things that confused me earlier have started to make sense now after some deliberation over time.

I loved the story, the characters, the recurring bey-key-sword symbolism. But I have to say this, I am not a fan of the UK hardcover because I have a phobia of bugs (anything with more than 4 legs) and drawing a big-ass bee on the damn cover DID NOT HELP! Even if the bees in the story were polite.

This book was a love letter to books and readers. Even with all the confusing stuff, having characters that loved books so much that they followed the story in them to unknown places was very mesmerizing.

“Having a physical reaction to a lack of book is not unusual.”

uh... sorry?

i guess i just don't get it. while the writing was immersive and beautiful, i just didn't really understand enough of what was going on, and wasn't lost enough to just vibe. i found the jump between the fantastical and real world to be really jarring throughout the book, and as we dove deeper into the fantastical world, i missed the boring (and honestly irrelevant) real world part of the book (seriously, what was the point of the first like 100 pages?)

perhaps i wasn't in the mood for this but man do i feel catfished lmao

From the moment I opened this book I knew I would love it. Stories within books within books is my absolute favourite thing. This idea that stories in any form are important precious things is lovely and I feel like I found that place here where this weight is shared. 

I will probably be thinking about Time & Fate and the Pirate metaphor and the Moon & the Innkeeper for a while. I feel like this book was a little bit made for me. I enjoyed it so much I am sad I finished it but the ending was perfect. 

Im pretty sure I understand the plot of this book less now Ive finished it than i did before it started... the writing style is beautifully descriptive but too much so for me. It was very hard for me to feel invested in the characters because of that. Too much description not enough character development and growth. So much potential and i can see why some people absolutely love this book but i was left a little drained after finally getting through this one

Really unsure if i want to read the night circus after this??

I 100% can see how this book wouldn't be for everyone.

However - I adored it. At one point, I described it as cozy high stakes to myself because the journey Zachary Ezra Rawlins goes on isn't one without tremendous threats. It's a book full of stories within stories, their interconnectedness slowly unraveling to see who the players are and why they matter.

“Strange, isn't it? To love a book. When the words on the pages become so precious that they feel like part of your own history because they are. It's nice to finally have someone read stories I know so intimately.”

The Starless Sea is a book that I have had my eyes on reading for a very long time. I decided that it was time on my shelf and TBR was enough and I needed to finally pick it up. I am so glad that I did.

The first thing I want to say about this book is how beautifully written it was. Morgenstern's prose was beyond descriptive and enticing. It felt like I was reading poetry and I loved every minute of it.

As someone whose name is Bee and who loves everything to do with bees, I got a huge kick out of the link between bees and honey throughout the book. This seems silly to mention but I couldn't not say something about it.

The Starless Sea was joyful, adventurous, unique and beautiful. It was filled with fantastic characters, magical world-building and romance that had me gushing for more.

I loved every minute of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've heard people compare it unfavorably to The Night Circus. It's been long enough since I read The Night Circus that I didn't compare the two. I can see where this book might not be everyone's cup of tea. It winds, and twists, and folds in on itself, and sometimes you might have a hard time seeing where it's going. But as with any proper story, all is revealed in due time. Morgenstern's style of writing just sings, and I am happy to be carried along on the song. I guess I'm one of those people who loves literature and reading and story, so this book was most definitely my cup of tea!

When a novelist has a breakthrough success, expectations are that the second book will either be a sequel or a book with nearly identical themes and style.

Morgenstern's style and prose are still here. The sense of wonder is as strong as it was in The Night Circus, but this book took a much different turn.

You'll see a lot of reviews frustrated this book wasn't Night Circus redux, or that the narrative style is nontraditional. You'll see accusations of “there's no plot!” But there clearly is.

Starless Sea is labyrinthian in a lot of ways, with Zachary Ezra Rawlins discovering a strange, secret book society based on the symbols of bees, keys and swords. There are meta narratives spun throughout, aside chapters that are a part of the books within this world that Zachary reads.

You're left to interpret much of what happens, but it was clear Zach fell into the narrative worlds he adored and lost himself along the way, unable to determine real from hyperreal. Much like Dante's trip through the underworld was punctuated by a writer he revered, Zach's trip through the Starless Sea is dominated by his strong feelings for Dorian, the writer of many of these tales.

He falls hard and fast for the mysterious Dorian, like in a fairy tale, then chases him through interwoven stories.

We're given a few glimpses into what could be seen as the “real,” which Zachary has to fight through and cast aside to find his own definition of real, or at least what he was comfortable with. There were multiple outcomes, still. Was he dead in a ditch? Had a breakdown and fell into a romance with Dorian? Or did he actually disappear into the Starless Sea to become one of these characters?

His friend Kat served as an anchor to reality, only for her herself to potentially get lost in the meta narrative, although it's not entirely clear.

There's a lot to digest here and I eagerly await Morgenstern's next work. Be prepared for this to be “not for you,” though.

I am not sure what I read. I didn't really know where the story was going. But by the end of it, I think I understood most of it. There are still a few questions I have left. The setting and magical feelings are really well done. So even though I didn't really know what was going on, I enjoyed being around all the magical things.

“Once, very long ago, Time fell in love with Fate.”

This book was simultaniously really really weird and also really really good and I still don't really know what to think of it, so I just sort of weighed its parts against one another.

The little short stories that intertwine with the plot? 10/10, 5 stars, loved it.
Most of the main plot, up until about page 200? Really boring, 2 stars, really slow and basically no plot.
Dorian? Love of my life. Zachary Ezra Rawlins? Really boring (not ideal for a main character).

This book might be 3.5 stars for me in the greater scheme of things, but it still takes a special place in my heart because the last part and the short stories were so beautiful that I can't help but love it despite it flaws and Erin Morgenstern still remains one of my favourite authors when it comes to writing style and world crafting (please don't wait 9 years to write the next book I'm begging)

L'ho AMATO! Mi sono immersa in un mondo completamente nuovo, reale, concreto e astratto allo stesso tempo. Un'esperienza unica.
La struttura può rallentare la lettura, è vero, il continuo passaggio dalla narrazione principale ai “racconti” può creare confusione, ma è fatto apposta, e se sei dispost* a farti guidare ne varrà la pena. La confusione è comunque compensata dallo stile di scrittura che è più scorrevole di quello che sembra, certo è pieno di analogie, simbolismi eccetera, ma le pagine sono davvero scorrevoli, l'autrice è in grado di racchiudere tantissimo in poche righe/pagine e questo fa sì che senza rendertene conto leggi molte pagine in poco tempo.
Certo ci sono alcuni particolari che non mi hanno convinta del tutto, l'introduzione di un personaggio, per quanto interessante, l'ho trovata leggermente forzata e alcuni (pochi per fortuna) elementi vengono accennati e mai approfonditi, il che è un peccato.
I personaggi tuttavia sono belli, interessanti e scritti bene, non c'è una trama particolarmente elaborata, ma il punto forte del libro è la struttura stessa e il “luogo segreto” di cui parla, il Mare senza Stelle appunto, che è un richiamo potente per i lettori.
Certo non è un libro per tutti, penso che se non letto nel momento giusto rischia di non piacere, di essere trovato insensato e ostico da affrontare. Ma io l'ho amato e lo straconsiglio, non è stato del tutto quello che pensavo ma è stato quello che cercavo (“Coloro che cercano troveranno.”).

I am genuinely so frustrated with this book. The first 50 pages or so I hated it, because it felt so pretentious but also like it had missed being shredded by a proper editor. Then, I fell into the rhythm and started to like all the weird nonsense sentences and missing commas and constant barrage of over-imagery. Halfway through I hated it again.

The problem with The Starless Sea is that it doesn't know when to stop. There are so many of the same stories over and over and over again, followed by a key, sword, or, god forbid, more bees. So many reviews say it doesn't have any plot or compelling characters. I disagree, because there is a plot and the characters are compelling, but they are stretched out so thin over nearly 500 pages. It should clock out at 300, maximum.

I got so sick of the imagery and the weird narration that in the last 100 pages, when the characters talk about how all stories need endings, I was nearly yelling that the ending should've happened already. When the ending finally came, I couldn't appreciate it but for the relief that it was over.

Overall, The Starless Sea is a creative concept and has some clever and beautiful writing in it, but it's far less fun to read a book so convinced of its own cleverness and beauty it becomes a chore to slog through it.