#The Starless Sea Review

[thetypedwriter]

The Starless Sea Book Review

The Starless Sea Book Review by Erin Morgenstern 

This book made me feel like I was drowning. 

In honey. 

If you don’t get that reference, don’t worry. Morgenstern will beat you over the head with it every single chapter until you can never see honey the same way again. 

Now, I feel like I’m in an odd camp where I actually haven’t read Morgenstern’s famous masterpiece The Night Circus. I’ve always wanted to get around to reading it, but it always seemed to slip right past my to-be-read pile. 

So when The Starless Sea came out, I thought yes! This is my chance to get in on a Morgenstern book early. 

Too bad I didn’t like it. 

The Starless Sea starts off really interesting. There’s a series of vignettes that hook the reader right away, including a pirate and a girl, an acolyte in training, a dollhouse village, and a fortune-teller’s son. The fortune teller’s son turns out to be the main protagonist of the novel—Zachary Ezra Rawlins. 

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a hermit-like young man in his mid-20’s studying game design. He ends up finding an old book at his university’s library in which his real life childhood memory is one of the chapters. The other chapters of this old novel? All chapters that we as readers have been consuming since the first page. Very meta, Morgenstern. 

Understandably baffled, Zachary Ezra Rawlins sets on a quest to uncover the book’s secrets, leading him to the very real underground world of the Starless Sea, including its inhabitants, puzzles, and magic. 

Throughout the journey, Zachary Ezra Rawlins meets other characters connected to the Starless Sea in some capacity and finally gets the answer to the question that has plagued him since childhood: what would have happened if he had opened that door? 

I genuinely wish I could go more in depth about this book’s plot, but there’s only one main problem—this book doesn't have a plot. Go ahead and read that sentence again. I’ll state it once more for good measure: As an objective third-party outsider with absolutely no stakes in the matter, The Starless Sea contains no discernible plot to speak of. 

I can say that the plot was a convoluted mess that didn’t make any sense. Zachary Ezra Rawlins (yes, it does get annoying repeating this again and again, yet Morgenstern opens every chapter with it) goes deep down underground past the Harbor into the Starless Sea for…reasons. 

He encounters numerous puzzles and magic and lots of rooms that Morgenstern likes to describe in excruciating detail, mainly that they’re dripping in honey and occupied by cats. The other people he encounters don’t answer most of his questions, leaving the reader bewildered and frustrated. 

One character in particular is a man that Zachary Ezra Rawlins falls in love with for seemingly no reason at all. They have about three stunted conversations, including one where the other man whispers menacingly in his ear in the dark about bees and owls and swords for ten minutes, and then Zachary Ezra Rawlins is risking life and limb in the abyss of the Starless Sea to rescue him. 

Another character is trying to blow up the Starless Sea for inane reasons that don’t make sense, but essentially get boiled down to she’s trying to protect it.

The other characters include Zachary Ezra Rawlins’ college friend who gets way more page time than she needs to, the keeper of the Starless Sea that answers nobody’s questions, Mirabel who is apparently the embodiment of fate, and her parents, who have been trapped in time and space for…a long time? 

None of these characters called to me. None of them were awful, but all of them outside of Zachary Ezra Rawlins were either too brief, underdeveloped, or abstract for me to connect with on any kind of emotional level. 

I wanted to connect to Zachary Ezra Rawlins, but none of his actions held much depth, his thinking was too shallow, and his commitment to his love interest Dorian actively didn’t contain any kind of logic or understanding. 

You might be wondering: if she didn’t like the nonsensical story or the characters, did she like anything?

Indeed, I did. The setting of The Starless Sea was really incredible. I’m always in awe of people’s creativity and imagination, both qualities Morgenstern seems to have in droves. The descriptions of the rooms, the Harbor, and the Starless Sea itself were all intricate, beautiful, and extremely symbolic. 

I wish I could say that I liked Morgenstern’s writing, but it really grated on me. What started off as moving writing, well-crafted sentences, and intentional symbolism turned into a repetitive slog that drove me up the wall. 

I like symbolism as much as the next person, especially subtle symbolism, but Morgenstern’s symbolism is the opposite of subtle. 

Morgenstern’s symbolism wants to beat you over the head with a key. Or a bee. Or a sword. Or a crown. Or an owl. You get where I'm going with this. What could have been a really cool series of motifs turned into a pretentious drone that aggravated me more and more as I continued to read. 

Overall, I was really disappointed with The Starless Sea. With a little more plot direction, tightening of the characters, and less symbolism, The Starless Sea could have been an alluring and fantastic read to rival the everlasting fame of The Night Circus. 

As it stands, however, The Night Circus would only need to contain a recognizable plot to be better than The Starless Sea for me. 

Recommendation: If you are a Morgenstern fangirl and will be reading The Starless Sea regardless of what I say, fantasize about the incredible setting of The Starless Sea and hope to forget about everything else. If you’re like me and haven’t delved into Morgenstern’s worlds just yet, start and end with The Night Circus. 

Score: 4/10

#the starless sea #erin morgenstern #the night circus #book blog #book review #favorite books #top books #popular fiction #Popular Books #Book Recommendations #book recs #book rec #4/10

[agardenandlibrary]

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

I feel like I have been reading a lot of stories about stories lately.

The main story is about Zachary, a loner studying video games in grad school, who finds a strange book in the university library. This book is full of fantastic and strange stories but perhaps the strangest of all is that this old book has a story about Zachary.

Zachary finds himself drawn into the mystery of the book, determined to find out its origins. All he has to go on are 3 symbols: a bee, a sword, and a key. He is soon embroiled in a story that has been happening for a very long time, the story of the Starless Sea, a secret place full of books and mysteries, a place that someone has been trying very hard to keep hidden.

Interspersed with Zachary's journey are chapters from the books he finds, which tell more and more stories, some obviously related to his quest, some whose connection only becomes clear over time.

Overall, I enjoyed most of this. After a certain point I started skimming it >.> There are only so many descriptions of chandeliers and random-object-filled rooms that I really care to read. I did like the ending!

Recommended:

Chalice by Robin McKinley

The Telling by Ursula K Le Guin

#cara reads the starless sea #my book picture #my book review #the starless sea #erin morgenstern

[peggychecksitout]

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

REVIEW: 5 STARS

“For those who feel homesick for a place they’ve never been to.”

Synopsis “When Zachary Ezra Rawlins borrows a strange book from his university library, it leads him on a quest unlike any other, for within its pages he finds a story containing a moment from his own childhood. Determined to track down the provenance of this mysterious book, Zachary encounters a dangerous secret society, a magical doorway to a subterranean labyrinthine library filled with stories, and makes some strange and enigmatic new friends. When this magical library is threatened, however, it falls to Zachary and his new friends to try and save it, all while he searches for the ending of his own story.”

“Those who seek even if they do not know what (or where) it is that they are seeking….”

I wanted to start my 2023 reading year off with a re-read of this book for two reasons. The first, because I wanted to start the year off reading a book I already knew I loved, and the second because the way this book talks about the transformative power of stories, and beginnings becoming endings but endings also becoming beginnings, feels very apropos to read while you are moving into a new calendar year.

So what do I love about this book?

The Starless Sea is a love letter to storytelling; it is about why stories and storytelling are important, as much as it is about those who love stories and why they do. As a person who is always thinking and daydreaming about her own make-believe stories (and trying to commit them to paper), this book went straight to the heart of who I am as a person, and made itself at home.

This book also shows off Morgenstern’s greatest strengths as a writer: 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 fairytale 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 and yearn for such a place.

So what didn’t work for me?

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 fairytale do—they are there to serve the story, to supply metaphor and archetypes more than in-depth character studies, or to 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. It’s not a deal breaker for me, because setting and plot are what suck me into a story, and I did still really like the characters, I just feel there were certain moments that would have hit harder, had the characters been more fleshed out.

“Those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.”

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, 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!!

So who is this book for?

I think if you like books about books, stories about stories, stories within stories, and stories that get a bit meta, this is the book for you. I also think if you like the dark academia / books + secrets = love kind of setting, are a lover of open world gaming, and play a few ttrpg’s, then this is the book for you. And if you like star-crossed lovers, soul mates, heroes journey and hero of another story tropes, then hey, this just might be the book for you.

“And no story every truly ends as long as it is told.”

(id in alt text)

#book review #the starless sea #erin morgenstern #booklr #book blog #bookworm

[anime-academia]

The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern 

I definitely did not read this in the 'correct order' but I loved it! I read The Night Circus back when I was in high-school so I started reading with high expectations and they were met and exceeded! More magical realism than full blown fantasy, the world building and plot are intriguing and I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next. I want to be Zachary Ezra Rawlins so badly. 10/10 

#bookblr #erin morgenstern #the starless sea #asra reads #book review

[kellanwrites]

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Genre: Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Magical Realism.

Book Edition: Hardcover

Book Started: February 4, 2023

Book Finished: February 7, 2023

Page Count: 498

Rating: 5 Stars

My review:

It is hard to sum up this book without spoiling it. It's hard to describe this book without it getting lost in meaning. The story follows Zachary Ezra Rawlins, Dorian and Mirabel in their quest for the Harbour on the Starless Sea, and the forces that will do anything to maintain the status quo.

But what spoke to me wasn't just the characters, but what they represented, what they symbolized. Because in the end this is story about symbolism, and the love of stories. This, in a sense, an adult version of The Neverending Story. It asks the question. What would you do if an incident in your childhood was written in a book that was older than you. Where would your quest to find answers lead you? This is that story. A book about books, a story about stories. A fairy tale of the time Fate fell in love with Time and the stars conspired to keep them apart.

When I say I loved this book, I mean it to my very core. The last time I stayed up all night, reading a book because I couldn't put it down I was still in high school. I can't even remember the last time I book left me so moved, that when I finished it, my first thoughts were not, on to the next book, but to pause, and to sit, and ask myself what now? It reminded me of the fundamental about all the best books. The best books don't end, they say goodbye for a time. The best books give the impressions that story continues even after the last page is read and the book is closed. An ending is nothing more than the beginning of a new story, a new chapter.

There is only one pet peeve I have with this book. Did we really need to have Zachary Ezra Rawlins name repeated everytime it switched back to his POV?

#booklr #book review #book recommendations #book blog #the starless sea #erin morgenstern #fantasy #magical realism #urban fantasy #lgbtqia+ #achillean

[torahtot]

i recently read the night circus and now im reading the starless sea and boy is it a struggle bc this author has the most ratshit sentence structures ive ever seen. she has never heard of a comma. she has never heard of a sentence that is not three sentences connected with 'and.' this isn't style this isn't aesthetic this is just confusing and difficult to read and annoying and it sucks.

#nachi speaks #book review #the starless sea #the night circus #erin morgenstern

[katnisshawkeye]

Il Mare Senza Stelle

Scheda informativa

Titolo originale: The Starless Sea Autore: Erin Morgenstern Editore: Fazi Editore Prima edizione: luglio 2020 Pagine: 615 Prezzo: € 18,50

Trama

Zachary Ezra Rawlins è uno studente del Vermont che un giorno trova un libro misterioso nascosto fra gli scaffali della biblioteca universitaria. Mentre lo sfoglia, affascinato da racconti di prigionieri disperati, collezionisti di chiavi e adepti senza nome, legge qualcosa di strano: fra quelle pagine è custodito un episodio della sua infanzia. È soltanto il primo di una lunga catena di enigmi. Una serie di indizi disseminati lungo il suo cammino — un'ape, una chiave, una spada — lo conduce a una festa in maschera a New York, poi in un club segreto e infine in un'antica libreria sotterranea. Là sotto trova ben più di un nascondiglio per i libri: ci sono città disperse e mari sterminati, amanti che fanno scivolare messaggi sotto le porte e attraverso il tempo, storie bisbigliate da ombre. C'è chi ha sacrificato tutto per proteggere questo regno ormai dimenticato, trattenendo sguardi e parole per proteggere questo regno ormai dimenticato, trattenendo sguardi e parole per preservare questo prezioso archivio, e chi invece mira alla sua distruzione. Insieme a Mirabel, un'impetuosa pittrice dai capelli rosa, e Dorian, un ragazzo attraente e raffinato, Zachary compie un viaggio in questo mondo magico, attraverso miti, favole e leggende, alla ricerca della verità sul misterioso libro. Ma scoprirà molto di più.

Recensione

[...] I libri sono più belli quando vengono letti, invece che spiegati. [...]

Il Mare Senza Stelle è il secondo romanzo di Erin Morgenstern, ed è un libro che parla di libri e di vite di personaggi di libri che in realtà sono persone in carne e ossa (o, al contrario, di persone in carne e ossa che, in realtà, sono personaggi di libri).

[...] sono tutte diverse. Però hanno degli elementi simili. Tutte le storie li hanno, a prescindere dalla forma che assumono. Prima c'era qualcosa, poi qualcosa è cambiato. Dopo tutto, il cambiamento è l'essenza di una storia. [...]

È un libro che parla di storie e di destini, i quali possono variare a seconda che il personaggio decida di diventarne il protagonista o meno. Dell'impossibile che è possibile, proprio perché “I'm possible”.

[...] Un corso specializzato in Lettura, ecco che cosa ci vuole. Niente compiti scritti, niente esami, nessuna analisi, soltato lettura. [...] È strano, non è vero? Amare un libro. Quando le parole sulle pagine diventano così preziose che ti sembrano parte della tua stessa storia perché lo sono. È bello avere qualcuno che finalmente ha letto le storie che io conosco così intimamente. [...]

Ed è un libro che parla di lettori, che non possono fare a meno di amare i libri, di immaginarsi nella storia, di voler essere parte della storia, facendoti inoltre riflettere su cosa faresti e su cosa provano anche gli altri. Perché leggere, e parlare di ciò che si è letto, è condividere non solo emozioni, ma anche storie. Ma l'Amore ne Il Mare Senza Stelle non si limita a essere quello per i libri. E, da questo punto di vista, è molto contemporaneo e aperto, dal momento che inserisce, naturale come dev'essere, non solo l'amore tra un uomo e una donna, ma anche quello tra due uomini e due donne. La narrazione è scorrevole e diretta, facendo entrare il lettore nella storia anche se la sua storia non è tra quelle raccontate.

Valutazione

★★★★★ 5/5

Della stessa autrice

Il Circo della Notte, Fazi Editore, 2021

Seguimi anche su Instagram e Facebook!

#myriamystery #rì sir8 #katnisshawkeye #myriam sirotto #myriamagic #myriamworld #myriamworlds #books are fun #recensioni di libri #recensioni #books reviews #reviews #Il Mare Senza Stelle #Erin Morgenstern #The Starless Sea

[emmersreads]

In an effort to rejuvinate my reading after slogging through too many Challenging(tm) literary fiction novels, I turned to The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, an author I’d previously really liked. 

So what is the point of The Starless Sea? Why is it here? Fortunately, it’s pretty obvious. Books rule! A secret infinite underground library with personalized rooms and a kitchen that cooks whatever amazing food you want and magical fairytales that contain your own life because you’ve always been special and destined for something greater and more exciting than mundane reality if only you were brave enough to open the door when it was offered to you — it is a concept straight from the private fantasies of annyone who was described as ‘precocious’, or ‘bibliophile’. I get it. I would have been obsessed with this. Key words being ‘would have,’ because despite how much this would have been exactly my shit back in high school, I am not that person anymore.

Sadly, I must acknowledge that I had outgrown The Starless Sea before I ever read it.

★★★☆☆

Read More ==>

#book review #book blogging #the starless sea #erin morgenstern #bookworm #bookblr #bookstagram #read in 2023 #dark academia #light academia #fantasy #review #trying out a new post format here

[nerdynatreads]

 ☆☆YouTube | Tumblr | Instagram | Storygraph ☆☆

book review || The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

video review || Little Bit Much -- April Wrap Up || 12 books!

This was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Morgenstern’s writing is so magical and creates such a gorgeous picture in my mind to watch the story unfold. I was impressed at how she interwove multiple plots in the Night Circus, and even more so in this book. This is about stories within a story and how they cross, connected, and tie around one another is just fascinating and clever. She’s an excellent storyteller and while I might have been confused at times, I was engrossed the entire time.

While the characters in this are not quite as fully fleshed out as I would like, I was amazed by the creation of them. Each feels unique and distinct, introduced quickly and winning my heart just as fast. We watch as they work through their own stories and affect others’ stories. They all develop beautifully throughout the book and I loved the endings we see for each of them. Some of them I didn’t even expect to play such a big part, but nothing in this book happens by accident.

The world of this story was whimsical and drew me in, every time I felt as though I was following these characters into a glorious underground maze, filled with all the best things in life. The entire world just feels soft and welcoming. The writing almost reads like poetry, it’s so gorgeous.

I fully understand that this is not a story for everyone, but it has definitely cemented Erin Morgenstern as a favorite author for me.

5/5 stars

#book review #studyblr #the starless sea #the starless sea by erin morgenstern #faves #erin morgenstern #bookshelf #bookshelves #bookblr #booklr #book tumblr #booktube #booktuber #book youtube #fantasy books #fantasy book recs #fantasy book recommendations #fantasy book reviews #whimsical fantasy #annotated books

[fantasybooktournament]

If you’re looking for Tad Williams suggestions, Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is his most famous

i already added in tailchasers song and seeded all the books, so i'm not going to be able to go back and add this one instead, sorry!

#maybe we will do a poll after with all the books i didnt include #we can add starless sea!! #im seeding it all based on number of goodreads reviews

[dankzombiereviews]

Book Thoughts: The Starless Sea

3.75 ✰

very disappointing, fully thought this was going to be a 5 star but wtf were the last 50 pages?? is it truly choice vs fate if the choices are random, or is that just some guy not knowing what to choose and not even going with his instinct, just simply picking something

also I love the writing but this could have been 50-100 pages shorter, I loved the vibes but too much vibes. The romance and the interpersonal relationships were meh, but i liked my main man Zachary Ezra Rawlins 

art by Miss-Pannacotta on deviantart

#book review #the starless sea #the amount of times i read Zachary Ezra Rawlins

[bemtevis]

March 2023 📚

• The City of Brass by Shannon Chakraborty

I only have great things to say about this book, but I'll start off simple. As soon as I was introduced to the world building, I was completely in. It's so unique and enthralling, as are all the characters! My favorite thing about them is that they feel so earnest and the text doesn't shy away from their flaws. A great start for a great trilogy. 4,25/5.

• The Kingdom of Copper by Shannon Chakraborty

The five-year timeskip was officially the cause of my death. The reintroduction to these characters was just so good, heartbreaking as it was. Despite my feelings towards Dara, the addition of his POV adds something really interesting to the storytelling. In this book, we get to know our antagonists a bit better and I love how they're not heartless monsters; they're awful, sure, but they have so much heart and you understand how they got here, which makes it all so much more impactful. 4,5/5.

• The Empire of Gold by Shannon Chakraborty

We have a saying in Portuguese for when something ends perfectly: to end with a key of gold. Pun completely intended. My statements about the previous books stay accurate for this one. You can feel the characters' pain and anger and grief and the hope they refuse to let go of, and it makes for great character development. In some books, the world is saved; in others, like this one, the world is changed, and I love that about it. 4,75/5.

• The River of Silver by Shannon Chakraborty

Now, I've admitedly skipped one short story or two, but hey. I loved the ones I did read. I expected most of them to be set after the trilogy ended, but they're actually set throughout, showing different perspectives and scenes we hadn't yet read. Even knowing what had happened or would happen to certain characters, it was just impossible not to get invested. 4/5.

• The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan

I originally thought the ending had been to abrupt and it lacked closure, but I've since found out that this book is supposed to be part of a series, so forget that. I liked the characters well enough, though I was hoping for a bit... more, I guess. The magic system is pretty interesting, and I really liked the portrayal of the Fair Folk here. That's as far as my judgement can go without reading the next installments, so. 3,75/5.

• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

This book is insane in the best way. My memory from the first time I read it was blurry, so half of the experience was me gasping and trying to connect the dots. I love and deeply sympathize to Zachary's need to matter and I love how it all turned out for him. A story within a story within a story, that's what this is — and while I mostly liked it, the ending was a bit too convoluted for my taste. 4/5.

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

I was expecting to like this book, but no amount of preparation readied me for just how much I loved it. The premise caught my eye immediately and the execution was just perfect. It's set in the same universe as Chakraborty's previous books, but centuries prior, and the world building is still amazing. All the characters are charismatic and compelling, and I cannot wait to read their next adventure. It did lose me a bit in the final showdown but not too much. 5/5.

• Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

Look, I've never read The Great Gatsby, so I can't attest for how accurate to its themes this book is. But as it is, I greatly appreciated it! The characters were very likeable (except you, Tom) and you can tell the themes are very personal to the author. The ending was a bit rushed, but that last line gave me chills. [Edit: also, the dialogue was very stiff; way too many uses of ‘said’ and ‘asked’ with no extra flavor to them. It was actually distracting.] 3,5/5.

2023 Reads: January | February | March | April

#nathan reads #nathan rambles #books #book reviews #march 2023 📚 #2023 📚 #the daevabad trilogy #city of brass #kingdom of copper #empire of gold #river of silver #the buried and the bound #the starless sea #the adventures of amina al sirafi #self made boys

[ala-baguette]

hello!! just sending an ask to say I've read Knowing Where to Look in one sitting because it was so addictive! Thank you for writing it!! Also, if you still remember, in a previous ask you mentioned physical books you've added to your shelf. I'd love to know some of those favourites!! Hope you are doing well :)

Wait... like... someone wants to hear me rattle on about books???

I had a very fun reading adventure in 2022. Those familiar with my writing might notice that everything I write is 3rd person past tense. This is the only POV/tense that comes naturally to me and the only one I have traditionally enjoyed reading or writing. I recently found myself with an idea for a novel that I do think, however, would benefit from exploring a different perspective or tense. To do so, would require me to broaden my horizons, get past my own prejudices and find a way to get more comfortable with an entirely different style of writing. So in 2022, I resolved to read only novels in either first person POV, present tense or (shudder) both. And low and behold, I found I loved every second of the adventure!

My 2022 Reading List Recap:

The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern: I see this story got some very mixed reviews which doesn't surprise me in the least. I would not recommend this book to everyone. But I will happily say that I loved it. This is not a book for people who just want a linear forward-moving plot that gets to the point. This is a book for people who are interested in the process of story-telling, who are interested in seeing how characters develop, who are interested in puzzling how the various story lines might be interconnected and are okay with the idea that they will not immediately "get" it. I loved the stories within stories, and I enjoyed slowly making connections between these stories and working out where they all fit together. The protagonist felt real, and the romance was subtle and understated, mimicking real life which is so my style. His sexuality did not define his character and lacked the usual cliches of gay characters. I loved the magical realism and beautiful imagery. Repeatedly while reading, I found myself saying, "I love words." I love that humans can create such amazing images in my mind using words and how even the way the words themselves sound so lovely. If you do not "love words" like I do, you will probably not love this book. At times, the flowery prose borders on pretentious, but I was totally there for it. This story was told in third person present tense. Normally, I find myself very distracted by present tense and it pulls me out of the story. In this case, however, it felt very immersive and added to the dream-like quality of the writing. I don't think the story would have hit the same way in past tense, so i can absolutely accept this choice.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir: I always look forward to a new book from Andy Weir. First off, the dude got his start writing fan fiction. Listening to him talk about fan fiction in an interview years ago was one of the things that inspired me to be more open about my fic writing to the people in my life. It's inspiring to know see that someone really did become a successful author from what they learned while writing fic. The other reason I love Andy Weir is that he is one of the few authors my partner and I can read together. My partner (an engineer) tends to favor really dry nonfiction so he can "learn" while reading, and it is just so not my cup of tea. I am a fiction lover, all the way. I get enough real world in the real world, thanks. I read to be transported somewhere else and to get to turn my brain away from real world problems. What's great about Weir is that he's a total nerd. He clearly does an insane amount of research into the technology he includes in his stories. So my husband will read his books to puzzle over the feasibility of his spaceship constructions while I get to enjoy a fun story about a man stranded in space as he struggles to save the world. Win-win. Project Hail Mary features a man who is suffering from amnesia (don't worry, its not soap-opera-cheesy, it actually makes some logical sense.) The narrative flashes between his present struggles and flashbacks as he slowly works out how he got where he is. It's almost like reading a novel and its sequel all mixed up into one. For the two different timelines, one is written in present tense, the other in past. Weir uses the tense to clue you in on which timeline you are currently reading and it is very cleverly done. The tense work in this book was really eye-opening for me-- it really helped me to see how tense can be a devise in good story telling.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman: I'm still reeling from this book a bit. The narrator is a seven year old child, which, coupled with a fantastical storyline featuring monsters and magic, in some ways makes the story feel like a children's book. But it is most definitely written for adults. What I loved about this story is it is a wonderful representation of the unreliable narrator. As I read, I was constantly questioning whether the events were 'really happening' or if this was just how a seven-year-old boy would rationalize his trauma. Is his nanny really a monster or is this just easier for him to process than the idea that his father is having an affair? I am so impressed with the way Gaiman remembers how a child thinks and acts. This one is written in first person past. I'm trying to remember other Gaiman novels I've read, and if memory serves, I feel like he usually favors third person. I do feel like the choice to write this one in first person was very intentional. Partly, I think this was a very personal choice as I do believe large bits of this story were inspired by his own childhood. But I also think it lends itself well to encourage the reader to think about their own past and remember what it felt like to be a child. The tense really did help you to feel like you were quietly sitting in a place filed with memories thinking back to your youth. While reading these last two, I spent a lot of time considering why I enjoyed the first person POV in these stories and tended to dislike it in my own writing. I think a big part of my dislike of first person is that it is so pervasive in teen novels. Absolutely nothing against teen novels, because I love them and I don't think I will ever outgrow them. But because of this, when I see first person, I tend equate this to "childish". So, fueled by a thirst for understanding (and nostalgia) I went on another fun mission to reread some of the first person books I loved as a teen to see what the difference was. I think I've come to the conclusion that the POV in these cases is less of a thoughtful choice and more of a way to conform to the norms of the genre and signify that the story is meant for young readers. I suppose teens want to feel understood and relatable. I went to my bookshelf and just started plucking books off that I recalled being in first person. The conclusion I came to while rereading them as an adult was that I could take or leave the tense. Which I suppose is the difference for me... I personally prefer things in third person past unless I see the reason for something else. I won't go into as much detail on these, but here are the first person teen/ YA novels I read this year in case you're craving a stroll down memory lane. These books clearly all stood the test of time for me, given that some fifteen to twenty years later, they're all still on my bookshelf.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

The Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marellier

The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R King

Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine

The Tiger's Curse, by Coleen Houck

Across the Nightingale Floor, by Lian Hearn

All in all, I had a very successful experiment and I find myself much more open-minded about first person POV and slightly more open-minded about present tense. But I will say, that once 2022 was over, I was very quick to kick this to the curb and go back to my happy place with third-person past. Oh... and... confession... I did cheat a little. Spurred by a combination of the nostalgia of rereading things from my youth and from watching the HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials, by Philip Pullman, I did reread this series in 2022. All I can say, is man, it really holds up. Still among my favorite fantasy series.

#adventures in pov and tense #present tense #first person pov #book review #2022 reading recap #the starless sea #project hail mary #the ocean at the end of the lane

[writtenbyerna]

Starless Sea: Stories within a Story

“A moment that changes the moments that will follow.”

Finishing Starless Sea felt like that. Reading Starless Sea felt like being dipped in a full-blown movie where everything is vivid and real. The writing style is beautiful and lyrical, and it hugs you. The way everything is described in the book, from what they are wearing, the scenery, and the emotions, it feels like everything is in front of you, that you can reach them with your hand. It’s been so long since I’ve read a book that made me want to reach my hand in front of me to see if what I’m imagining is real.

Starless Sea is an ardent love letter to all stories, novels, books, video games, folktales, short stories, and all stories that exist. It is a story within a story, a book for those who love reading and those who love words and the magic they create.

The moment I finished reading the book, I wanted to stay in it. There’s a reason why I read this slowly I knew that I wanted to stay in this book. I did not want to skim through it, I did not want it to end. And good stories will continue outside the story-space, this will continue in me, I assure you.

#the starless sea #erin morgenstern #book blog #book #book review #books #books and literature

[badvibesonly911]

The Starless Sea

by Erin Morgenstern

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#fav book #TIME AND FATE #Occasionally Fate can pull itself together again. And Time is always waiting. #book reviews #the starless sea #erin morgenstern

[hear-the-ocean]

The Starless Sea book review

A sleep-deprived slightly spoiler-y very unprofessional review of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I feel like having the review be professional and not as confusing as the novel was, would be doing it a disservice so here we go

look at all the pretty covers! under the cut ofc I don't want to clog up the tags

The covers are a work of art

Summary (pulled from goodreads) :

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

Review:

👁👄👁 I honestly felt like I dreamt the entire book and isn't that ironic given the story lmao. Despite feeling like I was unbalanced the entire time and more confused than Zachary, I still really enjoyed the book. It's very whimsical. I would describe it as like being in a dream. Things make sense but also don't make sense? You can read meaning into anything in that dream and you won't really know if it's true or not since dreams don't exist as facts or to be proven.

The story follows many people though we anchor on Zachary, a grad student who gets sucked into an underground world of stories, time, fate, the moon, and the love between people. There's also a lot of honey and bees.

I can't truly explain the story because I don't think I could give it justice. It's something you have to read for yourself and explore the confusion and plug in what you believe is missing with your own beliefs and stories. I don't know how the author could spin multiple tales imbedded in each other and still keep the connections without tangling into too much confusion. There's enough of it to keep you intrigued. Thought as I was getting to the end, I realized there won't be clear answers that I was looking for. In that sense it truly does act like the fairytales already written in its pages. Stories with no logic, just emotion, magic, fate, and time.

I probably will realize some answers weeks from now or maybe I won't. Reading this book was different than others in the sense that even without full closure, I don't feel like I was left hanging. Just like the stories in the Harbor, this book exists to take you on a journey and then bring you back, it's not meant to have clear answers.

In the novel Fate believes that endings give stories meaning and Kat (Zachary's friend who will be a real keeper 😏) doesn't agree. To her, stories have meanings in their entirety, she just believes that they need to have a goodbye, somewhere to be left. And I agree with her.

The only thing is that despite there being so many love stories in the fairytales in the book and a love story between our main characters, I didn't feel it. I couldn't feel the chemistry, the yearning, the need to be with the other. I've read better romances and so I just ignored it and let it just happen. Maybe it's not the type of romance we need to start and build naturally and rather one where the love just happens and we are to just accept it. (Basically insta-love). Everything else keeps your focus more anyways.

The descriptions got a bit much so I found myself skimming it sometimes. But also the main character is soooooo passive. Things happen around him or things are put upon him and he's told he has a choice. Fate just gives you choices, it's up to you what path you take but honestly that's bs 😃 how is "this door or this door?" a proper choice when there's no other info. My guy gets yeeted into one place and then another and just... does what ppl need him to lmao poor guy. Also there's no real character development, probably because there's not much character in the first place but even the ones that existed? Nothing changed them. Comparing the characters in the beginning to how they are in the end, nothing really has changed. Reading other reviews, people are saying it's mainly a love letter to storytelling so it foregoes some other things usually needed in a story (is this irony, idk)

Not only was it a dizzying book to read, it's dizzying just to explain my thoughts. Or maybe it's the headache from staying up till 5am to read the book and finishing it after 5 hours of sleep. Once things start getting going, so do you; sleep, no matter how strong, will not be stronger than the honey floating you towards bees that buzz stories long gone or yet to happen in your ear and send you off to spread those stories.

Ps. Why tf do I sound so pretentious in my reviews lmao

#book review #books #booklr #bookblr #books and reading #writing portfolio #my writing #magical #mystery #my reviews #erin morgenstern #the starless sea #lgbt #mlm books #black mc