Surreal and dreamy fantasy

I'm really torn between giving this 4 and 5 stars, but eventually decided on 4 stars because I really don't think it's a book for everyone. But, the people who DO like this style will ADORE it. Like her first book, the settings are magical, and imaginative, and dreamily surreal a lot of the time. This novel drifts around a lot more than the Night Circus however, shifting between people and stories and even times and places, and it's quite difficult to figure out what's going on and how they all relate until you get significantly into the book. If that's a problem for you, this book probably is not for you. If you can enjoy dreamy descriptions of gorgeous fantastical settings and be patient to see how they tie together, then yes, grab this book today! It reminded me strongly of The High House by James Stoddard, and also a bit of Caraval by Stephanie Garber (both of which I'd also recommend if you enjoyed this book). It's hard to even describe the plot without either getting too complicated or giving too much away, but suffice it to say that boy finds a mysterious book with a chapter in it that exactly describes something that happened to him as a child, and becomes obsessed with learning more, which leads him to a masked ball, a mysterious underground (literally) society of story lovers and librarian types, a world where it's hard to tell where the lines between a story and reality blur together, and ultimately of course our protagonist may be the only one who can save the world (or at least fate and time) but only if he can outwit the forces out to oppose this who want the world to never change and always stay the same.

4 people found this helpful

Becomes tedious I couldn’t finish it

It starts out good .. good premise but just becomes an endless slog around and around .. I actually was only 2 hours from finishing but just couldn’t do it .

3 people found this helpful

Brilliant

Brilliant story, and narration. Came here as a big fan of The Night Circus and was long awaiting the authors new book. Could not be more pleased. Excited for the next!

1 person found this helpful

harsh s in narration

the narrator's s sound is so aggressive we would barely listen to the book

3 people found this helpful

Amazing!

I’m crying but I don’t know if I’m feeling joy or sadness because the story ended. Lately, I feel my life is more buoyant in the pages of books, in the stories of other people... I loved every moment of this book! Thank you, Ms. Morgenstern for creating such wonderful tale

A book that, sadly, loses the reader

After finishing this book, I was left with the impression that this novel was striving to be something it didn’t attain. Weighed down by too many stories, too many tangents....too much stuff. If you get to the end you may find you have little recollection of how it started and by that, unsatisfied. If it was pared down, it would have been stunning. The Audible reading was done very well with a number of actors voicing different parts (which helped greatly). Thankful I chose the Audible version as I doubt I would have gotten through the book otherwise.

probably much better in print

The premise of this book sounded just like my cup of tea. However, I was immediately turned off by the narration. It was read as some kind of theatrical performance, rather than a novel, and the different voices and narraters broke up the flow and immersive experience. There was a classic theatre vibe to the narration that did not fit the main character, who was a young man in today's world. Other young characters he interacts with had dialogue that was taken right from the millennial handbook, but the formal narration, which often placed the wrong syllabic emphasis on the words, made me cringe. I love audiobooks, and I love print books, and I devour both by the dozens. But in my experience, some books just don't translate well to verbal narration. Alternatively, some can be read aloud but require the right tone and type of dialogue. There is a fine line between trying to act out the parts as if in a play, with all the overemphasis one comes to expect from performances, versus choosing different accents and voices for different characters - the latter is exemplified by the master talents of Ray Porter, for example. One of my favourite sci-fi series - Martha Wells' Murderbot series - was ruined as an audiobook by poor narration, evident just from listening to the sample recording, and reflected in the poor reviews; that book in print is among the best of the genre. So, in conclusion, the Starless Sea had so much potential, but was ruined for me by the narration. I just could not make it through the story before quitting, though I slogged miserably through the first half hoping it would get better. So I was unable to really assess whether the story itself could have been much better. I may buy the book in print, but I do not recommend this audio version.

Awesome to experience as audiobook

This is a great story and I really enjoyed having different voices performance different parts. Not like actress performing rules but reading different sections of the book. It was really well done.

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

****** DISCLAIMER: This review contains spoilers, you have been warned. Read at your own risk! ****** All readers wish that a book from the library could set them on their own adventure. The Starless Sea does exactly what every reader (or at least this one) would love to have in real life. For me, this is a book for readers and for book lovers alike. That alone is reason enough to pick up this book. I have heard of Erin Morgenstern so much and the Night Circus is so beloved that I was a bit nervous to start this book. What if I didn’t like it and I get lots of angry comments? But then I just decided to take the plunge, and state my true opinion afterwards no matter what. This is a book that I was listening to while I was at the gym, which is why it took me so long to finish it (about 3 weeks.) I am very glad that I chose to listen to The Starless Sea because I felt like I would’ve gotten frustrated with the story if it was a physical version and might have even DNF’d it.  The voice actors, while not the best were not bad either. There were a couple that were much better than others. But, I appreciate the fact that the used multiple narrators as these are the types of audiobooks I prefer to listen to (dramatized with a full cast). As I mentioned earlier, I am happy that I chose to listen to this story because I felt like it added much more to it. It was a bit easier for me to follow along with the twisted storyline because of the different voice actors. If I was just reading the text I would’ve gotten more confused and maybe dropped the book entirely. One thing to keep in mind though, this is a long audiobook. Somewhere over 18 hours long, just something to think of before jumping in.  This book….. the pacing was weird to be perfectly honest. Events were always happening and the story was moving along, but it also felt like the characters weren’t getting anywhere. We were always learning new information, but it kind of felt like we were just running on the spot. If I had to describe this book in one sentence, it would have to be multiple storylines intersecting each other. We see most of the characters at one point or another interact with each other, which was interesting to see how they relate to each other and the storyline. Characters The characters were well formed but for some reason still a little bit lacking for me. I think because the storyline jumped around so much we never got to really delve too deep into any of them. While I would love to be Zachary and go on this epic adventure, I believe that I am most like Kat Hawkins. The side character who is a complete nerd and is on the fringes of the story. She was adorable and relatable and I very much liked her character. Fate and Time were interesting, but I was kind of surprised they played less of a role in the whole story than I thought they would. I also love the idea behind the Starless Sea. I love this haven of books and reading, I love the lore of Fate and Time, the Moon and the Owl King. Some of my favourite parts of the audiobook were when they were reading to stories featured in the story. It really expanded the world and gave little hints that I would try to work out as soon as possible. The Starless Sea I feel like is somewhere every reader would love to visit. To see every book in the world even as they are being enacted in real life. We all want a bit of book magic in our lives; to walk through a painted door and become a part of something more. But magic always comes with a price. To be honest at times I thought that Zachary was Fate’s heart and his lover Dorian was Time. I thought that our evil nemesis Allegra would have more of a presence in the book (also not die off so easily). I thought a lot of characters would play a larger part to be honest, but for the most part all are side characters (even Fate and Time who are the reason for the whole adventure) except for Zachary and Dorian. It was a full story but for me it just felt like parts were underdeveloped and glossed over, but maybe those are the parts we aren’t meant to know. I quite liked this book, but it also irritated me at the same time. The thing I disliked the most about it was the open ending. I don’t know if there is going to be a sequel to this book, but I hope so. I have so many questions that still need answers! What happened to Kat, did she go on her own adventure? We leave her sitting in the library deciding whether to or not. Did Dorian and Zachary turn out ok? What happened to the Starless Sea now that the Heart has disappeared? Do Max’s parents escape and find each other again? So many questions left unanswered by the end of the book. Honestly, this book felt like it only grabbed little bits of each storyline, just enough for the reader to understand the situation without fully fleshing everything out. In the end, did the story really end? Or just continue on with different characters in the main roles under different names? I hope there is a sequel because open ended books tend to drive me nuts. I like my stories all solved and tied up in a bow. Overall, The Starless Sea which is the first Erin Morgenstern book I read was a rather enjoyable one albeit a bit frustrating at times. I know this book has some difference in opinions when it comes to reader reviews, but I liked it. I imagine part of that would be because I haven’t read the Night Circus before this. But I would recommend this book if you want a roller coaster of a ride that all book lovers would want to go on. Also, one that really requires you to think and analyze the clues given. If anything else, read this book for the amazing and wondrous world created within it.

VERY MAGICAL

this book is very confusing but if you power through not fully understanding whats going on for the first 1/4 then the pay out is amazing, this will forever be one of my favourite books.