The Starless Sea ~ Erin Morgenstern
In all honesty, I don’t really know what to write about this book other than the fact that I absolutely loved every minute I spent reading it. Not being able to put it down over the last few days I think says it all. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern encapsulates everything I love about storytelling and fairy tales, the way she can weave together so many tales and fables while still creating a riveting read that I didn’t want to put down utterly baffles me. This read is the home of storytellers, avid story lovers and full of those who will go to the end of the earth to protect their story. I will admit that I haven’t yet read The Night Circus but after reading this and hearing such positive reviews I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
The Starless Sea mainly follows Zachary Ezra Rawlins who stumbles across a book in his university library that’s not on the system. Even weirder there are details of his own life within as well as an array of other mysterious tales. Lovestruck prisoners, lost cities and nameless acolytes just to name a few. This discovery leads him to an unbelievable quest that could only be described as dreamlike. From a masquerade ball, a dangerous secret society and an underground labyrinth filled with fairytales and fables. Zachary is determined to solve this never-ending puzzle. Along the way, he meets an array of bewildering characters. Some he can trust and others he can’t. Will be able to link the bee, the sword and the key before it’s too late and his story is lost forever.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this read but I was so intrigued by the blurb and knowing how mad everyone went over The Night Circus I just couldn’t resist. Starting this 500 page read literally minutes after I bought it. Yes, I was that excited! I have to admit I was a tad confused. The narrative which follows Zachary is very easy to get your head around and is in a standard format. However, once all the other stories, old and new, start to intertwine into the main narrative it was a tad brain draining to keep track of who everyone was and how they impacted the story. All that being said once I was a good 100 pages in I just could not put it down and found it very easy to follow.
Morgenstern knows how to write a beautiful description let me tell you. I was totally in awe how she manages to describe so many different worlds in such glorious detail. I was honestly transported into another universe whilst reading this. When I finished The Starless Sea I did my normal routine of seeing what other people thought and was shocked to see that many did not have the same opinion as myself. Many claiming it had too much description, no flow and an inconsistent plot that had no ending. But honestly, my opinion could not be any more different. I have really tried to push myself this year with reading books that are a bit more out of my comfort zone. This having such a fanciful theme throughout I was worried it wouldn’t hold my attention, especially being at the 500 page mark, but I could not have been more wrong.
If you love fairytales, fables, myths and legends as much as I do then this will definitely be your cup of tea. This book is every storyteller’s dream. I wholeheartedly give it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐star review.
M🌸
