Not smoking what she’s smoking.

I was so excited about this book having loved The Night Circus. Some of the characters were interesting and likable and the story had some great elements, however I found myself losing interest as the story drifted along labyrinthine paths. It was a bit like listening to someone else describe a very long (and fascinating to them) dream.

9 people found this helpful

Expecting more that never happened

Being a huge fan of The Night Circus, I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I got through two thirds of the novel and finally gave up on it. Although the descriptions and world building was stunning, I found that the story became confusing, and not really a story at all. Beautiful exposition and interesting characters, but lacked a cohesive story. I'm so sad!
Another distracting problem i found was with the different narrators. Some did a perfectly great job, although I think the number of narrators made the story even more confusing at times, and some are obviously unsure of how to pronounce some words. Words like 'ballet' and 'chaise lounge' were repetitively mispronounced - maybe not a big deal for some readers, but it was quite distracting for me.

3 people found this helpful

Was waiting for ... so much more

Highly psychedelic. 18 hours and 37 minutes of world building and character introductions.
Loved Night Circus! So was waiting for… so much more.

3 people found this helpful

Acid trip without the acid

I was a big fan of the Nigh Circus and tried really hard to keep going with this book, but with only a few chapters left till the end, I finally gave up. The book is made up of a series of vignettes held together by the central premise relating to stories. Morgenstern attempts to manufacture her own mythology, but there is nothing cohesive in the tale.

2 people found this helpful

Just beautiful

I'm a sucker for a bit of Magic and this was truly magical. The tale had me hooked from the get go, the incredible readers transported me backwards and forwards in time. The story unfurled Seamlessly.

2 people found this helpful

Worthwhile successor to The Night Circus

Many of the themes introduced in The Night Circus are pursued further here: Time, Love, Magic and Mystery. If you enjoyed The Night Circus,, definitely worth the journey. The writing has matured to weave a more complex story handled as deftly. This is a more difficult book; perhaps you'll find it's a 'difficult pleasure'. True to her words, no stories really finish and the meaning of the tale won't only be found at the end. The reading is well done, and the overall experience is more than the sum of its parts.

Confused

I don't really know how I feel about this book. The writing style was lovely and sort of poetic but the overall story was confusing! I like some elements of the narrative and by the end I sort of gauged how different parts fit together but then other bits had me completely lost.
I went into this thinking of her first book, Night Circus, which I ABSOLUTELY ADORED!!!! And so for a while I was a bit put out that it was nothing like that. And I'm normally a fan of surrealism and non linear storylines but it completely lost me at various points.
The narrators for the most part left much to be desired and some irritated me in how they read bits, like dramatic pauses and such.
Overall, it was ok but probably won't read again.

Fall down the rabbit hole or rather open the door…

I loved this story so much. It came at a time that I needed an escape and took me breathlessly away with emotive narrative. A mysterious collection of stories that have the similar motifs, characters and symbols lead Ezra into the story that has a story about him.

Any book lovers that dream of a romanticised place where they could just read Stories will love this the most. Journey to the starless sea and understand what these symbols all mean. 🐝🗝🗡

Overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time…

I was really excited to listen to this after I had read The Night Circus a couple of years before and fallen in love with it. The Starless Sea has all the wonder, magic and atmospheric beauty I was expecting, but its multiple interweaving narratives are both the best and worst thing about it. The first act is appropriately intriguing and lures the reader into the mystery of the story, but does little to reward our patience, attention and tenacity even through 93 chapters and somehow-connected storylines. Even the end leaves out certain elements that would have been so fascinating to explore. I was torn between never wanting the story to end and wondering how much more of it I could take, especially since the readers of this audiobook all manage to have the same vocal cadences and pacing, it’s maddening. The Starless Sea is a masterclass in descriptive writing and has a lot of merit as a concept, but everything else about it is, quite honestly, a darn disappointment.

I am so in love with this story

Wow. What an ode to storytelling. I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be reading it again.

All the narrators were fantastic.