Book Review: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

A reading experience:

Me the first half of the book: Wow - this could be a new all-time favourite. The writing! The descriptions! It’s a book for book lovers. This might even be better than The Night Circus.

Me the second half of the book: ...I’m confused. Am I meant to be following this? So. Many. Descriptions. Is this over yet? The Night Circus is definitely my favourite.

“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.”

I’m incredibly disappointed that I didn’t love The Starless Sea. It was amazing up until the point where I felt like I just couldn’t keep all the different strands and threads straight in my head. It was just TOO MUCH. And I still don’t get what the actual point was. If someone asked me to describe the plot I’d just be like “well... there’s this underground library thing... and it needs protected... for some reason”

I’ve seen a few reviews likening it to Alice in Wonderland and that might explain my frustrations - I LOATHE Alice in Wonderland. Whimsical nonsense is not my thing. I need a plot that has a beginning, middle and end. Or if the plot is non-existent I need characters that I care about, and I just didn’t give a toot about anyone in this book - expect for Kat maybe. She was cool. Zachary, however, was the most flat protagonist. Yawn...

I can’t remember the last time I felt so conflicted on a book, cos that first half was simply MAGICAL. It was so hard to put down, I wanted to live between the pages of this book forever. And then... I just dropped the ball, I guess, and became overwhelmed with it all - it happens!

One thing I can’t fault is Morgenstern’s writing - even when it was heavily descriptive and just too much, it was still beautiful. Unfortunately it was also incredibly frustrating to wade through. I ran out of patience.

The more I think about this book, the more issues I have, so I’m lowering my initial rating. Sorry to all those who loved this, like my buddy readers @thebookgeekboutique and @ab_reads, but I’m firmly team Night Circus. 3 stars.

Johann
x

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

50 Horror Books You Must Read!

Image
Behold! A blog post I've been working on for a few weeks now. I often get asked which horror books I would recommend, so I thought I'd make my life a little easier and create a mammoth list. So as of this minute, here are 50 books that I've read and enjoyed. I have included some that I personally wasn't overly enamoured with, but reading is such a personal experience that I thought I'd give you the chance to make up your own mind! In a year or so I might post an update with great horror books that I've discovered since this list was made. In the list you'll find novels, some short stories and a few novellas thrown in too... Enjoy! 1. Pet Sematary - Stephen King It’s me. Of course this book is at the top of the pile! (Even though the rest are in no way ranked…). An incredible horror novel providing heartbreaking insight into death, loss and grief. The horror is not found in huge tense, scary moments, but in those quiet and soul-crushing moments ...
Read more

50 States 50 Horror Books

Image
One of my reading goals for 2021 is to start working through my 50 States, 50 Horror Books challenge (inspired by lists on NYT and Bustle). For those who haven't heard of these lists, essentially a horror book has been assigned to each state in America depending on where the book has been set. Throughout 2021 I am aiming to tick off 2 states per month. And if others want to take part, then great! You can either follow along with me, or work through the list at your own pace, picking whichever books appeal to you (or inserting some of your own!) I've combined both the NYT and Bustle lists, adding in some suggestions of my own to get started (and thank you to anyone who sent me their suggestions too!) Alabama The Elementals by Michael McDowell Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke   Alaska 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles         Polar Night by Julie Flanders   Arizona The Revelation by Bentley Little   Arkansas Southern Gods by John Hornor Jaco...
Read more

Book Review: Books of Blood Vol 1-3 by Clive Barker

Image
Comprised of insane and downright horrifying tales from Clive Barker, Books of Blood is a strong debut release which led to King referring to him as "the future of horror". This edition contains Volumes 1-3, a grand total of fifteen stories (sixteen if you include the intro) - a large number of which have been subsequently adapted into movies.  "Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red." Having already been blown away by The Hellhound Heart, I was excited to get into more Clive Barker - and oh boy, this did not disappoint. The sheer range of stories within these first three volumes of Books of Blood is staggering. And the quality remains consistently high throughout. Barker's imagination is unparalleled - I mean, King has a pretty awesome imagination too, but his skills are slightly different to Barker's. One minute you're reading about a serial killer who quite literally skins his victims and hangs them up like ...
Read more