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I am one of those anomalous readers who was not wild about The Night Circus. There was something unsatisfying about it, in my opinion. This book suffers from a similar sense of there not being a there there. The descriptions and story are so vague, and hand-wavy, as to be insubstantial and allegorical. (There are also some egregious errors about academic libraries, classifications, and librarian with bun stereotypes in here that I cannot countenance.) There is some lovely imagery at times, but t
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The feel of this book was very similar to the Night Circus, which I was also lukewarm about, although to me the setting of a secret library has much more appeal than a traveling circus. There is a lot of beautiful imagery here, much of it in the form of made up myths (the owl king, the escaping prisoner, the guy who collects keys) but for me the book goes on too long, without enough central story to it. The romance felt similar to the one in NC (mostly pining in absence). I did like the initial
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Oooh ... what can I say? I loved Night Circus, and this book was as fun but with a different more playful tone. Morgenstern is clearly enjoying playing with the self-referentiality and textual references, loved this nod to Strange and Norrell:
I ended up listening to the audiobook instead of ready a har ...more
A heavy volume with footnotes and a raven on its cover pulls his attention more than the others, and he finds himself so drawn into its tale of two magicians in England that he loses track of time.
I ended up listening to the audiobook instead of ready a har ...more
Did you ever read a book, and after you turned the last page and shut the cover, you just sat there, in the silence, staring off into the distance? This is one of those books.
Did you ever consider not starting a new book right away so you could revel in the one you just finished for a while? This is one of those books.
Everything about this book is lovely... From the dust jacket , to the design on the inside and cover, to the characters that peopled it and their settings. Well done Erin Morgenst ...more
Did you ever consider not starting a new book right away so you could revel in the one you just finished for a while? This is one of those books.
Everything about this book is lovely... From the dust jacket , to the design on the inside and cover, to the characters that peopled it and their settings. Well done Erin Morgenst ...more
Best read in one session: it's that immersive. The imagery here is incredible, but occasionally the world building fails (so many corridors, so many levels). At times this is like a series of short stories, only they've been cut up and intertwined and sometimes you're not sure whose story you're reading about and when you are. Granted, this was an ARC and perhaps in the finished version readers will get more of a clue about that! I did keep thinking about the movie version and how in many ways "
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This review makes me so very sad because I adored The Night Circus. But The Starless Sea left me flat, and with 42% of the book read, I could simply go no further. The fanciful, half-magical world of the Night Circus was just close enough to reality to pull me in. The Starless Sea is a jumble of real and unreal, with a heavy emphasis on the latter, of storyline versus short stories randomly scattered throughout, and of confusing and bizarre characters with whom I simply could not form affection
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This book was both about 4 stars, and like 7 stars. It took me FOREVER to finish. I don't know why. It did take some time to really find my footing in it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. It's the kind of book that got into my dreams and made me question reality. It had complex, well-developed characters, a fully-realized and unique fantasy world and layers... so many layers. It put me in the same mind-space that most of the Dark Tower books. Everything was so intense and unbalanced. It cons
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Satisfying in the end
There are those who compare this book to the House of Leaves, or to merely a mishmash of two or three stories, told over and over, to a couple accents that you think are stories but are not. I can see where either perspective comes from. I think the challenge with this book is surviving and gathering enough knowledge of the world to have the momentum and desire to follow the story. If you gave up at 21%, 30%, at 50%, at some point before 62% — I feel you on that. I did too. ...more
There are those who compare this book to the House of Leaves, or to merely a mishmash of two or three stories, told over and over, to a couple accents that you think are stories but are not. I can see where either perspective comes from. I think the challenge with this book is surviving and gathering enough knowledge of the world to have the momentum and desire to follow the story. If you gave up at 21%, 30%, at 50%, at some point before 62% — I feel you on that. I did too. ...more
The Night Circus is one of my favorite books of all time, so I eagerly awaited the publication of this book and was not disappointed. Morgenstern's imagination is amazing and her use of language makes me want to re-read many of her passages. I was truly lost in this book, in another world, while reading it. It will probably be one of my favorite books of 2020.
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This is a completely amazing book. What if there were a secret world of stories? If you love stories and are still looking for that door to Narnia and are up for a dreamlike mystery, read this. So unique and immersive.
Jun 18, 2019
Lara
marked it as to-read
Jul 09, 2019
Megan
added it
Jul 24, 2019
Soren
marked it as to-read
Nov 02, 2019
Shoshanah
marked it as wish-list
Nov 04, 2019
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Nov 06, 2019
Liz Laurin
marked it as to-read
Apr 17, 2020
Grace
marked it as to-read
Sep 03, 2020
Kerry (The Roaming Librarian) O'Donnell
marked it as to-read
Oct 26, 2020
Kate
marked it as to-read
Feb 01, 2021
Destiny
marked it as to-read
