What
A
Book.
The Starless Sea is a masterclass in storytelling. It’s intricate, it’s engaging, and it is simply beautiful.
It’s also a tricky beast.
It is very rare that I have to re-read sections of books I post about on here. Usually, I choose to. But with Starless Sea it was just not possible to take everything in, in one read of the page. There is so, so much to process that I found myself reading parts over and over to make sure I understood.
It’s not confusing so to speak.
It’s just immense.
Immense enough that I don’t think I could spoil it if I tried. There is so much to see, to read, to learn, that I could tell you everything that happens in the first chapter and nothing would change your reading experience at all.
I could do that.
But I won’t.
Not everyone is as blasé about spoilers as I am. I for one rather like them. Others do not. Particularly my mother. *Shivers* I’m still haunted by the great Sirius Black debacle of 2006.
Sorry, mum.
But I digress.
I will be honest and say that after my first experience of reading a book by Erin Morgenstern, I was sceptical of what this one would entail. I read the Night Circus earlier this year and while it too is an immense and intricate piece of work, as much as I enjoyed it, I will not deny that I struggled with it.
But this? To voyage on The Starless Sea, was quite the experience.
Normally, I commend a book on the fact that I can’t put it down.
This is the opposite. I had to take several breaks reading this book because, as I say, it’s just so… much.
I’m really not sure how else to describe it. It’s just full of “much-ness”.
What I will say is that when you read it, remember that nothing is incidental. Everything has its place, its purpose, its meaning and time.
And try not to drown when the honey begins to rise.
Happy travels, dear Reader.
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