I loved Morgenstern's Night Circus enough to give it 5 stars on Goodreads (which I don't do every often!), so I was extremely excited to read her newest. The best way I can describe this book genre-wise is to call it very literary fantasy. The writing is lovely, but I struggled with the structure of the book, and even after finishing it, I'm not sure I could describe the overall plot. I found the characters, especially Zachary, to be interesting, but they weren't enough to root me in a story that seemed to move through space and time too quickly for me to keep up. The world-building is strong here, but the plot wasn't cohesive enough to tether me to that world. I am a very plot-oriented reader, and I'll be the first to admit that my imagination probably isn't as rich as I'd like it to be, but I struggled for much of this book. About a third of the way in, I decided to just enjoy the writing and the imagery and to stop trying to diagram the plot in my mind, which made my experience with reading it more positive; that's just not my preferred approach.

I honestly don't know what to say about this book before reading it a second time, and I don't think anyone needs someone else's opinion - if you loved her first work, you're going to read this one!

I read The Night Circus when it came out, because it seemed like something that was right up my alley, but I thought it was just OK. When I saw that this one was coming out, the premise sounded so great, I thought I'd give Morgenstern's work another chance, but at this point, I think I need to concede that I am not her ideal reader. While her imagery and prose are gorgeous, this work just never really came together for me. The nonlinear storytelling and large, shifting cast of characters made the plot hard to follow, and at the end, I still wasn't entirely sure how all the threads were supposed to tie into each other. All the other feedback I have seen has been largely positive, and I am glad so many people have gotten so much out of it; I really do think this is just a case of author and reader not being a good fit.

An epic story of love, betrayal, and flawless storytelling. In typical Morgenstern fashion, this is a story with amazing character and story development, a plot that draws you in and keeps you wanting more. Not only does the reader find wonderful dialogue but majestic descriptions as well. Additionally, one thing I loved about her previous book, The Night Circus, was the whimsical tone throughout the book. The whimsical feel is taken to a new level in this novel, and in the process leaves, you emotionally destroyed.

This book is like an Escape room in book form. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it because it starts out a little slow and strange but I totally got sucked in and really enjoyed the whole last half.

Narnia? Wonderland? If you liked those worlds as a child, The Starless Sea is the grown-up version of falling down a rabbit hole (or going down an elevator) into a fantasyland (aka a magical subterranean library). If discovering hidden worlds or fairylands is your jam, you're going to eat up The Starless Sea with a spoon.

The main character, college student Zachary Ezra Rawlins, stumbles across a book in his university library that very unexpectedly contains a story of his own childhood in it. Once he takes the book from the library, a shadowy, secret organization of people (the C.I.A. of archives!) looking to protect the world mentioned in his book start following him. Thus begins Zachary's underground adventures and search for The Starless Sea.

Zachary is the main story thread, but there are many other small stories and fairy tales tucked into his narrative. The story that unfolds feels like a puzzle or a fantastical mystery with clues, hidden doorways, mysterious characters, and a bit of time travel thrown in. The Starless Sea is also a love letter to libraries, stories, and myths. There are stories that can be eaten like mints, cupcakes frosted with poems, teacups with text baked into the glaze, and squish-faced Persian cats roaming the magical underground library. If you're looking for whimsy, this has it by the truckload.

Why is this enchanting, imaginative tale not 5 stars then? For me it was a bit too long, a little too drawn out, and the romance between the fortune teller's son and the man whose name is not Dorian is lacking heat or chemistry. It almost felt like insta-love. They meet at a party one time and then it's quickly head-over-heels forever love. I need more passion!

However, there are going to be many, many more who will love this and give it all the stars. Readers who enjoyed Every Heart a Doorway, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, or Morgenstern's first book will probably enjoy The Starless Sea.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review!

Whatever happened to Fate? Fate appears in nearly every ancient story we have, as well as a far number of medieval and Renaissance works of literature. The idea of Fate seems to be something that we’ve left behind as a culture. But in Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea, the long-awaited follow-up to The Night Circus, we are given a completely original version of what might have happened to Fate. Once upon a time, Time fell in love with Fate. The stars wouldn’t have it and conspired to kill Fate. This act splintered the worlds; it took centuries and a lot of side quests to put things to rights.

None of this is apparent at the start of The Starless Sea. To be honest, it took me a long time before I was able to start putting together the big picture. Readers who would like to read Morgenstern’s new novel should remember the most important thing about The Night Circus: most of the time the scenery is the most important thing and not to fuss too much about the plot making sense. The Starless Sea runs with this principle.

The book begins (although the overall story begins much earlier) when a young man finds a strange book in his university’s library. The book isn’t in the library system, but a friend who works there lets him check it out anyway. The fact that the book is missing a lot of pages isn’t what gives our protagonist, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, pause. The fact that something that happened to him when he was a child is described in explicit detail in this weird book gives him great pause. With his interest truly and thoroughly piqued, Zachary leaves behind his life as a graduate student to go questing for answers.

Zachary’s journey is one of the strangest I’ve encountered in fiction, certainly in contemporary fiction. The Starless Sea runs almost in motifs rather than plot. There are bees, keys, stars, swords, moons, honey, crowns, feathers, and lots of dancing. As I said above, it took me a long time to figure out what was going on in this novel. There are so many layers, all linked with these motifs, that you have to pay attention to everything in order to fully understand this story about Fate in its attempt to resurrect itself. Seriously, every time I had worked out who some of the characters were (in their many incarnations) it seemed like Morgenstern would throw in another layer. You’ve heard the expression, “turtles all the way down“? Well, in The Starless Sea, it’s bees and honey all the way down.

Even though I’ve finish the book and I think I’ve worked out the novel’s thesis, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I liked a lot of it. But I wasn’t enchanted by it the way I was by The Night Circus. It took so much effort to figure out what the hell everything meant that I was never swept away by the admittedly gorgeous settings and mystical backstory. There are also just enough references to gaming and Choose Your Own Adventure that I had a hard time seeing the book as anything other than a literary puzzle box, instead of a story to sink into. I would only really recommend this to readers who love puzzles, who want something that requires a lot of thought and possibly some graphing paper. I don’t want to dismiss this book as bad. It’s not. The Starless Sea is a genuine feat of writing. I think my problem is that I didn’t read this book at the right time. But, perhaps, Fate put this book in my hands at this moment so that I have it in my inventory for later.

Beautiful. An absolutely unique journey into a world of stories. Morgenstern’s sophomore title is every bit as intricate as The Night Circus.

This is about stories. Not about books but the stories of people's lives.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins finds a book containing short stories and he's in one of them. This leads him to find out an underground library that runs on magic created by stories. There are people who are getting rid of the doors that lead to this place.

This is an enchanting book. Woven with Zachary's POV is a story from the books that he finds. With how fairy tale like the world is, it's a puzzle to know whether the stories are metaphors or are literal. I liked how the characters were trying to figure out the stories in the story.

An intense, complicated story about other stories. You have to really love stories and how involved and complicated they can actually be.

I couldn’t imagine how she could equal The Night Circus, but The Starless Sea is a marvel of magic, beauty and imagination. I’ve already ordered two cases for our library and book clubs—there is nothing like the magic of an Erin Morgenstern book. Unlike so many other things in life, an Erin Morgenstern novel is profoundly worth waiting for! Now there are two Morgenstern titles on my (very short and exclusive!) desert island book list!

This book was so beautifully and lyrically written, and absolutely recommended for people who enjoy fantasy series. This book is filled with mystery and magic, and is a love story to the art of storytelling. I feel like this is a story I could re-read over and over again and always discover something new!

I was looking forward to reading this once I heard Erin Morgenstern was writing a new book! I loved "The Night Circus" and this did not disappoint. It is very complicated, but worth it! There are so many twists and turns and jumps back and forth that you can get dizzy!

In a just a few pages, this book was in the running to be one of my all-time favorites. By the end, it had not disappointed. I could read any page of this book over and over for the sheer joy Erin Morgenstern's writing gives me. This was well worth the wait!

A very complicated but wildly enchanting book. It’s hard to know all the meanings contained in this book, but you’re in for quite an adventure!

Magical. I usually rush through books I like but not this one. I held back so that I could savor the writing and story telling. I did not want it to end too soon.

The starless sea is a epic story about underground land where books and time are changing and is it the past present or future. Hang on and beware of the wrinkle

I very much enjoyed The Night Circus, but somehow, I enjoyed this tale even more! It has the thrill of a quest, wonderful and magical characters, and plenty of mysterious happenings to keep the reader guessing as to how the story will eventually come together.

Any time you have a new book by Erin Morgenstern, it's time to celebrate! A magical journey into a world that lurks secretly beneath us is exciting - but we discover that world is a library. Imagine how many books you've read in your life, all the adventures, all the characters and stories. How would you sort them? Find them? How would you solve a mystery of this place where all those stories come together? "The Starless Sea" is a literary adventure, a love song to books, stories and libraries that will take to places in your imagination you won't want to leave..

I have to admit I was nervous picking this up. Would it hold up to my expectations given how much I love "The Night Circus"? I am happy to report that I absolutely loved this book and it surpassed my expectations. There are only a few authors that I have found that have the ability that Erin Morgenstern has to transport the reader in such a complete way into such lush, magical worlds. An amazing book that I couldn't have enjoyed reading more.