The Starless Sea

by Erin Morgenstern

498 pgs

I believe most people who pick up Erin Morgenstern's latest book, The Starless Sea, do so because they read and loved her very popular first book, The Night Circus. which makes me confident I'm in the minority, since I've yet to read that one. But having heard about it, and having had it recommended to me by numerous people, I had pretty high expectations for this new one. 

The book is a combination of stories, which Morgenstern intertwines together with varying degrees of success. The story revolves around Zachary Ezra Rollins, the son of a fortune teller, ho loves books and is a graduate student studying video games. Zach comes across a unique book in the school's library, which appears to have been misshelved, due to its apparent lack of authorship. The book is called Sweet Sorrows, and as Zach begins reading it, he discovers it contains an account of an experience from his childhood.

The experience involved a painted door that he turned away from, but which the book reveals would have taken him to a mysterious otherworld called the Starless Sea. Zach becomes obsessed with the book and where it came from and sets out on a journey to try to find the Starless Sea once again. 

It sounds exactly like the type of story that I'd love, but unfortunately, I found myself struggling with the book throughout. Part of it could have come from the fact that I listened to it instead of read it, which made it harder to follow Morgenstern's ambitious and unique way of telling the story. She switched back and forth between Zachary's journey and the mythology of the book, which included Zachary as well. And I often felt confused about where I was in the story. I also felt like the book wandered around a lot, without an ultimate destination and resolution in mind. 

I will give Morgenstern credit here she's due though. The book was beautifully written, enough so that there were many times I was listening to it and enjoying the writing enough to not care that I was feeling lost with what as going on.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆