The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: The Reason We Love Stories

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Working for a bookstore is the best job in the world; you get to be surrounded by books, talk to people about books, and help people find their new favorite book. But you also get to read advanced copies of books, and that is how I got my hands on an advanced copy of The Starless Sea. Thank you so much to Doubleday for sending me this book for review!

 I cannot believe I was given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of one of my most anticipated books, The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern. I read Erin's first book, The Night Circus, when I was 14, and I really loved it. So, I was very excited to see what her sophomore novel would be like. 

 The Starless Sea is a book about books. Actually, it's a book about stories, and a love letter to storytelling. It's magical and haunting and whimsical and lush and lyrical and it is genuinely one of the most remarkable books I have ever read. This book is a reminder of why I- why we- love stories. 

 The Starless Sea is quite complicated to explain, so I'm going to insert the summary that appears on the jacket of the book:

 Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

 Erin Morgenstern is a sorcerer of writing. This beautiful novel has a little bit of everything; it has mystery and adventure, romance and heartbreak, myths and magic, fairy tales and stories. It bends time and space, fate and time, and metaphor and reality. Through all of this, Morgenstern weaves together alternating chapters of fairytales and myths into the main storyline that is Zachary's adventures, and they connect to one another in the most masterful of ways. 

 If you love books, if you love stories, no matter what your taste in reading is, this book is for you. 

 I do have some advice about reading this book, though, and that is, just go with it. It does take about 80 pages for the story to really "start" (for lack of a better word) and you will most likely feel confused and you will most likely ask yourself, "am I missing something?" more than once. Just go with it. Answers slowly start to be revealed throughout the novel, and by the end, everything will come together and your questions will be answered. 

 I gave The Starless Sea the highest of 5 stars.

 The Starless Sea comes out in November, and you will DEFINITELY want to preorder a copy. PSSSST, you'll probably want the Waterstones exclusive edition ;). 
XOXO,
Isabella

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