It’s only fair to start by saying I don’t really read fantasy. But the reasons I didn’t like The Starless Sea are not just because it’s a fantasy. I had a couple big problems/disappointments:

- I liked the premise and setup of the story, but I felt like there wasn’t much of a plot driving the story forward. At any point, I could’ve sat this book down and forgot about it, but I pushed through since I was intentionally challenging myself.

- There were several points where I just had no idea what was going on because of how abstract it was. It’s hard to get absorbed in a story you keep getting lost in.

- I was super hype for the m/m romance, but it fell short of my expectations. It was just like, all of a sudden they were in love? In a 500 page story I expected some build up and tension.

- I liked the short stories interspersed between the main narrative more than the main narrative itself. So that’s.. not great haha.

That’s the long and short of it. Overall I was just disappointed, but I’ve heard The Night Circus is way better so I’m still willing to give that a shot.

And just to balance the scales, what I did enjoy about The Starless Seas it the atmosphere it builds. Particularly when reading some of the short stories I could feel the cold snowy weather or hear the lapping of the wind. Definitely good writing, just not the story for me.