ayesha akhtar

Far above the stars are watching, delighted. About the book : There are some books which make you question yourself 'Why I haven't read this before?', for me The Starless Sea is definitely one of those. This book is a bundle of several books and isn't it fascinating to read a single book whilst encountering tons of stories?? All the stories are intertwined together and it is hard to tell what the hell is happening half way through the book, just the way I like. I like to get into a book without knowing what it is about, cause the lesser we know about the book the better it is. However, it revolves around different characters. The closest person to the main character is Zachary Ezra Rawlins. Incredible incidents of his life tends him to set out in search of the Starless Sea and he has no idea where it is or whether it actually exist. The Starless Sea is a place beneath the Earth's surface where all the stories resides in different forms; away from the stars. Writing Style This book is more of a poem than a novel. Every character is a metaphor and every word is sugar coated. There are quotes like: "What's the difference between a door and a cage? Between not yet and too late?" which compelled me to actually wonder about it. Although my most favourite and relatable quote from this book is, "Thank you for seeing me when other people looked through me like I was a ghost" I could not help getting so emotional at the parts which were not even tragic yet the melancholy of the words that echo as I read them cannot be ignored. I had low expectations with The Starless Sea because I had heard that it is not as magical as The Night circus, trust me it is equally enchanting and breathtaking. Erin Morgenstern has done great justice to the magic and magic system. I think my low expectations were somehow the reason why I come to like it this much. Aftermath: A few hours ago, when I finished reading The Starless Sea, I was not sure how I feel about it. After enough of thinking and a cup of tea and of course talking with Sayonee ( she's a book genius ) I am clear about the fact that it deserves to read by more people. It might be a spoiler if I say that some parts of it are left unfinished. Some stories are not linked with others, they are just stories and it made me overwhelmed because happy ending or not, we crave for endings. The more I think about it the more I believe that it is probably the best for some stories to not end so we can imagine it in a hundred possible ways. I think the most suitable words would be: "She found she no longer minded that the stories would linger. That some enjoyed them and others did not but that is the nature of a story. Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does, somewhere, sometime. In one form or another."

Genre:- YA, contemporary, romance. Preview:- Just as the cover says, it's a story of a girl who learns to read from a guy who intends to die. Finch, a boy in high school who has been labeled as a freak, is suffering from bipolar depression and is pretty much suicidal. But when he sees Violet, whose life seems simple and sorted out wants to end her life, things change. Writing Style:- The writing is just so lovely that it made me fell in love with Jennifer Niven. It talked about mental health so deeply and with such intensity that made me question my concerns about it. A topic like mental illness is intertwined with romance and poems, which I really adored!!! It has been written with the perspective of both, Finch and Violet, so we get to know how they both feel in same situation. If there is a thing like perfect timing, then I probably read it at that period. I was so numb and desperately needed to feel something, this book has been a life savor for me. I wondered that somewhere out there someone has really felt what I am feeling and put it in their beautiful words. It has changed my life, and apparently my taste in books. It's not a self-help book, however, calling it so will not be completely wrong. But you do not have to be at the verge of self destruction to read ATBP and rebuild yourself, you can read it if you're feeling to read something which can make you cry your heart out or make you feel special or both. You can really count on this one.