“The Starless Sea” is one of the most pure and beautiful books I have ever read.

The structure of the book follows a main plot line that takes part in various periods in time,

that are broken up by unique “fairytales/bedtime stories” that all circle around the mysterious Starless Sea.

It begins with Zachary Ezra Rollins, a slightly awkward grad student at a liberal arts college with an affinity for reading.

While looking in the library for good reads before the spring semester starts up again, he finds a very old fiction book that has no author.

All seems normal until he gets to a part in the book that has actually happened… to him.

Naturally, Zachary kind of starts to freak out.

He goes down a research rabbit hole, following the trail of three symbols: a bee, a key, and a sword.

These three very simple motifs (along with a handsome stranger named Dorian)

lead him to a secret underground library that’s attributes seem to defy the laws of the natural world.

Chief among them being Mirabel, a confident resident of the library with a strange power.

Within the library, lie the answers to questions of the present, the future, and of the much-lost past.

And of course, there are those who would like nothing more than for those questions to be left unanswered,

even if it means destroying the hidden sanctuary and everyone in it.

This book has everything from romance to daring rescues, riddles, self-reflections, and a few bunny pirates.

As the characters drive deeper into the depths of the library, the imagery only becomes more fantastical.

It’s the perfect book for the kids who spent their childhood looking for Narnia in every corner.

The fairytales are another level, full of all the traditional elements of the classics,

but with extra tinges of both reality and magic.

“The Starless Sea” is truly a story about storytelling.

Every side quest has a purpose along with every character.

And these characters could honestly be anyone trying to find their way.

Their underlying journey is to learn to face their past, mistakes and all, and look to the future in whatever that means for them.

I read this book right before coming to college, when I was insanely uncertain about my choices and if I was ready for what was ahead of me.

Within the book I found my fear reflected in a grad student who, even before all the magic and bizarre circumstances, was questioning himself.

This book is meant to address the lost feeling that everyone will eventually find themselves in,

to speak to the kid in all of us that once thought magic could be real.

It’s really refreshing.