annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Rating: ★★★★★
A glowing wonderful magical book. There are so many highlight-worthy passages in this book. It's beautiful. All-ages (perfectly okay for a read-aloud bedtime book, but I enjoyed it as a read for myself).
A glowing wonderful magical book. There are so many highlight-worthy passages in this book. It's beautiful. All-ages (perfectly okay for a read-aloud bedtime book, but I enjoyed it as a read for myself).
pages_and_thread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Loved this! If you’re a fan of books such as Alice in wonderland, Peter Pan, and narnia - I think you will enjoy this!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Death, and Violence
marjey's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
É nisto que consiste um mapa, sabes? Apenas numa memória. Apenas num desejo de voltar para casa, um dia, de alguma maneira.
doogsley's review against another edition
5.0
✦ 5 stars ✦
my favorite book.
i've read the girl who circumnavigated fairyland nearly every september since discovering it during a reading spurt in college. maybe irrelevant, but i stumbled upon this novel when feeling utterly drained, torpid, and uninspired by life. college was hard, friends were hard, love was hard - but reading was so simple, and carefree, and mundane. i was a burnt out and apathetic english major, no longer attending class, searching for anything that glimmered. and i already played majora's mask six (6) times.
the storytelling scoops you up as early as page one, and you are swiftly carried into the world of fairyland; a magical island inhabited by witches with large hats, shapeshifting jackals, soap golems, a wyvern who is also a library, djinnis, humans who are half-fish, fish who are half-human, fairies (of course), and a very mean, no-good marquess. the story follows september - a curious and admirable 12-year old who may be a spiritual bellringer to sweet alice liddell of wonderland - through her incredibly enchanting adventure through the extraordinary and mischievous fairyland.
the writing is just superb. there's just enough whimsy to not drown in it, completely immersive and palatable. valente's words taste like dark chocolate coffee with a healthy dash of sweet creme - heady, smoky, dulcet, slightly bubbly, SO rich. like all stories with fae, there are macabre moments of heartache and grimace, of politics and ethos, and our author does an amazing job at processing these earthly weights in a fantasy world. it's all simple enough for young september to comprehend, while still delicately delivering a deep and complicated world for readers of all ages. but, most of all, this book does a delicious job at conjuring up page-long descriptions of autumnal feasts, bubble bath healing potions, and knitted streets of textile and yarn. SWOON. i am spirited away by this writing.
it's SO easy to pick up, SO easy to recommend, especially to cat lovers and those with lively imaginations. sometimes it feels like the book itself is of fae blood - even when i think i've excavated all scholastic goodness from the pages, i always capture a new slice of literary bijou to keep in my pocket of lovely, beautiful words. fairyland wafts through the pages like apple pie through a window; tantalizing, comforting, decadent.
i will be going through valente's bibliography throughout the year. at the time of writing this review, i've only read up to book two of five(ish) of fairyland. i'm excited to inhale more lyrical goodness!
to all readers who dream of a life bigger than washing teacups: join us in the twee, lurid, and whimsical fairyland :-3
my favorite book.
i've read the girl who circumnavigated fairyland nearly every september since discovering it during a reading spurt in college. maybe irrelevant, but i stumbled upon this novel when feeling utterly drained, torpid, and uninspired by life. college was hard, friends were hard, love was hard - but reading was so simple, and carefree, and mundane. i was a burnt out and apathetic english major, no longer attending class, searching for anything that glimmered. and i already played majora's mask six (6) times.
the storytelling scoops you up as early as page one, and you are swiftly carried into the world of fairyland; a magical island inhabited by witches with large hats, shapeshifting jackals, soap golems, a wyvern who is also a library, djinnis, humans who are half-fish, fish who are half-human, fairies (of course), and a very mean, no-good marquess. the story follows september - a curious and admirable 12-year old who may be a spiritual bellringer to sweet alice liddell of wonderland - through her incredibly enchanting adventure through the extraordinary and mischievous fairyland.
the writing is just superb. there's just enough whimsy to not drown in it, completely immersive and palatable. valente's words taste like dark chocolate coffee with a healthy dash of sweet creme - heady, smoky, dulcet, slightly bubbly, SO rich. like all stories with fae, there are macabre moments of heartache and grimace, of politics and ethos, and our author does an amazing job at processing these earthly weights in a fantasy world. it's all simple enough for young september to comprehend, while still delicately delivering a deep and complicated world for readers of all ages. but, most of all, this book does a delicious job at conjuring up page-long descriptions of autumnal feasts, bubble bath healing potions, and knitted streets of textile and yarn. SWOON. i am spirited away by this writing.
it's SO easy to pick up, SO easy to recommend, especially to cat lovers and those with lively imaginations. sometimes it feels like the book itself is of fae blood - even when i think i've excavated all scholastic goodness from the pages, i always capture a new slice of literary bijou to keep in my pocket of lovely, beautiful words. fairyland wafts through the pages like apple pie through a window; tantalizing, comforting, decadent.
i will be going through valente's bibliography throughout the year. at the time of writing this review, i've only read up to book two of five(ish) of fairyland. i'm excited to inhale more lyrical goodness!
to all readers who dream of a life bigger than washing teacups: join us in the twee, lurid, and whimsical fairyland :-3
amysdenn's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Too much description for me
mouseofcheese's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
crystal_reading's review against another edition
3.0
I just couldn't get into this one. The sentences were super long and the word choice was very odd. I felt it was playing at being fantasy. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I might try again another time. (Sept 2011)
I checked it out on audio (read by the author) and really enjoyed Alice in Wonderland Narnia kind of adventure this time.
I checked it out on audio (read by the author) and really enjoyed Alice in Wonderland Narnia kind of adventure this time.
bigbear73's review against another edition
5.0
Like many readers, I have a TBR pile several miles high. Because of this, I tend to stay in my ‘sweet spot’ - familiar authors, or authors I’ve already been meaning to get to. This is a sad state of affairs, but the average age of American men is still only around 77, and I have a crap ton of reading to get to before I die as it is. Thankfully, though, a friend of mine had a quote from The Girl in her email signature, and I couldn’t NOT read a book with such awesome word play. I’m glad I veered from my pile for this sweet little distraction.
This book, at its core, is sweet and incredibly fun, with a creative take on Fairyland. There are tons of new ideas, and a great story line. The characters are extremely well fleshed out, and lovable, hateable or just amusing by turns. But none of this holds a candle to how it is written. The prose is incredible and beautiful, and Cat’s play on words is epic. This is the sort of book that can make a wanna be writer either give up in despair because he/she could never reach this level, or aspire to work twice as hard to be able to deliver such a joy to other readers. In short, even if you didn’t like the story, the delivery makes it well worth the read.
Everyone should pick this one up. 5/5 stars.
This book, at its core, is sweet and incredibly fun, with a creative take on Fairyland. There are tons of new ideas, and a great story line. The characters are extremely well fleshed out, and lovable, hateable or just amusing by turns. But none of this holds a candle to how it is written. The prose is incredible and beautiful, and Cat’s play on words is epic. This is the sort of book that can make a wanna be writer either give up in despair because he/she could never reach this level, or aspire to work twice as hard to be able to deliver such a joy to other readers. In short, even if you didn’t like the story, the delivery makes it well worth the read.
Everyone should pick this one up. 5/5 stars.