Reviews
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente, Ana Juan
frostlywild17's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
be_like_the_squirrel_girl's review against another edition
4.0
This continues to be one of the best series ever. I want to hug the author for giving us September.
pickett22's review against another edition
5.0
When I started this book, I really wasn't liking it. I found it too mechanical and too cruel. And then I had this awful realization that September was growing up. I said the first book was like sitting in the lap of someone who loved you while they petted your hair and told you that the world was a very hard place. And that's what needed to happen. This book began with very hard people reminding you first hand that the world is a very hard place.
This book is brilliant. The characters discuss the problems of growing up, of choosing a life, of protecting and using a heart, of relationships, and of leaving behind childhood and in that leaving behind parts of yourself. The prose is beautiful and I don't understand how anyone can be wise enough to write it.
But it's not just that. It's not just that the characters talk about things and deal with them, but the specific characters who come in and interact are exactly who they need to be. There is a perfect balance of cruel and kind that is needed to make this journey hard but not impossible. An environment in which the children grow and learn and hurt, but don't break. But they're not children... it's so important that they are not children now, they are becoming grown up, and the book does this amazing job of explaining that that's absolutely okay. Grown ups are not actually "the worst," they are trying to begin again and make things okay. It's literally perfect.
This book was so very painful. But like... growing pains are painful. Sometimes unbearably so, and sometimes in the end it doesn't seem worth it, but it's so very necessary. Because you cannot always stay as you were and are. That's not living.
My words are not enough to express the mountain of pure, childish astonishment at everything this book is. It is truly wild. It is truly true. How does anyone ever get to be that knowing?
This book is brilliant. The characters discuss the problems of growing up, of choosing a life, of protecting and using a heart, of relationships, and of leaving behind childhood and in that leaving behind parts of yourself. The prose is beautiful and I don't understand how anyone can be wise enough to write it.
But it's not just that. It's not just that the characters talk about things and deal with them, but the specific characters who come in and interact are exactly who they need to be. There is a perfect balance of cruel and kind that is needed to make this journey hard but not impossible. An environment in which the children grow and learn and hurt, but don't break. But they're not children... it's so important that they are not children now, they are becoming grown up, and the book does this amazing job of explaining that that's absolutely okay. Grown ups are not actually "the worst," they are trying to begin again and make things okay. It's literally perfect.
This book was so very painful. But like... growing pains are painful. Sometimes unbearably so, and sometimes in the end it doesn't seem worth it, but it's so very necessary. Because you cannot always stay as you were and are. That's not living.
My words are not enough to express the mountain of pure, childish astonishment at everything this book is. It is truly wild. It is truly true. How does anyone ever get to be that knowing?
futurememory's review against another edition
5.0
I think this was my favorite book in the series so far. There are so many wonderful, beautiful truths in the pages. September's growing up, and things are getting complicated, and there's talk here of fate and choosing, and making of life what you will, and bucking trends. All wrapped up in Catherynne Valente's gorgeous, gorgeous prose. Reading the Fairyland books makes my heart ache in the way that only reading something beautiful does. They remind me of why I love reading so much in the first place.
This story about Fairyland's Moon was far better put-together than the second book in the series. Things weren't as disjointed and out of place, and it's great to see the gang all together again. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, since for the first time, we end on quite the cliffhanger, with things unsteady and different.
This story about Fairyland's Moon was far better put-together than the second book in the series. Things weren't as disjointed and out of place, and it's great to see the gang all together again. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, since for the first time, we end on quite the cliffhanger, with things unsteady and different.
aprilthelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Valente has such beautiful and lyrical writing. It's like you are transported to a Fairyland just reading her text.
Also, Ell is my favorite. We must protect him and cherish him.
Also, Ell is my favorite. We must protect him and cherish him.
fictionalkate's review against another edition
4.0
Never before have I read a book which combined the utterly absurd with such playful prose. Catherynne M Valente has created a delightful novel with bizarre characters, intriguing lands and a heroine you can't help but like.
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two is the third book in the Fairyland series however it is possible to love this book without having prior knowledge of the setting or the characters.
Each chapter begins with an illustration and brief description of what to expect. Just a few lines, rather succinct, but written in such a way that left me wanting to see just how the chapter plays out.
September is growing up. Now fourteen, she is worried that she might be too old to get to Fairyland any more. Desperate to be taken away, September tries all she can to be responsible and ready for her Fairyland adventures. She works hard, picking up odd jobs, learns to drive, all in the hope that when Fairyland beckons - September will be ready!
But life rarely happens how we want it too. September is carried adrift by a rather mischievous Blue Wind and September's third Fairyland adventure is not quite as she expected.
September is a fun character to read about. She's fourteen but seems to have left her childhood behind in an attempt to be adult about her desire to go back to Fairyland. Working to support her adventures has left September friendless in her real life and she spends her days wishing away the present hoping that her time in Fairyland is near.
"No one ever told her that exulting and dancing and singing nonsense were childish things, but she felt sure that they were, somehow."
Fairyland isn't how she remembered it but along the way September meets some old friends, is reunited with those of old and has an adventure like no other in the process.
I enjoyed the plot but for me the highlight of this story is the characters. Winds with personality, a crocodile who is "generous by nature and miserly by nurture", as well as a whole host of other quirky and insane people September meets on her adventure make this book a delight to read.
Beautifully written and containing a lot of charm and whimsy, this book was a pleasure to read. I've not read the previous two Fairyland novels but after reading this one, I can't wait to go back to the start of the series and see how September's adventures in Fairyland began.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy to review.
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two is the third book in the Fairyland series however it is possible to love this book without having prior knowledge of the setting or the characters.
Each chapter begins with an illustration and brief description of what to expect. Just a few lines, rather succinct, but written in such a way that left me wanting to see just how the chapter plays out.
September is growing up. Now fourteen, she is worried that she might be too old to get to Fairyland any more. Desperate to be taken away, September tries all she can to be responsible and ready for her Fairyland adventures. She works hard, picking up odd jobs, learns to drive, all in the hope that when Fairyland beckons - September will be ready!
But life rarely happens how we want it too. September is carried adrift by a rather mischievous Blue Wind and September's third Fairyland adventure is not quite as she expected.
September is a fun character to read about. She's fourteen but seems to have left her childhood behind in an attempt to be adult about her desire to go back to Fairyland. Working to support her adventures has left September friendless in her real life and she spends her days wishing away the present hoping that her time in Fairyland is near.
"No one ever told her that exulting and dancing and singing nonsense were childish things, but she felt sure that they were, somehow."
Fairyland isn't how she remembered it but along the way September meets some old friends, is reunited with those of old and has an adventure like no other in the process.
I enjoyed the plot but for me the highlight of this story is the characters. Winds with personality, a crocodile who is "generous by nature and miserly by nurture", as well as a whole host of other quirky and insane people September meets on her adventure make this book a delight to read.
Beautifully written and containing a lot of charm and whimsy, this book was a pleasure to read. I've not read the previous two Fairyland novels but after reading this one, I can't wait to go back to the start of the series and see how September's adventures in Fairyland began.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy to review.
settingshadow's review against another edition
4.0
It's been a week of disappointing sequels in my life. Not that the Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two isn't good. It's good, it's just the two prior novels are Oh My Goodness, turn cartwheels, no scoring system goes high enough, amazing. And The Girl Who Soared is good. Maybe even very good, but no better.
Valente's previous works have been a patchwork of disparate settings and characters all loosely bound together in service of a plot, and somehow it just seems to work. Here, the settings are just as magical: a lizard made up of coins guards a cash register that determines your occupation, a whelk has made its shell into a city fueled by its love, acrobats made of paper fold and unfold as they do tricks, and an entire world made up of photographic negatives feature (sadly, while much is discussed about the city of Orrery, which is an Orrery and has every type of "-scope" imaginable, we spend very little time there.) But the threads tying them together feel looser. Zooming from one place to another felt organic and natural in the earlier books. Here it feels frenetic, and I found myself having trouble following why this or that was happening.
Similarly, the other Fairyland books center around themes of Coming of Age and particularly issues of adolescence, in a way that is central, but not overbearing. Here the central theme -- how one develops an identity and how volitional that identity is -- is equally universal and equally foundational to the book, but its inclusion feels more heavy-handed.
I certainly enjoyed the book, and I certainly will keep reading the series, but just as certainly, it pales by comparison.
Valente's previous works have been a patchwork of disparate settings and characters all loosely bound together in service of a plot, and somehow it just seems to work. Here, the settings are just as magical: a lizard made up of coins guards a cash register that determines your occupation, a whelk has made its shell into a city fueled by its love, acrobats made of paper fold and unfold as they do tricks, and an entire world made up of photographic negatives feature (sadly, while much is discussed about the city of Orrery, which is an Orrery and has every type of "-scope" imaginable, we spend very little time there.) But the threads tying them together feel looser. Zooming from one place to another felt organic and natural in the earlier books. Here it feels frenetic, and I found myself having trouble following why this or that was happening.
Similarly, the other Fairyland books center around themes of Coming of Age and particularly issues of adolescence, in a way that is central, but not overbearing. Here the central theme -- how one develops an identity and how volitional that identity is -- is equally universal and equally foundational to the book, but its inclusion feels more heavy-handed.
I certainly enjoyed the book, and I certainly will keep reading the series, but just as certainly, it pales by comparison.
squishies's review against another edition
3.0
I love the storyline, Valente's world building is fantastic, incredibly whimsical, and so much fun... but I think I'm kind of over the way she writes. But it's the way she writes that makes Fairyland so enjoyable to read... so now I'm conflicted.
Maybe it felt like Valente was trying too hard to make everything seem strange and fascinating through what seemed like increasingly floral writing, or maybe I wasn't quite in the mood for such a book.
What I know is that I'm no longer emotionally invested in September, while Saturday and Ell have become my favourite characters in the book.
(Okay, okay... I may have a mini-crush on Saturday, so I'm rather bias about that).
Maybe it felt like Valente was trying too hard to make everything seem strange and fascinating through what seemed like increasingly floral writing, or maybe I wasn't quite in the mood for such a book.
What I know is that I'm no longer emotionally invested in September, while Saturday and Ell have become my favourite characters in the book.
(Okay, okay... I may have a mini-crush on Saturday, so I'm rather bias about that).