Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Stardust

* Can I just preface this review by saying that I really disagree with the 'young-adult' label that storygraph has given this book. Yes, it follows young adult characters but this story does have some gruesome / bloody violence and sexual content (not the worst by any means but still relatively graphic) and I don't really feel it should be picked up by anyone under 16, (certainly not the younger end of YA by any means). It really follows none of the standard YA tropes / archetypes and I don't really think this is an accurate description of it. I don't have anything against the YA genre and know it encompasses a broad range of stories, but I really find this labelling is rather misleading. *

I've seen many mixed reviews for Stardust, and although I can understand a lot of criticisms it has faced (this book definitely has some flaws / points of controversy), I greatly enjoyed this story.

It did take me quite a while to get through this relatively short book, although I am not sure if that is inherently a fault of the book, or because I've been struggling in / out of a reading slump for something like 3 months. I sometimes find it hard to distance myself between assuming that a book was only good or enjoyable if I read it as quickly / in as short a time as possible. However, for the rest of this review I will attempt to talk about it with disregard for the time I took to read it.

TO START: I definitely think this is a case where you should read the book before watching the film. I haven't watched it, which I think probably aided in my enjoyment because I had no expectations based on the film - which I believe is a lot more family friendly. This story is not for kids.

I know everyone talks about Gaiman's prose, but in this book especially, I really enjoyed the way it was written. I find Gaiman's prose incredibly digestible but it is also very engaging, and really helps to build an atmosphere in the story. I also enjoy how unusual and kind of absurdist the plot is, for instance

the side plot about Primus and Septimus was one of my favourite parts of the book. I just think it's hilarious that Gaiman chose to name them this way, and these side characters genuinely interested me more than Tristran did. The idea of the brothers' ghosts following the other heirs around was such an interesting way to add a bit of humour and I really enjoyed their random cameo's and glimpses of them by other characters. I also liked that Primus was genuinely a pretty good guy and the paranoia was incredibly fun to read about. I was actually a bit sad when he got killed, though I guess I expected it.

Tristran isn't the most interesting protagonist, and I can't say I really loved (or for the most part even liked), or related to any of the characters. I did find many of the side characters and their quirky personalities incredibly entertaining to read about though, such as the hairy man, the heirs, and even the witch-queen. I found Yvaine (the star) rather unlikeable however. SPOILER RANT INCOMING:

I've seen many reviews criticising Tristran and say he is incredibly cruel, blah blah blah, for chaining up the star and I do somewhat agree - but it's not like he just dragged her along or something in a heartless and cruel way, he literally makes her the best splint he could during the circumstances and constructs a crutch for her, constantly offers her food and worries about her physical wellbeing and is generally kind to her. Yes he is a dick for chaining her up in the first place, which I don't condone, again I DON'T LIKE TRISTRAN, but I think he kind of gets a bad wrap (for this part of the story anyway). If he had just left her there, she may have died from being unable to move, or one of the side characters would have killed her first. ANYWAY, now to why I DISLIKE Tristran.

RANT TWO: I kind of dislike the main driving plot of bringing back the star in the first place because there is literally one scene where Tristran even talks to Victoria, and it is literally him being incredibly entitled and refusing to take NO for an answer. Several times. The whole thing is presented in a 'things you do for love', 'boys will be boys', 'young, dumb love' kind of way that I believe is potentially a bit problematic when it comes down to it. Especially how we are told that Tristran, as well as other boys and much older men, stare at Victoria, and attempt to watch her undress. In this one scene as well, Victoria is also kind of presented as rather a manipulative b*tch, because she's 'oh so attractive', because she said no, and because she 'sent' Tristran on this dangerous quest! She was just trying to make him leave her alone because he wouldn't take f*ckin NO for an answer! It's not romantic at all! It's all a bit :/

I do think that Tristran does improve significantly by the end but in a slightly annoying self-righteous way. The 'romance' between him and the star was also kind of unbelievable. (IS IT BAD I HATE YVAINE TOO??)

Really liked the ending though when he is reunited with his mother.

Although when I hesitantly moved passed the issues I bring up in my spoiler-y rant, I found myself completely attached and engrossed by this story. I loved the world of Faerie. There are many dark / gruesome scenes in this story, as well as a relatively graphic sex scene near the start, which do feel a bit out of place with the rest of the whimsy of the story, however I actually really enjoyed some of these darker elements. The witch-queen especially really felt very threatening

The inn scene, in my opinion was great - really such an 'oh f*ck, sh*t is about to go down here' moment

which I really felt aided in raising the stakes of the story. It also felt reminiscent of some of the original fairytales (none of which I have read, but I understand the general vibe) that were considerably more violent / disturbing until they were disney-fied.

Overall though, for my fourth Gaiman novel, this probably won't be my favourite, but for the most part I quite enjoyed it nonetheless.

Content Warnings