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2.08k reviews for:
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Catherynne M. Valente
4.06 AVERAGE
2.08k reviews for:
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Catherynne M. Valente
4.06 AVERAGE
A very creative fantastical extended "fairy" tale. Full of heart and adventure.
"I understand now," September said ruefully.
"What?" said Saturday.
"What the sign meant. To lose your heart. When I go home, I shall leave mine here, and I don't think I shall ever have it back."
"I will keep it safe for you," Saturday whispered, barely brave enough to say it.
I think my frozen heart melted a little bit.
"What?" said Saturday.
"What the sign meant. To lose your heart. When I go home, I shall leave mine here, and I don't think I shall ever have it back."
"I will keep it safe for you," Saturday whispered, barely brave enough to say it.
I think my frozen heart melted a little bit.
Absolutely wonderful. Solid writing and so clever! One of my new favorites, for sure.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Dudes, it’s been waaay too long since I read this book. This review is not going to be my best ever. (I am SO BEHIND in my reviews. For instance, this is my 39th review this year, but I am currently reading my 46th and 47th books. I’m sure this is a problem a lot of you are having as well. Please take this opportunity to whine in my comments. I will not mind.)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (longest title EVER, so good thing it’s so adorable) came to me very highly recommended from several sources, so I was extremely excited to read it. I even bought myself a shiny hardcover copy. I’m happy to say I enjoyed it very much, although it wasn’t as great as I was hoping it would be.
TGWCFiaSoHWM (!) is about a little girl called September who is spirited away to Fairyland one day for an adventure. She traverses Fairyland with an assortment of magical creatures and beasts, including her very own Wyverary (his mother was a Wyvern, and his father a library). She also encounters a woman made of soap, a town made of cloth, a herd of wild bicycles, and a race of half-people that I’m frankly at a loss to explain. Sure there’s an “evil queen” figure propelling her into all sorts of scrapes, and little whiffs of destiny here and there, but ultimately, it’s September herself who charts her own course around Fairyland and comes out the other side.
TGWCFiaSoHWM is charming and whimsical, and extremely imaginative, but for most of the book, it is a little light on character development. Valente packs so much imagination into her world-building that it’s breathtaking, and her sentences are frankly magical, but she spends far less time on the creations that populate this fantastical universe she’s created. For that reason, until the end of the book, reading TGWCFiaSoHWM felt like a bit of a shallow experience. All frosting, no cake. And other such metaphors.
And then the ending happened.
Until I read the ending, I was all set and ready to give the book three stars. And then the ending kind of knocked me on my ass. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that all the emotion and character depth that was missing throughout most of the book was packed into its last hurrah. The story of The Marquess was devastatingly sad and horrible in the best way possible. It made me rethink the whole rest of the book. I actually think this book would have been much oomphier with The Marquess as the main character, or with her story as a framing device or something. Something to let you know that September isn’t the real show here, that her journey into Fairyland signifies something more important when seen through the lens of The Marquess’s story at the end of the book.
But then again, this isn’t my story, it’s Valente’s, and her heroine is September. Anyway, the ending was awesome even though I think she could have worked it into the rest of the story somehow, so I’m giving this like 3.75 stars, but I’ll round up to 4 just because I’m feeling magnanimous.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (longest title EVER, so good thing it’s so adorable) came to me very highly recommended from several sources, so I was extremely excited to read it. I even bought myself a shiny hardcover copy. I’m happy to say I enjoyed it very much, although it wasn’t as great as I was hoping it would be.
TGWCFiaSoHWM (!) is about a little girl called September who is spirited away to Fairyland one day for an adventure. She traverses Fairyland with an assortment of magical creatures and beasts, including her very own Wyverary (his mother was a Wyvern, and his father a library). She also encounters a woman made of soap, a town made of cloth, a herd of wild bicycles, and a race of half-people that I’m frankly at a loss to explain. Sure there’s an “evil queen” figure propelling her into all sorts of scrapes, and little whiffs of destiny here and there, but ultimately, it’s September herself who charts her own course around Fairyland and comes out the other side.
TGWCFiaSoHWM is charming and whimsical, and extremely imaginative, but for most of the book, it is a little light on character development. Valente packs so much imagination into her world-building that it’s breathtaking, and her sentences are frankly magical, but she spends far less time on the creations that populate this fantastical universe she’s created. For that reason, until the end of the book, reading TGWCFiaSoHWM felt like a bit of a shallow experience. All frosting, no cake. And other such metaphors.
And then the ending happened.
Until I read the ending, I was all set and ready to give the book three stars. And then the ending kind of knocked me on my ass. I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that all the emotion and character depth that was missing throughout most of the book was packed into its last hurrah. The story of The Marquess was devastatingly sad and horrible in the best way possible. It made me rethink the whole rest of the book. I actually think this book would have been much oomphier with The Marquess as the main character, or with her story as a framing device or something. Something to let you know that September isn’t the real show here, that her journey into Fairyland signifies something more important when seen through the lens of The Marquess’s story at the end of the book.
But then again, this isn’t my story, it’s Valente’s, and her heroine is September. Anyway, the ending was awesome even though I think she could have worked it into the rest of the story somehow, so I’m giving this like 3.75 stars, but I’ll round up to 4 just because I’m feeling magnanimous.
I should have loved it. So many people whom I respect and so often agree with regarding books loved this one (including Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss). I tried so hard to like it, the story's very well written, the plot is intricate and interesting, the dialogues are brilliant. Everything about this book was waiting for me to like it. I should have been over the moon with this book, instead I've just finished it and thought "well, thankfully that's done".
I don't know what happened, it is a genuinely good book. I wanted to care, wanted to love the characters, to get invested in the plot, all the elements that normally would make me love a book were there; but it just left me cold. I did not care for the characters or the events or the beautiful places it took us to.
For those considering reading this, it's definitely worth looking into, just either not by me or maybe not now.
I don't know what happened, it is a genuinely good book. I wanted to care, wanted to love the characters, to get invested in the plot, all the elements that normally would make me love a book were there; but it just left me cold. I did not care for the characters or the events or the beautiful places it took us to.
For those considering reading this, it's definitely worth looking into, just either not by me or maybe not now.
This whole series is one of the most delightful things I’ve ever read. It’s instantly on my shortest short list of favorite books. It’s the kind of thing I will buy for my hypothetical grandkids someday to pass down. I wish I could have experienced it as a young me; I can only imagine the way it would have shaped my imagination as a kid.
It was a fun, whimsical tale. I'd love to see a Miyazaki film of it.
Charming is the best word I can think of to describe this. And whimsical. It's definitely whimsical.
But it's also... It's hard to describe, really, or put my finger on exactly why, but I kept getting the feeling that there is satire hidden in here somewhere and I'm just not clever enough to identify it. Neither the satirical aspect, nor the things it means to poke fun at. It's entirely, totally possible (and probably most likely) that there just isn't any satire intended at all and it's all something I'm imagening. It's just a sort of vibe I get.
This was a great book to read through just after one I'd been struggling with and that had just been getting bleaker and bleaker as it built towards an unfulfilling ending. This was a book to lift the spirits.
But it's also... It's hard to describe, really, or put my finger on exactly why, but I kept getting the feeling that there is satire hidden in here somewhere and I'm just not clever enough to identify it. Neither the satirical aspect, nor the things it means to poke fun at. It's entirely, totally possible (and probably most likely) that there just isn't any satire intended at all and it's all something I'm imagening. It's just a sort of vibe I get.
This was a great book to read through just after one I'd been struggling with and that had just been getting bleaker and bleaker as it built towards an unfulfilling ending. This was a book to lift the spirits.