Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
What an inventive author! De Lint's "urban fantasy" was a welcome surprise for me. I've read two of his books now and will be reading more. The Onion Girl, so called because she has layer after layer to be peeled away as the story progresses. There were times that I thought Jilly was just a little too good, considering what she had been through - but then, I really am a cynic at heart. Good reading, and definitely a new idea for me.
3.5 stars
At 500 pages, this book is about 150 pages longer than the story it contains. I think de Lint could have covered the internal monologues more briefly than he did; the movement of the work stalls out while Jilly spends 3 pages philosophizing.
Otherwise it was fine for a de Lint novel. It's got the same issues of previous books. I'm definitely not comfortable about the way he covers indigenous people and customs even if the Kickaha luckily are a composite of multiple tribes and not taken in full from an Indigenous perspective. I do wish de Lint could just chill it with the manic pixie dream guy/magical indigenous shtick already.
At 500 pages, this book is about 150 pages longer than the story it contains. I think de Lint could have covered the internal monologues more briefly than he did; the movement of the work stalls out while Jilly spends 3 pages philosophizing.
Otherwise it was fine for a de Lint novel. It's got the same issues of previous books. I'm definitely not comfortable about the way he covers indigenous people and customs even if the Kickaha luckily are a composite of multiple tribes and not taken in full from an Indigenous perspective. I do wish de Lint could just chill it with the manic pixie dream guy/magical indigenous shtick already.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tried. I really wanted to love this book, and gave it 100 pages, but I just couldn't get into it.
Like nothing I ever read before. It took me a while to adjust, kind of like breaking in new shoes but in the end I really enjoyed it. The themes of forgiveness resonated with me.
mul on de Lintiga selline veider suhe, et tema "Kusagil lennata" meeldis mulle üle mõistuse hästi ja seega loen teda enda jaoks oluliseks autoriks; aga iga kord talt midagi lugedes pettun rohkem või vähem, sest ükski teine tema raamat ikkagi ei ole "Kusagil lennata". Newfordi lood on seega alati paremad kui muud lood; ja varesetüdrukuteta ei ole ka miski kunagi see.
"The Onion Girl" on küll üsna korralik Newfordi lugu, hästi paljude teistest raamatutest tuttavate kõrvaltegelastega, aga kahjuks ilma selle "Kusagil lennata"-kohavaibita (enamus tegevust toimub kas haiglas või üldse kuskil teises ilmas, mitte linnas endas). varesetüdrukud lipsavad läbi täpselt sellisel määral, et kahtlustan, et teisedki peale minu tahavad neid näha ja de Lint täidab siin tellimust. linnuke (no pun intended) saab kirja, aga see püss küll oma pauku ära ei teinud.
kõik deLintilikud (indiaani) mütoloogia elemendid on muidugi korralikult olemas. isegi ükssarvikuid leidub, muudest pisematest haldjatest rääkimata, väljamõeldud raamatutegelastest maaema(de) endini välja.
tagakaaneteksti väitel on Jilly Coppercorn üks Newfordi keskseid tegelasi, aga mul teda teistest lugudest küll eriti palju meeles pole. siiski, täiesti korralik raamat ka ilma igasuguse muu taustata, ühe inimese elust ja saatusest ja valikutest ja kõigest sellest. mulle meeldis, kuidas see lugu end lahti keris ja kuidas asjade seosed ja põhjused tasapisi ilmnesid. aga segas, et minu meelest ei selgunudki isegi päris lõpus, et kes siis ikkagi esimesel leheküljel mõrvakatse sooritas :(
"The Onion Girl" on küll üsna korralik Newfordi lugu, hästi paljude teistest raamatutest tuttavate kõrvaltegelastega, aga kahjuks ilma selle "Kusagil lennata"-kohavaibita (enamus tegevust toimub kas haiglas või üldse kuskil teises ilmas, mitte linnas endas). varesetüdrukud lipsavad läbi täpselt sellisel määral, et kahtlustan, et teisedki peale minu tahavad neid näha ja de Lint täidab siin tellimust. linnuke (no pun intended) saab kirja, aga see püss küll oma pauku ära ei teinud.
kõik deLintilikud (indiaani) mütoloogia elemendid on muidugi korralikult olemas. isegi ükssarvikuid leidub, muudest pisematest haldjatest rääkimata, väljamõeldud raamatutegelastest maaema(de) endini välja.
tagakaaneteksti väitel on Jilly Coppercorn üks Newfordi keskseid tegelasi, aga mul teda teistest lugudest küll eriti palju meeles pole. siiski, täiesti korralik raamat ka ilma igasuguse muu taustata, ühe inimese elust ja saatusest ja valikutest ja kõigest sellest. mulle meeldis, kuidas see lugu end lahti keris ja kuidas asjade seosed ja põhjused tasapisi ilmnesid. aga segas, et minu meelest ei selgunudki isegi päris lõpus, et kes siis ikkagi esimesel leheküljel mõrvakatse sooritas :(
If you like awesome fantasy and you aren't reading Charles de Lint...WHAT'S KEEPIN' YOU?! This series is simply awesome. Set in parallel worlds with folk who inhabit one or both sides.
This one focuses on Jilly and we learn her backstory. I was appalled, but encouraged by how she rose above her past. But has she really? Outside she is a friend to all, a wonderfully talented artist, has her life together. Inside she thinks of herself as the Broken Girl. She's in the hospital with extensive injuries after a hit and run. She survives by going into the dream world that is pretty much the parallel world to ours. There she can walk and draw and paint where she can't in the real world. Here is where we learn of her past, what makes her the Onion Girl, peeling the parts back.
The story is about how two people can go through virtually the same awful things in their past and come out so differently. There is another woman, Raylene, who's story is told. I had a really difficult time listening to her story. She blamed everything on everyone else, particularly on her sister who she feels abandoned her. She is damaged and lashes out and uses people. Jilly goes through the same awfulness and comes out trying to be better and thinking the best of everyone.
So it's more than a fantasy tale. It's life and how we deal with what life hands out on any given day. Do we move past, do we lay blame on everyone but ourselves, do we hold onto what molded us and make us better....
I love reading this series as print books, but this one was stunning as an audiobook. I hope to find more in this format.
I can absolutely recommend this book, this series and this author.
This one focuses on Jilly and we learn her backstory. I was appalled, but encouraged by how she rose above her past. But has she really? Outside she is a friend to all, a wonderfully talented artist, has her life together. Inside she thinks of herself as the Broken Girl. She's in the hospital with extensive injuries after a hit and run. She survives by going into the dream world that is pretty much the parallel world to ours. There she can walk and draw and paint where she can't in the real world. Here is where we learn of her past, what makes her the Onion Girl, peeling the parts back.
The story is about how two people can go through virtually the same awful things in their past and come out so differently. There is another woman, Raylene, who's story is told. I had a really difficult time listening to her story. She blamed everything on everyone else, particularly on her sister who she feels abandoned her. She is damaged and lashes out and uses people. Jilly goes through the same awfulness and comes out trying to be better and thinking the best of everyone.
So it's more than a fantasy tale. It's life and how we deal with what life hands out on any given day. Do we move past, do we lay blame on everyone but ourselves, do we hold onto what molded us and make us better....
I love reading this series as print books, but this one was stunning as an audiobook. I hope to find more in this format.
I can absolutely recommend this book, this series and this author.
So What’s It About?
In novel after novel, and story after story, Charles de Lint has brought an entire imaginary North American city to vivid life. Newford: where magic lights dark streets; where myths walk clothed in modern shapes; where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning.
At the center of all the entwined lives in Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips--Jilly, whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city's shadows. Now, at last, de Lint tells Jilly's own story...for behind the painter's fey charm lies a dark secret and a past she's labored to forget. And that past is coming to claim her now.
"I'm the onion girl," Jilly Coppercorn says. "Pull back the layers of my life, and you won't find anything at the core. Just a broken child. A hollow girl." She's very, very good at running. But life has just forced Jilly to stop.
What I Thought
In this book, Jilly’s story is told alongside her sister Raylene’s; Jilly was sexually abused by their brother before running away as a child, at which point their brother turned to abusing Raylene instead. Their lives took very different paths after that point, and then they reunited in this book.
My feelings about this one are very mixed. I’ve never read anything by Charles De Lint before, and I’m not totally sure his style is for me. To start off, book’s humor was not for me and made me cringe more than it made me smile or laugh. One example of many:
“You should tell Lou,” Wendy said. “It might be a clue.” She laughed. “I’m rhyming again.”
Sophie smiled. “Well, you are our resident poet.”
“I do try. Maybe I should become a DJ. Rappin’ Wendy, she’s really quite friendly.”
A running joke that really didn’t land for me was how horny Jilly’s gnome friend Toby was. The book was determined to mention that Toby got an erection nearly every time Jilly touched him, and he introduced himself to her by declaring that he had a penis…it’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read, and it really did not work for me, particularly in a book trying to deal sensitively with the topic of Jilly’s healing from sexual violation.
It’s clear that the book’s heart is in the right place and I think it succeeds in a number of ways when dealing with the topic of trauma, but a few of its “message” moments felt just a little too on the nose for me, like they belonged on RAINN.org instead of in a fantasy novel:
“Children are the brightest treasures we bring forth into this world, but too large a percentage of the population continues to treat them as inconveniences and nuisances, when they’re not treating them as possessions or toys.”
“Jilly wanted to reach out and hold her, but knew too well how the physical contact of comfort could too easily be misconstrued as an invasion of the private space an abused victim sometimes so desperately needed to maintain.”
“She hadn’t had a brother who’d abuser her, a mother who’d deserted her, or any of the horrible things that seemed to have happened to two out of any three of the women they knew.”
I love that Jilly has created a new family for herself, and it’s very clear that their love and support are a huge part of why she was able to survive and thrive after her incredibly difficult early life. The actual friends themselves, however, tend to blur together into an indistinct mass of Really Nice People who were more or less interchangeable personality-wise. The main exception to this is her friend Joe, a Native American man who is able to traverse the Otherworld with a great deal of skill. Joe is probably the most interesting character in the book besides Raylene, and I wanted to point out this article analyzing how De Lint’s incorporation of indigenous mythologies evolved over the course of his work from being stereotypical to something more meaningful and respectful of indigenous sovereignty. It doesn’t talk about The Onion Girl specifically, but I thought it was a good read.
I don’t tend to enjoy urban fantasy as much as other kinds of fantasy, and I think this book helped me realize why that is - the magical elements that I love in fantasy feel more mundane to me in modern settings/when they come into contact with modern settings. The only real exception to this in The Onion Girl is probably the conversation that Jilly and Raylene had with Grace/Choice at the very end of the book, which felt properly wondrous and strange.
The strongest part of the story is Raylene’s portion by far. Her voice is distinct and unique and her cynical, tough-as-nails personality shines through during her life of crime and beyond. There’s a lot to her character, from her lifelong friendship with Pinky to her one good romantic relationship and the interest in programming that came from it. I wasn’t totally sure how I felt about the “lesson” that it seemed she was supposed to learn, which was to come to terms with the fact that the way her life turned out was her “own damn fault” instead of blaming everything on Jilly abandoning her.
But I think, ultimately, what De Lint is trying to convey is more complicated than that - at the very end of the book, Raylene had a conversation with the barkeep at the Inn of the Star-Crossed and he encouraged her to have compassion for herself, which turned out to be exactly what she needed to hear. Jilly said that she was lucky to have ended up in a better place than Raylene because she got help “like in a fairy tale” while Raylene didn’t, and Raylene ultimately realized that Jilly’s choice to run away was one made by a desperate child who should not be blamed for anything. They both ended up in a place beyond attributing the other fault or blame, and they seemed to realize that they each simply did the best that they could with what they were given at the time. Their complex relationship is definitely another of the book’s strengths, and it still wasn’t perfect by the end, which I really appreciate. There was definitely hope for Raylene’s future (and I loved that she rescued another girl from her town), and De Lint wrote this in a way that feels the opposite of disingenuous to me.
As a final note, the part of the story detailing Jilly’s early life and adult Jilly taking care of a pregnant runaway was actually a short story at first (and it featured in [b:The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors|463034|The Armless Maiden And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors|Terri Windling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1213497102l/463034._SY75_.jpg|560197], which I read earlier this year) and it was kind of obvious that it had just been awkwardly placed in the middle of this novel. De Lint said in his afterward that he did this because he simply didn’t feel that he could rewrite the horrible things that Jilly went through; I definitely understand this, but the result feels a little awkward. The other interesting thing about his afterward is that it features a ton of recommendations for the reading and music that inspired De Lint while he was writing.
In novel after novel, and story after story, Charles de Lint has brought an entire imaginary North American city to vivid life. Newford: where magic lights dark streets; where myths walk clothed in modern shapes; where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning.
At the center of all the entwined lives in Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips--Jilly, whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city's shadows. Now, at last, de Lint tells Jilly's own story...for behind the painter's fey charm lies a dark secret and a past she's labored to forget. And that past is coming to claim her now.
"I'm the onion girl," Jilly Coppercorn says. "Pull back the layers of my life, and you won't find anything at the core. Just a broken child. A hollow girl." She's very, very good at running. But life has just forced Jilly to stop.
What I Thought
In this book, Jilly’s story is told alongside her sister Raylene’s; Jilly was sexually abused by their brother before running away as a child, at which point their brother turned to abusing Raylene instead. Their lives took very different paths after that point, and then they reunited in this book.
My feelings about this one are very mixed. I’ve never read anything by Charles De Lint before, and I’m not totally sure his style is for me. To start off, book’s humor was not for me and made me cringe more than it made me smile or laugh. One example of many:
“You should tell Lou,” Wendy said. “It might be a clue.” She laughed. “I’m rhyming again.”
Sophie smiled. “Well, you are our resident poet.”
“I do try. Maybe I should become a DJ. Rappin’ Wendy, she’s really quite friendly.”
A running joke that really didn’t land for me was how horny Jilly’s gnome friend Toby was. The book was determined to mention that Toby got an erection nearly every time Jilly touched him, and he introduced himself to her by declaring that he had a penis…it’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read, and it really did not work for me, particularly in a book trying to deal sensitively with the topic of Jilly’s healing from sexual violation.
It’s clear that the book’s heart is in the right place and I think it succeeds in a number of ways when dealing with the topic of trauma, but a few of its “message” moments felt just a little too on the nose for me, like they belonged on RAINN.org instead of in a fantasy novel:
“Children are the brightest treasures we bring forth into this world, but too large a percentage of the population continues to treat them as inconveniences and nuisances, when they’re not treating them as possessions or toys.”
“Jilly wanted to reach out and hold her, but knew too well how the physical contact of comfort could too easily be misconstrued as an invasion of the private space an abused victim sometimes so desperately needed to maintain.”
“She hadn’t had a brother who’d abuser her, a mother who’d deserted her, or any of the horrible things that seemed to have happened to two out of any three of the women they knew.”
I love that Jilly has created a new family for herself, and it’s very clear that their love and support are a huge part of why she was able to survive and thrive after her incredibly difficult early life. The actual friends themselves, however, tend to blur together into an indistinct mass of Really Nice People who were more or less interchangeable personality-wise. The main exception to this is her friend Joe, a Native American man who is able to traverse the Otherworld with a great deal of skill. Joe is probably the most interesting character in the book besides Raylene, and I wanted to point out this article analyzing how De Lint’s incorporation of indigenous mythologies evolved over the course of his work from being stereotypical to something more meaningful and respectful of indigenous sovereignty. It doesn’t talk about The Onion Girl specifically, but I thought it was a good read.
I don’t tend to enjoy urban fantasy as much as other kinds of fantasy, and I think this book helped me realize why that is - the magical elements that I love in fantasy feel more mundane to me in modern settings/when they come into contact with modern settings. The only real exception to this in The Onion Girl is probably the conversation that Jilly and Raylene had with Grace/Choice at the very end of the book, which felt properly wondrous and strange.
The strongest part of the story is Raylene’s portion by far. Her voice is distinct and unique and her cynical, tough-as-nails personality shines through during her life of crime and beyond. There’s a lot to her character, from her lifelong friendship with Pinky to her one good romantic relationship and the interest in programming that came from it. I wasn’t totally sure how I felt about the “lesson” that it seemed she was supposed to learn, which was to come to terms with the fact that the way her life turned out was her “own damn fault” instead of blaming everything on Jilly abandoning her.
But I think, ultimately, what De Lint is trying to convey is more complicated than that - at the very end of the book, Raylene had a conversation with the barkeep at the Inn of the Star-Crossed and he encouraged her to have compassion for herself, which turned out to be exactly what she needed to hear. Jilly said that she was lucky to have ended up in a better place than Raylene because she got help “like in a fairy tale” while Raylene didn’t, and Raylene ultimately realized that Jilly’s choice to run away was one made by a desperate child who should not be blamed for anything. They both ended up in a place beyond attributing the other fault or blame, and they seemed to realize that they each simply did the best that they could with what they were given at the time. Their complex relationship is definitely another of the book’s strengths, and it still wasn’t perfect by the end, which I really appreciate. There was definitely hope for Raylene’s future (and I loved that she rescued another girl from her town), and De Lint wrote this in a way that feels the opposite of disingenuous to me.
As a final note, the part of the story detailing Jilly’s early life and adult Jilly taking care of a pregnant runaway was actually a short story at first (and it featured in [b:The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors|463034|The Armless Maiden And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors|Terri Windling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1213497102l/463034._SY75_.jpg|560197], which I read earlier this year) and it was kind of obvious that it had just been awkwardly placed in the middle of this novel. De Lint said in his afterward that he did this because he simply didn’t feel that he could rewrite the horrible things that Jilly went through; I definitely understand this, but the result feels a little awkward. The other interesting thing about his afterward is that it features a ton of recommendations for the reading and music that inspired De Lint while he was writing.
The women characters didn't ring true for me. Or, maybe I just would never hang out with artists with Earth Mama feminist streaks that describe themselves as a tribe of small, fierce women. (And the gentle, sensitive men that love them!)
I did like the parts of the story about The People, though I had a passing thought if their depictions depended on stereotypes of Native Americans being wise, laconic background figures.
This was my first Newford novel, and I'm not inspired to read others.
I did like the parts of the story about The People, though I had a passing thought if their depictions depended on stereotypes of Native Americans being wise, laconic background figures.
This was my first Newford novel, and I'm not inspired to read others.
This book was the perfect antidote to the last book I read, so I fell in happily to De lint's world of fairies and worlds beyond. The characters are kind of idealized. They're the cadre of best buddies that everybody wants, but I think few people rarely have.
Nevertheless, I was up for some wishful idealized relationships so I don't fault De lint for that because it made reading the trials of the main character that much easier knowing she had all these friends that constantly spew unconditional love at her.
My one problem with the book was the southern accent that came with one of the POV characters. It was bad, and if it had been relegated to the dialogue only, I wouldn't complain. It was everything within that character's POV though. Being from the south, I've never met anyone with grammar that atrocious and certainly not anyone who uses more colorful metaphors per minute than Mike Huckabee (who is himself a somewhat dishonest characterization).
Nevertheless, I was up for some wishful idealized relationships so I don't fault De lint for that because it made reading the trials of the main character that much easier knowing she had all these friends that constantly spew unconditional love at her.
My one problem with the book was the southern accent that came with one of the POV characters. It was bad, and if it had been relegated to the dialogue only, I wouldn't complain. It was everything within that character's POV though. Being from the south, I've never met anyone with grammar that atrocious and certainly not anyone who uses more colorful metaphors per minute than Mike Huckabee (who is himself a somewhat dishonest characterization).