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A review by lmn9812
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
5.0
SPOILERS!!!
Words can not even begin to describe the brilliance of this book. I absolutely loved the first Fairyland novel, and I have to say the second one was even better! Again I was captivated by September (who's name I adore!) and the friends and foes she met in Fairyland. The prose again was almost poetic and filled with all the same wonderful whimsy and quirkiness as the first. I was a bit worried that the books would feel too similar, but it didn't - the material felt original, and I think it was very brave of Valente to change the location to the ominous, dark Fairyland below.
The book begins with September, who is just hitting that awkward stage between been a teenager and been a child. She doesn't have many friends at school and yearns to go back to fairyland and see all her friends again. But, alas, things don't turn out how she wishes when she finds herself in Fairyland. The shadows have left to go to Fairyland below, and magic is fading from Fairyland. September sets off to make it right, but to do that she has to go all the way to the bottom of the world, confront Halloween, her shadow and queen of Fairyland Below. On the way she meets Saturdays and A-through-l's shadow, who are all the things that the real Ell and Saturday are not and other new friends, Aubergine, a dodo and an old enemy that she never wanted to meet again.
September is a little older this time round. She is beginning to have a heart, to become more mature in her decisions and this is definitely seen throughout Fairyland Two. However, that doesn't mean she is any less brave, fiesty or strong willed as she was in the first book. In fact, she might be more brave! September is one of those very rare girl characters that doesn't rely on boys, or other people all the time - in fact she gets very annoyed when people think that! She is very independant, has extremely good morals and is a great role model for young girls! In this book we see her a lot more on her own - she isn't sure who she can trust and has to do a lot of thinking on her own and for herself rather then talking through ideas.
Now I love A-Through-L and Saturday, but I have to admit I am not a fan of their shadows. Shadows seem to be the secret desires and evil thoughts and the worst of a person, and although it was interesting to see another side to both of them, I really really really missed shy Saturday and Library obsessed Ell. I really hope they get more of a starring role in the next book. I loved Aubergine the Dodo and I loved the descriptions of Queer, Quiet and Questing Physicks!
The plot was excellently executed, there was always something interesting going on and little bits of hints kept the mystery of the shadows and Halloween and Fairyland Below alive. I loved this book wholeheartedly and I cannot wait till the next one comes out, in the mean time I will be ordering some of Cat Valentes other books.
*My ONLY criticism would be that loads and loads of interesting places and people were mentioned in the novel, and I want to know more about them! There needs to be some kind of map/map guide released so I can fangirl over that too!!
Words can not even begin to describe the brilliance of this book. I absolutely loved the first Fairyland novel, and I have to say the second one was even better! Again I was captivated by September (who's name I adore!) and the friends and foes she met in Fairyland. The prose again was almost poetic and filled with all the same wonderful whimsy and quirkiness as the first. I was a bit worried that the books would feel too similar, but it didn't - the material felt original, and I think it was very brave of Valente to change the location to the ominous, dark Fairyland below.
The book begins with September, who is just hitting that awkward stage between been a teenager and been a child. She doesn't have many friends at school and yearns to go back to fairyland and see all her friends again. But, alas, things don't turn out how she wishes when she finds herself in Fairyland. The shadows have left to go to Fairyland below, and magic is fading from Fairyland. September sets off to make it right, but to do that she has to go all the way to the bottom of the world, confront Halloween, her shadow and queen of Fairyland Below. On the way she meets Saturdays and A-through-l's shadow, who are all the things that the real Ell and Saturday are not and other new friends, Aubergine, a dodo and an old enemy that she never wanted to meet again.
September is a little older this time round. She is beginning to have a heart, to become more mature in her decisions and this is definitely seen throughout Fairyland Two. However, that doesn't mean she is any less brave, fiesty or strong willed as she was in the first book. In fact, she might be more brave! September is one of those very rare girl characters that doesn't rely on boys, or other people all the time - in fact she gets very annoyed when people think that! She is very independant, has extremely good morals and is a great role model for young girls! In this book we see her a lot more on her own - she isn't sure who she can trust and has to do a lot of thinking on her own and for herself rather then talking through ideas.
Now I love A-Through-L and Saturday, but I have to admit I am not a fan of their shadows. Shadows seem to be the secret desires and evil thoughts and the worst of a person, and although it was interesting to see another side to both of them, I really really really missed shy Saturday and Library obsessed Ell. I really hope they get more of a starring role in the next book. I loved Aubergine the Dodo and I loved the descriptions of Queer, Quiet and Questing Physicks!
The plot was excellently executed, there was always something interesting going on and little bits of hints kept the mystery of the shadows and Halloween and Fairyland Below alive. I loved this book wholeheartedly and I cannot wait till the next one comes out, in the mean time I will be ordering some of Cat Valentes other books.
*My ONLY criticism would be that loads and loads of interesting places and people were mentioned in the novel, and I want to know more about them! There needs to be some kind of map/map guide released so I can fangirl over that too!!