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sarasreadingnook 's review for:
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
by Catherynne M. Valente
This novel was overly whimsical and had a very unoriginal story. The writing reminded me of how I would write as a teenager, trying too hard to sound like Rowling, Lewis or Nesbit and failing miserably.
The dialogue was poor. For instance, it is never explained why a 12 year old from Nebraska is written to have such a strong English sounding accent? Using words like "shan't" and "oh bother." Really?
Also, the dialogue between characters sounded very impersonal. The Marquees spoke like the Green Wind who spoke like the Wyverary. The characters should, hopefully, have dialogue which echoes their own distinct personality, and this wasn't done well, imo.
As for the story, I expected it to be original, but it relies too heavily on classics such as Alice in Wonderland, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz. Those stories were magical for me, and to see them played out in this novel so blatantly, without any indication or credit given to them, was ridiculous.
I finished only because I wanted to give an honest review, and such a struggle it was to finish this book when I had much more promising novels on my shelf... I'll never know.
I disliked this a lot, and would recommend the original books mentioned above which were magical, and classic for a reason: they are original stories, full of inspiration and well defined characters. Something which is very rare to find in modern fairy tales.
The dialogue was poor. For instance, it is never explained why a 12 year old from Nebraska is written to have such a strong English sounding accent? Using words like "shan't" and "oh bother." Really?
Also, the dialogue between characters sounded very impersonal. The Marquees spoke like the Green Wind who spoke like the Wyverary. The characters should, hopefully, have dialogue which echoes their own distinct personality, and this wasn't done well, imo.
As for the story, I expected it to be original, but it relies too heavily on classics such as Alice in Wonderland, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz. Those stories were magical for me, and to see them played out in this novel so blatantly, without any indication or credit given to them, was ridiculous.
I finished only because I wanted to give an honest review, and such a struggle it was to finish this book when I had much more promising novels on my shelf... I'll never know.
I disliked this a lot, and would recommend the original books mentioned above which were magical, and classic for a reason: they are original stories, full of inspiration and well defined characters. Something which is very rare to find in modern fairy tales.