Stardust reads like an adult fairytale, centered on a love story with some witches, spells, kings, ghosts, unicorns, and magic on the side. I enjoyed Gaiman's take on an original story. If you're a wordsmith like me, I enjoyed the quaint language from the little man, who I would have loved to get to know better ("beg your puddin'", "the likes of me treasures a fine mushrump", and "find our skellingtons picked clean as whistles"). Charming, whimsical, and a world I'd definitely want to find myself lost in.

Now, to compare the movie: I watched the movie earlier this year, on Valentine's Day; maybe that's why I think so fondly of it now, and why I wanted to read the book. The movie wasn't at all what I was expecting - it was better, with its visuals of delightful English villages, fairy world, and folksy charm. The film is more light-hearted, but I enjoyed the departures from the book, including some more time on the Perdita and the climax at the witches' castle at the end.

I recommend both the book and the film if you like new twists on fairytale stories, English folklore, and quests for true love.

Quotes:
"Do your kind sleep?" he asked her. "Of course. But not at night. At night, we shine." (Tristran & Yvaine, page 102)

"Love," he explained. She looked at him with eyes the blue of the sky. "I hope you choke on it," she said, flatly. (Tristran & Yvaine, page 110)

"The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the oak that will be cut to form the cradle of the babe who will grow to slay me." (The witch-queen, page 122)

There was a skyness to the sky and a nowness to the world that he had never seen or felt or realized before. (page 178)

He wondered how it could have taken him so long to realize how much he cared for her, and he told her so, and she called him an idiot, and he declared that it was the finest thing that ever a man had been called. (Tristran & Yvaine, page 236)