RTC

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CONVERSION: 12.25 / 15 = 4.5 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 7 / 10
Credibility: 10 / 10
Organization / Structure: 8 / 10

Emotional Impact / Interest: 5 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5

A little less than a full 5 stars, but definitely close enough to round up.

There are stories, and then there are literary worlds that pull you in and swallow you up and make you love almost every minute of it. This is one of those transcendental tales, told through an uniquely appropriate medium under the partnership of eloquent screenwriter and brilliant director.

This is a book about a mystery — what happened to Severin Unck? — but it doesn't read like a mystery. It's about people and places first and foremost, not what happens to them.

It took me a little while to get a feel for this book because it's a special one, very different from anything else I've read (including Valente's own Deathless). The narrative is like a contortionist you can't look away from: twisted in on itself, all but inhuman yet strangely beautiful.

I picked this up because I heard it was kind of The Raven Cycle, but in fact it was so similar (but in mostly superficial ways) that it was distracting and honestly off-putting. FRTC.

Recommended by ellias.

To be quite honest, there are quite a few moments that are a little too “out there” even for my willing-to-suspend-disbelief self, but overall this installment is just as whimsically delightful as, yet clearly distinct from, its predecessor.

I love this book, wrapped up in whimsy and metaphor and adventure, with a compelling narrator — in the vein of Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, Narnia, Roald Dahl, and Lemony Snicket, but also something entirely new and charming.

September is a perfectly flawed human girl, Somewhat Heartless as many children are, who chooses to have a Fairyland adventure. Along the way she meets delightful companions, including Green Wind, a flying Leopard, a Wyverary named A-Through-L (not a dragon, a wyvern, and part Library too), a Marid (djinn of the sea) named Saturday, a 112-year-old lantern named Gleam, and not-so-charming antagonists: a cruel but sweet Marquess about her own age, and her Panther. The characters are all vivid and memorable, even those who show up for only a few scenes, and the settings are remarkable.

Overall a lot slower than the previous books; particularly in all the time September spent standing still and reflecting and trying to wrap her head around ideas that to her were shiny and new but in reality were weather-worn and rusty from centuries of existence. It barely managed not to be dull, though certain moments in the ending took a hammer to my feels.

The Alice in Wonderland vibes are particularly strong in this one, what with the Jolly Caucus Race — I mean, Derby to determine who gets to rule Fairyland — and its menagerie of competitors, all of them power-hungry and peculiarly mad in their own ways.

But, of course, it’s still a completely different creature: the Derby has lots and lots of Rules, just like Fairyland, and it takes us through even more settings than we’ve already explored. Ell, Saturday, and Blunderbuss in particular really get to come into their own on this journey, and it’s delightful. I think it was also a terrific idea to finally bring September’s parents and Aunt Margaret along for the ride, obviously a timely reminder that Grown-Ups have their own stories to tell and are still creating new ones, and that they’re still welcome in Fairyland, but also just sheer fun.

September and Saturday’s romance is still pretty lowkey, though much more present and influential (with regard to the plot) than it’s ever been — but that should come as no surprise; it’s been in the works since Book One, and growing steadily since. That really enhances the sweet moments between them, the fact that there are so few, so each one is a treasure to squee over. And that ending? To quote Charles Boyle: “I’m in love with [their] love.”

Speaking of the ending: it’s nowhere close to what I was expecting, and that’s a terrific thing. Even in such a comfortable, homey story, there are still surprises that accompany the familiar and beloved tropes waiting just around the corner.

This book is definitely different than the others in the series, but in a good way. Honestly, it made for a nice change — the previous books were magical but there was a sameness about them; this installment shared some themes and Laws but played by different rules. As always, there are heartwarming and heartbreaking moments aplenty, and hilarity and whimsy to spare.

Hawthorne/Thomas is just as lovable a protagonist as September; Tamburlaine, Blunderbuss, and Scratch equally stalwart Questing companions as A-Through-L and Saturday. (I also loved the theme of Four rather than Three: fitting for a fourth installment in a series, of course, but also an interesting idea in and of itself!) There’s still so much of Fairyland we have yet to explore, and I’m delighted that Catherynne M. Valente has found such a lovely way to keep the narrative fresh.