Oh, September... You have grown up a bit, haven't you? And learned that actions have consequences. And you are not Heartless any more, are you, my dear girl?"Hearts set about finding other hearts the moment they are born, and between them, they weave nets so frightfully strong and tight that you end up bound forever in hopeless knots, even to the shadow of a beast you knew and loved long ago."Oh, September... You've hardened up and toughened up a bit now, haven't you? It's about time for you to

[March 23, 2015] Putting together any semblance of a review is difficult for me because of all the ways I loved this book and how much I'm loving this series. My notes are really just a bunch of highlights and exclamation points and things I wish I could memorize instantly and internalize forever. Words I want to eat and I wish were my own and I'd love to display. Characters as bright as the setting and a setting as unique as the characters. I want everyone to love this as much as I do, but here...

[9/10]I thought the first Fairyland book was mostly inspired by The Wizard of Oz. This second journey of the practical and courageous girl named September makes me think more of Alice In Wonderland. Probably because we travel through a hole in the ground to Fairyland bellow and we meet a host of incredible creatures on a twisting and turning quest of self discovery. Before I start on the story, I would like to point out that, while the first book could be read as a standalone, The Girl Who Fell...

5 star read right up until the end, and then... I don't even know what happened, exactly, but that may be the problem.Well, if it's a problem at all it's the most tiny, minor thing. 4.5 stars. Maybe even more... I'll let it settle a little first, before deciding.Catherynne Valente is simply astounding. I want to use words like “quirky”, “whimsical” and “creative to describe her storytelling – but after reading this, I can’t help but find those words… well, a little dull in comparison. Valente is...

“A book is a door, you know. Always and forever. A book is a door into another place and another heart and another world.”I can’t wait to open the doors to Catherynne Valente's Fairyland with my daughters, and maybe even my grandchildren. These books are destined to be placed among the classics of children’s literature; I’m absolutely sure of it. I know they’ll each have a permanent home with me, right next to Alice in Wonderland, Coraline, A Wrinkle in Time, Alanna, The Witches, and all of the

INITIALLY: Whoa, wait a minute. More September? Woot!Edit: Just read the description, and Holy Effing Velocipedes, I want this NOW.AND THEN:What can I say that I didn't already say in my review of The Girl Who Circumnavigated ? When I finished the first book, it felt complete. That's not to say there wasn't room for more, but it felt like it easily could have been a somewhat open-ended stand-alone book, and I was happy about that. But that doesn't mean I wasn't tickled to death to hear there

Actual Rating: 4.5/5 “She did not know yet how sometimes people keep parts of themselves hidden and secret, sometimes wicked and unkind parts, but often brave or wild or colorful parts, cunning or powerful or even marvelous, beautiful parts, just locked up away at the bottom of their hearts. They do this because they are afraid of the world and of being stared at, or relied upon to do feats of bravery or boldness. And all of those brave and wild and cunning and marvelous and beautiful parts

If you liked the first book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, I can’t see why you would dislike this one. The writing is of the same quality, the world is just as strange and intriguing — and there’s a lot of new things — and the characters are just as dear. Particularly Aubergine, who was the star of the book. There wasn’t enough of Ell and Saturday, but the plot with their shadows was interesting because it looked at familiar characters and the parts they did...

Even if I didn't love this quite as much as I loved the first one (and I loved that one quite a lot!), I still very much enjoyed my second trip to Fairyland, holding on to September's coat-tails, hiding while she underwent another set of adventures, but this time with the burden of a newly-grown heart. Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.In the meantime, you can read the entire revi...

Once you’ve been to a world filled with magic, what happens next?September first visited Fairyland in The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Young, carefree and heartless: her adventures there exposed to her wonders and dangers; she formed new friendships with barely a thought for home. Now September is back in Omaha, Nebraska, at the end of a very long, non-Fairyland year. It’s been tough; though she has a secret she carries “with her like a pair of rich gloves, whi...

What an amazingly and gloriously smart YA. It's not only a fun and delightful quest and beautiful flight of imagination, but it's also rife with tons and tons of literary and mythical allusions, whether oblique or referenced almost directly. It's keeping my adult brain most occupied and thrilled and slathered in smarts.And how in the world can such a tale also be written so smoothly and cleverly that a young child can follow it without a care in the world?Answer: Catherynne M. Valente.Seriously,...

This comes out on Tuesday, and if you have not yet read Fairyland #1 (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making), you definitely should. You may also zip over to Tor.com where they have the first five chapters up for free (of this volume). Check out the illustrations too, as I really love the art in this book.While not quite my favorite Valente (that will always be Palimpsest), I think the Fairyland books are probably going to be what most people will love the most of he...

4.5 stars. Scrumptious language, bizarre and off-kilter individuals and environments, so much colour, and so many interesting choices September has to make in her journey to deal with her shadow (excised in book 1). And there's a dodo!

Somewhat less breathtaking than the first one, probably because the element of surprise is gone and you already know that ANYTHING can happen in Valente's book, but also very good. I wonder if Antichrist Hollywood wants to make a movie out of it? In which case I hope they hire Guillermo Del Toro of "Pan's Labyrinth" instead of Tim Burton of "Alice in Wonderland"...

As anyone can see here on GR, I've marked one hell of a lot of quotes from this book - just as I did for the 1st volume. That's how wonderful Cathrynne M. Valente's writing is. Poetic and beautiful without being pretentious or haughty.So this is the 2nd Fairyland book about the girl named September. Naturally, after all the things that happened in book 1, she wants nothing more than to go back to Fairyland. But she must wait her turn - something that hurt me as much as her while reading the firs...

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!It's hard to duplicate a success - countless series and books that follow-up first-in-line beloved stories can easily attest to how hard a feat that is to accomplish. Happily, that is so far from the case here with Catherynne Valente's second foray into her magical, modernish fairytale series with The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There. Told once again in the same wistful, cheeky tone, and with the same immediately immersive feelin...

4.5“A book is a door, you know. Always and forever. A book is a door into another place and another heart and another world.”I don't know how Valente can come up with these ideas. This series, Deathless, I swear, are some of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Unique concepts, amazing, poetic writing style, complex worlds that literally come to life. Fairytales. The best fairytales one could ask for.“She did not know yet how sometimes people keep parts of themselves hidden and secret, somet...

Oh September, you have grown up so much but still have a lot to learn about FairylandQuestion: how do you make one of the most creative literary world's i have ever read about even more imaginative? Answer: throw in a more mature heroine in September who after a year from Fairyland longs to return only to find things not as they were. The land she fell in love with is becoming more and more lifeless thanks to the mystery of the disappearing shadows that as a result mean the magic is going until

Look, if I could give this book a separate rating for prose, I would give it 5 stars. The writing is truly lovely and clever, but sparkly writing without depth of plot or of characterization is simply not enough to hook me. I'm not saying that the story is completely devoid of any depth, but the pretty pearls of wisdom delivered in little witty bits here and there fail to resonate in a meaningful way. This is partly due to the fact that the characters and the plot are too simple, too uncomplicat...