A friend of mine introduced me to this wonderful author by giving me this book. It is a fanatastic blend of reality and fantasy. It makes magic and folklore believable and real. DeLint also tells many of his stories using the same characters, though they aren't really serial. You really get to know Jilly and her friends but you can read the books in any order. I love all of his books and urge anyone who wants to believe in magic to check them out.

I have never read anything by Charles De Lint prior to listening to The Onion Girl. It is a very good book. I was suprised at how well he mixed the faerie world into what would be considered our world. The book is dark and I saw in reviews that it was very depressing and hard to read. I would say while it is a book that deals with dark issues it is one of hope and redemption. You do have to stick with it to get to the hope and redemption. The book deals with issues of sexual abuse, at times grap...

I make no bones about it, I love the Newford books. This was one of the hardest to read, only partly because of the small font size in the edition I had, but also because it deals with lots of aspects of the dreamlands and the relationships with the “World-As-It-Is” Jilly is one of my favourite characters and this is essentially her story. I really enjoyed it.

So What’s It About?In novel after novel, and story after story, Charles de Lint has brought an entire imaginary North American city to vivid life. Newford: where magic lights dark streets; where myths walk clothed in modern shapes; where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning.At the center of all the entwined lives in Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her...

3.5 stars “There's more to life than just surviving . . . but . . . sometimes just surviving is all you get”So good, but so hard to read because of the (view spoiler)[realistic portrayal of sexual abuse and its longterm effects on an individual's life and the people and systems that fail victims and survivors. (hide spoiler)] This is the real-est magical realism I've ever read, and I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an accusation right at this moment because getting through this book took wo...

This is the book where Charles de Lint delves into the history of everyones favorite character: Jilly Coppercorn. It goes into how she came to be the person she is, and the catalyst that forces her to come to terms with her past. We find "magical-so-open-minded-her-brain-may-fall-out" Jilly has an unfortunate past that is echoed in many womens lives. The book also weaves together the colorful collection of characters de Lint has created over the years in his Newford short stories. I prefer de Li...

Charles de Lint tells a vivid, Bradburyesque tale of contemporary fantasy in his Newford cycle of stories.To be sure, this has the tone and style of the Grandmaster and a demonstration of his great imagination, but de Lint has given us a very mature story with adult themes and a setting of hard lives and difficult choices.Jilly Coppercorn, a talented artist of faerie inspiration, and her younger sister Raelean have lost years from each others lives, but share a horrific and dysfunctional family

more like a [9/10] but I really liked it, and since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars I went for the higher rating. de Lint gets a little New Age preachy towards the end, but since I agree with most of his rants it didn't really bothered me and the writing is very good. He also seems like a nice guy given the musical references he mentions in the intro and the computer geeky stuff that is included in the text.I appreciate most about the book the way he managed to balance the devastating cruelne...

I was actually rather disappointed in this book. I'd had so many people tell me I just HAD to read Charles deLint if I was interested in Urban Fantasy. This was the first book I've read by him and although it hooked me right in the first paragraph, it became quite bogged down and getting through to the end took sheer effort for me. Where he really lost me was in the middle where he gets far too pedantic and preachy. I read fantasy to escape, not to be lectured. If this is what Urban Fantasy is a...

Oof. Yes. I disremember when I've identified with a protagonist so hard as I identify with Jilly. I came to this book a de Lint virgin, and now I'm going to start with Newford #1 and read them all. It was hard to read, hard to put down, hard to surface from. If you are one of the children of the secret, I recommend this highly. Provided you are in a safe place to read it, because it's a searing live thing in your hands.

The Onion Girl is a fantastic urban fantasy. I first stumbled upon this tome of a book when I was in my early 20’s. And I loved it. And I still love it now. I’m not ashamed to admit that I sometimes refuse to re-read books from my youth that I loved for fear I will hate them. (That’s happened on more than one occasion.)The Onion Girl is a story about Jilly, a tragic heroine of sorts. This book delves deep into uncomfortable territory; child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, homelessness, street kids. A...

An amazing book that I did not want to let go of once I started the first paragraph. The story of Jilly, her incapacitating accident, healing old wounds, and adventures in the otherworld (or dreamland or whatever you prefer), of course. Unforgettable characters that question what it means to be bad or good and what causes those circumstances.Be warned though that this book deals pretty heavily with sexual abuse/molestation and difficult backgrounds including homelessness, violence, and prostitut...

Once upon a time...Once upon a time...Once upon a time...What a clunker. I heard from the rest of the bookclub ladies that it wasn't great, but I was willing to give it a chance. Mistake.I made it to page 49 and refused to proceed any further after reading this dreck:"I believe in a different kind of magic," Sophie said. "The kind we make between each other. The kind that comes from our art and how it can change us. The world doesn't need any more than that."Ugh. Irritating FruitCakey Artistes w...

The problem with De Lint is he's just not nearly as imaginative as he thinks he is. His "flights of fancy" are flat and derivative at best. Even worse, in my mind; he can't write believable dialog, friendships, or young people. At all.

This book was entirely bizarre but in a good way. It's a little hard to follow at the beginning going between worlds and several different view points but once I got used to that I really enjoyed it. Raylene's narrative was tough to read but once I got to know her character even she was intriguing. I would have liked to spend more time exploring the "other world" -- maybe in the sequel? This is a fairly complex read with many interesting characters and overall I found it a wonderful read!

As I’ve mentioned before, while I’m a fantasy fan, I am very much a selective fantasy fan. Mr. De Lint is one of those fantasy authors – in his case urban fantasy – whom I have read before and I will definitely read again. There is a solid dose of realism to his fantasy fiction, the type of gritty biting edge, in places, that I adore. His characters are far from perfect (as characters should be in order for me to be able to relate to them), they go through great struggles and pain and they don’t...

I've read a fair number of Charles de Lint's books now - eleven at last count - and have been very aware of the darkness at the edges of many of his stories. While this one doesn't quite meet Mulengro in terms of pure horror, or even Moonheart's more fantastical evil, The Onion Girl is probably the darkest yet, because it deals with an especially human brand of awful. Finding out Jilly's backstory is bittersweet. We now know where she comes from, and can greater appreciate her strength of spirit...

This isn’t a fantasy novel because it takes place half on Earth and half in a Spirit World that exists as a backdrop to all of reality. This isn’t a fantasy novel because it features wolf-headed, shape-shifting original people and crow girls. No, this isn’t a fantasy novel because there are fairies and Native American Earth spirits who share their wisdom. This is a fantasy novel because most of the characters in the story give a shit about each other.That’s right. Pretty far-fetched, huh? de Lin...

Charles de Lint is the Man of urban fantasy writers. I really appreciate and respect his ability as a middle-aged man to return to a place of youth and wonder, as well as inhabit and develop female characters. It is impossible to not love Jilly Coppercorn. Her sister, Raylene, at first monstrous, is also supercool. De Lint eases the reader into empathy for her and and understanding of the roots of her violent, alienating, and callous ways. Joe Crazy Dog and his friends are pretty much bad asses

How I rate my books: 5 stars: I love so much I want to immediately reread after finishing and if I reread, I love it just as much the second time around 4 stars I liked a lot and might one day reread 3 stars I liked it okay but definitely will not reread 2 stars I didn't like 1 star I hated it This was a reread. Although I appreciate the writing, as well as the world and character building, I just did not like it as much this time. I would probably not ever read it again. It's good but just not