Review | The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Goodreads Synopsis: Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

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Where do I even begin with this book? I suppose at the beginning, since that it a very good place to start (and yes, I will continue to hum Do-Re-Mi to myself as I finish writing this review). Let me just start off by saying that I was incredibly hesitant to start this book because I was so worried it would be too similar to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which I am not a huge fan of, the whimsy get's to me. However, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making absolutely astounded me! Let me break it down for you...

Characters | September is one of the first protagonists in a middle grade novel that I have genuinely liked in a good long while. She's brave and smart but also not always so sure of herself, she's believable and acts like a twelve year old and I love her for it. Plus, her favorite color is orange, I mean, c'mon! 

A-through-L (or simply Ell for the majority of the book) was fantastic! The concept of being a "Wyverary" and his entire back story was sweet and also interesting. He was probably my favorite character and I seriously want my own Wyverary now, but maybe one that can recall A-through-Z...

Saturday was a character we didn't get to learn too much about, but I was fascinated by what we did learn, plus I appreciated that Valente incorporated Djinn into the story rather than just the Disney-fied genie trope. 

And lastly, The Marquess, who I expected to hate, but there's something about her that makes her so unhatable, she really doesn't believe herself to be the villain in this tale, but rather the princess that will get her happy ending. I feel that this is a villain trope that has to be done in a very particular way for it to work in a story, and I think Valente really nailed the hammer on the head! A wonderful "villain". 

Setting | I loved that Fairyland felt like a conglomeration of Oz/Wonderland/Narnia, but also with so much of Valente's unique and new world. The ambiance in this book, marvelous! I especially appreciated the Autumnal region, made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :) I definitely think fans of any of the previously mentioned lands will love this tale. 

Plot | I will admit that the plot was a little lacking, however this is an adventure story and September has quite the adventure, I think the plot in this is really building up for the second and third books in the series, so I will definitely be checking those out! 

★★★★★ 5 stars!

Spine Poetry

Godmother, breadcrumbs
A tale dark and grim
Black heart, ivory bones stitching snow
In a glass, grimly

The gates into the labyrinth,
The great hunt by the sword,
Path of blood written in red,
The color of magic

Review | Troll's Eye View by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

Goodreads Description: Everyone thinks they know the real story behind the villains in fairy tales - evil, no two ways about it. But the villains themselves beg to differ. In Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's new anthology for younger readers, you'll hear from the Giant's wife ("Jack and the Beanstalk"), Rumplestiltskin, the oldest of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and many more. A stellar lineup of authors, including Garth Nix, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman and Nancy Farmer, makes sure that these old stories do new tricks!

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It is a bit difficult to review a short story collection, there are almost always stories you love, some you feel indifferent towards, and occasionally, one's you hate with a burning passion.  But luckily for me, I liked pretty much all of the stories in this wee collection. 

But let me give a break down of each story, what I rated it, and a few thoughts...

Wizards Apprentice by Delia Sherman ★★★
This is a retelling of 'The Wizard Outwitted' which is a Russian tale I had never heard of, but I very much enjoyed this story and would like to read more things by Delia Sherman. 
An Unwelcome Guest by Garth Nix ★★★★
This was a wonderful retelling and twist to the Rapunzel tale, I've always thought that the witch in Rapunzel is at least a bit fair in how she responds, they were stealing from her, though I'm not sure the price of that should be a firstborn. But anyway, this short story looks at it in that way, but does make some changes, I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
Faery Tales by Wendy Froud ★★★
Rags and Riches bi Nina Kiriki Hoffman ★★★
Up the Down Beanstalk: A Wife Remembers by Peter S. Beagle ★★★★
The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces by Ellen Kushner ★★★
Puss in Boots, the Sequel by Joseph Stanton ★★★
The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Holly Black ★★★
Troll by Jane Yolen ★★★★
Castle Othello Nancy Farmer ★★★
'Skin by Michael Cadnum ★★★
A  Delicate Architecture by Catherynne M. Valente ★★★
This was a phenomenal story, it wasn't till the end that I realized it was a backstory for the witch from 'Hansel and Gretel', it was just magical and Catherynne Valente's writing is just goodness! Gah! ★★★★★
Molly by Midori Snyder 
Observing the Formalities by Neil Gaiman ★★★★
The Cinderella Game by Kelly Link ★★
This last one was not enjoyable, not a fan of nasty little children, and I don't particularly think it was a good way to end the collection. 

Overall, I highly recommend it and think it would be a good collection to start with for those who would like to get into Fairy-tale retellings! 

Top 5 Fairy-tale Films and TV Shows!

Once Upon a Time 

Once Upon a Time is a show that follows all the story book characters that we know and love (Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Belle, and even Dr. Frankenstein) and brings them to the modern world, Storybrooke, where they were brought by a curse committed by the Evil Queen who wanted to have her final vengeance against Snow White. The show has two plot lines for the most part, one in Storybrooke and one in the Enchanted forest. Now, I love OUaT, I truly do. But I can't watch it anymore, because it's written by the same writers for Lost, and they just fuck everything up. But I still adore the first two seasons of this show and highly recommend them to anyone who loves Fairy-tales. 

Into the woods 

Into the Woods was originally a Broadway musical that has now been adapted for the big screen. It takes on the fairy-tales Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk. It follows and young Baker and his wife who must reverse a curse put on their household by obtaining a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, the slipper as pure as gold. And craziness ensues. But like, good craziness, really good craziness. I really enjoyed this film and the music. I liked that it told the original Grimm tales that are dark and more realistic. A highly enjoyable film for any fairy-tale lover, but if you don't enjoy musicals, you might want to skip this one. 

Ever After

This is the Cinderella retelling that slays all others. It takes place in 16th century France, and is often viewed as a modern, post-feminism interpretation of the Cinderella myth. I don't really need to give a synopsis for this one, you all already know the story. But this film does it masterfully, definitely one of my favorite films of all time. 

Over the Garden Wall

Okay so, I'm cheating little with this one. It's not directly related to any specific Fairy-tale, but I feel it's very Fairy-tale-esque. This is the story of two brothers, Wurt and Greg, who are lost in the forest and trying to find they're way home. This is technically a miniseries done by Cartoon Network, but it can be watched as a film since it's only compiled of 10 ten-minutes long episodes. I highly recommend it, it's wonderfully done. 

The 10th Kingdom

I don't think it should be a surprise to anyone that this is number one, I gush about it all the time. This is the story of Virginia and her father, Tony, who are transported through a magic mirror to a parallel world, a world where all of the Fairy-tales are history, but happily ever after didn't last as long as they thought. Here there are evil queens, a prince cursed to live in the body of a dog, troll's who love the Bee Gees, and a plot interwoven in so many Fairy-tales, it's any Fairy-tale buffs dream come true. This one is quite long, about 7 hours, since it is a miniseries. But still very enjoyable, the 7 hours won't feel like that at all once you've finished!

(This is also my favorite film of all time) 

January Rewind

It's that time of the month again! I read 7 things this January, and for the most part I enjoyed all of them! It felt like a pretty good start to the year and I'm hoping I can continue the trend of reading 7 or more things each month, but we shall see.

The Books

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier ★★★★★

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier ★★★★

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood ★★★

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore★★★★

Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson ★★★★1/2

Fairest by Marissa Meyer ★★★★

Troll's Eye View by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling ★★★★

Yes, I'm aware, a whole lot of retellings in this wrap up. I can't help it, I'm obsessed. 

I am currently reading 3 books; 

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellison

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black 

Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling 

Let me know if you guys have read any of these books, what you think, and what you read this January! :)