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! :)

My Top 10 Reads of 2014

The New Year is upon us, which means that it is time to take a look back at all of the things I read in 2014 (I read 100 things, holy balls!) I read quite a few awesome things, but I also read a lot of meh things. However, this was the year that I discovered the wonderful writing of Brandon Sanderson and Nora Roberts, both of which have works on this list :) This list going to contain 10-ish things, all series, if mentioned, are going to be counted for one single spot, and I am including graphics novels/comics. So let's get crackin'!

*As always, if you want to find out more on any of these books, just click the image to be taken to the Goodreads page :)*

The Key Trilogy by Nora Roberts

If at the end of 2013 someone had told me that I would be reading and loving Nora Roberts books in 2014, I would have thought they were lying. I have never been a fan of romance novels, and my only exposure to them for the longest time has been the silly Harlequin novels with Fabio on the cover. Now, Nora Roberts may write romance, but damn, she does it well, and I think this trilogy is so far her best of what I've read. The romances for all of the characters is wonderful, but also the plot of the keys and the friendship between these three women is just wonderfully done. I was thoroughly surprised!

Fables by Bill Willingham

There isn't much to say about this one. I've read the first 10 volumes and am incredibly invested, simply because, I LOVE fairy-tales and retellings. So it's a given that I love this series!

Watchmen by Alan Moore

The thing about this graphic novel is that I don't particularly like the plot all that much, and I dislike practically all of the characters. But the messages it portrays and the way the art is constructed just blew me away. There were moments in this graphic novel where I felt like I was watching a film with masterful cinematography, and I have to say that a graphic novel or comic is truly impressive if it can achieve that.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

This was hands down the great graphic novel I read all year. I didn't really know much about it when I picked it up other than that it tells three separate stories that all come together in the end, and oh boy! do they ever! I love the way that these stories were weaved together and how they weren't actually as separate as the reader originally believes. I also think this book gave me a look at a perspective I'd never seen from before, and I am definitely excited to pick up more things from Gene Luen Yang.

Ready Player One By Ernest Cline

You can read my review of this book here. But if you don't want to read my full review, then just now that this book is full of gaming and 80's pop culture references and it is perfection. And also a fresh new take on dystopians!

Cress by Marissa Meyer
This is by far the best book so far in The Lunar Chronicles, and the book that really made me realize how utterly obsessed I was with this series. The books just continually get better, and I cannot wait for Fairest and Winter!

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson  
Read my gushy review here. Mistborn was my introduction to Brandon Sanderson, But I didn't fall in love with his story telling until I read Elantris, and I now firmly believe that this book is the best place to start with his writing. It is not by any means his best work, but it will always hold a special place in my heart and I enjoyed it immensely. 



 

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly  
Again, my review can be found here. A fairy-tale book that doesn't really retell any one fairy-tale, but rather has that Grimm feel about it, along with taking small things from different Grimm tales, with the added bonus of a story about loss, grief, and the overall story of a boy growing up. Just beautiful. 




 

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier 
I absolutely adored this book, and it would definitely be in the number one spot if not for the brilliant mind of Brandon Sanderson. This was my first Julier Marillier book and it will most certainly not be my last (I am actually currently in the middle of Daughter of the Forest). I loved everything about this book, the characters, the plot, the setting, Oh, the setting! How could anything feel more magical than 16th century Transylvania?! But I digress, this is a tale on it's own, and though it is definitely inspired by The Twelve Dancing Princesses as well as The Frog Prince, I feel that this is truly Marillier's own. 

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
I have no eloquent way of describing why or how this book series is so beautiful, so please just read it. It's the greatest thing I've ever read. 








   

Seasonal Reading

I hear the terms 'summer reads' and 'winter reads' quite often, but I've never really associated any books with a certain season. At first I thought that maybe this was the case because I don't really read a whole lot of contemporary, so I don't have any summery themed books to read in the summer. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I do have seasonal reads, they just aren't necessarily the same ones that almost everyone else has...

Summer Reads

Massive Fantasy Books

 Personally I think that Fantasy can be read any time of the year, and I do read it year round, but I think that Summer is the best time to knock out the larger one's on my shelf, and by larger I mean anything over 500 pages.This method doesn't work as well for me as it has in previous years, since now I'm an adult with a job and don't really have a summer vacation anymore, but I still do the best I can. Here are some massive Fantasy books that I've read so far this Summer:

Autumn Reads
Magical Books
Ah, Autumn, the time for witchy books and romance. This is typically when I like to read fairy-tale retellings and any sort of witchy themed book that gets me all excited for Halloween. Autumn is my favorite season, but also my busiest, so I like to read books that are quick and fun. Here are some that I am hoping to get to this Autumn:

Winter Reads

Classics

There is nothing like a snow day to make you want to cuddle under the bed covers and delve into a classic, at least for me there's nothing like it. Winter always sets me in the perfect mood for classics, Victorian literature especially. I've been slacking a bit with classics lately, so here's a few that I hope to get to this Winter:

Spring Reads

Graphic Novels, Comics, & Manga

Spring is a season for illustration, it's my favorite season to draw and my favorite season to read all sorts of illustrated literature.  I'm not sure what I'll be reading next Spring, considering it is more than 6 months away, but here are a few things I've had my eye on:

Do you read any genres seasonally? Have any recommendations for me? Let me know!