The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels ThereAuthor: Catherynne M. Valente
Series: Fairyland (#2)
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
How Received: publisher ARC
Read my review of The Girl Who Circumnavigated... (#1)
Release Date: 7 October 2012
September returns to Fairyland to reunite with A-Through-L, Saturday, and Gleam, and to confront her shadow-self, who has become the queen of Fairyland-Below, the upside-down world beneath the Fairyland of the first novel, filled with creatures of water and shadow, tales of ancient Fairyland before the human world was born, and not a few hungry buffins, blind birds of ice and moonlight. The yearly revels of Fairyland-Below climax in a mysterious rite September must avert or else lose her shadow forever.
I was one of many who wished for a sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Though The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There was awesome in its own right, it's a lesser book than its predecessor.
I can't quite put my finger on what it is that made me not like it as much as the first one. It's very good. I loved seeing her explore Fairyland-Below, reuniting with the shadows of her friends and being her generally awesome September-self. I enjoyed meeting the new characters and reuniting with old ones. The scene with the Goblin Market was, by far, my favorite.
September's continual development as a character without losing any of her ambition or charm was awesome.
But it missed some sparkle. Things that were drawn out and elaborated on in the first book - the magic, the secret of how September would escape - breezed by really quickly here. And the entire summary of who the prince of Fairyland-Below was sent me into a bit of a confused tizzy. (For the sake of the review, I'll keep this spoiler-free, but let's just say that it didn't make sense to me.)
It is still a very, very good book. With September, it wouldn't be anything less. And I did devour it all in one shot.
It just lost some of its magic.
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 8/10. A great cast of characters, but missing some of the sparkle of the first book -- with a very strange ending.
Did you read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Nicole's Blog With A Title Too Long To Continuously Type? What did you think?
I just finished the first book and it was really good. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, to see where things go. Sounds really good--great review!
ReplyDeleteDebz @ Debz Bookshelf
I couldn't read your whole review closely because I haven't read this book yet (and I have a strict rule for myself of not reading other reviews before I write one of my own), but I caught the 'not as good as the first' comment, and that makes me so... SAD! Because that first book was absolute magic. Ah well... I suppose with September, I'll still love it.
ReplyDeleteHm, good to know. We haven't read the first book yet, but we've had our eye on it. Do you think there will be a third, or even more in the series? Or does THE GIRL WHO FELL give a fairly good resolution?
ReplyDeleteIt wraps up fairly well, but there are clear indications that Valente might go for a third.
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