The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

What a lovely book full of wonders and wisdom and weirdness and witches and wyverns and winds and whatnots! :D

I enjoyed this on so many levels. Its a fairy tale about fairy tales and the telling of said tales and way the machinery behind the scenes works. Its also simply wonderful and endearing and it made me laugh and go "awww!", and sometimes it made me sad and then comforted me again. I cannot judge its appeal for children, for I am (at least nominally) not a child anymore, but my soon to be 42 year old adult self was beaming with delight while reading it. I will say that the topics it raises and lessons it might teach one, are certainly excellent. ("You are not the chosen one. [...] You chose yourself.")

Before I forget I should praise the language, the weaving of words, which is beautiful and evocative and draws you right in, and the charming cast of characters, which are extraordinarily well imagined and depicted. I fell in love with all of them from the heroine to the villain and everyone in between, with a special place in my heart for A-Through-L, the best friend one could wish for (even if the point of friends really is that they eventually leave you, one would hope to have someone as true and knowledgeable - at least up until a certain point in the alphabet - along for as much time as is possible).

So, as you might have gathered from all my sentimental blathering, this one left its mark on me. I wholeheartedly recommend it to whomever, whatever and however old you are!


The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
My goodreads-rating: 5 of 5 stars