The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente

It was a neat ending, but because the story veers a little off from the projected path, it wasn't to the detriment of the story. It didn't end how I'd imagined and how I'd hoped, but it was such a rational ending. For this entry, though, suffice to say that it was as well-written, witty, full of heart and still replete with details and descriptions. There's so much to say about this beautiful series as a whole. And don't I know it? I'm constantly in some state of wanting to reread these books. There is always a place for us within these stories when we open them back up. The narrator assures us that the end is never the end. It was hard to accept that after this, September's adventures in Fairyland would be over.īecause these books are so amazingly self-aware, Valente addresses this idea right before the end. I reread books 1-4 before I finally settled myself in front of this final entry.

I've been talking about this series for years now, and yet I put off reading the final installment since I purchased it in March. :) I keep showing her the books and she lights up, saying, 'Is that Fairyland?' And I say, 'Yes, girl, this is Fairyland, and soon you'll be ready to ride the Leopard.' 'Yay!' I'm sitting here looking at my little girl and willing her to grow a little bit older so she'll be ready for me to read all of these glorious glorious glorious works of imagination to her. Well anyway, the kiss is the kiss that transcends time because it is the kiss of Story and Story is absolute and utter king. Or is it really for the child that all of us will become Saturday to be? Or is the first kiss really the Kiss That Stands For All Time? The more I think about these books the more I realize they're even better for adults than the ostensible child they're written for.

I was really taken for a ride this time, even if the Model A only had a walk on part, but at least we had the boy who lived in all directions at once, our fire-breathing library, a blunderbuss made of yarn, and more than enough shadows to rivet in all our desperate times. This is, after all, FAIRYLAND, and things are absolutely bonkers, bonkers, bonkers. Either way, never imagine that the Cantankerous Derby is a race that follows straight lines or even logic. This one felt slightly more dense in the puns, the hidden treasures, and the storytelling than the previous novels, or perhaps I was simply a bit more anxious to squeeze every last dollop of goodness out of the book because it would be the last.

The fact that it's the last one is sad, true, but the ending makes up for all my trepidations. I think I've said that about the rest of the series, before, but it doesn't make it any less true each and every time I read a Fairyland Book.

The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne M. Valente