Review: The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There - Catherynne M. Valente

Where I got it: ARC from publisher for review
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Love the illustrations and this one is particularly splendid.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Page Count: 258 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads
Sequel to: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

September has been left to pine away for Fairyland in her quiet town. All she wants is to be reunited with A-through-L, Gleam and Saturday. It doesn't seem like anyone is coming to get her though, so September heads to Fairyland herself. What she finds there is vastly different from what she left. Her shadow-self is now Queen of Fairyland-Below and is stealing shadows to populate her land. September knows that all this is her mess to fix, luckily she has A-through-L's and Saturday's shadows to help. They aren't quite the same, but close enough so that September doesn't have to go it alone. She will face many challenge and have quite the journey to fix things, but September can't leave Fairyland a mess.

I don't think I much like Fairyland-Below and the Shadows of people either. They were different in all the wrong ways, that left you unsure how you felt about the characters. The Shadows were there with the bodies the whole time, but by themselves they are something quite different. Besides that though, this was a fantastic story still. I loved it almost as much as the first one. There seemed to be something a little less magical about this one (there's a good reason though). I loved the stories of the two crows, wasn't quite as great as the keys but still a great time.

September is growing older, and with it comes all these knew feelings which I loved. You could really see how things are changing with September and I adored the ending on this one. This doesn't mean that I don't want more adventures in Fairyland though.

I don't think you necessarily have to read the other book first, but it helps flesh out some of the contrasts between Fairyland during and after the Marquess. This book is 100% worth the read and you should definitely check it out and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making too!

First Line:
"Once upon a time, a girl named September had a secret."

Favorite Lines:
"For though, as we have said, children are heartless, this is not precisely true of teenagers. Teenage hearts are raw and new, fast and fierce, and they do not know their own strength."