The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two (Fairyland (3)) (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 2013; vuoden 2015 painos)

While the language is beautiful and still bright, and while we've got a little older September to contend with, I don't think this is the best of the Fairyland books.

She's growing up, learning that Yeti's hands can control serious time and Words have a magic that is all the greater because it belongs not only to Fairies, but to everyone, and the clothes you wear are like the words you use. It's sweet, and it's good, but there was something missing in the middle of the book.

Direction.

I loved the descriptions, the imagination, the characters, and the Rights of Tools, but there wasn't a center impetus to push the plot forward. I don't mind if we meander, and there was a lot of meandering, but I like to know that we're shooting for the moon, too.

I am NOT saying this was a bad book, because her works are so brilliant that they outshine the sun. I just don't think it matches the strengths of the previous two. Even if Saturday has turned into a budding Love Interest for September. :) So cute. Love the Timey-Wimey stuff. ( )

The curse of the third book - I liked this book, but not nearly as much as the first two. Sometimes I found myself a bit bored with the long and cryptic explanation characters gave September, but it's still got the charm and imagination of the other Fairyland books.

I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. ( )

I love Valente and I love the Fairyland series, so I was delighted when my thirteen-year-old chose this as his next bedtime story. Especially good timing as I'd gotten him book four for Christmas.

As a stand-alone book, this volume would be kind of weak. There is a lot of in-between-ness in this book. September is growing up, and there is a lot of meditation on what that means for her and her trips to Fairyland, on what it means for her life at home. There's far more of that than there is action, but if you remember where you are in the overall story arc, and you enjoy Valente's observations on life, it still manages plenty of charm.

Eager for the next volume. ( )

Like the previous books, this book contained some surprising nuggets of wisdom one would not generally expect from a YA book (although I may be biased, because I am generally not a big fan of that genre, and I have not read a lot of YA books). Like the previous books, I liked the characters, but sadly, this book was not quite as brilliant as the previous book.

What I will say is that the ending is far more surprising and maybe even sinister than expected. I am very curious to see how the series will go on now, but it seems I will have to wait a while for that to happen, as the next book has not been released yet. ( )

This is the best series of books I've read since Harry Potter. There's awesome prose, a unique fantasy world, and fleshed out characters the reader really feels for, especially by this, the third book. September, Saturday, and A-L are growing up, and at times, it's very emotional. There's talk of destiny, love, and missing things which are written about beautifully. I would recommend all of Valente's Fairyland books to people who love fantasy novels who also like a good emotional read.
I got into these novels through the blog EPBOT (review of which can be seen here: http://www.epbot.com/2012/10/book-review-roundup-dapper-fairy-tales.html) and I have loved all three of the books in the series so far. It's been set up for a fourth book and I can't wait for it to come out, whenever that is! I will definitely talk and recommend this book to no end, but actually articulating words here is very hard. Odd, considering I just praised this book for its prose. ( )