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

I just finished The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

I love that title.

It is a charming, whimsical, delightful fairytale full of the best kinds of charters: ones you would never be able to dream up on your own. The story is about a girl named September, a dragon who is not a dragon, and a Marquess who has imprisoned most of Fairyland because she is in a foul mood. I recommend that you go pick up a copy and immerse yourself in the story at once.

Some of my favorite quotes: 

“The Green Wind frowned into his brambly beard. “All little girls are terrible,” he admitted finally, “but the Marquess, at least, has a very fine hat.” – p. 3

“All children are heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb tall trees and say shocking things … Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one.” – p. 4

“Hats have power. Hats can change you into someone else.” – p. 26

“That’s how you get the future: You mix up everything you did today with everything you did yesterday and all the days before and everything anyone you ever met did and anyone they ever met, too.” – p. 32

“And it’s the wonders I’m after, even if I have to bleed for them.” – p. 36

“She sounds like someone who spends a lot of time in libraries, which are the best sorts of people.” – p. 55

“Temperament, you’ll find, is highly dependent on time of day, weather, frequency of naps, and whether one has had enough to eat.” – p. 104

“He was still too shy to suggest anything without wrapping it up tight to keep it safe.” – p. 115

“We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop.” – p. 194

“… No one is chosen. Not ever. Not in the real world. You chose to climb out of your window and ride on a Leopard … You chose to face your own death, not to balk at a great sea to cross and no ship to cross it in. And twice, now, you have chosen not to go home when you might have, if only you abandoned your friends. You are not the chosen one, September. Fairyland did not choose you – you chose yourself.” – p. 205

What made this a good story? Each sentence gave way to a more clever and more beautiful sentence next. Valente took words literally and made them come alive by their own definitions. She stacked them up into paragraphs that make the reader smile.

What could have made it a better story? Honestly? Nothing. I will buy this (and its sequels) and read it again and again and again.  

What do you think? Have you read anything by Valente? And if so, did you enjoy it?

P.S. If you liked this, you will probably enjoy The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

Update: I read this book a second time in November 2015 and it was just as magical.