Hello friends. What have you been reading this summer? I’ve managed to read a bit more since I’m not doing as much school with my girls right now. At the end of June I read Stardust by Neil Gaiman. It’s a fun, quick-paced, short read. Great for a trip to the beach. I mean not for me, there’s no way I could read while keeping an eye on all my kids at the beach, but you get the idea. It’s a fantasy story about a young man who sets off to find a falling star and bring it to the girl he loves — but the star turns out to be a beautiful lady. The quest takes place in the land of Fairie, which is filled with all sorts of magical creatures, including talking animals, witches, and a unicorn.
My husband actually bought this book because he’d watched the movie and liked it. After about the first chapter he talked me into reading it, too. I enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s writing style. It’s obvious that he’s a master storyteller. I actually feel like he could have made the book twice as long, as there were portions of this story and the world it takes place in that I would have loved to get to experience more fully. I wouldn’t necessarily call the characters incredibly compelling. It really reads to me a lot like a fairy tale. This isn’t the type of book to give you a book hangover because you just can’t believe that you’ve finished the story of the characters who have become your friends and moving on is nearly impossible. But sometimes that’s good. Sometimes I’m not ready for another epic series with all the feels and I just want to read a nice story that’s interesting and well written that I can enjoy for a little white. There are a couple romantic scenes that make this not really appropriate for younger YA audiences, but they’re not super descriptive like some books can be, and are a very minor portion of the story. This was my first book of Neil Gaiman’s to read, and it definitely left me wanting to read more. 🙂