This book was the perfect antidote to the last book I read, so I fell in happily to De lint's world of fairies and worlds beyond. The characters are kind of idealized. They're the cadre of best buddies that everybody wants, but I think few people rarely have.

Nevertheless, I was up for some wishful idealized relationships so I don't fault De lint for that because it made reading the trials of the main character that much easier knowing she had all these friends that constantly spew unconditional love at her.

My one problem with the book was the southern accent that came with one of the POV characters. It was bad, and if it had been relegated to the dialogue only, I wouldn't complain. It was everything within that character's POV though. Being from the south, I've never met anyone with grammar that atrocious and certainly not anyone who uses more colorful metaphors per minute than Mike Huckabee (who is himself a somewhat dishonest characterization). ( )

Very nice. Typical Newford. I was a little worried that it would be too much instant forgiveness, but while Jilly is of course good-hearted, the book isn't blind to Raylene's failings. ( )

3.5 stars

So good, but so hard to read because of the realistic portrayal of sexual abuse and its longterm effects on an individual's life and the people and systems that fail victims and survivors. This is the real-est magical realism I've ever read, and I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an accusation right at this moment because getting through this book took work. I certainly didn't expect magical realism to be this real. Didn't know that it could get this real.

That aside, my main issue with this book was not knowing where it was going. The writing was at times sharp and hard hitting, but also dreamy and lyrical; other times, it was slow moving and seemed to be going in circles or nowhere. I couldn't figure out where it was leading or what it was setting up for until I was over halfway through. At this point I imagine is where most people would've given up if this book had been their entry point into the Newford series, but since I'm a completionist by nature and this was a buddy read with Beth, I pushed on.

Not sure if I can say that the effort paid off or that the ending is worth the struggle that came before it, but I can confirm that the characters do grow on you and you do end up caring about them before you realize what's happening. I get now what other reviewers mean when they call these books spellbinding--they pull you in bit by bit and you don't realize it until you reach the end.

Objectively speaking, I have immense appreciation for this book and the depth and range of Charles de Lint's writing, and I plan to go back and start the Newford series from the beginning one day. But subjectively? I will probably, most definitely, never read this volume again. Not even to refresh my memory.

Grand Marais, Lake Superior ( )

Certainly one of the masterworks of modern fantasy literature, from the genre's best contemporary writer. A compelling, engrossing story of survival and compassion, featuring a terrific main character. I always forget one of the nicer aspects of De Lint's writing - the fact that there is actually a very hard edge to it, remember he was initially a writer of rather nasty supernatural tinged horror/suspense stories. This book should be read in companion with "Widdershins." ( )

This book had the potential to be truly enchanting. Unfortunately, despite having some beautiful imagery, it was clunky, the many many characters were not authentic or believable, and the dark subject matter was not overcome by the escapism that fantasy worlds are supposed to offer. I didn't feel the plot had a solid direction, and felt more like a sub plot than an actual story arc.
If I hadn't read De Lint before, I would have been very confused by the large, and mostly unexplained, cast of characters. Many of his other stories are interwoven with this one, but it was not satisfying for me, despite being a little nostalgic.
The world that De Lint creates is beautiful, as I said. It's vivid and full of magic. But that's only one part of a story. A novel needs a solid direction, and this one simply didn't have it. I'm sad to give this novel three stars, because the world building deserves a five. ( )