Two Second Review
★★★ ½ ☆ // 3.5 s t a r s
In the most basic sense, Stardust is more of an experience than a book (I highly recommend listening to the audiobook, it's pretty immaculate) and honestly the world would've made a dreadful story be worth it, but then the story was perfectly fine too.
The Book
Trigger Warnings: gore, rape (mentioned), kidnapping/abduction
Release Date: February 1, 1999
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Series?: no
Page Count: 238
Premise:
In the sleepy English countryside at the dawn of the Victorian Era, life moves at a leisurely pace in the tiny town of Wall—a secluded hamlet so named for an imposing stone barrier that surrounds a fertile grassland. Armed sentries guard the sole gap in the bulwark to keep the inquisitive from wandering through, relaxing their vigil only once every nine years, when a market fair unlike any other in the world of men comes to the meadow. Here in Wall, young Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to beautiful Victoria Forester. But Victoria is cold and distant--as distant, in fact, as the star she and Tristran see fall from the sky on a crisp October evening. For the coveted prize of Victoria's hand, Tristran vows to retrieve the fallen star and deliver it to his beloved. It is an oath that sends the lovelorn swain over the ancient wall, and propels him into a world that is strange beyond imagining.
But Tristran is not the only one seeking the heavenly jewel. There are those for whom it promises youth and beauty, the key to a kingdom, and the rejuvenation of dark, dormant magics. And a lad compelled by love will have to keep his wits about him to succeed and survive in this secret place where fallen stars come in many guises—and where quests have a way of branching off in unexpected directions, even turning back upon themselves in space and in time.
Review
Two things. Spelling. Hit or miss in this review, audiobooks do that. Second, is this MC's name Tristan or TristRan, like I don't know there's so many contradicting things (I'm gonna call him Tristran, since that's what the audiobook did).
Okay, as we know, Neil Gaiman is so damn popular among the readers, and so I have finally, lo and behold, read a book by him. I did not know he wrote Coraline, and I will probably go and read that soon because why not, in this house we love Coraline. This book was probably not the best by him to start with, but to be honest that's okay, because I really liked it anyway. The beginning hooked me hardcore, the middle was decent to say the most, but the end was actually so great. It still has got me in a fairytale story thing and I want more now.
When I saw the cast (yeah, I haven't watched it like everyone else on Earth, I'll go do that as soon as possible) for Stardust (the movie), I was so ready for an entire book about Dunstan and imagining him as our precious Ben Barnes, but no, that wasn't the case, which was…sad. The book starts off, with a prologue essentially, about Dunstan and how he had SexUaL iNteRcOuRsE (sorry I wanted to say that) with a furry, sorry I meant Chat Noir but a girl, oh not that either…? Sex leads to baby leads to Tristran Thorn and then the adventures of his. The Adventures of Tristran Thorn, so to speak. I'm being really extra in this review, I can tell…I should stop.
Tristran is in love with Victoria Forester, who's all like, "Fine, I'll marry you but first get me that stAR!" Like that makes sense. But this is fantasy, so we go with it obviously. Tristran journeys into Faerie, through the wall (which is also the name of his town), and goes to get the star for his Un Amor Verdadero (that was even weirder of me, flexing my high school Spanish skills right there). Oh also, there's a bunch of murderous princes who also want to get the star.
I'll be more sane in the rest…read on for me being normal.
Stardust is so full of mystery, and wonder, and love, and murder that it's actually so captivating almost throughout. Then the world happens to be written in a way that's so straightforward, but also so worldbuild-y that it just takes you back to the Disney days when all we got was straight imagery but we adored it anyway.
❝ A philosopher once asked, 'Are we human because we gaze at
the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?' Pointless,
really…'Do the stars gaze back?' Now, that's a question. ❞
Even though I only gave this book a 3.5 stars, know that it's actually very amazing and the only reason that it wasn't a four is because the middle did feel slightly slow and tedious. The end did make up for that, it was so good, like seriously. The epilogue was super happy and just perfect. Also, the random quotes in there that literally hit you by surprise, like who knew authors could be so philosophical. Also, that one time he said there was a path directly south of the Belly Hill™ (definitely snorted).
Tropes…
— fae/faerie
— imagery galore
— fairy tale vibe
— unfated soulmates (like, they think it's true love, emphasize on think)
— i'm gonna kidnap you, but don't worry we'll fall in love soon (feel free to name this trope; i'll literally rename it)
Read…If You Liked…
Something Wicked This Way Comes (the imagery vibes the same kinda)
The Cruel Prince (fae…)
Watch…If You Liked…
ADD STARDUST TO YOUR GOODREADS SHELF
random q to drop comments <3
What's the best fantasy of all time (in your opinion, of course)?
(that's the hardest question, i'm aware, but These Violent
Delights is definitely up there. ha that rhymed bye)
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