Osmo Unknown and the Eightpenny Woods by Catherynne M. Valente
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes, Valente did it again. In quite the same vein as The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making with a very different story and worldbuilding, she still draws in so much mythology, such wonderful characters, and an adventure so beautiful and heartbreaking and so... CUTE that I'm honestly rather shocked.

I shouldn't be shocked. Truly. I've been a fan of Valente for so long that this should be second hat, this fanboying I do, but I'm still shocked.

It's a love story between a valley (where the humans live) and the forest (where the others live). The rules are simple, assuming you are taught them, and even if you aren't, the rules are still there. Is it fairyland? Yes, if you go by the mushrooms. But it's also Greek in the truly delightful Persephone tale.

And more, it's the characters, poor little Osmo, and his new, if unwilling, friends. It's the truly heartwarming/heartbreaking characters that I love the most. The writing, of course, is sooo damn good the way only Valente writes it, but the whole book is greater than the sum of its parts.

that is truly heartwarming/heartbreaking. I love them all. And my god... the twist... the book pulled off a wonderful kind of alchemy within itself and me. :)

Do I recommend?

Hell yes! :)

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