Book Review: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis:

Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie—where nothing not even a fallen star, is what he imagined.

Review:

I’m about to say something shocking, prepare yourself. I prefer the film. I never thought I’d be saying that, but here we are. Don’t get me wrong, this was a very entertaining book, but so much more happens in the film.

As always with Neil Gaiman’s books, this was utterly magical. I don’t know if I’m either remembering wrong or being stupid, but I don’t remember the other side of Wall being Faerie. Is this the case in the film? Makes a lot of sense in hindsight.

His style of writing is strangely blunt yet beautifully poetic, it’s quite hard to explain. But I love it so much, this was my second Neil Gaiman book and I remember being just as enraptured with that one as I was with Stardust.

Tristan and Yvaine’s relationship really did not work for me in the book. There was hardly any development, she seemed to hate him one second and then suddenly they were in love. Very confusing. If I didn’t have prior knowledge of the story, I would not have had a single thought of them getting together. They had no chemistry and it felt pretty forced.

I do absolutely love this story though, the film is one of my favourites of all time. It’s such a unique story and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading the book.

I raced through Stardust and I’m now really regretting not taking any review notes – classic me, I do this every time. But seriously, if you want a quick read that isn’t rushed and feels much longer than it actually is (in the best way) I’d definitely recommend Stardust. It is a little more mature than the film, so do be aware of this.