Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com
Tristran Thorn would do absolutely anything to win pretty Victoria Forrester's heart. Even venture across The Wall into mysterious Faerie in search of a fallen star.
But once he enters Faerie, strange things begin to happen.
Tristran knows the location of every place in the land. He meets a strange, small man who gives him a candle that allows him to travel great distances. And when he finally finds the fallen star, Tristran discovers that it is not a lump of rock like he thought, but a young woman, who has quite the mind of her own.
Tristran, though, isn't the only one looking for the star. The witch queen and a group of three brothers all want something of it. For these brothers, it's the power she possesses. For the witch, it's her heart.
STARDUST was completely entrancing, charming, and a surprisingly quick read. The star's spunk and Tristran's humanity are both to be admired in this adventurous tale that will make you laugh out loud and break into tears. This is one book not to be missed.
Tristran Thorn would do absolutely anything to win pretty Victoria Forrester's heart. Even venture across The Wall into mysterious Faerie in search of a fallen star.
But once he enters Faerie, strange things begin to happen.
Tristran knows the location of every place in the land. He meets a strange, small man who gives him a candle that allows him to travel great distances. And when he finally finds the fallen star, Tristran discovers that it is not a lump of rock like he thought, but a young woman, who has quite the mind of her own.
Tristran, though, isn't the only one looking for the star. The witch queen and a group of three brothers all want something of it. For these brothers, it's the power she possesses. For the witch, it's her heart.
STARDUST was completely entrancing, charming, and a surprisingly quick read. The star's spunk and Tristran's humanity are both to be admired in this adventurous tale that will make you laugh out loud and break into tears. This is one book not to be missed.
I had actually seen the movie before reading this book and I'm glad that I did. It gave me a better visual of what happens in the book as sometimes I did feel that the author wasn't descriptive enough. The story is quite good, but as previously mentioned, it could have been more detailed. The blank pages between chapters in order to make is seem a larger book than it actually is was also a bit annoying.
I read this book because I really enjoyed the movie. Oddly, once I was finished I actually liked the movie better. That never happens. It is a great book and I would have probably loved it more if I didn't have the movie to compare it too. Its more for adults than children. There is some sexual content among other things.
This was a charming, quick story of self-growth and achieving adulthood, all done up in a nifty magical world. There's humor there, too, and it's quite engaging. Fun.
I read this book almost immediately after seeing the movie; it's not clear to me how much of my good feeling is from attaching the words to the movie. There were few differences between the two; you can either take that to mean that the movie did a good job of following the book, or that the book adds damn little to what the movie presents. It is clear that Gaiman has the knack for writing short novels (or novellas) that can easily be transformed into screenplays, and this is one of those.
4 of 5 stars.
I read this book almost immediately after seeing the movie; it's not clear to me how much of my good feeling is from attaching the words to the movie. There were few differences between the two; you can either take that to mean that the movie did a good job of following the book, or that the book adds damn little to what the movie presents. It is clear that Gaiman has the knack for writing short novels (or novellas) that can easily be transformed into screenplays, and this is one of those.
4 of 5 stars.
It's written in prose style so if you are not into that you may not like it. The prose gives it that extra flair and detail, and even with that it's a very fast read. An excellent fairy story for adults.
I very much enjoyed the book, but I cannot - try as I might - ignore the slight disappointment I had upon finishing the story. My first mistake, which greatly influences my second mistake, is that I saw the film first. You see, generally, I make it a rule to read the book first if I know a movie is based on one. This tale and The Lightning Thief are the only two in which I've broken this rule. And in all the occasions where I was not aware of the inspirational book, only once did I find myself enjoying the book less after having seen the movie (Practical Magic, do not recommend it)
Normally, I'm proud of my ability to view books and film as two separate forms of media and easily enjoy both versions of a story for often very different reasons. This is what brings me to my second shortcoming: I could not stop from thinking fondly of the movie as I was reading parts of the book. All and all I think I enjoyed the both equally, but the film had taken certain liberties with the story - which, at the time, I was not aware were in fact liberties - that I thoroughly enjoyed. Many added humor and quirky character traits that I couldn't wait to read on paper only to miss them when they failed to appear.
The third and final blunder. One that I've repeated numerous times despite my complete awareness of this personal flaw. Unlike my previous mentioned ability, I cannot separate a book from its accolades or reproaches reviews and word of mouth. And in the cases where people have hinted about the story before I've had the chance to read it, I can never seem to shake the preconceptions I've formed from them. In this situation, I have a few Neil Gaiman fans for friends who have eulogized his books on high, so I entered this first book of his - for me anyway - with fairly high expectations.
However, given all this, I still laughed at quirky characters and amusing twists in the story and enjoyed his style of weaving a story. Unfortunately, this tale, like its characters, had a few things conspiring against it... in my head... mostly.
P.S. To my Neil Gaiman loving friends. This lengthy explanation of my rating is due to my hopes that in clarifying my reasoning, I will avoid at least some ire that I'm sure will be directed my way after I've dared give only a measly 3 stars. Please, guys, I still love you. Don't hate me.
Normally, I'm proud of my ability to view books and film as two separate forms of media and easily enjoy both versions of a story for often very different reasons. This is what brings me to my second shortcoming: I could not stop from thinking fondly of the movie as I was reading parts of the book. All and all I think I enjoyed the both equally, but the film had taken certain liberties with the story - which, at the time, I was not aware were in fact liberties - that I thoroughly enjoyed. Many added humor and quirky character traits that I couldn't wait to read on paper only to miss them when they failed to appear.
The third and final blunder. One that I've repeated numerous times despite my complete awareness of this personal flaw. Unlike my previous mentioned ability, I cannot separate a book from its accolades or reproaches reviews and word of mouth. And in the cases where people have hinted about the story before I've had the chance to read it, I can never seem to shake the preconceptions I've formed from them. In this situation, I have a few Neil Gaiman fans for friends who have eulogized his books on high, so I entered this first book of his - for me anyway - with fairly high expectations.
However, given all this, I still laughed at quirky characters and amusing twists in the story and enjoyed his style of weaving a story. Unfortunately, this tale, like its characters, had a few things conspiring against it... in my head... mostly.
P.S. To my Neil Gaiman loving friends. This lengthy explanation of my rating is due to my hopes that in clarifying my reasoning, I will avoid at least some ire that I'm sure will be directed my way after I've dared give only a measly 3 stars. Please, guys, I still love you. Don't hate me.
I really enjoyed "Coraline", so I decided to try "Stardust" and was met with a big disappointment. It would have been really good but a few chapters in there was sexual content and I stopped reading and returned it. Needless to say I no longer read Neil Gaiman's books.
I got very frustrated with the beginning of the story, as it seemed to spend too much time on Tristran's origin. It got much better after that and then things came together even more in the end
