Fly with you all today! Welcome to another Fairies book review! Today we're taking a look at the second book in the Fairy Dust trilogy, Fairy Haven And The Quest For The Wand, written by Gail Carson Levine. I already reviewed the first book in the series, Fairy Dust And The Quest For The Egg, which can be found here: http://www.pixiehollowdaily.com/2015/02/fairies-book-review-fairy-dust-and.html
Continue on below for the flitterific review! Some spoilers below, of course.
The second book picks up right where the first adventure left off, with Mother Dove's egg being restored and Never Land's magic returned. But to accomplish this, Rani the water fairy (who cut her wings off in the last book so she could swim down to Mermaid Lagoon and get the mermaids' help) made a deal with the mermaid Soop that, for her comb, she will give Soop a fairy wand. Rani later finds out only Great Wanded Fairies, who live on the Mainland, carry wands, and that they corrupt Never Fairies, as the wand brings out the inner-most desires. Mother Dove selects Tink, Queen Clarion, and Rani to retrieve a wand from the Mainland, which require them to fly in a balloon carrier across the ocean.
With the mention of the wand, already fairies are thinking of wishes they can make, and Mother Dove will only allow one wish per fairy, although she thinks even that is too much. The wand's affect on the fairies is a dark part of the story. Some of the fairies' inner desires and greediness begin to show, and it adds an interesting plot point to the story, causing an inner battle for the fairies as they set off to get a wand from the Mainland. Another interesting thing I was not expecting was the Great Wanded Fairies who live on the Mainland are the size of humans, living in a castle that Tink and company sneak in to. It made me wonder if we have fairies living amongst us in human size! The interaction between the two types of fairies was fun to read, with one being human size and the other only 5 inches, resulting in the latter almost being crushed on numerous incidents.
After finally introducing themselves to the Great Wandies and choosing a wand they think is suitable, the fairies set off back to Never Land. But the thing is, each wand has its own mind, so to speak, some being calm and tempered, others being mischievous if not "woken" properly. The fairies, of course, choose one of an ill temper and grants wishes too literally if words are not chosen correctly. The other downside is wishes cannot be undone unless the wand is awaken,which results in it being even more devious. This adds even more complications once Tink, Rani, and Clarion make wishes on the return trip, some even more than one. I won't spoil what these wishes entail, but the last half of the second act until the end of the book are a wild ride, with each new development being a real page turner.
I will spoil Vidia's wish, in that, being a very greedy fairy, escapes the scouts who are always tasked with watching her, and flies off to the balloon carrier and steals the wand, wishing to be the fastest fairy ever, already faster than she already is. She proceeds to fly as fast as possible around the world, resulting in her ears bleeding from the high velocity in which she's flying. When she's had her fun and wants to go back to her normal fast-flying self, the wand won't grant her wish, as, again, it has to be awoken to reverse wishes, but she doesn't know this. This was a very interesting part of the story for me, showing Vidia her greed will cause her trouble, and that something you've always wanted might not be all that it's cracked up to be.
Another thing I forgot to mention in the last review was the illustrations throughout the book, beautifully drawn by David Christiana, that I've sprinkled throughout this review. They have such a fairy tale look to them, it gives the book a gravitas that it was written by fairies themselves, and passed down to us "Clumsies". The illustrations harken to the classic drawings you'd find in the old Grimm fairy tales of past centuries. They are a beauty to behold, and I find my eyes lingering on the drawings for minutes on end, just taking in the detail of it all.
Overall, the sequel to Fairy Dust improves upon an already excellent first entry, raising the stakes and putting the characters in both physical and emotional danger, further developing these characters and showing us not every fairy is a perfect, shining fairy, that each has dark inner ambitions. A perfect 10 out of 10 from me!
Check back next time for the final book in the Fairy Dust trilogy, Fairies And The Quest For Never Land. Until then, fly with you all later!
