Title: Catnyp
Author: Delia Sherman
In: The Faery Reel (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5:5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Fae, Fairy tales, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Short story
Year: 2004

Catnyp is a glorious fairytale, but kind of in reverse. Rather than a hero wanting to join the mythical world and change things, it’s a changeling wanting to not become a hero, and a hero-wannabe trying to join the real world. I mean, honestly, who would necessarily want to leave a world filled with magic and mystery for the mundane real world where you have to work and you know… act like an adult?

I thought that this was going to be a really cute little romance, but it turns out it was more a story about finding oneself. I love that the changeling in this fell in love, found out more about the world she lives in and what love means to humans. But, ultimately, decided that she valued herself and wanted to grow more. She is the hero of her own story, not the supporting cast in someone else’s.

I loved everything about the world building in this story. It was intense and brilliant, multilayered and incredibly intriguing. Mostly though, I loved the idea of the library and it’s sentience – how the presence of people and energies created magical beings that supported the world of the Between and the fae.

Image source: Amazon