Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Onion Girl (Newford #11)

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 4,289 ratings · 256 reviews

In novel after novel, and story after story, Charles de Lint has brought an entire imaginary North American city to vivid life. Newford: where magic lights dark streets; where myths walk clothed in modern shapes; where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning.

At the center of all the entwined lives in Newford stands a young a...more

Paperback, 512 pages

Published August 3rd 2002 by Tor Books (first published 2001)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Best Urban Fantasy

75th out of 1,689 books — 7,000 voters

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Favorite Magical Realist Novels

66th out of 683 books — 2,747 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 05, 2007 Ambertronic rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the book where Charles de Lint delves into the history of everyones favorite character: Jilly Coppercorn. It goes into how she came to be the person she is, and the catalyst that forces her to come to terms with her past. We find "magical-so-open-minded-her-brain-may-fall-out" Jilly has an unfortunate past that is echoed in many womens lives. The book also weaves together the colorful collection of characters de Lint has created over the years in his Newford short stories.

I prefer de Li...more

6 likes · like · see review

Nov 18, 2008 indiefishsteak rated it 5 of 5 stars

An amazing book that I did not want to let go of once I started the first paragraph. The story of Jilly, her incapacitating accident, healing old wounds, and adventures in the otherworld (or dreamland or whatever you prefer), of course. Unforgettable characters that question what it means to be bad or good and what causes those circumstances.

Be warned though that this book deals pretty heavily with sexual abuse/molestation and difficult backgrounds including homelessness, violence, and prostitut...more

6 likes · like · see review

Aug 22, 2007 cindy rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: idiots and those trapped in the realm of faerie

Shelves: abandoned

Once upon a time...
Once upon a time...
Once upon a time...

What a clunker. I heard from the rest of the bookclub ladies that it wasn't great, but I was willing to give it a chance. Mistake.

I made it to page 49 and refused to proceed any further after reading this dreck:

"I believe in a different kind of magic," Sophie said. "The kind we make between each other. The kind that comes from our art and how it can change us. The world doesn't need any more than that."

Ugh. Irritating FruitCakey Artistes w...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 10, 2008 Charles rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of fantasy or surrealism; people interested in magic and native/indigenous folklore/traditions

Shelves: fantasy

Charles de Lint is the Man of urban fantasy writers. I really appreciate and respect his ability as a middle-aged man to return to a place of youth and wonder, as well as inhabit and develop female characters. It is impossible to not love Jilly Coppercorn. Her sister, Raylene, at first monstrous, is also supercool. De Lint eases the reader into empathy for her and and understanding of the roots of her violent, alienating, and callous ways. Joe Crazy Dog and his friends are pretty much bad asses...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 12, 2008 Heather G Gentle rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was entirely bizarre but in a good way. It's a little hard to follow at the beginning going between worlds and several different view points but once I got used to that I really enjoyed it. Raylene's narrative was tough to read but once I got to know her character even she was intriguing. I would have liked to spend more time exploring the "other world" -- maybe in the sequel?
This is a fairly complex read with many interesting characters and overall I found it a wonderful read!

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 24, 2008 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

A friend of mine introduced me to this wonderful author by giving me this book. It is a fanatastic blend of reality and fantasy. It makes magic and folklore believable and real. DeLint also tells many of his stories using the same characters, though they aren't really serial. You really get to know Jilly and her friends but you can read the books in any order. I love all of his books and urge anyone who wants to believe in magic to check them out.

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 30, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

The problem with De Lint is he's just not nearly as imaginative as he thinks he is. His "flights of fancy" are flat and derivative at best. Even worse, in my mind; he can't write believable dialog, friendships, or young people. At all.

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 27, 2011 Masha Toit rated it 4 of 5 stars

A difficult book to read. Onion Girl deals with the effects of child abuse, on the survivors and everyone else in their lives. I cant say I enjoyed it, exactly, but it is a compelling read. Charles de lint manages to get you to sympathise with characters who in another book, would be the villains. And no - those are not the abusers. The abusers are almost peripheral to the story.

He also manages the incredibly difficult task of writing about fairies, sprites and other magical beings without seemi...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 13, 2008 Jeanne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

I was actually rather disappointed in this book. I'd had so many people tell me I just HAD to read Charles deLint if I was interested in Urban Fantasy. This was the first book I've read by him and although it hooked me right in the first paragraph, it became quite bogged down and getting through to the end took sheer effort for me. Where he really lost me was in the middle where he gets far too pedantic and preachy. I read fantasy to escape, not to be lectured. If this is what Urban Fantasy is a...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2007 April Wadsworth rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

This novel is a fantasy novel with an urban setting. The story follows the life of a talented painter, Jilly Coppercorn who has the ability to dream herself over into the Dreamlands or Faerie.
The story line begins with Jilly in the hospital, struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident. Her body has been bruised and broken, and she finds that she is able to enter the dreamlands while asleep. Despite concern on the part of her friends, she becomes more withdrawn from the harsh realities of her wrec...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 22, 2008 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

So between 3rd grade and probably 10th I read science fiction pretty exclusively, but then kinda grew out of it. Since college or so, I'll occassionally grab something from one of my old favorite authors (Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, etc.), but generally I've kinda been over them. I've really enjoyed the two Charles De Lint books I've read (including this one), however, I think because they're more character driven (i.e. how will the paralyzed girl adjust to not resuming her form...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 17, 2008 Russell rated it 3 of 5 stars

The title alone caught my interest, for I, too, believe people are Onions. We are all made up of layers: experience, beliefs, scars...There are about 20 out of the first 50 pages that are less than interesting. It was the writing style...the tedious descriptions of a room or Character's Mood...When I wanted nothing more than to read about Jill and Raylene, the author forced unnecessary information down my mental throat. But the pain went away. When the Minor characters once again became Minor, a...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 01, 2013 Abby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Why, oh why have I never read Charles de Lint before now? I'm already in my mid-twenties, which means that a decade and a half of pure literary enjoyment has been lost! I guess I'll have to make up for lost time.

I was super happy after I finished the first book I've read by de Lint: The Onion Girl (by the way, I want the dress Jilly's wearing on the cover). He's a spectacular writer, getting into the gritty of things, bringing his readers the magic that lives in the places that are too dark to s...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 20, 2013 Jordan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this fantasy book and would recommend it, as well as Charles de Lint’s books in general, to anyone who likes modern-day fantasy, especially if they like books that are character driven and maybe a little slower-paced than other stuff on the market.

Despite that, though, this particular book comes with a few strings attached. Not to start with a negative, but I’ll just be up front about it and explain what the strings are.

For starters, it would be good to just point out that this bo...more

like · see review

Mar 10, 2012 Lo rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book, I have many (conflicting) opinions about it. On one hand, I found it amusing and overall, well, enchanting. On the other hand, I found it highly unrealistic (beside the faerie and dreamland element) and that the author was trying to paint a picture of something he didn't fully understand (yet, he captured a few things very well, like Raylene's programing skills).
The story revolves around the parallel yet radically different lives lived by Jilly and her little sist...more This was an interesting book, I have many (conflicting) opinions about it. On one hand, I found it amusing and overall, well, enchanting. On the other hand, I found it highly unrealistic (beside the faerie and dreamland element) and that the author was trying to paint a picture of something he didn't fully understand (yet, he captured a few things very well, like Raylene's programing skills).
The story revolves around the parallel yet radically different lives lived by Jilly and her little sister Raylene. Although both had similarly horrific childhoods, Raylene has one more tragedy to deal with than Jilly - her sister's abandonment of her, leaving her knowingly to a life of misery. This pivotal moment serves as a crux for Raylene, who's life is shaped by this event and she can not let it go. Jilly, on the other hand, eventually finds her path and tries to spend as much acceptance and love as she can.
I found Raylene to be my favorite character (at least the Raylene of the first half of the book). Raylene is this spunky girl who's had a lot of shit thrown in her fan, but she fights back with the aid of her closest friend, Pinky Miller. Also, Raylene is the one intelligent female in this book - it's her best trait. She can easily solve problems and manipulate her way out of a sticky situation just on her astuteness. I looked forward to the Raylene chapters - they were always unique and interesting, constantly changing with Raylene growing stronger with every chapter.
However, Raylene suddenly about half way through the book develops this overwhelming strong hatred for her sister Jillian. Sure, de Lint mentions Raylene's abandonment issues with Jillian; however, it seemed to me like de Lint suddenly wanted that to be the driving force in the plot, so Raylene suddenly becomes all consumed with her hatred for Jillian. This is the main issue I had with de Lint's writing style - I didn't really believe a lot of the character interactions and the source of their emotions. Sure, you could argue that one who has been as traumatically abused as Raylene and Jillian have will not react as expected or appropriately to a situation, but de Lint fails to fully capture this emotion for me with his slight inconsistencies in the plot line. Another example of this is when Jilly talks about her drug and hooker days - it's just not believable. De Lint throws out terms like "junkie" and "pimp", but you can tell he is writing about something he doesn't fully understand or can relate to. If you are that addicted to cocaine, it takes more than detox and a kind person to immediately cure you, which seems to be the case with Jilly.
De Lint does do some elements really well, nonetheless. I appreciated his ability to capture the depth of the interactions and intimacies of a triad of females. Wendy, Sophie, and Jilly have an incredibly close friendship, and I felt like De Lint captured the group mentality well, with Wendy toward the end mentioning how she felt left out because Jilly and Sophie were able to go to the dreamlands and she couldn't. Just in that simple statement de Lint was able to perceive the depth and insecurity that always arises in a group of three close girlfriends - a stronger relationship will form between two, leaving one left out, or a alpha will emerge in the group.
Overall, this book was good. The only way I can think to sum it up is as a "dark light-hearted book", which is a paradox unto itself. I would recommend this book to a preteen or a dreamer. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Dec 26, 2011 Books-treasureortrash rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fantasy, reviewed

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes

Jilly Coppercorn, an artist, has been seriously injured in a car accident. She is now the broken girl, both inside and outside. Jilly, like the city of Newford has many layers, that is why she is The Onion Girl. This story is her journey of self discovery which she must go through in order to heal, with most of her journey taking place in the spirit world.

The Newford series has a different twist on contemporary fantasy. There are no vampires, werewolves, etc, but the...more

like · see review

Jul 06, 2011 Sara Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can't say why I picked this book or what even attracted me to this book except that it was a particular audio format that I was playing with for my nook. I knew nothing about this book and didn't have a cover to refer to. Sometimes I think that's the best way to discover a good story.
Part way through this book, I added it to my reading list on a book site (can't remember the exact one at the moment). I was surprised to find that this book did not come highly recommended. I had never heard of C...more I can't say why I picked this book or what even attracted me to this book except that it was a particular audio format that I was playing with for my nook. I knew nothing about this book and didn't have a cover to refer to. Sometimes I think that's the best way to discover a good story.
Part way through this book, I added it to my reading list on a book site (can't remember the exact one at the moment). I was surprised to find that this book did not come highly recommended. I had never heard of Charles de Lint but apparently he writes a series that is popular in some circles. Those who were fans of that series did not care for this book which was an offshoot of the series but not part of it. I even read a few comments that this book should be read after reading some of the series so it made sense. I was already through half the story and I became worried - was I missing something?
I found this story all encompassing and I didn't feel like any information was withheld. Knowing that, I could see how this book would frustrate someone familiar with the series. It was a stand alone book and went through a lot of information about the characters and landscape which might be overkill for those already familiar with the series (this book did not feel like it was a series at all).
With that said, let me share the plot. Jilly Coppercorn wakes up to find she is in the hospital after a nearly fatal hit and run. While in her coma, she discovers she can go into the Dreamlands, a fantasy world that a few friends of hers have been able to enter. When she wakes up, her body is paralyzed but there is hope that her body will heal and she can return to being an artist. She becomes torn between being in the Dreamlands where she is perfectly healthy and able to draw, and being "the broken girl" in the real world. Add to this, her baby sister is out for her blood. The story is told from several points of view and at first they seemed scattered and I had a little difficulty figuring out the relationships (part of this may be due to not actually reading the book but listening to it). It worked, however. I liked the different points of view and the history of the characters. The most interesting part is how two people who had nearly identical childhoods could grow up to be two completely different people.
There are a lot of elements in this book - fantasy, drama, horror. The author talks about some really dark demons - child abuse, rape, drugs, prostitution and murder but it never feels that dark because Jilly has such a positive attitude to all of it.
She is told that she must heal the old hurts before she can heal the new ones and how the author does that is amazing. It was a touching and powerful story that I highly recommend and may lead me to reading more de Lint's books. (less)

like · see review

Jun 22, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

While the only other adult fiction book by Charles DeLint I’ve read was simply short stories, it was quite a doozy and was more than enough to properly introduce me to the world of Newford, and DeLint. This book is actually a novel, a long and streamlined story.

In this story, we learn about the irrepressible Jilly Coppercorn. Jilly, who is known for her curly auburn hair, imaginative paintings of the magical world and its creatures, and loving, vivacious personality – has been hit by a car. She...more While the only other adult fiction book by Charles DeLint I’ve read was simply short stories, it was quite a doozy and was more than enough to properly introduce me to the world of Newford, and DeLint. This book is actually a novel, a long and streamlined story.

In this story, we learn about the irrepressible Jilly Coppercorn. Jilly, who is known for her curly auburn hair, imaginative paintings of the magical world and its creatures, and loving, vivacious personality – has been hit by a car. She wakes up in the hospital, her side paralyzed, with many people worrying about her and a new ability to enter the spiritworld through her dreams. This is something Jilly has always wanted to do, although now it seems her time spent in the spiritworld will only impede her healing process in the real world. Meanwhile, Jilly’s younger sister, Raylene, is on the warpath. Raylene still has not forgiven Jilly from running away from home and leaving her behind. Along with her psycho porn star friend, Pinky, Raylene has found a way into the spiritworld herself, and has vowed revenge on her older sister.

I heartily appreciate DeLint’s works. He has a spectacular gift for bringing you to care about the characters as they struggle with whatever both the spirit world and the real world throw at them. He also has been able to create characters which blend seamlessly into either of these worlds and seem perfectly plausable. DeLint has gleaned from hundreds of myths and legends from many different cultures in order to populate his spirit worlds. We meet Coyote and Baba Yaga, characters from books, and imaginary friends.

One of the great things about DeLint’s work is that he uses magical realism and fantasy itself to address social issues in a way that makes it easier to approach and understand. This book particularly deals with child abuse – which is a painful subject in itself, and hard to read about in a fictional novel. But through the use of the spirit world, we are able to learn about the victims of these crimes – how they feel, how they deal, and how they manage to move on, or not.

In general (I say this having only read 3 of his books, when there are MANY out there), I recommend DeLint if you are a fantasy fan. You may not appreciate just how indepth he makes his fantasy world if you aren’t a fantasy lover – this definitely should be firmly placed in that genre.(less)

like · see review

May 03, 2011 Algernon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

more like a [9/10] but I really liked it, and since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars I went for the higher rating. de Lint gets a little New Age preachy towards the end, but since I agree with most of his rants it didn't really bothered me and the writing is very good. He also seems like a nice guy given the musical references he mentions in the intro and the computer geeky stuff that is included in the text.
I appreciate most about the book the way he managed to balance the devastating cruelne...more more like a [9/10] but I really liked it, and since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars I went for the higher rating. de Lint gets a little New Age preachy towards the end, but since I agree with most of his rants it didn't really bothered me and the writing is very good. He also seems like a nice guy given the musical references he mentions in the intro and the computer geeky stuff that is included in the text.
I appreciate most about the book the way he managed to balance the devastating cruelness that the world inflicted on the main actors - Raylene and Jilly - with an attempt at redemption, at a positive outcome without being blind to the horrors and dangers of living at the edge of society. Next favorite theme is the role of myths and imagination / art in making us better persons, more capable of social interaction and communication. to quote the book:

"People who’ve never read fairy tales, the professor said, have a harder time coping in life than the people who have. They don’t have access to all the lessons that can be learned from the journeys through the dark woods and the kindness of strangers treated decently, the knowledge that can be gained from the company and example of Donkeyskins and cats wearing boots and steadfast tin soldiers. I’m not talking about in-your-face lessons, but more subtle ones. The kind that seep up from your sub¬conscious and give you moral and humane structures for your life. That teach you how to prevail, and trust. And maybe even love."

and
"There is no plan, no future laid out for any of us beyond what we make for ourselves."

one last comment : this is my first book by Charles de Lint. I knew it was somewhere in the middle of his ongoing saga, but I saw it mentioned as one of the best. While it can be read as a standalone, it was difficult in the beginning to cope with the large number of characters that I felt I was supposed to know about. I'm interested in reading more from the author, but I don't really have the energy and the free time to try to read them all in order. I'm not sure which volume to pick next (less)

like · see review

Jan 12, 2011 Lis Carey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: f-sf

(De Lint has given a lot of attention, in his Newford stories, to the subject of child abuse; be warned that sexual abuse of young children is front and center in this book. It is not, however, excessively graphic.) Onion Girl is another of de Lint's urban fantasies set in the mythical Canadian city of Newford, this one focussing on the life and traumas of the normally irrepressibly cheerful Jilly Coppercorn.

On the opening page, Jilly is hit by a car, and lands in the hospital with a broken arm...more (De Lint has given a lot of attention, in his Newford stories, to the subject of child abuse; be warned that sexual abuse of young children is front and center in this book. It is not, however, excessively graphic.) Onion Girl is another of de Lint's urban fantasies set in the mythical Canadian city of Newford, this one focussing on the life and traumas of the normally irrepressibly cheerful Jilly Coppercorn.

On the opening page, Jilly is hit by a car, and lands in the hospital with a broken arm and leg, and no sensation at all on the right side of her body. While she's still in a coma, someone breaks into her apartment and quite thoroughly destroys all of her paintings of urban faerie--leaving all her non-faerie paintings untouched. This is clearly someone who knows Jilly well, and hates her. But who could hate Jilly that much? And when Jilly wakes from her coma, her friends' worries are not lessened; the irrepressible Jilly is now able to visit the dreamlands, Manido-Aki, Faerie, in her dreams, and seems uninterested in physical recovery in her crippled body, with the possibility of never being able to walk, or paint, again.

One of Jilly's friends, Joe Crazy Dog, visits Manido-Aki looking for help for Jilly, and discovers there's trouble afoot there, too: a pack of wolves, led by a wolf-bitch who's clearly a human dream er, is hunting and killing unicorns, for the pure joy of killing them and drinking their blood. This is both bad in itself, and an affront to the canids (like Joe, and Whiskey Jack, who's with him when they briefly meet the wolf-pack), because the killers are wearing canid form while they kill.

Who's the human dreamer masquerading as a wolf in the dreamlands and leading the killer pack? Who's the mysterious Jilly-double that her friends Isabelle and Sophie see in the neighborhood near Jilly's apartment? Why does Cassie sense a presence like that seems to be Jilly's dark twin?

The answers to these and other important questions lie, of course, in Jilly's past, and much of the story unfolds in flashbacks told by Jilly and by Raylene, whom we gradually realize is Jilly's younger sister. As the layers of their story are pealed away, both Jilly and Raylene start to come to grips with their past.

De Lint's an excellent writer, and I find it easy to get lost in his world. I recommend this latest installment, with the caveat that I didn't even consider reading it a year ago, right after reading a couple of other Newford books in rapid succession. I needed some separation, in order to appreciate this book on its own, rather than as too much of more of the same. It's a dark story with an upbeat but by no means light-hearted ending.(less)

like · see review

Jul 01, 2007 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For better or for worse, this was actually the first Newford story I read. I have gathered that diehards who have read de Lint's numerous shorts and other novels with the same setting and sometimes shared characters that a novel centered around Jilly was a long time coming. Regardless, it's a great story with a rich set of conflicts and a well-done relationship between this world and the alternate world(s) people stumble into. Bits and pieces of Native American folklore add a nice layer.

1 like · like · see review

Feb 13, 2011 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

At the bookstore I used to work at, we had a hierarchy set up on who had first dibs on buying any Charles de Lint book that came into the store. I have loved almost all the books of his that I've read, and found that while the subject matter can be difficult and even disturbing, he has a phenomenal way with description - imaginative, evocative, and whimsical - that tempers the more graphic, violent parts. I love how his heroines, no matter how damaged, are able to persevere, and the networks of...more

like · see review

Oct 16, 2012 Melinda rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure how to rate this story. I do really like it because of the ways the characters have deep almost philosophical debates with themselves about life, choices, forgiveness and right from wrong. What I didn't like is how drawn out the story is. There is an awful lot of detail and that makes it a long read. A very long read. This is a villain-less book. That's a good thing considering that a main theme is that we all do wrong and that the circumstances that we a born into are hard to shak...more

like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, 6-stars-out-of-5, heroines, magic, myths-fairytales-retellings, parallel-worlds, female-and-queer-issues, america, urban-fantasy-magical-realism, alternative-characters

Review from my blog, http://rosesandvellum.blogspot.com.au...

Even if you haven't read any other of the Newford books (I've only read one), I would read this. It has been said you don't really need to read the Newford books in order, and I feel that this one can really stand alone. While the identity of some of the other characters may be a little confusing at first, there is enough information about most of them to be able to get along just fine, and the book mainly focuses on Jilly, telling her...more Review from my blog, http://rosesandvellum.blogspot.com.au...

Even if you haven't read any other of the Newford books (I've only read one), I would read this. It has been said you don't really need to read the Newford books in order, and I feel that this one can really stand alone. While the identity of some of the other characters may be a little confusing at first, there is enough information about most of them to be able to get along just fine, and the book mainly focuses on Jilly, telling her story.

The onion girl is a consummate work of magical literature by Charles de Lint. A work told from many viewpoints, in both first and third person, present and past tense, it somehow manages to be both comprehensible and completely enthralling. There isn't a moment where I wasn't drawn in and held there, barely able to escape to eat or sleep. (In fact, once I had made my food, I ate it while reading, being careful not to get food on the book.)

In this book, de Lint has created his own worlds: both that of the town of Newford, a town where magic and grim reality go hand in hand, and the dream world, where creatures of imagination walk alongside ancient beings from the beginning of time. De Lint effortlessly interweaves fantasy elements with the problems of human life.

Jilly Coppercorn is an artist who inspires. Her works show the streets, the homeless people, the abused children. But they also show magic, faerie creatures, she reminds us that magic can be found even in the worst times and places. But Jilly has a dark secret, something she barely speaks of, even to those who she cares for and who care for her, a secret that mars her life every day. Her dark past of abuse. And, sooner or later, she has to face up to that past.

Full of engaging characters, fascinating folklore and creation myth, the harsh realities of abused children, and the possibility of a new start, this book is an amazing work that really defies description. I really can't say too much, I don't want to give anything away, as it is so exciting to figure things out as it all pans out.

Needless to say, this book is a 'six out of five' for me, going well beyond just fantastic into the realms of 'this author is a magician, weaving a web of magic and taking us to another world!!!'
(less)

like · see review

May 06, 2011 Donald rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

The main character gets hit by a car, to start things off, and the story hits the ground running as Jilly, the main character, heals the many layers that make up the onion girl. The author uses different POV to tell this story to great effect. Differing perspectives of key plot points let the reader see things more clearly, yet it doesn't come off as overbearing. The timeline and POV shifts are easy to follow once the reader realizes what is going on.

I like a good journey. This one brings the r...more

like · see review

Jan 21, 2013 Bruce Nordstrom rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is one of my favorite Newford books by Charles de Lint. It was one of the first de Lint books I read, and it features one of his most popular characters, Jilly Coppercorn.

The story begins with Jilly Coppercorn pretty much living on the streets of Newford. She ran away from her abusive family home, and this is where she ended up, on the streets, taking lots of drugs, and supporting herself by prostitution. The story line is how she saves herself, gets clean, and becomes an artist. But there...more

like · see review

Nov 30, 2008 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: desert-island, sci-fi-fantasy

Charles de Lint is one of the finest writers, and he writes a form of fantasy that is so accessible to people who don't necessarily want to read the fantasy that includes fairies, wizards, dragons, and castles. This is urban fantasy, it takes place primarily in our present-day world, in a city called Newford. The characters tend to be young adults, musical and artistic, well-read and complex.

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2013 Stephanie Swint rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have never read anything by Charles De Lint prior to listening to The Onion Girl. It is a very good book. I was suprised at how well he mixed the faerie world into what would be considered our world. The book is dark and I saw in reviews that it was very depressing and hard to read. I would say while it is a book that deals with dark issues it is one of hope and redemption. You do have to stick with it to get to the hope and redemption.

The book deals with issues of sexual abuse, at times grap...more

like · see review

Nov 07, 2012 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-unfortunately-unrelished, supernatural, mythology, fantasy

I'm sorry--I can't even make it past page 150 of this book.

After hearing such glowing words about Charles de Lint's works (my first mistake was believing them), I found myself lost in a story so disjointed that it seems to have been put on the rack--possibly after being drawn and quartered. After a while, the characters start to wander into dangerous Mary Sue territory, and the narrative was in so many pieces that I find myself unable to connect with any of the characters. Instead of tragic, Ji...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 Debbie_e rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Onion Girl is not the most captivating of titles. However Charles De Lint does use the story to peel back the layers of his characters to reveal the secrets underneath. The book is set both in the Canadian City of Newford and a fairy realm called the dreamlands. It is not really a book about fairies though. Jilly Coppercorn is an artist who, after an accident leaving her confined to a hospital bed, begins to journey to the dreamlands whenever she is sleeping. As she dreams secrets from her p...more The Onion Girl is not the most captivating of titles. However Charles De Lint does use the story to peel back the layers of his characters to reveal the secrets underneath. The book is set both in the Canadian City of Newford and a fairy realm called the dreamlands. It is not really a book about fairies though. Jilly Coppercorn is an artist who, after an accident leaving her confined to a hospital bed, begins to journey to the dreamlands whenever she is sleeping. As she dreams secrets from her past reawaken and she must heal scars from her childhood before she can heal her body and be capable of painting again.

The Onion Girl is a book about secrets and the two heroines of the book both have plenty of their own. As the story unrolls we learn more about Jilly and Raylene, a young woman recently escaped from an abusive family. Neither character turns out to be exactly who you thought they were, or who they thought they were. One of the beautiful things about this book is the lack of black and white. There are no straight forward good guys or bad guys but just people who are making the best decisions that they feel they can in the circumstances. Despite the dreamlands this is a book that is about humans. It deals with some unpleasant issues including child abuse and prostitution. There is however a great deal of wonder as well, and moments that bring out the best in flawed characters.

One of the things that I floundered with at the beginning of the book is the sheer number of characters that gather around Jilly’s hospital bed. After the gripping start there is a lot of description of characters which I struggled with. They soon thin out though and the story brings the more significant ones to the surface. I think this is the first book about Jilly that is set in Newford however, so it may be that all the characters in future books are getting squeezed in here. Aside from the main characters though I did still find it hard to get everyone straight in my head because as well as the number of characters that are present there are also others that are referred to quite a bit in passing. I also found it hard to differentiate between some of Jilly’s friends, Sophie and Wendy. However De Lint does make a point of saying how similar they are.

As always it is De Lint’s imagination that makes this book such a pleasure to read. He blends the harsh realities of everyday life with elements of magic without weakening the impact of either. The balance between the two worlds is always expertly maintained and neither ever dominates over the other. When reading this book it is truly believable that Newford and the dreamlands exist side by side. This is partly due to the way certain characters use the dreamlands as part of their everyday life. Joe Crazy Dog travels between both worlds effortlessly and for him neither is more real than the other. Time moves differently in the dreamlands and he will occasionally take his human partner there to extend her life span so that they can be together longer. On the other hand Sophie can only travel to the dreamlands when she is asleep. Despite having an alternative life in a fairy city, she sees Newford as the real world. The many ways that the dreamlands can be accessed and what they can mean to different people stop them from being static. It makes them feel like a living breathing entity that is as real, or more so, than the world we see around us.

The plot focuses on both Jilly and Raylene and deals in two different time zones. When we first meet Raylene she is a teenager and it takes her a while to grow up and reach the present where Jenny is already an adult battling with her broken body. When the two timelines converge though the plot does speed up. By this time you have got a fair idea of where the story is heading but there are still enough twists and turns to make gripping reading. Like all good fantasy stories there is also a show stopping ending in which a decision must be made that will not result in a happy ending for everyone. Jilly is too good a character to do what she perceives as the wrong thing, but that does not make her decision any less poignant, especially when you have an understanding of what she has lost already and what she still has the potential to lose.

I couldn’t wait to get to the end of this book, and for the right reasons. It has interesting characters, a complex and vivid fantasy world and quests of self discovery all going on, even if the main character does spend a lot of her time asleep!
(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (17)

More editions...

Genres

Fantasy

342 users

Fantasy > Urban Fantasy

141 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

19 users

Magical Realism

13 users

Fantasy > Magic

11 users

Cultural > Canada

10 users

Young Adult

9 users

Fantasy > Mythology

6 users

Adult

6 users

Science Fiction

6 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Wood Wife
by Terri Windling
Finder
by Emma Bull
A Red Heart of Memories
by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Nevernever
by Will Shetterly
Welcome to Bordertown
by Holly Black (Editor)

About Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a World Fantasy Award winning author. In 1974 he met MaryAnn Harris, and married her in 1980.

Along with writers like Terri Windling and John Crowley, de Lint popularized in the 1980s the genre of urban fantasy, most notably through the Bordeland series of books. His fantasy fiction is described under the fantasy sub-genres Urban Fantasy, contemporary M...more

More about Charles de Lint...

Books by Charles de Lint

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Onion Girl

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Onion Girl

“People who’ve never read fairy tales, the professor said, have a harder time coping in life than the people who have. They don’t have access to all the lessons that can be learned from the journeys through the dark woods and the kindness of strangers treated decently, the knowledge that can be gained from the company and example of Donkeyskins and cats wearing boots and steadfast tin soldiers. I’m not talking about in-your-face lessons, but more subtle ones. The kind that seep up from your sub¬conscious and give you moral and humane structures for your life. That teach you how to prevail, and trust. And maybe even love.” — 50 people liked it

“There's never an easy route to the things that matter.” — 30 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Onion Girl
avg rating	preview: The Onion Girl Goodreads rating: 4.12 (4289 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/543343.The_Onion_Girl?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316125466l/543343.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/543343.The_Onion_Girl?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint[/url]

The Onion Girl (Newford #11)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website