Fairy Lights

The archive review greets Lucia Mattioli as a known quantity, the artist of the Secret Forest, and the Fairy Lights as Lo Scarabeo doing what it does at its best: backing a distinctive illustrator's new idea. Mattioli's fairy world runs whimsical but not saccharine, seasonal magic and woodland creatures rendered in her recognizably textured, luminous style, the deck's title naming its quality of light, small glows in darkness. Mattioli's decks share a signature intimacy, imagery that feels glimpsed rather than staged, and that suits fairy material better than the genre's usual footlit prettiness; her creatures seem caught mid-errand, which is how folklore says they should be met. It suits fairy-deck readers who want atmosphere over sparkle, Mattioli's admirers following from the Secret Forest, Lo Scarabeo collectors, and seasonal readers marking the year's turnings. Those who need their fairies Victorian and posed have older shelves; these ones move when you stop looking.