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geo_ix's review against another edition
3.0
So... I'm about to tell the world some shameful things... I bought this book back in 2010 when I was 16-17years old on school holidays visiting my mum and back then I was actually reading but I just never got around to reading this. Ive had this book through moving house 4 times since then, and still I never read it. SEVEN FUCKING YEARS. It wasn't that I didn't want to read it, and yes, there was about a 4 year span in there where I didn't read one book, but I'm honestly dying over the fact it's been 7 years since I bought it and it's been on my shelf that long. And worse? It's not the only book I have from then! I have about 20. Yes, you read that right, 20 books from 7 years ago I never actually read. And the majority were all new releases then! Even sadder I probably won't get to reading all those even by the end of next year because there's just so many good things I want to read (always my issue).
Anyway, I finally got around to reading it because I didn't want to read a series and then I can bump a book off my TBR without adding more! I enjoyed it even if it took me nearly two weeks to read. It was my baby's 3rd birthday somewhere in the middle and honestly I wasn't feeling like reading this whole time due to being sick and just not feeling it. But I read it, enjoyed some and not others, and I definitely agree with the average rating for this book (currently at 3.21). Below are quick rundowns of the story, why I liked and disliked and individual ratings for each story. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.
The Frog Prince - 2 stars.
It was quite short and there wasn't much to the story to really 'enjoy' it, I was honestly fearful that there would be a sex scene between the frog and the princess, but it's a masturbation scene and clearly my head just thinks of the most messed up scenario! Anyway, it all revolved around a golden phallus the princess was given by her mother. She drops it in the river when showing off to her friends and the frog helps her retrieve it as long as she befriends him for a month and treats him equal and lets him sleep on her pillow. She gets the phallus back and legs it home but leaves her belt, this he follows with an excuse and her parents make her look after him. He thinks he has to make a woman orgasm to break the spell (hence why I was worried) but turns out, it was a kiss anyway. He guides her through an orgasm and once again becomes human.
The Courtship of Wali Daad - 1.5 stars. (Originally a 2, but definitely wasn't after some thought).
I wouldn't REALLY consider this one an erotic story, but rather a short story with an erotic scene. The scene felt unnecessary to the story to be honest, and overall I found the story quite boring due to the back and forth etc. I DID love the message this story had, but it just didn't really reach where I needed it to reach I guess. Also disliked the ending, that jumped into paranormal zone so randomly (I know there was magic but I didn't expect more than that). Anyway basically the whole story is about a man giving his shit away because he doesn't want to be extra so he gets his traveling friend to take things to the princess of wherever or the prince of wherever and it eventually Stars them thinking the other wants to marry and create peace but its all some grass cutter sending things to them and then they marry at his home and the angels or whatever grant him a beautiful huge home to wed in because they assume his rich and he doesn't want it so he gives them the house as a wedding gift and moves on to a simpler life elsewhere. Sweet, but a tad boring.
The Princess on the Glass Hill - 1.5 stars.
Originally I liked this story enough to say it was ok, but after all of these this is actually the story I remember the LEAST. I do remember it was the first sci fi retelling here, and she was a scientist and he had to kiss her and make her feel emotion and basically steal her because the company took her as a child and didn't let people show human connections with her so she worked more. Anyway this one was probably the worst in terms of the story being realistic (in terms of the love not the world etc) because it just randomly ended with love declarations and talk of marriage etc and wigged me out a little.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - 3 stars
This one was another sci fi world, and the world was the BEST part of this story, this was the first one that I actually wanted MORE from. She lives in the underwater world with her 6 husbands who are all gay and partnered up with each other (I was cringing a bit to that but sure) and the guy who saved her from being murdered as a kid when she lived above ground. Some dude comes down to visit her unannounced and says he wants to marry her to create peace as they will then reign both above and below (they knew each other, have been communication through mirrors etc). So he has people with him and his cousin helps her dress like someone from above because it's all different etc and they're about to travel up there as a couple etc, the lacings try to kill her when she gets home and everyone's freaking out. Cousin denies she knew anything uses truth stone to prove it (they believed her because they couldn't sense her magics), even bites into apple when she wants to eat it to show she's on their side, apple poisons the heroine and puts her into a magical type of sleep state and they wake her up. Turns out cousin was evil all along and had been trained from a young age to hide magic etc
Sleeping Beauty - 3 stars.
Genderbent sci fi retelling. He trapped himself in the system to save all the info getting into the bad guys hands and let the good guys get free, over 100 years later she is sent by the ancestors of the good guys to help get him out, so she hacks into the network and goes into a dream program where he is the princess locked in the tower and she must save him. She has to prove she's not bad, and eventually they leave together and he has to go through therapy to be able to use his body again and then recreates the dream scene for their first time getting in on. It was cute and I really enjoyed it, would have been a great full length story but as a short it just need a bit more.
Beauty and the Beast - 4.5 stars.
I actually bought this book BECAUSE it was a B&tB retelling, and yes erotic shh. When I opened this up the other day for the first time and saw it would be a sci fi version I was disappointed, but I actually LOVED it. I would LOVE a full length story in this world. The beasts race was super cool (genetically engineered catlike humans who fought to keep the 'normals' safe) and I loved the stark decide between the two races because it made it seem that more real. Both were against these two being in a relationship (she's a 'normal') but these two are all like screw that we're gonna date anyway! He keeps kissing her but she wants to date first as per her culture so he goes on a heap of dates and some guys jump them and stab him a few times, his friend tells her not to come back because she doesn't like the fact he's dating a normal but he goes off because he genuinely adores her so the friend plays along when she understands it all and tells her he's dying and she needs to be there asap so she returns and they profess their love. It sounds cheesy when explained like this, but I really enjoyed it and it felt more natural than most because there is a time span of getting to know each other etc.
Puss in Boots - 3 stars
Again another genterbent story, obviously with magic, but in this she willingly is a cat because some magic user is killing off her family to take over her estate as the owner is cursed to being able to demand whatever they want of its towns people, and they'll do it no matter what. She wants to find evidence and stop him, and when she bumps into a person she remembers from magic school she trusts him enough to help her. Turns out he definitely was maybe with the kings help, and they trick him into turning into something small so she can pounce and kill him in cat form. This one also has some 'different' sex. He basically makes an invisible vibrator that responds to him saying a number between 0-10 and because he's a math-mage he goes a little nerdy and starts revising Pi as they do it. Got a good giggle out of me!
The King Who Heard a Joke - 1.5 maybe 2 stars
So this one is basically a spanking story I guess? Erotically it was quite different to the others. Basically he is gifted with being able to speak to speak to animals but he can never tell a soul or he will turn to stone and die. His wife hears him laughing and cracks the shits when he won't say why, threatens to leave him because he's a liar etc and basically goes super extra. He's spending his last day with her before he tells her and dies so she won't leave him when the animals go a bit wild and he changes his mind and decides to spank her for not trusting him instead. She likes it. It ends with a wee folk (a leprechaun?) coming and giving him a Boone of being able to tell his wife and kids and that he will no longer die if he tells. His wife then comes in and asks again... all because she wants another spank. Legit, this one had me laughing, but there wasn't really anything to it and it felt like a let down after some good ones to end with this one.
Anyway, I finally got around to reading it because I didn't want to read a series and then I can bump a book off my TBR without adding more! I enjoyed it even if it took me nearly two weeks to read. It was my baby's 3rd birthday somewhere in the middle and honestly I wasn't feeling like reading this whole time due to being sick and just not feeling it. But I read it, enjoyed some and not others, and I definitely agree with the average rating for this book (currently at 3.21). Below are quick rundowns of the story, why I liked and disliked and individual ratings for each story. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled.
Spoiler
The Frog Prince - 2 stars.
It was quite short and there wasn't much to the story to really 'enjoy' it, I was honestly fearful that there would be a sex scene between the frog and the princess, but it's a masturbation scene and clearly my head just thinks of the most messed up scenario! Anyway, it all revolved around a golden phallus the princess was given by her mother. She drops it in the river when showing off to her friends and the frog helps her retrieve it as long as she befriends him for a month and treats him equal and lets him sleep on her pillow. She gets the phallus back and legs it home but leaves her belt, this he follows with an excuse and her parents make her look after him. He thinks he has to make a woman orgasm to break the spell (hence why I was worried) but turns out, it was a kiss anyway. He guides her through an orgasm and once again becomes human.
The Courtship of Wali Daad - 1.5 stars. (Originally a 2, but definitely wasn't after some thought).
I wouldn't REALLY consider this one an erotic story, but rather a short story with an erotic scene. The scene felt unnecessary to the story to be honest, and overall I found the story quite boring due to the back and forth etc. I DID love the message this story had, but it just didn't really reach where I needed it to reach I guess. Also disliked the ending, that jumped into paranormal zone so randomly (I know there was magic but I didn't expect more than that). Anyway basically the whole story is about a man giving his shit away because he doesn't want to be extra so he gets his traveling friend to take things to the princess of wherever or the prince of wherever and it eventually Stars them thinking the other wants to marry and create peace but its all some grass cutter sending things to them and then they marry at his home and the angels or whatever grant him a beautiful huge home to wed in because they assume his rich and he doesn't want it so he gives them the house as a wedding gift and moves on to a simpler life elsewhere. Sweet, but a tad boring.
The Princess on the Glass Hill - 1.5 stars.
Originally I liked this story enough to say it was ok, but after all of these this is actually the story I remember the LEAST. I do remember it was the first sci fi retelling here, and she was a scientist and he had to kiss her and make her feel emotion and basically steal her because the company took her as a child and didn't let people show human connections with her so she worked more. Anyway this one was probably the worst in terms of the story being realistic (in terms of the love not the world etc) because it just randomly ended with love declarations and talk of marriage etc and wigged me out a little.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - 3 stars
This one was another sci fi world, and the world was the BEST part of this story, this was the first one that I actually wanted MORE from. She lives in the underwater world with her 6 husbands who are all gay and partnered up with each other (I was cringing a bit to that but sure) and the guy who saved her from being murdered as a kid when she lived above ground. Some dude comes down to visit her unannounced and says he wants to marry her to create peace as they will then reign both above and below (they knew each other, have been communication through mirrors etc). So he has people with him and his cousin helps her dress like someone from above because it's all different etc and they're about to travel up there as a couple etc, the lacings try to kill her when she gets home and everyone's freaking out. Cousin denies she knew anything uses truth stone to prove it (they believed her because they couldn't sense her magics), even bites into apple when she wants to eat it to show she's on their side, apple poisons the heroine and puts her into a magical type of sleep state and they wake her up. Turns out cousin was evil all along and had been trained from a young age to hide magic etc
Sleeping Beauty - 3 stars.
Genderbent sci fi retelling. He trapped himself in the system to save all the info getting into the bad guys hands and let the good guys get free, over 100 years later she is sent by the ancestors of the good guys to help get him out, so she hacks into the network and goes into a dream program where he is the princess locked in the tower and she must save him. She has to prove she's not bad, and eventually they leave together and he has to go through therapy to be able to use his body again and then recreates the dream scene for their first time getting in on. It was cute and I really enjoyed it, would have been a great full length story but as a short it just need a bit more.
Beauty and the Beast - 4.5 stars.
I actually bought this book BECAUSE it was a B&tB retelling, and yes erotic shh. When I opened this up the other day for the first time and saw it would be a sci fi version I was disappointed, but I actually LOVED it. I would LOVE a full length story in this world. The beasts race was super cool (genetically engineered catlike humans who fought to keep the 'normals' safe) and I loved the stark decide between the two races because it made it seem that more real. Both were against these two being in a relationship (she's a 'normal') but these two are all like screw that we're gonna date anyway! He keeps kissing her but she wants to date first as per her culture so he goes on a heap of dates and some guys jump them and stab him a few times, his friend tells her not to come back because she doesn't like the fact he's dating a normal but he goes off because he genuinely adores her so the friend plays along when she understands it all and tells her he's dying and she needs to be there asap so she returns and they profess their love. It sounds cheesy when explained like this, but I really enjoyed it and it felt more natural than most because there is a time span of getting to know each other etc.
Puss in Boots - 3 stars
Again another genterbent story, obviously with magic, but in this she willingly is a cat because some magic user is killing off her family to take over her estate as the owner is cursed to being able to demand whatever they want of its towns people, and they'll do it no matter what. She wants to find evidence and stop him, and when she bumps into a person she remembers from magic school she trusts him enough to help her. Turns out he definitely was maybe with the kings help, and they trick him into turning into something small so she can pounce and kill him in cat form. This one also has some 'different' sex. He basically makes an invisible vibrator that responds to him saying a number between 0-10 and because he's a math-mage he goes a little nerdy and starts revising Pi as they do it. Got a good giggle out of me!
The King Who Heard a Joke - 1.5 maybe 2 stars
So this one is basically a spanking story I guess? Erotically it was quite different to the others. Basically he is gifted with being able to speak to speak to animals but he can never tell a soul or he will turn to stone and die. His wife hears him laughing and cracks the shits when he won't say why, threatens to leave him because he's a liar etc and basically goes super extra. He's spending his last day with her before he tells her and dies so she won't leave him when the animals go a bit wild and he changes his mind and decides to spank her for not trusting him instead. She likes it. It ends with a wee folk (a leprechaun?) coming and giving him a Boone of being able to tell his wife and kids and that he will no longer die if he tells. His wife then comes in and asks again... all because she wants another spank. Legit, this one had me laughing, but there wasn't really anything to it and it felt like a let down after some good ones to end with this one.
edarcys's review against another edition
4.0
So...Erotic. I don't think I can recommend this book to any friends, because of that. But I really wish I could, because explicit sex scenes aside, the stories are fantastic reinventions of classic and not-so-familiar Fairy Tales. I especially enjoyed "The Courtship of Wali Daad" which I vaguely remember from my childhood, but had forgotten all about, until reading this salacious version.
liibookaddict's review against another edition
3.0
This book was quite good, especially because it did not circle around sex but it had a deeper development even for a set of short stories.
I must admit though that by the time I got to the 5th story I got rather bored and I could not wait to finish the book.
One fun fact about these set of stories is that every single story is mentioned in the previous one, being the first story mentioned in the last one creating sort of a loop.
Other than this it was also interesting to see some of the most commom fairytales being pulled into the Sci-Fi world.
I must admit though that by the time I got to the 5th story I got rather bored and I could not wait to finish the book.
One fun fact about these set of stories is that every single story is mentioned in the previous one, being the first story mentioned in the last one creating sort of a loop.
Other than this it was also interesting to see some of the most commom fairytales being pulled into the Sci-Fi world.
emitchellwrites's review against another edition
Well, I was between 2 and 3 stars. Mostly it was just okay.
caroleheidi's review against another edition
2.0
If you pick this up, be prepared for a laugh.
And also miss out Snow White because it is mind-bendingly dull and The King Who Heard A Joke because it tries to be kinky but with not enough consent so it’s just abuse. Which is not fun.
And also miss out Snow White because it is mind-bendingly dull and The King Who Heard A Joke because it tries to be kinky but with not enough consent so it’s just abuse. Which is not fun.
thesundaywriter's review against another edition
3.0
The retellings were mostly given scifi slant, which made them a little more interesting, otherwise it was a rather mixed bag.
gijanechosen's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite story was the retelling of Sleeping Beauty, followed closely by Puss in Boots and beauty and the Beast. The creativity of these retellings was very interesting and entertaining.
sjg's review against another edition
1.0
Way too boring, hardly any sex, and weird. The Frog Prince story threw me off and it was the first one so I knew I was in for a doozy. Would not recommend.
gabyjanatpour's review
2.0
The reimaginings of the fairy tales themselves were quite original, but the erotic themes felt flat and forced. I would have loved to have read more developed non-erotic versions. A couple of the tales could have been written into full novels or novellas.
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