Reviews

Cursed: An Anthology by Angela Slatter

infinitelibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

3.0

goldengeode's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

3.25

Like any anthology, it has its good stories and its bad. I found myself disliking more stories than I liked.

I’m a fan of MR Carey and was not disappointed, but also I only found one other author whose works I want to check out. 

I hoped more stories were about actual curses, but I’d say about half of them seemed like dark takes on fairy tales or stories of monsters rather than actual active *curses* 

Favorites: 
Listen (Jen Williams)- A cursed bard brings the dead to life. 

Henry and the Snakewood Box (MR Carey)- A simple man uses and then becomes the pawn of an all-powerful wish-granting demon. Charming story. 

Wendy, Darling (Christopher Golden) - Peter Pan’s Wendy as an adult; struggling with ghosts from her past. Nice dark twists.

Again (Tim Lebbon)- A woman is cursed to die over and over again, as she tries each time to reunite with her partner.

bibliolaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Good collection of short stories about re-imagined and new fairy tale curses. Favourites include: Henry and the Snakewood Box by M.R. Carey, Listen by Jen Williams, and Faith & Fred by Maura McHugh.

ferly_ree's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

xlindsreadsx's review against another edition

3.0

I am not usually one for short stories but enjoyed this and the stories where alot darker than I expected and also defo gave me some new authors to look into

alva7604's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

4.25

It is a collection of stories, so some are hit or miss, but the variety is good and the majority of the stories are quite enjoyable

courtlytea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

luccinda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

cheekyramen's review against another edition

1.0

Far out, this was a struggle. Can't believe I actually forced myself to finish.

Reading this book was like being in that episode of The Big Bang Theory where Amy is trying to help Sheldon with his obsessive need for closure. Amy conducts a series of games and activities where she never lets Sheldon finish any of them.

This book was Amy and I was Sheldon.

I'd be reading and trying so hard to understand what was happening (most of this anthology made NO sense to me at all) and then the story would just end... this happened repeatedly for 20 short stories until the end. I am exhausted and want my time back for a better book.

oldenglishrose's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0