Reviews

Little Mermaid and Other Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

filipa_maia's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This compilation of some of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales is one of the most beautiful books in my collection and one that I'm definitely proud to own. This is such a beautiful edition. I love all the drawings and the interactive elements.

And the stories... uff... these are the "real" stories, the ones with not so happy endings that Disney brought to us. Some of them are rough. Can't believe that these are stories for little kids.

I want to add more of these special editions to my collection.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexism, Abandonment, and Classism

sophiessulit's review

5.0

Omg this boook. I read the Little Mermaid for my Top 100 book challenge and the other books were just a little extra! I had soo much fun reading that, the interactive elements were so much fun during the reading. And the illustrations were beautiful, I loved them so much, I even bought the Harry Potter editions of these kinds of books. The stories were great too, I knew most of them from my childhood, but I never really read them as they were written, but watched interpretations or was told the stories through my parents. I feel like this is such an easy and quick read and you can definitely read it in between some heavy books.
Loved it and the illustrations and the interactive elements are sooo worth the money!

genie09's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

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

5.0

caterpie_reading's review

4.0

4.5/5 stars

Individual ratings:

Spoiler

The Little Mermaid: 3/5 stars
The Nightingale: 5/5 stars
The Ugly Duckling: 4/5 stars
The Swineherd: 5/5 stars
The Tinder Box: 4/5 stars
The Princess and the Pea: 5/5 stars
The Emperor's New Clothes: 4/5 stars
The Red Shoes: 3/5 stars
Thumbelina: 5/5 stars
The Steadfast Tin Soldier: 5/5 stars
The Little Match Girl: 5/5 stars
The Snow Queen: 5/5 stars

I really enjoyed reading through the fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen. I liked some of them better than others, but generally, I found something worthwhile and enjoyable in every single one of them. Some of them really touched my heart though. My favorites probably are the Snow Queen, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Nightingale and the Swineherd. I found some endings rather abrupt and odd; I also was a little bit disappointed by the Little Mermaid in general, whereas the Snow Queen pleasantly surprised me.
Overall, I had a lovely time reading these tales. The illustrations are gorgeous and really bring the stories to life.

womanon's review

5.0

This was amazing. I loved all the tales in this book, and of course the illustrations were absolutely marvellous.

gh0st0fth0ught's review

medium-paced

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

4.5

caroliinaa's review

3.0

3.2/5 ⭐️

readingintoinfinity's review

4.0

I love MinaLimas illustrations! This is my 4th book they've illustrated and I adore them. Also loved getting to read the original versions of stories I know and seeing how they actually differ!

myahamley's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.5

tyler_j's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted sad

4.0

These aren't the stories from Hans Christian Andersen exactly, but from the couple I knew (The Little Mermaid and Rumpelstiltskin) the originals, it seemed like it was mostly the same beats but the dark parts of the originals were made happy. Happy endings and such, like changed for the modern child I assume. Of course I believed these were the originals just on audio but that turned out to be wrong. Still I didn't really mind it. I enjoyed it anyway even though it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.
Besides the 2 I mentioned there is also The Snow Queen and The Little Match girl. I should state The Little Match Girl was an exception to the "happy" rule. I never heard the original story but this is SO DARK AND SAD. It makes me wanna cry! So I can't help think that was the original but I don't know and how could the original be any darker?
To have those 3 unexpected happy child-friendly stories and then to be hit with THAT out of the blue?! Omg T.T.