nicnevin's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.5

A wonderful collection of reimagined folk tales I had never heard of before. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

danidamico's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Hag: Forgotten Folktales Retold es el primer libro que me compré con mi propio dinero, después de recibir mi primer sueldo. Lo vi recomendado en una cuenta de bookstagram y supe inmediatamente que necesitaba leerlo: escritoras mujeres, reversiones modernas de leyendas, la región de Inglaterra, Escocia e Irlanda... algunas de mis cosas favoritas. Y no me equivoqué, esta antología me encantó.

El libro está compuesto por diez relatos escritos por diez escritoras británicas e irlandesas que reversionan y reinterpretan leyendas antiguas de la región. Boggarts, duendes, fantasmas y criaturas mágicas aparecen de distintas formas en esta colección. Cada escritora tiene su propio estilo y se nota la diversidad de voces en los cuentos, hay algo para todos los gustos.

Personalmente, de los diez relatos solo me disgustaron tres (The Sisters, The Tale of Kathleen y The Droll of the Mermaid), lo cual está muy bien para una antología. El resto me gustó muchísimo, aunque mis preferidos son:

The Holloway de Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sour Hall de Naomi Booth

Between Sea and Sky de Kirsty Logan

The Dampness is Spreading de Emma Glass

A Retelling de Daisy Johnson

Esos cinco relatos en particular me fascinaron, ya sea por motivos estéticos y técnicos, por la historia que cuentan, por las descripciones de la naturaleza o por la carga emotiva. Cada uno de estos relatos tiene algo que logró cautivarme como lectora y producir algo en mí. Estoy segura que volveré a leerlos.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘢𝘸𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Hag is a bunch of English Folktale retellings from a selection of authors. It's been such a long time since I read a short story collection, especially one featuring different writers, but this was just what the doctor ordered. I've been feeling a bit bogged down with my reading lately and it was so nice to dip in and out of this one, just to read a story or two at a time.

I definitely don't know enough about English Folklore, so I had a lot of fun delving into these weird and unnerving stories. The majority of these are super dark, so definitely perfect reading for this time of year. I loved how diverse all the stories were, featuring queer protagonists and women of colour.

Some of the stories I loved and others I felt tried a bit too hard. My two favourites were Between Sea and Sky by Kirsty Logan and The Dampness is Spreading by Emma Glass. I've already been looking into their other books and hoping to buy some very soon (when I'm no longer on a book buying ban💁🏻‍♀️)

I find it really hard to rate short story collections, especially when they feature different authors so here are all the stories and how I felt about them:

A Retelling 2⭐
Sour Hall 4⭐
Rosheen 4⭐
Between Sea and Sky 5⭐
The Panther's Tale 4⭐
The Tale of Kathleen 2⭐
The Sisters 4⭐
The Dampness is Spreading 5⭐
The Drill of the Mermaid 4⭐
The Holloway 4⭐

Overall, it was a great collection of stories and if you love retellings, I highly recommend you grab yourself a copy. I mean this amazing cover was enough to sell me on it. Thanks so much to Virago Press for the gifted copy🧡

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...