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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed reading about folklore that was unfamiliar to me and I'm interested in reading more from many of these authors.
Buku ini kumpulan cerita-cerita pendek dari beberapa negara di Asia. Cerita-cerita pendek ini juga menceritakan beberapa budaya dan sejarah dan fantasi. Sayangnya dalam kumpulan cerita pendek ini tidak ada dari Indonesia.
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Dan ada beberapa cerita yang menjadi favorit ku
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Dan ada beberapa cerita yang menjadi favorit ku
3.5 stars
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings is an anthology of East and South Asian fairytale retellings and reimaginings written by a group of YA authors. I was lucky enough to find that my library system had this, so I did the proper book-hoarding thing and requested it. I'm going to review each story one-by-one.
Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi - 3 stars
Forbidden Fruit is a retelling of a Filipino love story. The prose is nice and alluring. I haven't read Roshani Chokshi's work besides her Aru Shah series. I have no problems with her prose, but sometime her themes are little off target for me. Maybe I was just miffed that Maria didn't bother to look a couple steps further for her heart. Easily fixed problems that aren't easily fixed miff me, but I suppose that's a part of the tragic love story.
Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong - 5 stars
Ouch, Alyssa Wong was out to hurt me and shed a single tear with that dead mom part of the story and how Olivia broke up with Priya and didn't even tell her about what was going on in her life. There was something about that stoicism or emotional detachment that got to me. Add in a story about mother-daughter relationships and ghosts finding peace, and you have me in your clutches. This almost reminded me of Mei's story in Shadow Girl by Lianna Liu, which wasn't received very well on Goodreads, but eh my opinion is more important here because this is my blog and I think you should read Shadow Girl if you really like Olivia's Table.
The bit about Chinese-Am history in Arizona is not prior knowledge I had and I love the inclusion of it. I remember watching a Buzzfeed supernatural episode where Ryan and Shane went to Vulture Mine in Arizona, so instantly I made the connection between mine work and the Chinese American history in Arizona that Wong mentioned with Chinese mine workers. I remember writing a short story or research paper about the Hungry Ghost Festival in the 7th grade, though I'm not sure how accurate my research was. But hey, I was the only Chinese kid in class, no one could fact check me on that lol.
Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee - 3.5 stars
Ok so who else was shipping Alang and Yer in this one? Lee's writing just gave me the instant vibe that these two had a little thing developing. But that aside, Yer's perceieved memories of her and her dad got me again alskfjsdl;kf there's too much parental relationship angst in this book already. I had some trouble deciphering the terms for the futuristic technology. I enjoyed the misdirect where Yer thought her dad was the android and also how Lee handled Yer's grief over her mom's death.
Still Star-Crossed by Sona Charaipotra - 2 stars
I'm sort of in the same boat as Forbidden Fruit as I am with this one. I don't really see the story doing anything beyond Reincarnated stalkerish almost dad.
The Counting Vermillion Beads by Aliette De Bodard - 3.5 stars
I quite enjoyed this one especially with the sisters' relationship and how it brought up that the sisters are changed people.
The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Myers - 4.5 stars
Again with the dead mom trope, but it still made me feel the feelings. This story has some nice shout-outs @ DIY Hogwarts letter and Toph Beifong cosplay. I do love nine-tailed fox spirits showing up.
The Smile by Aisha Saeed - 4 stars
This story set out to do exactly what the author described in the post-script, so I'm satisfied. This was solid , but not anything that went beyond my expecations, since I always read the post-scripts for these stories before the actual story.
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by Preeti Chhibber - 2.5 stars
I thought this story was full of petty. Petty I can understand, but still petty nonetheless. I liked the framing of this story more than the actual events of the story. Dinesh was rude, but even the story lampshaded that the girls were comparing him to this great evil LOL. The food descriptions always get me, so that's a plus. I really like the friendship between the girls in this too.
Nothing into All by Renee Ahdieh - 4 stars
I usually don't like Ahdieh's style, but I really liked the push and pull type of relationship Charan and Chun had and how Charan always felt like she had to pull her punches because Chun always hung her guilt over her.
Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia - DNF
Code of Honor by Melissa de la Cruz - 3 stars
This really brings me back to when I played Gossip Girl Party but with vampires. The twist was predictable, but there's enough heart in the main character's quest to find a place to belong that I can't penalize this too harshly.
Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman - 2.5 stars
Maybe I'm not very receptive to the more romantic stories in this collection. Zhu being accepting of Liang no matter his gender was nice. The love story didn't speak to me as I thought it would; I got the impression there was not much to that life and part of it stemmed from desparation - which I understand, and it was probably purposefully added on Chapman's part. This is a tragedy of two lover kept apart because of familial duty. I was never a fan Romeo and Juliet either, so maybe this doesn't appeal to my taste.
Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakar - 2.5 stars
I really like the concept of Daughter of the Sun, especially how the author chose to blend two retellings together like this. The reason I rate it so low is because, instead of seeing the relationship between the leads form, we are just told it does and actual personality is substituted by a list of hobbies and interests, which made it dull reading for me.
The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon - 5 stars
My fave. MY FAVE. Cindy Pon never disappoints me. This story has the best narrative voice in the entire collection (IMO). Unlike many of the other romance story retellings, the relationship in this one feels fleshed out, as the two leads feel like they have fully formed personalities AND backstories. I feel this is the most complete retelling out of the bunch too. It successfully repurposes traditional elements of the plot into a more modern (this is still ye olde times) reimagining.
I love how the couple ended up adopting their kids instead of upholding the idea that the only way to have kids is to have them biologically. Honestly, it's like Cindy Pon knows what my heart wants.
Eyes like Candlelight by Julie Kagawa - 4 stars
I love fox stories and I love seeing greedy pigs get their just desserts. I'm not really a fan of that blink it and miss it sex + leaving the product, a creepy child, to haunt kit-daddy's grave, but this story is otherwise fine.
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings is an anthology of East and South Asian fairytale retellings and reimaginings written by a group of YA authors. I was lucky enough to find that my library system had this, so I did the proper book-hoarding thing and requested it. I'm going to review each story one-by-one.
Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi - 3 stars
Forbidden Fruit is a retelling of a Filipino love story. The prose is nice and alluring. I haven't read Roshani Chokshi's work besides her Aru Shah series. I have no problems with her prose, but sometime her themes are little off target for me. Maybe I was just miffed that Maria didn't bother to look a couple steps further for her heart. Easily fixed problems that aren't easily fixed miff me, but I suppose that's a part of the tragic love story.
Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong - 5 stars
Ouch, Alyssa Wong was out to hurt me and shed a single tear with that dead mom part of the story and how Olivia broke up with Priya and didn't even tell her about what was going on in her life. There was something about that stoicism or emotional detachment that got to me. Add in a story about mother-daughter relationships and ghosts finding peace, and you have me in your clutches. This almost reminded me of Mei's story in Shadow Girl by Lianna Liu, which wasn't received very well on Goodreads, but eh my opinion is more important here because this is my blog and I think you should read Shadow Girl if you really like Olivia's Table.
The bit about Chinese-Am history in Arizona is not prior knowledge I had and I love the inclusion of it. I remember watching a Buzzfeed supernatural episode where Ryan and Shane went to Vulture Mine in Arizona, so instantly I made the connection between mine work and the Chinese American history in Arizona that Wong mentioned with Chinese mine workers. I remember writing a short story or research paper about the Hungry Ghost Festival in the 7th grade, though I'm not sure how accurate my research was. But hey, I was the only Chinese kid in class, no one could fact check me on that lol.
Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee - 3.5 stars
Ok so who else was shipping Alang and Yer in this one? Lee's writing just gave me the instant vibe that these two had a little thing developing. But that aside, Yer's perceieved memories of her and her dad got me again alskfjsdl;kf there's too much parental relationship angst in this book already. I had some trouble deciphering the terms for the futuristic technology. I enjoyed the misdirect where Yer thought her dad was the android and also how Lee handled Yer's grief over her mom's death.
Still Star-Crossed by Sona Charaipotra - 2 stars
I'm sort of in the same boat as Forbidden Fruit as I am with this one. I don't really see the story doing anything beyond Reincarnated stalkerish almost dad.
The Counting Vermillion Beads by Aliette De Bodard - 3.5 stars
I quite enjoyed this one especially with the sisters' relationship and how it brought up that the sisters are changed people.
The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Myers - 4.5 stars
Again with the dead mom trope, but it still made me feel the feelings. This story has some nice shout-outs @ DIY Hogwarts letter and Toph Beifong cosplay. I do love nine-tailed fox spirits showing up.
The Smile by Aisha Saeed - 4 stars
This story set out to do exactly what the author described in the post-script, so I'm satisfied. This was solid , but not anything that went beyond my expecations, since I always read the post-scripts for these stories before the actual story.
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by Preeti Chhibber - 2.5 stars
I thought this story was full of petty. Petty I can understand, but still petty nonetheless. I liked the framing of this story more than the actual events of the story. Dinesh was rude, but even the story lampshaded that the girls were comparing him to this great evil LOL. The food descriptions always get me, so that's a plus. I really like the friendship between the girls in this too.
Nothing into All by Renee Ahdieh - 4 stars
I usually don't like Ahdieh's style, but I really liked the push and pull type of relationship Charan and Chun had and how Charan always felt like she had to pull her punches because Chun always hung her guilt over her.
Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia - DNF
Code of Honor by Melissa de la Cruz - 3 stars
This really brings me back to when I played Gossip Girl Party but with vampires. The twist was predictable, but there's enough heart in the main character's quest to find a place to belong that I can't penalize this too harshly.
Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman - 2.5 stars
Maybe I'm not very receptive to the more romantic stories in this collection. Zhu being accepting of Liang no matter his gender was nice. The love story didn't speak to me as I thought it would; I got the impression there was not much to that life and part of it stemmed from desparation - which I understand, and it was probably purposefully added on Chapman's part. This is a tragedy of two lover kept apart because of familial duty. I was never a fan Romeo and Juliet either, so maybe this doesn't appeal to my taste.
Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakar - 2.5 stars
I really like the concept of Daughter of the Sun, especially how the author chose to blend two retellings together like this. The reason I rate it so low is because, instead of seeing the relationship between the leads form, we are just told it does and actual personality is substituted by a list of hobbies and interests, which made it dull reading for me.
The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon - 5 stars
My fave. MY FAVE. Cindy Pon never disappoints me. This story has the best narrative voice in the entire collection (IMO). Unlike many of the other romance story retellings, the relationship in this one feels fleshed out, as the two leads feel like they have fully formed personalities AND backstories. I feel this is the most complete retelling out of the bunch too. It successfully repurposes traditional elements of the plot into a more modern (this is still ye olde times) reimagining.
I love how the couple ended up adopting their kids instead of upholding the idea that the only way to have kids is to have them biologically. Honestly, it's like Cindy Pon knows what my heart wants.
Eyes like Candlelight by Julie Kagawa - 4 stars
I love fox stories and I love seeing greedy pigs get their just desserts. I'm not really a fan of that blink it and miss it sex + leaving the product, a creepy child, to haunt kit-daddy's grave, but this story is otherwise fine.
It's hard for an anthology to earn 5 stars, because there's always the variability of different authors and whether they succeeded at their concept. For the most part, this is a very strong anthology. I love the idea behind it, and that we see stories from countries besides China and Japan under the flag of Asian, with authentic voices creating these stories. I appreciated that we got a segment at the end of each story explaining the inspiration and some of the author's thought process. Very well done, and I hope to see more like this in the future.
Wonderful
I was familiar with some of these mythos and some were totally new to me. Worth the read, delightful, charming, disturbing and thought provoking.
I was familiar with some of these mythos and some were totally new to me. Worth the read, delightful, charming, disturbing and thought provoking.
Short story collections are always so tricky because they’re so varied. Most of these stories were 3 stars; not bad, not great. They were good but ultimately kind of forgettable unfortunately. There were a few that stood out as really good and a few that stood out as really bad. Overall, however, I did enjoy seeing this collection of Asian myths and stories and legends because we don’t get enough of that and there’s definitely a few I want to look more into.
Forbidden Fruit
Roshani Chokshi
3.5 Stars
Sweet and ultimately heartbreaking. Compelling enough to feel remorse for the two characters despite being less than 30 pages.
Olivia's Table
Alyssa Wong
4 Stars
Descriptions of food were very good and made me hungry. The emotional pull in regards to the mother and the ghost of Mei Ling were very well done. A bittersweet ending.
Steel Skin
Lori M. Lee
2 Stars
Excited cause it was sci-fi but poorly written. Sloppy writing, rather confusing, poorly handled. from the start it sounded like the father was an Android and was sort of confused about how he could be her father but then the main character was worried he was an Android. The dialogue felt cheesy and fake and the twist was very contrived to make it happen. Also the relation to the original myth is really confusing, as the author takes the name of one of the mythological figures but combines two characters somehow? Overall just messy and confusing.
Still Star-Crossed
Sona Charaipotra
2 Stars
I know the author said it was sort of intentional but I did not vibe with the “star crossed lovers” thing when the dude was basically a stalker who wouldn’t leave the protagonist alone. Also this whole short story felt a bit like reading the opening of My Immortal, except instead of telling you how goth she is, it’s how Punjabi she is. Which, yes, I want to learn more about the culture of course and i am white so take everything I say with a grain of salt but it felt like if an American protagonist explained they were wearing the american flag while listening to country music and drinking a beer in their truck with the shotgun in the back on their way to a Nascar race. I could be a bit off but I felt like every descriptive paragraph basically yelled “I'M PUNJABI HERE IS EVERY PIECE OF MY CULTURE TO EVER EXIST EVER”. It also felt like this story stopped right when it was actually starting. It finally got somewhat interesting and then abruptly ended.
The Counting of Vermilion Beads
Aliette de Bodard
3 Stars
I’m not sure if it’s magical realism or fantasy; which probably means magical realism and that’s always sort of hit or miss for me. This one wasn’t bad. I like the sisters relationship but I was sort of confused by a lot of what was going on. I do enjoy that the twist on this was the sisters actually getting along because c’mon, who needs girl hate? I support a retelling where the girls love each other.
The Land of the Morning Calm
E.C. Myers
4 Stars
A beautiful and touching modernization of Korean myth. I loved the use of the MMO as the setting and really wish I could play that MMO now. Also really loved the way this ghost story was told; it wasn’t creepy, but sweet and sad. Very good emotional pull.
The Smile
Aisha Saeed
3 Stars
An interesting story about consent, power imbalances in a relationship and the difference between love and belonging. It has a good message but didn’t quite pull on the heartstrings like it could have I think.
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers
Preeti Chhibber
1.5 Stars
The .5 is for the straight retelling of the myth sprinkled into the weird teen revenge crap. It read like an early 2000s ya novel where it was clearly an adult who had never talked to a teenager in their life and was talking down to them. Poorly written, petty, and corny. The addition of the myth woven in was the only good part but it also served to show just how boring and absurd the actual story was.
Nothing Into All
Renee Ahdieh
3 Stars
No real feelings on this one. I was expecting more of Ahdieh’s beautiful flowery writing but it seemed rather simple for her. The story had a good message but felt like it was missing a certain spark.
Spear Carrier
Rahul Kanakia
1 Star
Overly pretentious and just shitty military scifi. Main character was an obnoxious nerdy guy (and I mean the type you’re pretty sure is a gate keeper). Which makes it even worse because it’s stream of consciousness. I found myself scoffing at basically the first page and then skimmed after about three or four pages. It mostly felt like the author going “oh shit; war is bad and people die”. Uh yeah. No shit, Sherlock.
Code of Honor
Melissa de la Cruz
1 Star
It’s kind of really shitty to make a short story for a collection part of her bigger series. I don’t think you need the context of the Blue Blood series but c’mon. Come up with something new. Also, it’s not 2012 anymore? What is this? I felt like I was reading twilight again. Seriously has de la Cruz not picked up a ya book since twilight ended?
Bullet, Butterfly
Elsie Chapman
4 Stars
Beautiful and emotional and very atmospheric. It’s a bleak atmosphere of war and plague and smoke and death but the love story is sweet and believable and tragic. Also love the way the story is tweaked every so slightly; having the boy disguise himself as a girl instead of the girl as a boy.
Daughter of the Sun
Shveta Thakrar
2 Stars
I wanted to like this one as it’s about a woman tricking gods and such but the beginning had me very confused. So she lives at a museum basically and because of that somehow she doesn’t have friends? Or something to do with her having an internal sun but being goth? The beginning was strange and didn’t make sense to me so it immediately killed my suspension of disbelief AND THEN threw in some insta love. She just saw this random teen boy and went “yeah I gotta save him” but literally just because she was so starved for human contact - for what reason I still don’t understand. It didn’t feel like a real connection because he was basically the first person her age she had met it seemed. So not my cup of tea.
The Crimson Cloak
Cindy Pon
3.75 Stars
A sweet love story. I especially appreciated the concept of her loving him enough to let him go so he would be happy. I also enjoy the way it was her telling her story but the true version; not the classic where she didn’t have a voice and he forcibly took her. (Also I'm weak for Hades and Persephone vibes and this has those vibes, but I’m sure this Chinese legend is older than Hades and Persephone)
Eyes Like Candlelight
Julie Kagawa
3.5 Stars
I’m always a sucker for shitty authority figures getting their asses handed to them by a vengeful woman. The rest of the story was just okay to me, but the ending redeemed it.
Forbidden Fruit
Roshani Chokshi
3.5 Stars
Sweet and ultimately heartbreaking. Compelling enough to feel remorse for the two characters despite being less than 30 pages.
Olivia's Table
Alyssa Wong
4 Stars
Descriptions of food were very good and made me hungry. The emotional pull in regards to the mother and the ghost of Mei Ling were very well done. A bittersweet ending.
Steel Skin
Lori M. Lee
2 Stars
Excited cause it was sci-fi but poorly written. Sloppy writing, rather confusing, poorly handled. from the start it sounded like the father was an Android and was sort of confused about how he could be her father but then the main character was worried he was an Android. The dialogue felt cheesy and fake and the twist was very contrived to make it happen. Also the relation to the original myth is really confusing, as the author takes the name of one of the mythological figures but combines two characters somehow? Overall just messy and confusing.
Still Star-Crossed
Sona Charaipotra
2 Stars
I know the author said it was sort of intentional but I did not vibe with the “star crossed lovers” thing when the dude was basically a stalker who wouldn’t leave the protagonist alone. Also this whole short story felt a bit like reading the opening of My Immortal, except instead of telling you how goth she is, it’s how Punjabi she is. Which, yes, I want to learn more about the culture of course and i am white so take everything I say with a grain of salt but it felt like if an American protagonist explained they were wearing the american flag while listening to country music and drinking a beer in their truck with the shotgun in the back on their way to a Nascar race. I could be a bit off but I felt like every descriptive paragraph basically yelled “I'M PUNJABI HERE IS EVERY PIECE OF MY CULTURE TO EVER EXIST EVER”. It also felt like this story stopped right when it was actually starting. It finally got somewhat interesting and then abruptly ended.
The Counting of Vermilion Beads
Aliette de Bodard
3 Stars
I’m not sure if it’s magical realism or fantasy; which probably means magical realism and that’s always sort of hit or miss for me. This one wasn’t bad. I like the sisters relationship but I was sort of confused by a lot of what was going on. I do enjoy that the twist on this was the sisters actually getting along because c’mon, who needs girl hate? I support a retelling where the girls love each other.
The Land of the Morning Calm
E.C. Myers
4 Stars
A beautiful and touching modernization of Korean myth. I loved the use of the MMO as the setting and really wish I could play that MMO now. Also really loved the way this ghost story was told; it wasn’t creepy, but sweet and sad. Very good emotional pull.
The Smile
Aisha Saeed
3 Stars
An interesting story about consent, power imbalances in a relationship and the difference between love and belonging. It has a good message but didn’t quite pull on the heartstrings like it could have I think.
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers
Preeti Chhibber
1.5 Stars
The .5 is for the straight retelling of the myth sprinkled into the weird teen revenge crap. It read like an early 2000s ya novel where it was clearly an adult who had never talked to a teenager in their life and was talking down to them. Poorly written, petty, and corny. The addition of the myth woven in was the only good part but it also served to show just how boring and absurd the actual story was.
Nothing Into All
Renee Ahdieh
3 Stars
No real feelings on this one. I was expecting more of Ahdieh’s beautiful flowery writing but it seemed rather simple for her. The story had a good message but felt like it was missing a certain spark.
Spear Carrier
Rahul Kanakia
1 Star
Overly pretentious and just shitty military scifi. Main character was an obnoxious nerdy guy (and I mean the type you’re pretty sure is a gate keeper). Which makes it even worse because it’s stream of consciousness. I found myself scoffing at basically the first page and then skimmed after about three or four pages. It mostly felt like the author going “oh shit; war is bad and people die”. Uh yeah. No shit, Sherlock.
Code of Honor
Melissa de la Cruz
1 Star
It’s kind of really shitty to make a short story for a collection part of her bigger series. I don’t think you need the context of the Blue Blood series but c’mon. Come up with something new. Also, it’s not 2012 anymore? What is this? I felt like I was reading twilight again. Seriously has de la Cruz not picked up a ya book since twilight ended?
Bullet, Butterfly
Elsie Chapman
4 Stars
Beautiful and emotional and very atmospheric. It’s a bleak atmosphere of war and plague and smoke and death but the love story is sweet and believable and tragic. Also love the way the story is tweaked every so slightly; having the boy disguise himself as a girl instead of the girl as a boy.
Daughter of the Sun
Shveta Thakrar
2 Stars
I wanted to like this one as it’s about a woman tricking gods and such but the beginning had me very confused. So she lives at a museum basically and because of that somehow she doesn’t have friends? Or something to do with her having an internal sun but being goth? The beginning was strange and didn’t make sense to me so it immediately killed my suspension of disbelief AND THEN threw in some insta love. She just saw this random teen boy and went “yeah I gotta save him” but literally just because she was so starved for human contact - for what reason I still don’t understand. It didn’t feel like a real connection because he was basically the first person her age she had met it seemed. So not my cup of tea.
The Crimson Cloak
Cindy Pon
3.75 Stars
A sweet love story. I especially appreciated the concept of her loving him enough to let him go so he would be happy. I also enjoy the way it was her telling her story but the true version; not the classic where she didn’t have a voice and he forcibly took her. (Also I'm weak for Hades and Persephone vibes and this has those vibes, but I’m sure this Chinese legend is older than Hades and Persephone)
Eyes Like Candlelight
Julie Kagawa
3.5 Stars
I’m always a sucker for shitty authority figures getting their asses handed to them by a vengeful woman. The rest of the story was just okay to me, but the ending redeemed it.
I've been motivated to pick up more short story collections lately, but unfortunately, I am really slow at reading them since you have to continue to re-immerse yourself into so many different worlds. That was exactly the case with A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman–I mean, it even says it in the title–but ultimately I am really glad I continued to reach for this collection of Asian myth and legend retellings.
As with most anthologies, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings was certainly a mix, but fortunately it had more hits than misses. It definitely introduced me to several new authors I'd be interested in reading more from. You can find my full thoughts as I read the collection here on GoodReads. A few of my favourites: Roshani Chokshi's prose was lush and vivid; Elsie Chapman's story was poetic and sad with some beautiful imagery; Shveta Thakrar had exceptionally beautiful writing and I loved the way she weaved two tales together; Cindy Pon's story just felt filled with magic; and lastly, Julie Kagawa's story was a great way to finish the book since it was fun, magical, sad and with lovely writing all at the same time. Overall, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings wasn't a flawless collection, but I definitely think Oh and Chapman did a fantastic job assembling it and the stories I loved certainly made it a worthwhile read.
As with most anthologies, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings was certainly a mix, but fortunately it had more hits than misses. It definitely introduced me to several new authors I'd be interested in reading more from. You can find my full thoughts as I read the collection here on GoodReads. A few of my favourites: Roshani Chokshi's prose was lush and vivid; Elsie Chapman's story was poetic and sad with some beautiful imagery; Shveta Thakrar had exceptionally beautiful writing and I loved the way she weaved two tales together; Cindy Pon's story just felt filled with magic; and lastly, Julie Kagawa's story was a great way to finish the book since it was fun, magical, sad and with lovely writing all at the same time. Overall, A Thousand Beginnings and Endings wasn't a flawless collection, but I definitely think Oh and Chapman did a fantastic job assembling it and the stories I loved certainly made it a worthwhile read.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love retellings of stories. So when I saw this, reimaginings of folkore and mythology from East and South Asia, I said "yes, please."
I listened on audio; that was particularly satisfying, being told a series of stories. I loved the different ways the writers took the stories and made them their own, changing settings (the past; the future; science fiction; historical; the present.) Sometimes, even changing the outcome.
I was not familiar with all the source materials, but each story ended with the author talking about the tale they wrote. Especially since I was listening, I appreciated that this information was given at the end of the story, rather than at the end of the book.
Did I have particular favorites? But of course! "Olivia's Table" by Alyssa Wong and "The Crimson Cloak" by Cindy Pon.
Olivia's Table is a ghost story unlike any other ghost story I've read. Olivia's mother has died and Olivia is carrying on in her mother's steps by cooking a meal for ghosts. It's scary and cathartic. I don't know if scary is the right word: it's not horror story scary. It's, I'm not sure what will happen next scary.
"The Crimson Cloak" tells the story of love between a goddess and a mortal. It's funny and hopeful and clever; and in particular, takes a story of love trapped and makes it love chosen.
I listened on audio; that was particularly satisfying, being told a series of stories. I loved the different ways the writers took the stories and made them their own, changing settings (the past; the future; science fiction; historical; the present.) Sometimes, even changing the outcome.
I was not familiar with all the source materials, but each story ended with the author talking about the tale they wrote. Especially since I was listening, I appreciated that this information was given at the end of the story, rather than at the end of the book.
Did I have particular favorites? But of course! "Olivia's Table" by Alyssa Wong and "The Crimson Cloak" by Cindy Pon.
Olivia's Table is a ghost story unlike any other ghost story I've read. Olivia's mother has died and Olivia is carrying on in her mother's steps by cooking a meal for ghosts. It's scary and cathartic. I don't know if scary is the right word: it's not horror story scary. It's, I'm not sure what will happen next scary.
"The Crimson Cloak" tells the story of love between a goddess and a mortal. It's funny and hopeful and clever; and in particular, takes a story of love trapped and makes it love chosen.
I loooooove this. This took me back to discovering fairy tales as a kid. I got it from the library but now I need to buy it.