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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I super enjoy fairy tale retellings of all kinds, and I'm always down for non-Western. These retelling of Asian fairy tales are all pretty great, though it would have been nice if any of them had featured LGBTQ+ characters.
adventurous
informative
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:
Complicated
adventurous
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
A good introduction to some very good authors mixed in with some okay ones. I enjoyed almost all the stories and appreciate the way they touch upon a variety of Asian mythos - at the same time, the quality of the storytelling ranged from American Gods to Twilight.
I liked both the concept and the execution of this anthology of short stories. These are reimagined versions of folklore and myths of Asia. The stories themselves were enjoyable and took a lot of different approaches to their reimaginings, so those were good. It also had little summaries of the stories they were based on which I thought was a great addition, and in the table of contents it includes the country of origin of the story.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
So firstly 3 stars is my overall rating for this book, but some of the short stories within are 4 and 5 stars. Unfortunately others were just forgettable or just didn’t capture my interest at all. I find this a struggle with all anthologies as a lot of the time I am left wanting more, or I feel like it had no point. Saying this many of these stories were really wonderful and it felt very special to explore an area of Asian culture that would be usually only experienced within the home through stories told by word of mouth. Although I have no links to any Asian culture these themes still resonated with me as in Ireland similarly we have a strong history of story telling and morals being taught through parables so to feel immersed in this through the eyes of other cultures felt very special. I would recommend this for that feeling and also with an anthology it is expected to not love every story this doesn’t take from the quality of the book. I’m glad I read this and am sure that there are stories in this for everyone. 😊
3.75 stars. This was captivating, enchanting, utterly creative. I'm a simple girl, when I see "retellings," I read the book. And this one didn't disappoint! It was full of magic and creatures and love and fear and strange, outlandish tales that somehow worked perfectly. Would highly recommend if you want to read fantasy but are too intimidated/busy to dive into a ginormous 1,000 page epic fantasy. It has the most wonderful fairy tale vibes, but also has quite a range of stories, from video games to palace walls to the sun and moon and singing swans, and of course, some boarding school drama and contemporary charm. It was just very diverse, in characters and also in storytelling; it was so fun to hear so many different author's voices! I really really liked this :)