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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
The best stories were Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi, Eyes Like Candlelight by Julie Kagawa, The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon, and Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong (<- the best one imo)
dnf: 40ish%
I was excited to explore Asian folk tales and especially written by Asian authors, but I found it difficult to become interested in each story. The nature of an anthology meant that after I finally finished one story, I'd have to try once again to inspire myself to read the next one. Overall, it became difficult for me to work up any motivation to continue reading this book, so I let the loan expire on the ebook.
As a person for whom it takes a long time to get into most books, this type of book fell flat for me. But the writing wasn't bad by any means, so I can see why people might like it.
I was excited to explore Asian folk tales and especially written by Asian authors, but I found it difficult to become interested in each story. The nature of an anthology meant that after I finally finished one story, I'd have to try once again to inspire myself to read the next one. Overall, it became difficult for me to work up any motivation to continue reading this book, so I let the loan expire on the ebook.
As a person for whom it takes a long time to get into most books, this type of book fell flat for me. But the writing wasn't bad by any means, so I can see why people might like it.
As with most short story collections, I liked a few, I didn't like a few, most were meh. It's still nice to see such a wide array of stories from such a wide array of authors. I'd still recommend this book, especially if someone is looking for a taste of an author without committing to a full novel.
Average rating: 3.8 stars
Overall, I found this book to be highly enjoyable. I enjoyed reading short stories by authors I already know and love as well as being introduced to new authors that I’ll definitely be checking out again. I enjoy learning about different cultures’ mythologies and belief systems and reading this Anthology introduced me to some that I didn’t know I didn’t know. I’ll definitely be looking for more about these stories in the future.
My personal favourite stories were "Olivia’s Table", "Still Star-Crossed", "Code of Honor", "The Crimson Cloak", and "Eyes Like Candlelight". The rest of the stories were also enjoyable so I'd recommend reading them all.
Overall, I found this book to be highly enjoyable. I enjoyed reading short stories by authors I already know and love as well as being introduced to new authors that I’ll definitely be checking out again. I enjoy learning about different cultures’ mythologies and belief systems and reading this Anthology introduced me to some that I didn’t know I didn’t know. I’ll definitely be looking for more about these stories in the future.
My personal favourite stories were "Olivia’s Table", "Still Star-Crossed", "Code of Honor", "The Crimson Cloak", and "Eyes Like Candlelight". The rest of the stories were also enjoyable so I'd recommend reading them all.
I will start this out by saying I don't think I've ever given an anthology above a 3. I love anthologies in theory but not as much in practice - though I did enjoy this one more than most. I recorded my thoughts on all of the short stories and will average out their ratings at the end to see how I feel about the book.
(I will also say that I love mythology retellings that still feel like myths and therefore didn't love many of the contemporary stories with mythological inspiration as much as others might.)
Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi: 3.5/5
- stunning word choice and loved the beginning and ending
- felt less like a "retelling" and more like a "telling"
Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong: 5/5
- probably my favorite story in the anthology
- about ghosts (literal and figurative) and grief and offerings
- i teared up
Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee: 3/5
- I'm going to be honest, this felt like Detroit: Become Human fanfiction
- interesting twist but the first half was amazingly slow for a short story
Still Star-Crossed by Sona Charaipotra: 4/5
- a little creepy but beautifully written
- loved the reimagining explained in the author's note
The Counting of Vermillion Beads by Aliette De Bodard: 4/5
- lovely world building
- sisters being loving and not hateful!
- felt like a fairy tale
- the author's name is stunning
The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Myers: 3.5/5
- about grief and video games and ghosts
- kinda creepy ngl. made me a bit uncomfortable.
The Smile by Aisha Saeed: 5/5
- girls calling out an unfair power balance!!! girls forging their own paths!!! also pretty descriptions of dresses!!! hey yeah!!
- (also it felt like a fairy tale, which is what I wanted out of this anthology)
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by Preeti Chhibber: 4/5
- kids plotting revenge + realizing they can grow from their mistakes
- Dandiya!!!!!!!!!
Nothing Into All by Renée Ahdieh: 3.5/5
- amazing premise but didn't love the last couple pages
- Charan deserves to go to music school and also her brother sucks
Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia: 2/5
- I just... didn't like it. At all. I didn't like the main character. I didn't like the setting. I didn't like that the main character befriends a crab-man from the future.
- It was just confusing and too many different fantasy things thrown together for me (giants and a literal god and princes at war and picking random people from all across time to fight in a war and crab-man and it was all a bit too much.)
Code of Honor by Melissa de la Cruz: 3/5
- I like the premise but think it could have been more fleshed out.
- Plot twist got me though.
Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman: 2.5/5
- mediocre world building
- could have done something really interesting with gender but instead didn't
- i felt no attachment to the characters
Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakrar: 4.5/5
- tricking the gods! heart magic! people turning into swans!
- felt like a fairy tale (in case that first bulled didn't make that clear enough)
The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon: 4/5
- felt like a fairy tale
- girl takes power over her own story
- adoption featured in a myth retelling!
Eyes Like Candle Light by Julie Kagawa: 4/5
- kitsune
- mortal boy willing to give his life to save his village
On average, this anthology got a 3.7 from me.
(I will also say that I love mythology retellings that still feel like myths and therefore didn't love many of the contemporary stories with mythological inspiration as much as others might.)
Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi: 3.5/5
- stunning word choice and loved the beginning and ending
- felt less like a "retelling" and more like a "telling"
Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong: 5/5
- probably my favorite story in the anthology
- about ghosts (literal and figurative) and grief and offerings
- i teared up
Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee: 3/5
- I'm going to be honest, this felt like Detroit: Become Human fanfiction
- interesting twist but the first half was amazingly slow for a short story
Still Star-Crossed by Sona Charaipotra: 4/5
- a little creepy but beautifully written
- loved the reimagining explained in the author's note
The Counting of Vermillion Beads by Aliette De Bodard: 4/5
- lovely world building
- sisters being loving and not hateful!
- felt like a fairy tale
- the author's name is stunning
The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Myers: 3.5/5
- about grief and video games and ghosts
- kinda creepy ngl. made me a bit uncomfortable.
The Smile by Aisha Saeed: 5/5
- girls calling out an unfair power balance!!! girls forging their own paths!!! also pretty descriptions of dresses!!! hey yeah!!
- (also it felt like a fairy tale, which is what I wanted out of this anthology)
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by Preeti Chhibber: 4/5
- kids plotting revenge + realizing they can grow from their mistakes
- Dandiya!!!!!!!!!
Nothing Into All by Renée Ahdieh: 3.5/5
- amazing premise but didn't love the last couple pages
-
Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia: 2/5
- I just... didn't like it. At all. I didn't like the main character. I didn't like the setting. I didn't like that the main character befriends a crab-man from the future.
- It was just confusing and too many different fantasy things thrown together for me (giants and a literal god and princes at war and picking random people from all across time to fight in a war and crab-man and it was all a bit too much.)
Code of Honor by Melissa de la Cruz: 3/5
- I like the premise but think it could have been more fleshed out.
- Plot twist got me though.
Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman: 2.5/5
- mediocre world building
- could have done something really interesting with gender but instead didn't
- i felt no attachment to the characters
Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakrar: 4.5/5
- tricking the gods! heart magic! people turning into swans!
- felt like a fairy tale (in case that first bulled didn't make that clear enough)
The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon: 4/5
- felt like a fairy tale
- girl takes power over her own story
- adoption featured in a myth retelling!
Eyes Like Candle Light by Julie Kagawa: 4/5
- kitsune
- mortal boy willing to give his life to save his village
On average, this anthology got a 3.7 from me.
I read this for the 2020 Asian Readathon in May and loved most of the stories. It was a slower read as even though it's categorized in the fantasy genre, these are folklore retellings and read more like literary fiction at times. I loved the feeling of adventure, history, and strong themes of feminism in these retellings. My favorites included:
"Steel Skin" by Lori M. Lee (Hmong folklore)
"Bullet, Butterfly" by Elsie Chapman (Chinese folklore)
"Daughter of the Sun" by Shveta Thakrar (South Asian folklore)
"The Crimson Cloak" by Cindy Pon (Chinese folklore)
"Eyes Like Candlelight" by Julie Kagawa (Japanese folklore)
There were a few stories that I didn't connect to as much, but still appreciated the exposure to a different, rich, vibrant culture. Overall, this was a very solid read!
"Steel Skin" by Lori M. Lee (Hmong folklore)
"Bullet, Butterfly" by Elsie Chapman (Chinese folklore)
"Daughter of the Sun" by Shveta Thakrar (South Asian folklore)
"The Crimson Cloak" by Cindy Pon (Chinese folklore)
"Eyes Like Candlelight" by Julie Kagawa (Japanese folklore)
There were a few stories that I didn't connect to as much, but still appreciated the exposure to a different, rich, vibrant culture. Overall, this was a very solid read!
4.5 Stars!
What can I say? I'm a sucker for myths and anthologies and this book was both!! Plus I loved MOST of the stories in this and now I want to read up on the actual myths each of the stories was inspired by and that in my book is a job well done, and a story well told!
What can I say? I'm a sucker for myths and anthologies and this book was both!! Plus I loved MOST of the stories in this and now I want to read up on the actual myths each of the stories was inspired by and that in my book is a job well done, and a story well told!
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
This is a collection I couldn’t wait to start. When I was about eight years old, my grandma bought me a volume of Asian Folk Tales and thus, she opened a window to a world that was exotic, mysterious, a land of fairytale to my young mind. This was the beginning of my fascination with Asian cultures, especially the ones found in India and China. I thought that this collection, edited by Ellen Oh, would feel like a magic carpet to the lands that seem so distant, hidden, often misunderstood. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be...In fact, it was a severe disappointment.
This collection consists of 15 original, mostly contemporary, tales that are retellings of myths and legends, focused on ghosts, star-crossed lovers and angry spirits, heroes and deities, combined with modern aspects of our societies, e.g. androids, role-playing games, school cliques. Unfortunately, this combination didn’t work for me. While the human need for revenge and love and understanding lies behind the tales, the writing is choppy, uninspiring. Turning traditional tales into naive stories about bots or teenage vampires results in ridiculing the subject matter. Following each tale, there is a note from each writer, explaining their inspiration behind the story. What they don’t explain is the reason for turning beautiful myths into Nickelodeon, Twilight-inspired, cringe-worthy fanfiction. A look in their biographies answered my question. YA ‘’novels’’ and Hallmark scripts. Not really Pulitzer-worthy material. If YA audience was the target crowd for this collection, then, I’m sorry, I had no idea….
The stories that saved the book from being an unexpected DNF were:
Forbidden Fruit : A Mountain Goddess falls in love with a mortal but she hadn’t anticipated the evil done by humans. A sad tale from the Philippines.
Olivia’s Table: A young Chinese-American woman arrives in Arizona for the Ghost Festival. She is a peculiar exorcist who continues the work of her late mother. Once a year, the ghosts need to eat in order for their soul to rest in peace. They walk among the living, waiting...A beautiful story whose roots lie in the vast Chinese tradition.
The Land of the Morning Calm: A beautiful story of a family who tries to cope with a sudden, tragic loss. Korean traditions are paired with the strange world of RPG in a tale of motherhood, obsession with an artificial world and the need to move on.
Bullet, Butterfly: A tale of love, war and loss. Based on a well-known Chinese legend of star-crossed lovers.
In my opinion, the weakest moments in the collection were the stories based on the Hindu traditions. I felt the writers were highly disrespectful towards them, creating superficial ‘’tales’’ full of cliches and horrible dialogue. I think the only ‘’tradition’’ that may have inspired them was the Bollywood industry and its atrocities because the beliefs and customs of India are rich, complex, mystical. Not this, whatever it was. For example, the story Spear Carrier is supposedly inspired by the epic Mahabharata and it is an abomination.
To my extreme disappointment, this was an extremely uneven collection with very few gems in an attempt to salvage a collection that could have been glorious. Instead, it was barely passable. I definitely suggest you give it a try, though. You may find what I wasn’t able to distinguish. Having read tons of short stories collection based on myths and traditions, written with quality and taste and not like scribbles for a Nickelodeon TV series, this one appeared to me frightfully average.
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com
This collection consists of 15 original, mostly contemporary, tales that are retellings of myths and legends, focused on ghosts, star-crossed lovers and angry spirits, heroes and deities, combined with modern aspects of our societies, e.g. androids, role-playing games, school cliques. Unfortunately, this combination didn’t work for me. While the human need for revenge and love and understanding lies behind the tales, the writing is choppy, uninspiring. Turning traditional tales into naive stories about bots or teenage vampires results in ridiculing the subject matter. Following each tale, there is a note from each writer, explaining their inspiration behind the story. What they don’t explain is the reason for turning beautiful myths into Nickelodeon, Twilight-inspired, cringe-worthy fanfiction. A look in their biographies answered my question. YA ‘’novels’’ and Hallmark scripts. Not really Pulitzer-worthy material. If YA audience was the target crowd for this collection, then, I’m sorry, I had no idea….
The stories that saved the book from being an unexpected DNF were:
Forbidden Fruit : A Mountain Goddess falls in love with a mortal but she hadn’t anticipated the evil done by humans. A sad tale from the Philippines.
Olivia’s Table: A young Chinese-American woman arrives in Arizona for the Ghost Festival. She is a peculiar exorcist who continues the work of her late mother. Once a year, the ghosts need to eat in order for their soul to rest in peace. They walk among the living, waiting...A beautiful story whose roots lie in the vast Chinese tradition.
The Land of the Morning Calm: A beautiful story of a family who tries to cope with a sudden, tragic loss. Korean traditions are paired with the strange world of RPG in a tale of motherhood, obsession with an artificial world and the need to move on.
Bullet, Butterfly: A tale of love, war and loss. Based on a well-known Chinese legend of star-crossed lovers.
In my opinion, the weakest moments in the collection were the stories based on the Hindu traditions. I felt the writers were highly disrespectful towards them, creating superficial ‘’tales’’ full of cliches and horrible dialogue. I think the only ‘’tradition’’ that may have inspired them was the Bollywood industry and its atrocities because the beliefs and customs of India are rich, complex, mystical. Not this, whatever it was. For example, the story Spear Carrier is supposedly inspired by the epic Mahabharata and it is an abomination.
To my extreme disappointment, this was an extremely uneven collection with very few gems in an attempt to salvage a collection that could have been glorious. Instead, it was barely passable. I definitely suggest you give it a try, though. You may find what I wasn’t able to distinguish. Having read tons of short stories collection based on myths and traditions, written with quality and taste and not like scribbles for a Nickelodeon TV series, this one appeared to me frightfully average.
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com
I chose this because I thought some of the readings would be useful in a literature class. They would be, but I enjoyed most of these stories for the pleasure of reading them as well. All anthologies are uneven but this one mostly appealed to me.