Reviews tagging 'Blood'

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

8 reviews

s_everson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.0

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norcalchris's review against another edition

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The three stories I read were actually very good. Sinister, dark, and so so bizarre. The illustrations were great and more would have been enjoyable. DNFing only because I don’t need fresh nightmare fodder. However, I think this collection is great and would recommend for those looking for something dark and twisty. 
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catapocalypse's review against another edition

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

5.0

Absolutely loved this collection of fairytale-inspired stories. Retellings are everywhere right now, but I appreciated that these were stories that generally receive less attention. All the better with Kelly Link's usual focus on messy people in peculiar settings.

I had previously read three of the stories collected here, "The Lady and the Fox" being the first I'd ever read from Link and an immediate favorite. It still held up, and is a charming take on the Tam Lin story. My other favorite was "The White Cat's Divorce," adapting the story "The White Cat." Rather than a castle peopled with cats, the young man encountered a marijuana farm staffed by cats. Being very fond of cats, I was tickled by this one.

Every story was strong in this one, rating no lower than 4 stars for me individually.
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bi_n_large's review

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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missindyrose's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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maaikereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Kelly Link for the advanced copy of White Cat, Black Dog via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel. 

This collection of 7 short stories was, for me, a mixed bag. Some were great (Skinder’s Veil being my favourite) and some were not so much (The White Cat’s Divorce). I am puzzled by the choices the editors made for the order of the stories, as I feel the weakest story was used to open the book, and it almost caused me to put the book down entirely and not read the remaining six. 

It should be noted that, as the blurb states, these are not retellings, but stories inspired by fairy tales and folk tales. Not much of the original/classic tale is left in these stories, although the general gist is still there. 

An interesting collection of stories, which will appeal to a range of genre interests. 

Trigger warnings: Blood/Gore, Death, Drugs, Infidelity, Murder 

Rating 3.75/5 rounded up to 4 
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deedireads's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted fast-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

4.75

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/

TL;DR REVIEW:

White Cat, Black Dog is a delightfully weird little collection of stories inspired by fairy tales and folklore. It’s funny and layered and excellent.

For you if: You like weird short stories and/or fairy tale retellings.

FULL REVIEW:

This was my first read from MacArthur genius and Pulitzer finalist Kelly Link (I think her last collection came out in 2015), but it definitely won’t be the last. I can see that she’s a queen of short stories for a reason!

It helps that this collection (and the kinds of stories Link tends to write in general) is extremely my sh*t: A smart mix of modern-day realism with magic and speculative elements. These stories, specifically, are all inspired by fairy tales and folklore from across the globe. They’re super weird and sorta dark and often quite funny. We’re talking like, a third son whose father sends him on a quest and he ends up staying in a commune with a talking cat in Colorado, smoking weed. (That story is called “The White Cat’s Divorce” and I think it was my favorite one.)

I really liked the fact that each story notes which fairy tale inspired it so that I could look them up on Wikipedia before reading, if needed. They’re pretty loose “retellings,” so it was fun to try to make the connections and see how they inspired Link to go in the direction she went.

TLDR, this is an inventive and fun and layered collection, and I liked it very much!
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rubyhosh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

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