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charlotekerstenauthor's review against another edition
So What’s It About?
This is an anthology edited by Terri Winding, the theme of which is child abuse. Most of the stories are fairy tale retellings.
CW for all kinds of child abuse.
What I Thought
There are too many stories to do them all justice with a review, so I thought I’d give my overall impressions of the collection and mention my favorites. The most interesting thing about this book besides its overall focus on abuse is how tonally varied it is, with stories that range from comical to incredibly brutal. There are a few fairy tale retellings that are extremely silly in particular, and I do kind of question what these stories are doing in this collection, particularly the story about the Little Mermaid’s younger sister and the modernized Cinderella retelling. They didn’t really have anything to say about child abuse in comparison to the rest of the collection, and they mostly just gave me emotional whiplash. There are a few other outlier stories, either being entirely non-fantastical and about abuse or being fantastical and not about abuse. The end result feels a bit disjointed and messy.
As with any collection, there were some strong stories and some weak ones; right now, I’ll just mention my favorites of the collection:
The Session by Steven Gould - Snow White has a therapy session with the Mirror. I like that this one gives a famous, classic princess the interiority/internal conflict that often seems absent in such princesses in fairy tales, and it shows that she is still struggling with her experiences after “happily ever after.” It’s an interesting addition that she made up the evil stepmother because she couldn’t deal with the fact that her abuser was her true mother. I’m generally just a sucker for the “fictional character goes to therapy to deal with the kinds of things we take for granted as totally normal in fiction” trope so this was a good fit for me.
The Lily and the Weaver’s Heart by Nancy Etchemendy - a girl struggles with self-hated because she only has one eye and goes on a journey where she realizes her innate worth. This one is told in lovely language and features a very sweet romance. The overarching message about self-acceptance and disability could have been written very patronizingly in a lesser story, but this one worked, at least for me.
The Lion and the Lark by Patricia Mckillip - this is one of the outliers that doesn’t really have anything to do with child abuse, but it’s Patricia McKillip so I loved it anyways. It features her trademark beautiful language and charming magical details, and Lark is a brave and original heroine. There’s also a great touch of humor with the overeager princess who rescues Lark’s husband at the end of the story.
The Dream Catcher by Will Shetterly - a girl writes a letter to her school bully about her experience of abuse. This one is very short but I really liked how the writing mimicked a kid’s writing and the framing device really worked for me, especially when it was revealed at the end that she wrote the letter out of empathy for the bully’s own experiences of abuse and with the goal of the letter protecting him like her grandmother now protects her.
I’d say it’s definitely a collection worth checking out if you’re interested in the overall theme because the good stories are really good and the less-good ones aren’t terrible at all. I’m glad I’ve finally read a Terri Winding collection and I’m looking forward to reading more.
This is an anthology edited by Terri Winding, the theme of which is child abuse. Most of the stories are fairy tale retellings.
CW for all kinds of child abuse.
What I Thought
There are too many stories to do them all justice with a review, so I thought I’d give my overall impressions of the collection and mention my favorites. The most interesting thing about this book besides its overall focus on abuse is how tonally varied it is, with stories that range from comical to incredibly brutal. There are a few fairy tale retellings that are extremely silly in particular, and I do kind of question what these stories are doing in this collection, particularly the story about the Little Mermaid’s younger sister and the modernized Cinderella retelling. They didn’t really have anything to say about child abuse in comparison to the rest of the collection, and they mostly just gave me emotional whiplash. There are a few other outlier stories, either being entirely non-fantastical and about abuse or being fantastical and not about abuse. The end result feels a bit disjointed and messy.
As with any collection, there were some strong stories and some weak ones; right now, I’ll just mention my favorites of the collection:
The Session by Steven Gould - Snow White has a therapy session with the Mirror. I like that this one gives a famous, classic princess the interiority/internal conflict that often seems absent in such princesses in fairy tales, and it shows that she is still struggling with her experiences after “happily ever after.” It’s an interesting addition that she made up the evil stepmother because she couldn’t deal with the fact that her abuser was her true mother. I’m generally just a sucker for the “fictional character goes to therapy to deal with the kinds of things we take for granted as totally normal in fiction” trope so this was a good fit for me.
The Lily and the Weaver’s Heart by Nancy Etchemendy - a girl struggles with self-hated because she only has one eye and goes on a journey where she realizes her innate worth. This one is told in lovely language and features a very sweet romance. The overarching message about self-acceptance and disability could have been written very patronizingly in a lesser story, but this one worked, at least for me.
The Lion and the Lark by Patricia Mckillip - this is one of the outliers that doesn’t really have anything to do with child abuse, but it’s Patricia McKillip so I loved it anyways. It features her trademark beautiful language and charming magical details, and Lark is a brave and original heroine. There’s also a great touch of humor with the overeager princess who rescues Lark’s husband at the end of the story.
The Dream Catcher by Will Shetterly - a girl writes a letter to her school bully about her experience of abuse. This one is very short but I really liked how the writing mimicked a kid’s writing and the framing device really worked for me, especially when it was revealed at the end that she wrote the letter out of empathy for the bully’s own experiences of abuse and with the goal of the letter protecting him like her grandmother now protects her.
I’d say it’s definitely a collection worth checking out if you’re interested in the overall theme because the good stories are really good and the less-good ones aren’t terrible at all. I’m glad I’ve finally read a Terri Winding collection and I’m looking forward to reading more.
jpear1977's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked this book- It made me think of all the stories I read when I was little and how I really htought everything had a happy ending. Well, thats just not life is it. I liked how these ancient fairy tales really spun a new life into some of the new concerns I have about society. Its a good read.
suzannekm's review against another edition
Sometimes you have to read someone else's story in order to face your own. This book was that for me.
abetterjulie's review against another edition
5.0
The stories were hit or miss for me, and two of them I skipped. I still give this book five stars. It is a collection of validation and hope. The afterword by Terri Windling fills a need with clarity and honesty. The Dirty Little Girl by Joanna Russ brought me to tears while I was reading in public. You might not want to read this book where you can't cry in peace.
abetterjulie's review
5.0
The stories were hit or miss for me, and two of them I skipped. I still give this book five stars. It is a collection of validation and hope. The afterword by Terri Windling fills a need with clarity and honesty. The Dirty Little Girl by Joanna Russ brought me to tears while I was reading in public. You might not want to read this book where you can't cry in peace.
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