Reviews

The Tangleroot Palace is a beautiful and imaginative collection of short stories that truly exceeded my expectations. Although each story was short, they were lush and expansive, with exquisitely detailed worldbuilding that gave me just enough to want more. Each story was unique, with a darkly magical writing style that was very reminiscent of fairytales. I particularly enjoyed her overarching feminist themes, as well as her stellar Lgbtq and POC rep. I enjoyed The Light and the Fury the most, which is a fascinating reimagining of history with excellent fantasy elements. The only reason I bumped this book a star is because the writing style was difficult to get into, and one of the stories fell flat for me.

evilgrin17'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? No

4.0

astrohannah's review

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fast-paced

4.0

quackthump's review

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adventurous dark 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

4.5

nerdywerewolf's review against another edition

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5.0

"You can't stop a plant that wants to grow. You'll only crush it if you try."

Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with short story collections? Like, I always think to myself, "They're short! I'll breeze through it!" Then, I start them and if they're good...well, I forget about wanting to let each story sink in. Basically, it always takes longer than I expect and I do it to myself. Anyway...to the stories!

Sympathy for the Bones -Similar premise to "Malice" as far as dark magic goes...I loved the language-the dialect. Some of it was difficult to understand, but you could still follow the emotions. Awesome/gruesome magic system. Well-ended. ☆☆☆☆

The Briar and the Rose -A sapphic twist on Sleeping Beauty that was SO original (and I've read at least two other sapphic retellings...). I loved how the sleeping curse was applied and how intertwined all of the characters were. Beautiful. ☆☆☆☆☆

Call Her Savage -An alternate-history in which California was settled earlier than the east coast in America. Dirigibles and war and rumors and legend. Probably my least favorite story...still pretty compelling and easy to follow. ☆☆☆

The Last Dignity of Man -A complex look into the psyche of someone who wants to be a villain, but actually has a heart. With sci-fi government experiments as the backdrop, I was actually fascinated by this premise! ☆☆☆☆☆

Where the Heart Lives -All I could think while reading this one was "Oh my gosh, I wish could read more of this world!!" Found family, the start of something good...At the end, I found out it was a prequel story to her urban fantasy series...and I'm so excited to dive into it!! ☆☆☆☆☆

After the Blood -Post apocalyptic, never really got introduced to the world, just kind of stumbling through it, surviving. Zombies...vampires? Magic? Creepy. Felt like the beginning of something more...very dire. ☆☆☆

Tangleroot Palace -I'm so glad this one was last. I figured the "twist" out, but it was still an absolute joy to read. All about lineage, found family, responsibility, self-fulfillment. I mean, I closed the book with a smile. What a lovely little fairy tale. ☆☆☆☆☆

ridgepondfarm's review against another edition

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4.0

Worth reading for the fantastic titular story alone, but the other stories are good as well-some more engaging than others, some far creepier than others. But the last story…perfection.

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