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jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. Meh. The only stories that I enjoyed were The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes and The Little Match Girl. Everything else did nothing for me except bore me. The illustrations are beautiful though.
thefox22's review against another edition
4.0
So that's how The Little Mermaid ends? HUH.
LOL @ The Princess and the Pea. I never knew anything about that story before this, and omg! so ridiculous!
The Emperor's New Clothes: Nothing like YOLOing it when you've been fooled and you gotta keep your head held high. omg
It has been SO long since I watched the movie that I don't even know how different/similar it is to the story of Thumbelina but I'm glad to see where it came from!
omg The Steadfast Tin Solider is a sad, terrible fairytale. FIGURES.
Aw, The Little Match Girl was really bittersweet. So short, but sharp and compelling!
The Snow Queen was not at all what I was expecting, and I didn't really care for it THAT much? *sigh*
But omg I'm so happy I read this! I think I have some more fairytales of his that I need to read from another book, but these were definitely his most popular, I'd say. And oh man, I ADORE these MinaLima editions. The designs are gorgeous, and the interactive elements are super fun. I want ALL OF THEM.
LOL @ The Princess and the Pea. I never knew anything about that story before this, and omg! so ridiculous!
The Emperor's New Clothes: Nothing like YOLOing it when you've been fooled and you gotta keep your head held high. omg
It has been SO long since I watched the movie that I don't even know how different/similar it is to the story of Thumbelina but I'm glad to see where it came from!
omg The Steadfast Tin Solider is a sad, terrible fairytale. FIGURES.
Aw, The Little Match Girl was really bittersweet. So short, but sharp and compelling!
The Snow Queen was not at all what I was expecting, and I didn't really care for it THAT much? *sigh*
But omg I'm so happy I read this! I think I have some more fairytales of his that I need to read from another book, but these were definitely his most popular, I'd say. And oh man, I ADORE these MinaLima editions. The designs are gorgeous, and the interactive elements are super fun. I want ALL OF THEM.
caffeinatedbibliophile's review against another edition
2.0
This was my first reading of this fairy tale, and I don't know what to say about it. I mean, I knew it was very different from, say, the Disney movie, and I knew it was kind of awful, but damn. I don't know what to think about it because I kind of hated the mermaid and the prince, and just kept scoffing at the pages while I read. And that ending, ugh. What was that? Was it happy? Was it terrible? Both? I haven't read many Andersen fairy tales, and I'm thinking that they're not really my thing. I'm more a fan of the Grimm brothers, I think.
brookenomicon's review against another edition
3.0
I am conflicted about this collection as a whole. There were stories I had read before in other books, usually simplified for much younger readers. I enjoyed reading the original translations, but on the whole... these are not great stories. I've read a lot of fairy tales over the years, and these were by far the worst collection I've had the displeasure of trudging through. The stories were neither fun nor clever, and I ended up bored more than not.
There was a lot more Christianity involved in the stories than I was expecting (literal angels appear in one story, the spirit of a dead priest in another, and several stories are solved by faith and/or literal divine intervention), and Anderson had a weird fascination with Egyptians and the Chinese that somehow needles its way into several stories. Many of the stories dragged on too long and were extremely boring. Others left me thinking "what the fuck did I just read". Most of the "lessons" boiled down to "be a good, quiet, obedient Christian, and everything will be fine."
I'm giving it three stars because some of the stories were enjoyable from an academic/analysis standpoint (comparing the originals to the adaptations), but all in all, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a pleasure read.
There was a lot more Christianity involved in the stories than I was expecting (literal angels appear in one story, the spirit of a dead priest in another, and several stories are solved by faith and/or literal divine intervention), and Anderson had a weird fascination with Egyptians and the Chinese that somehow needles its way into several stories. Many of the stories dragged on too long and were extremely boring. Others left me thinking "what the fuck did I just read". Most of the "lessons" boiled down to "be a good, quiet, obedient Christian, and everything will be fine."
I'm giving it three stars because some of the stories were enjoyable from an academic/analysis standpoint (comparing the originals to the adaptations), but all in all, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as a pleasure read.
ravenlosers's review against another edition
I'm heartbroken, but I really like this kind of stories.
mistysbookspace's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good little story but I prefer the movie over the book on this one. I hated how it ended.
macklin's review against another edition
4.0
One of few fairytales I knew before Disney told me what the rest of the world took as the story. I was really young and greatly disturbed when the girl threw herself into the ocean. I had not known what suicide was then. Now. I find it very sad, but there is a certain beauty in the operatic tragic way, which I guess one can only see with time. The drawings of this edition is gorgeous, dark yet vibrant with wonderful details in clothes and setting.