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jflorencemartin's review against another edition
5.0
What beautiful, lurid darkness Kulski has spun in this book! Fairest Flesh takes on the retelling if Erszébet Bathory's famed killing spree with evocative, poetic style, framing even the goriest of moments with beauty. Weaving these together along with a healthy dollop of fairy tale creates a beautiful examination of what women are driven to do to themselves and each other in pursuit of fairest flesh.
emilianadelauro's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
montemaq's review
3.0
This was an interesting take on Lady Bathory/Snow White, but it really jumped around quite a bit to the point of being confusing. I think the author just really tries to cram too much in at once. There were some really graphic and horrifying parts (in a good way). Would try her next book for sure. Not a bad debut.
spestock's review
4.0
I received this book in my Night Worms subscription box, and started reading having no knowledge other than the blurb on the back cover. Glad I went into it blind, because I wasn't expecting a lot of the twists and turns, which made them all the more effective.
One thing in particular that I found very effective: we know what Elizabeth/Erszebet Bathory did, but it still ended up a punch in the gut when I got to the part of the book where she was actually doing it.
I did feel that the ending was a little rushed; another 50 pages or so would have let that climax breathe just a bit more.
One thing in particular that I found very effective: we know what Elizabeth/Erszebet Bathory did, but it still ended up a punch in the gut when I got to the part of the book where she was actually doing it.
I did feel that the ending was a little rushed; another 50 pages or so would have let that climax breathe just a bit more.
a_chickletz's review against another edition
4.0
One of my Night Worms books! I was super excited to read this one because, well, a fairy-tale take on the Blood Queen? Eeek.
This book has a Greek tragedy-esque tone to it. The stories and fates of the characters intertwine and connect. At first I was a little shocked that Elizabeth Bathory was so kind, and then she started changing or diving into her obsessions that I was like, 'okay, maybe not!'
My favorite character to read about in the story was Dory. She was pitiful and mad, but so excellently written.
I recommend this for people wanting to get a historical, gothic, fictional tale.
This book has a Greek tragedy-esque tone to it. The stories and fates of the characters intertwine and connect. At first I was a little shocked that Elizabeth Bathory was so kind, and then she started changing or diving into her obsessions that I was like, 'okay, maybe not!'
My favorite character to read about in the story was Dory. She was pitiful and mad, but so excellently written.
I recommend this for people wanting to get a historical, gothic, fictional tale.
lanternsjourney's review against another edition
5.0
I've been on a dark faerie tale kick and Fairest Flesh ticks all the boxes. It has: an old creepy castle, incest, adultery, murders galore, a hideous witch, corpse poppies and other dark forest flora, poison apples, and plenty of mystery and surprises up to the literal last page. It's a retellling of Snow White set in the 16th century loosely based on Erszebet (Elizabeth) Bathory who is known to have murdered (by some accounts) 600 girls. If this combination of things sounds good to you then BUY THIS BOOK NOW.
j_reads_nightmares's review
The narratives were repetitive to the point of being boring. I ended up not caring what happened to anyone.
biancarosesmith's review
5.0
“An apple. A perfect beauty of a fruit, something like what Eve must have plucked from Eden. The witch shoved it forward, offering the apple. It rested in the witch’s knobby hand, a perfect sphere of crimson so dark and ripened that it appeared almost black.”
This story is horrific and dark yet enchanting. Kulski’s prose is poetic and she has such a beautiful way with words and storytelling.
This is a historical reimagining of the life of the Countess Erszébet Báthory and her heinous crimes, woven in with a dark version of the fairytale Snow White. This book is not a Disney fairytale though so prepare it to be dark, gruesome and disturbing.
While reading this it is clear to see the high amount of research Kulski carried out in her preparation for writing it. As an avid reader of historical fiction I deeply appreciated this.
The way Kulski weaves the lives of two women together is intricate and mesmerizing. For a small book, there are many intricacies and Kulksi’s command of language is truly impressive. It is also obvious she writes poetry, as her prose has such a poetic quality about it.
This story is horrific and dark yet enchanting. Kulski’s prose is poetic and she has such a beautiful way with words and storytelling.
This is a historical reimagining of the life of the Countess Erszébet Báthory and her heinous crimes, woven in with a dark version of the fairytale Snow White. This book is not a Disney fairytale though so prepare it to be dark, gruesome and disturbing.
While reading this it is clear to see the high amount of research Kulski carried out in her preparation for writing it. As an avid reader of historical fiction I deeply appreciated this.
The way Kulski weaves the lives of two women together is intricate and mesmerizing. For a small book, there are many intricacies and Kulksi’s command of language is truly impressive. It is also obvious she writes poetry, as her prose has such a poetic quality about it.
monty_reads's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars.
This book meant well.
At the very least, it certainly had a lot on its mind. An uneasy, not-at-all successful blend of historical fiction, slasher novel, and fairy tale, Fairest Flesh sort of exists as a weird inverse of Garth Risk Hallberg’s mammoth City on Fire. Where Hallberg’s book really needed to be cut in half to streamline its narrative, K.P. Kulski instead tries to cram so much into Fairest Flesh’s 200 pages that she asks the reader to take a series of unsupported leaps in logic that ultimately don’t pan out. With 100 extra pages, the story’s fabric could have been stronger and more satisfying.
But I can admire Kulski’s intent.
She takes the admittedly compelling real-life story of Hungary’s Erszébet Báthory, the 16th Century noble who’s widely considered to be the most prolific serial killer in history, and spins it into a fictional narrative. With (supposedly) 650 victims to her name between the years 1590 and 1610, Báthory is certainly a figure ripe for a horror novel. Add in the oogy legends that she supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins to stay young or had vampiric tendencies, and it’s sort of surprising Báthory hasn’t shown up in horror fiction before now.
But here’s what else Kulski tries to tackle in, again, just over 200 pages:
Witchcraft
Incest
Epilepsy
Hungary’s war with the Ottoman Empire
The “Snow White” story
Social ostracism
Ancestral rivalries
Orphan children who may or may not be royalty
And that’s just off the top of my head.
Báthory’s eventual trial is used as a sort of half-hearted framing device that pops in and out of the book but doesn’t actually add up to much, and by the end, the entire story just ends up toppling under the weight of everything Kulski tries to do.
But it really didn’t have to be this way. There’s absolutely room for everything in my earlier list in a book long enough for Kulski to do justice to it. She even admits in an Author’s Note at the end that she could only do so much research “before losing both the story and [her] sanity.”
That may be true. But in a clear case of breadth over depth, she also didn’t include enough of all the other stuff to leave readers with a story that resonates.
This book meant well.
At the very least, it certainly had a lot on its mind. An uneasy, not-at-all successful blend of historical fiction, slasher novel, and fairy tale, Fairest Flesh sort of exists as a weird inverse of Garth Risk Hallberg’s mammoth City on Fire. Where Hallberg’s book really needed to be cut in half to streamline its narrative, K.P. Kulski instead tries to cram so much into Fairest Flesh’s 200 pages that she asks the reader to take a series of unsupported leaps in logic that ultimately don’t pan out. With 100 extra pages, the story’s fabric could have been stronger and more satisfying.
But I can admire Kulski’s intent.
She takes the admittedly compelling real-life story of Hungary’s Erszébet Báthory, the 16th Century noble who’s widely considered to be the most prolific serial killer in history, and spins it into a fictional narrative. With (supposedly) 650 victims to her name between the years 1590 and 1610, Báthory is certainly a figure ripe for a horror novel. Add in the oogy legends that she supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins to stay young or had vampiric tendencies, and it’s sort of surprising Báthory hasn’t shown up in horror fiction before now.
But here’s what else Kulski tries to tackle in, again, just over 200 pages:
Witchcraft
Incest
Epilepsy
Hungary’s war with the Ottoman Empire
The “Snow White” story
Social ostracism
Ancestral rivalries
Orphan children who may or may not be royalty
And that’s just off the top of my head.
Báthory’s eventual trial is used as a sort of half-hearted framing device that pops in and out of the book but doesn’t actually add up to much, and by the end, the entire story just ends up toppling under the weight of everything Kulski tries to do.
But it really didn’t have to be this way. There’s absolutely room for everything in my earlier list in a book long enough for Kulski to do justice to it. She even admits in an Author’s Note at the end that she could only do so much research “before losing both the story and [her] sanity.”
That may be true. But in a clear case of breadth over depth, she also didn’t include enough of all the other stuff to leave readers with a story that resonates.