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hannahmae91's review
4.0
I don't understand the issue that so many people have with this book. Yes it tends to border nightmare land with its editing and sure some of the stories are a bit dull but there aren't many compilation books that DON'T have these faults. Maybe it's my enjoyment of good Greek/Roman tales and other such legends that are often hard to find (at least for me). It gets a solid 3.5 stars from me.
karak's review
An anthology of short stories. Some are better than others. I gave up on the book however at about the halfway point.
jenbooks's review
3.0
This book was quite entertaining, and most of the stories were strong. These short stories were a great twist to the old myths - ranging from funny, to mildy chilling, to downright silly. Definitely a great light read!
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
3.0
Is this the best collection of fairy tale retellings? No. The book is about half good and half bad.
Stand out stories include:
"Shall We Dance" by C. S. Friedman. This is story has a very good line about dung. Honest.
"Bitter Fruit" by Rosemary Edgehill. The type of spooky story you have to read twice.
"Band of Sisters" by Allan Rousselle. A nice story about sirens, including the fact that one of them is called Big Lou.
"Dust" by Michael Hiebert. The tooth fairy's revenge. She ain't Dwayne the Rock Johnson either.
"Greek to Me" by Laura Resnick. Predictable but good point of view.
"Mother of Monsters" by Greg Beatty. The mother of monsters goes to Hades. She isn't on the list.
The rest of the collection is a mix of predictable and bad.
Stand out stories include:
"Shall We Dance" by C. S. Friedman. This is story has a very good line about dung. Honest.
"Bitter Fruit" by Rosemary Edgehill. The type of spooky story you have to read twice.
"Band of Sisters" by Allan Rousselle. A nice story about sirens, including the fact that one of them is called Big Lou.
"Dust" by Michael Hiebert. The tooth fairy's revenge. She ain't Dwayne the Rock Johnson either.
"Greek to Me" by Laura Resnick. Predictable but good point of view.
"Mother of Monsters" by Greg Beatty. The mother of monsters goes to Hades. She isn't on the list.
The rest of the collection is a mix of predictable and bad.
wealhtheow's review
1.0
Out of 20 short stories, only three didn't induce nausea or boredom. Rosemary Edghill's "Bitter Fruit: A Tale of Crownland" was a grown up and viscerally disturbing story about a woman who seeks justice. Scott William Carpenter's "Heart of Stone," in which a calculating Medusa experiments with what permutation of love will set her free of her killing curse. And Michael Hiebert's "Dust" is a slightly trippy look at a tooth-fairy accidentally bound to the will of a vapid human child. The rest are banal, trite and dull re-tellings of all the usual tales. Cinderella's "evil" stepmother tells her tale. A Valkerie falls in love with a mortal soldier and begs Odin to let her live a "real life," which apparently means a wedding and babies. Morgan le Fey's oh so selfless desire to save Britain. On and on and on, one uninspired plodding story after another. These are the worst kind of pseudo-feminist revisionist fantasy.
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