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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
fast-paced
I loved the setting and the idea behind this, I just wished it was longer.
Bones do not lie.
Wow. Perfect, enthralling, it will leave you wondering, breathless, and gasping for more.
Go read it: https://www.tor.com/2017/07/26/these-deathless-bones/
Thank you to The Ladies of the Fright Podcast for tipping me off.
Wow. Perfect, enthralling, it will leave you wondering, breathless, and gasping for more.
Go read it: https://www.tor.com/2017/07/26/these-deathless-bones/
Thank you to The Ladies of the Fright Podcast for tipping me off.
dark
fast-paced
“You’re uglier than my real mommy.”
“And you’re a piece of shit.”
A splendidly macabre fairytale about a Witch Queen and an absolute monster of a stepson prince who makes the terrible folly of pushing her envelopes with.
I can't think of anything truly critical to say about this since I think it fulfils most of what's needed in every dark tale, but I have to admit I thought this felt oddly unfinished. At the end we are told that our main character the Witch Queen. Now I can see and appreciate where that decision comes from; and I'm obviously really greedy, but I just felt unsatisfied. That magnificent build-up just lead to her signing off?? Oh come on!
Otherwise, this was great. This makes me wanna pick up The Bloody Chamber or Tales from the Hinterland again and just eat my fill.
“And you’re a piece of shit.”
A splendidly macabre fairytale about a Witch Queen and an absolute monster of a stepson prince who makes the terrible folly of pushing her envelopes with
Spoiler
sadistic murders of animals that just keep escalating in their brutality. Especially the last oneI can't think of anything truly critical to say about this since I think it fulfils most of what's needed in every dark tale, but I have to admit I thought this felt oddly unfinished. At the end we are told that our main character the Witch Queen
Spoiler
was caught, but yet also we are unsure of her fateOtherwise, this was great. This makes me wanna pick up The Bloody Chamber or Tales from the Hinterland again and just eat my fill.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
These Deathless Bones is the story of the second wife to the king, unable to have her own children and saddled with the young Prince. She also happens to be a witch. This is a fairytale of the old times, one that hasn't been given the wholesome Disney treatment. Dark and brutally beautiful, one with both heart and hatred, and an unexpected villain. In this, the witch Queen having dinner with the stepson Prince. The first person storytelling worked remarkably well, with small personal thoughts woven through as though a scene snatched from a larger novel.
There were many things I wasn’t supposed to do, or be. I wasn’t supposed to be someone’s second chance, someone’s happily ever alternate. I wasn’t supposed to be the malevolent stepmother—heartless, soulless, devoid of the natural compassion expected of childbearing women, the instinct to drop everything and coddle needy, whiny little whelps like him.
The narrator's singular hatred of the Prince seethes out. You feel it in every syllable. Surely it's all the witch's fault. After all, the Prince is just a child. Until he's not.
That last word—prince—shivers through the air, catching in the shadows, like hair snarled in briar. A chittering answers, churning up from the corners, fingernails tap-dancing on the glass. It grows, the noise. It grows and it grows and it grows until the windows blacken and shake.
Maybe it's my love for dark fairytales that propelled this short story into one of this year's most memorable reads. Maybe it's the twist of the "evil" stepmother perhaps having good reason to be the way she is. Maybe it's the gorgeous prose and emotional hit that the narrator doles out with each spoken word. Either way, this story stayed with me long after I finished. While I've looked at Khaw's other works before, the apparent Lovecraftian themes on the covers always deterred me. If there is anything I've learned this year though, it's the maybe, just maybe, I don't mind some of those themes.
TW: There is descriptive past animal abuse but...
You can read it free on Tor here.
There were many things I wasn’t supposed to do, or be. I wasn’t supposed to be someone’s second chance, someone’s happily ever alternate. I wasn’t supposed to be the malevolent stepmother—heartless, soulless, devoid of the natural compassion expected of childbearing women, the instinct to drop everything and coddle needy, whiny little whelps like him.
The narrator's singular hatred of the Prince seethes out. You feel it in every syllable. Surely it's all the witch's fault. After all, the Prince is just a child. Until he's not.
That last word—prince—shivers through the air, catching in the shadows, like hair snarled in briar. A chittering answers, churning up from the corners, fingernails tap-dancing on the glass. It grows, the noise. It grows and it grows and it grows until the windows blacken and shake.
Maybe it's my love for dark fairytales that propelled this short story into one of this year's most memorable reads. Maybe it's the twist of the "evil" stepmother perhaps having good reason to be the way she is. Maybe it's the gorgeous prose and emotional hit that the narrator doles out with each spoken word. Either way, this story stayed with me long after I finished. While I've looked at Khaw's other works before, the apparent Lovecraftian themes on the covers always deterred me. If there is anything I've learned this year though, it's the maybe, just maybe, I don't mind some of those themes.
TW: There is descriptive past animal abuse but...
Spoiler
a VERY satisfying and horrifying end for the abuser! Some things are worse than death.You can read it free on Tor here.
dark
fast-paced
Actual rating: 3.75
It's pretty neat short story told by a sharp-mouthed wildling. The author uses words very nicely, almost paints with them. Poetic and unnerving bit of a gorror tale.
It's pretty neat short story told by a sharp-mouthed wildling. The author uses words very nicely, almost paints with them. Poetic and unnerving bit of a gorror tale.