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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
I enjoyed The Daughter Cells, The Six Boy Coffins, and The Rabbit. I did not enjoy The Thankless Child, Fear Not, The Wedding Party, Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Mr. Toad, The Frog's Princess, Good Fences Make Good Neighbor. Mixed feelings about The Merry Spinster, Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This was a disappointment. Like many of the other reviewers, I loved the Velveteen Rabbit story. However, none of the other stories really stuck with me. Many of them didn't really feel like stories - they didn't have much of a plot and were nonsensical.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Gaslighting
Moderate: Murder
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had a hard time getting into the prose/writing style of this. Having read it alongside Angela Carter's [b:The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories|49011|The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories|Angela Carter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388633104l/49011._SY75_.jpg|47950], I had trouble picking this one up again every time I put it down. I'd say the first half of the collection was fun. Compared to the poetic style from Angela Carter and how her vibe and lengthy character development complimented the odd and fairytale-like endings, these retellings landed a little flat for me.
I enjoyed the eerie oddness of them, but I had a hard time enjoying them all the way through. My favorites were definitely the Six Boy Coffins and the Rabbit, with the Daughter Cells fun in the beginning. I found the first half of Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters absolutely hilarious for the narrator's sass, but then the tone shifted from that funny spite to a cruel stonewall and just didn't flow for me.
The stories I did enjoy, I would definitely re-read because I loved the mood and characters and their actions really resonated with the tone of the story. But for the other half, I just wasn't feeling it.
I enjoyed the eerie oddness of them, but I had a hard time enjoying them all the way through. My favorites were definitely the Six Boy Coffins and the Rabbit, with the Daughter Cells fun in the beginning. I found the first half of Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters absolutely hilarious for the narrator's sass, but then the tone shifted from that funny spite to a cruel stonewall and just didn't flow for me.
The stories I did enjoy, I would definitely re-read because I loved the mood and characters and their actions really resonated with the tone of the story. But for the other half, I just wasn't feeling it.
wonderfully weird. i loved how the stories were based on fairy tales - the list in the back was really helpful for finding the themes in each one. i didn't recognize all the stories, so it made me want to read stories/do research - if i was still in undergrad, i'd love to write a paper about this! this is also a pretty funny book, which i wasn't expecting. the way the book plays with gender and explores relationship dynamics/abuse was really interesting. i definitely want to spend time rereading this.
I'm sad to say I was very disappointed by this. Fairytale retellings are difficult, because they've just been done so many times before (Atwood, Carter, Donoghue, Gaiman...); still, I sort of hoped that if anyone could pull them off, it would be Ortberg, whose humorous writings and sharp takes on literature have always amused me a great deal. He does get in some very funny lines here and there in this collection, but overall, the ideas just didn't seem that creative or new. The writing felt rather self-conscious. And frankly...it was just an unpleasant, grimdark sort of read -- without being clever in a way that a) I was expecting and b) would, for me, make up for that.
Like, there are at least three lengthy stories all about gaslighting -- none of which really said anything about gaslighting; they merely depicted it. It's 2018: I get enough of that "everyday horror" already, thanks.
Like, there are at least three lengthy stories all about gaslighting -- none of which really said anything about gaslighting; they merely depicted it. It's 2018: I get enough of that "everyday horror" already, thanks.
What a delightfully weird batch of fairy tales. Ortberg takes the familiar Grimm/Hans Christian Anderson tales we know and points out the somewhat sinister, creeping shadows lurking within. Sentences are lyrically crafted, and in the AM I shall edit the review for each short story, hopefully (granted, most times when I say "I will edit this later" I uh, usually don't. But we'll see. edit: I did it!) Right off the bat, though, the story that made the biggest impression on me is still probably the first, "The Daughter Cells" and probably the inspiration for the cover art, a horrifying but true-to-the-tale take on The Little Mermaid (despite what Disney would have you believe, she ends in seafoam. Ortberg's version puts the power in the mermaid's hands.)
The Daughter Cells
What an opener! I knew that Ortberg was going to play some with gender and roles, but honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't read a take on mermaids that's like "Hey, the ocean is full of weird things why do we assume they're like us" (though I'm sure they exist). Again, I really love the ending and how self-satisfied the youngest daughter is with her voices.
The Thankless Child
Cinderella for seemingly a dystopian feudal society, with definite religious influences. I appreciated the pastor's son asking if he should take on the husband or the wife role.
Fear Not: An Incident Log
The least "fairytale" in tone, almost felt more like a sci-fi approach to angels.
The Six Boy-Coffins
There's so many Grimm tales that also involve transmogrification into birds... so why not combine two? I was familiar with neither, but it makes sense to mash them up, and give the siblings happy endings.
The Rabbit
Truly, what does it mean to be Real, and what are you willing to do for it? I am curious about exactly how the Rabbit seemingly sucked the life out of his boy, but it's very fantastic to let that remain a mystery.
The Merry Spinster
The titular tale, Beauty and the Beast but somehow in modern-ish times, based on the mother being an executive, and references to flashy cars and things that her two younger children wanted? It was okay, but I find myself wondering why this was chosen for the title and the Daughter Cells as the cover art.
The Wedding Party
I'm not familiar with the sources (and couldn't pinpoint where the Earl of Mar's Daughter came in, unless I missed a bird reference... I did skim this, a little). Poor David.
Some of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Mr. Toad
I haven't read Some of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Colby before, but oooh. I remember reading The Wind in The Willows back in sixth grade thinking, "Huh, this is pretty grim, sending the protagonist to Hell". What if that was a recurring thing?
Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters
Selkie tale plus Christianity! Also, a shitty grandma~!
The Frog's Princess
This was brief, and felt like it ended abruptly (re: the Frog Princess, it ends with the frog nestled in bed from the first night, though it implies this is now how his life will be). Some pronoun bending.
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
It's been a while since I've read Frog and Toad are friends (though the influence here is the argumentative housemates). I'm surprised that neither died (I think).
The Daughter Cells
What an opener! I knew that Ortberg was going to play some with gender and roles, but honestly, I'm surprised I hadn't read a take on mermaids that's like "Hey, the ocean is full of weird things why do we assume they're like us" (though I'm sure they exist). Again, I really love the ending and how self-satisfied the youngest daughter is with her voices.
The Thankless Child
Cinderella for seemingly a dystopian feudal society, with definite religious influences. I appreciated the pastor's son asking if he should take on the husband or the wife role.
Fear Not: An Incident Log
The least "fairytale" in tone, almost felt more like a sci-fi approach to angels.
The Six Boy-Coffins
There's so many Grimm tales that also involve transmogrification into birds... so why not combine two? I was familiar with neither, but it makes sense to mash them up, and give the siblings happy endings.
The Rabbit
Truly, what does it mean to be Real, and what are you willing to do for it? I am curious about exactly how the Rabbit seemingly sucked the life out of his boy, but it's very fantastic to let that remain a mystery.
The Merry Spinster
The titular tale, Beauty and the Beast but somehow in modern-ish times, based on the mother being an executive, and references to flashy cars and things that her two younger children wanted? It was okay, but I find myself wondering why this was chosen for the title and the Daughter Cells as the cover art.
The Wedding Party
I'm not familiar with the sources (and couldn't pinpoint where the Earl of Mar's Daughter came in, unless I missed a bird reference... I did skim this, a little). Poor David.
Some of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Mr. Toad
I haven't read Some of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Colby before, but oooh. I remember reading The Wind in The Willows back in sixth grade thinking, "Huh, this is pretty grim, sending the protagonist to Hell". What if that was a recurring thing?
Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters
Selkie tale plus Christianity! Also, a shitty grandma~!
The Frog's Princess
This was brief, and felt like it ended abruptly (re: the Frog Princess, it ends with the frog nestled in bed from the first night, though it implies this is now how his life will be). Some pronoun bending.
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
It's been a while since I've read Frog and Toad are friends (though the influence here is the argumentative housemates). I'm surprised that neither died (I think).
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated