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kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Twelve short stories with half of them occurring within the Wicked Lovely paranormal romance series.
Series:
“Old Habits” (Wicked Lovely, 2.6, right after the Prologue in Ink Exchange)
“Stopping Time” (Wicked Lovely, 2.5)
“The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King” (Wicked Lovely, 0.0005; this short story takes place before Keenan or his dad and started this series)
“Cotton Candy Skies” (Wicked Lovely, xx.5, far in the future??)
“Unexpected Family” (Wicked Lovely, 5.5, a few weeks after the war)
“Merely Mortal” (Wicked Lovely, 5.7, human Keenan’s “honeymoon” with Donia)
The Stories
“Where Nightmares Walk” is more of a thought Marr wrote down about a person who cannot escape and is betrayed by one thought to be a protector.
“Winter’s Kiss” has a faery tale quality to it with a princess who has been cursed and flees her people to find freedom and acceptance. Very sweet.
“Love Struck” is a tragic selkie tale with one brother undermining the other. You’ll cry, you’ll sigh, you’ll breathe in relief. Even if it was rather funny how desperately Alana worked to reject both of them. Poor Murrin, he’s trying so hard to respect her, to reach out. And she doesn’t respect him enough to talk to him.
“Old Habits” is about Irial passing the kingship onto Niall as he acknowledges how knowing Leslie has changed him too much. For Niall, it’s a look into his thoughts about the past and about now, about his friendship with Seth, and what he does to protect Seth from the Summer Court. It’s the interactions between Niall and Irial as they explore old angers and deal with the shifting of leadership. It seems to be the start of Seth’s championing the solitary fae and humans caught up in the fae Courts. We see behind the scenes with Irial meeting with Sorcha; Sorcha’s thoughts about the other Courts and some of their histories; a taste of the motives behind binding Keenan; a warning about Devlin’s coming visit to the Dark Court; Niall is changing the rules of Court to be kinder, gentler; a look at Sorcha’s relationship with Devlin, his own character; the steeds of the Hounds; and, Sorcha’s interest in Seth.
There’s a bit that discusses what the Dark Court is, and it’s not necessarily evil, but “one of passions, of shadows, of impulses”. And in so many ways, I think the Dark Court is more compassionate that the others.
“Stopping Time” is a repeat of a short story I read and reviewed earlier.
“The Art of Waiting” is an intriguing little story about patience in a lovely valley that gets socked in for the winter. The classic tale of the rebellious teen tempted by a wider world.
“Flesh For Comfort” is a fat person’s dream come true, lol. A symbiotic relationship of sorts between yellow-skinned creatures and a young woman who wants to trade her flesh for more comfort. It would certainly be easier than dieting.
“The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King” provides a slice of history between Donnchadh, the Summer King, and Aisling, the Sleeping Girl who rests through the winter and has a choice of becoming a Summer Girl or to replace Cailleach, who is Winter.
This one is confusing. It seems that the Sleeping Girl is the Summer Queen of “today’s” stories except that she goes to sleep for the winter before the Summer King whispers her awake to bring the flowers back to life.
“Cotton Candy Skies” is about Rabbit and takes place further up the series than I’ve read---and since Marr doesn’t give a hint as she has with the first two shorts in the Wicked Lovely series, I don’t think the events have occurred yet. For Tish is two-months dead and Ani is the Shadow Queen and I think Devlin is the Shadow King, Irial was stabbed, only Seth can move between Faerie and the mortal world, and Gabriel has disappeared while Rabbit has a studio in Faerie where he can paint all day. One which Olivia will move into with him, bringing him starlight, peace, comfort.
“Unexpected Family” is another Wicked Lovely in the future in which Seth mentions his much improved relationship with Aislinn, although he still is not her subject. It’s been a week since Aislinn became the sole monarch of the Summer Court, a couple weeks since they all worked together to defeat Bananach, and Niall had tried to kill Seth because he was his balance, the faery to keep Niall in line. It was a choice to help Niall in the war, and now Seth wants to repair their relationship. Ooh, Leslie has written to say she’ll spend weekends with Niall and Irial, who seem to have made up and become something of a couple. Seems Seth has picked up the ability to look at future threads.
It’s a letter that had piled up in his untouched mail that sends Seth off on an unexpected road trip with one of the Hound’s steeds with the Dark King, Niall, to rescue his parents — Master Gunnery Sergeant James Morgan and the flighty Linda. Seems the solitary fae engineered this fright to get Seth to come to them. Seth discovers he has some new gifts, which open the door to having to tell his parents that Seth is now fey. And, oh, lol, I love how this ends with his parents.
By the end, he has become a solitary faes’ king. And I want a Hound’s steed for my vehicle!
“Merely Mortal” is another repeat of a short story I read and reviewed earlier.
The Cover
The cover is a perfect photographic collage representing these short stories: a beautiful-seeming girl in a gown of tulle looking out a log cabin window at the trees, the floor of the cabin appearing to be snow-covered.
The title is apt for this collection of short stories and is indeed Faery Tales and Nightmares.
Series:
“Old Habits” (Wicked Lovely, 2.6, right after the Prologue in Ink Exchange)
“Stopping Time” (Wicked Lovely, 2.5)
“The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King” (Wicked Lovely, 0.0005; this short story takes place before Keenan or his dad and started this series)
“Cotton Candy Skies” (Wicked Lovely, xx.5, far in the future??)
“Unexpected Family” (Wicked Lovely, 5.5, a few weeks after the war)
“Merely Mortal” (Wicked Lovely, 5.7, human Keenan’s “honeymoon” with Donia)
The Stories
“Where Nightmares Walk” is more of a thought Marr wrote down about a person who cannot escape and is betrayed by one thought to be a protector.
“Winter’s Kiss” has a faery tale quality to it with a princess who has been cursed and flees her people to find freedom and acceptance. Very sweet.
“Love Struck” is a tragic selkie tale with one brother undermining the other. You’ll cry, you’ll sigh, you’ll breathe in relief. Even if it was rather funny how desperately Alana worked to reject both of them. Poor Murrin, he’s trying so hard to respect her, to reach out. And she doesn’t respect him enough to talk to him.
“Old Habits” is about Irial passing the kingship onto Niall as he acknowledges how knowing Leslie has changed him too much. For Niall, it’s a look into his thoughts about the past and about now, about his friendship with Seth, and what he does to protect Seth from the Summer Court. It’s the interactions between Niall and Irial as they explore old angers and deal with the shifting of leadership. It seems to be the start of Seth’s championing the solitary fae and humans caught up in the fae Courts. We see behind the scenes with Irial meeting with Sorcha; Sorcha’s thoughts about the other Courts and some of their histories; a taste of the motives behind binding Keenan; a warning about Devlin’s coming visit to the Dark Court; Niall is changing the rules of Court to be kinder, gentler; a look at Sorcha’s relationship with Devlin, his own character; the steeds of the Hounds; and, Sorcha’s interest in Seth.
There’s a bit that discusses what the Dark Court is, and it’s not necessarily evil, but “one of passions, of shadows, of impulses”. And in so many ways, I think the Dark Court is more compassionate that the others.
“Stopping Time” is a repeat of a short story I read and reviewed earlier.
“The Art of Waiting” is an intriguing little story about patience in a lovely valley that gets socked in for the winter. The classic tale of the rebellious teen tempted by a wider world.
“Flesh For Comfort” is a fat person’s dream come true, lol. A symbiotic relationship of sorts between yellow-skinned creatures and a young woman who wants to trade her flesh for more comfort. It would certainly be easier than dieting.
“The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King” provides a slice of history between Donnchadh, the Summer King, and Aisling, the Sleeping Girl who rests through the winter and has a choice of becoming a Summer Girl or to replace Cailleach, who is Winter.
This one is confusing. It seems that the Sleeping Girl is the Summer Queen of “today’s” stories except that she goes to sleep for the winter before the Summer King whispers her awake to bring the flowers back to life.
“Cotton Candy Skies” is about Rabbit and takes place further up the series than I’ve read---and since Marr doesn’t give a hint as she has with the first two shorts in the Wicked Lovely series, I don’t think the events have occurred yet. For Tish is two-months dead and Ani is the Shadow Queen and I think Devlin is the Shadow King, Irial was stabbed, only Seth can move between Faerie and the mortal world, and Gabriel has disappeared while Rabbit has a studio in Faerie where he can paint all day. One which Olivia will move into with him, bringing him starlight, peace, comfort.
“Unexpected Family” is another Wicked Lovely in the future in which Seth mentions his much improved relationship with Aislinn, although he still is not her subject. It’s been a week since Aislinn became the sole monarch of the Summer Court, a couple weeks since they all worked together to defeat Bananach, and Niall had tried to kill Seth because he was his balance, the faery to keep Niall in line. It was a choice to help Niall in the war, and now Seth wants to repair their relationship. Ooh, Leslie has written to say she’ll spend weekends with Niall and Irial, who seem to have made up and become something of a couple. Seems Seth has picked up the ability to look at future threads.
It’s a letter that had piled up in his untouched mail that sends Seth off on an unexpected road trip with one of the Hound’s steeds with the Dark King, Niall, to rescue his parents — Master Gunnery Sergeant James Morgan and the flighty Linda. Seems the solitary fae engineered this fright to get Seth to come to them. Seth discovers he has some new gifts, which open the door to having to tell his parents that Seth is now fey. And, oh, lol, I love how this ends with his parents.
By the end, he has become a solitary faes’ king. And I want a Hound’s steed for my vehicle!
“Merely Mortal” is another repeat of a short story I read and reviewed earlier.
The Cover
The cover is a perfect photographic collage representing these short stories: a beautiful-seeming girl in a gown of tulle looking out a log cabin window at the trees, the floor of the cabin appearing to be snow-covered.
The title is apt for this collection of short stories and is indeed Faery Tales and Nightmares.
mehsi's review against another edition
3.0
It was a nice book, I liked the stand-alone stories.
Most of the Wicked Lovely stories where confusing for me since I didn't read the Wicked Lovely books. So I mostly skipped those.
My favourite stand-alone story would be the first one, the winters kiss. It was really beautiful and heartwarming.
Most of the Wicked Lovely stories where confusing for me since I didn't read the Wicked Lovely books. So I mostly skipped those.
My favourite stand-alone story would be the first one, the winters kiss. It was really beautiful and heartwarming.
sturmykins's review against another edition
4.0
This was fun with some Wicked Lovely stories I'd read elsewhere, some new ones, and a few that were totally different. Definitely worth the read.
michalice's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series so when the chance came to get a copy of Faery Tales & Nightmares I jumped at the chance. Faery Tales & Nightmares is an anthology with stories from the Wicked Lovely series, and some new stories that we haven't seen before, and although there are twelve stories in the book it was a quick read. Some of the stories are only a few pages long, while others are slightly longer, or split into chapters of their own.
I really enjoyed getting to re-visit the Wicked Lovely world again and it made me realise how much I miss this world so at some point this year when I have tackled my TBR pile I plan to re-read the series. There were a few stories that stood out from all the rest.
Winter Kiss: This story is about a Princess who has the Kiss of Winter, and everytime she breaths, laughs and talks she freezes things. During the warmer months she is put into a tower away from everyone else so she can't accidentally freeze things. Bored and unhappy with this life she leaves the kingdom on search of somewhere where she can be with others. Along the journey she meets a bear, who helps her find food and keeps here warm. The bear takes her to a small village and transforms into a boy called Bjarn.
Stopping Time: This story is based in the Wicked Lovely world and follows Leslie after she has moved away from Huntsdale. Irial and Niall also have main roles in this story and we get to see how Leslie is coping after getting away from the faerie world, and how Irial and Niall are coping without her. Both are trying to keep their distance and let her live a normal life but it's not as easy as they think and soon this constant presence is a blessing in disguise.
Anyone who has read any of Melissa's books need to get a copy of this, and if like me you loved Wicked Lovely, it will make you want to re-read the series again.
I really enjoyed getting to re-visit the Wicked Lovely world again and it made me realise how much I miss this world so at some point this year when I have tackled my TBR pile I plan to re-read the series. There were a few stories that stood out from all the rest.
Winter Kiss: This story is about a Princess who has the Kiss of Winter, and everytime she breaths, laughs and talks she freezes things. During the warmer months she is put into a tower away from everyone else so she can't accidentally freeze things. Bored and unhappy with this life she leaves the kingdom on search of somewhere where she can be with others. Along the journey she meets a bear, who helps her find food and keeps here warm. The bear takes her to a small village and transforms into a boy called Bjarn.
Stopping Time: This story is based in the Wicked Lovely world and follows Leslie after she has moved away from Huntsdale. Irial and Niall also have main roles in this story and we get to see how Leslie is coping after getting away from the faerie world, and how Irial and Niall are coping without her. Both are trying to keep their distance and let her live a normal life but it's not as easy as they think and soon this constant presence is a blessing in disguise.
Anyone who has read any of Melissa's books need to get a copy of this, and if like me you loved Wicked Lovely, it will make you want to re-read the series again.
bevs5482's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the short stories that told more about the characters from the Wicked Lovely series. It was nice to read a little bit more about them...to get an even happier ending in some cases. The other stories were good but not my favorite!! Still over all a good read!!
lyrareadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I loved a couple of the early appearing stories. Winter's Kiss was a charming story with fully developed characters and world building. Most of the stories in this book related to the fairy world with the Dark King Niall and his world and those were a drag on this book. I assume Marr has other books out there somewhere that involve these characters because what appeared in this book completely lacked her normal excellence at world building. I was utterly lost and found those sections boring. The rest of the stories were 5 star.
wyntrrose's review against another edition
Having to pause for a short bit. Since I own it's not a top priority.
scaredyxkat's review against another edition
3.0
Quick review by story!
Where Nightmares Walk: Short, and a nice intro for the book. Not really much to say for this one!
Winter's Kiss: This was similar to a lot of Marr's story. A conflict between winter and summer, basically. It was a cute take on something she seems to write a lot about.
Transition: This is such an interesting take on vampires! I love the idea that not every vampire is turned willingly, and they aren't always so happy after they realize what's happened. I also love the whole "it's a game" idea. Who can kill who first. It was one of the better stories in this collection.
Love Struck: Now this was my absolute favorite piece. I've always had a soft-spot for winter fae (even mermaid) stories, so I really enjoyed reading this. It was also a cute story, which was nice. Definitely not one of the "nightmares".
The Art of Waiting: Another winter tale, except this one was... boring, in my opinion. I thought it was going to have a better message, or a surprising ending or something. It didn't. If I was rating this story on it's own it'd definitely be a single star.
Flesh for Comfort: Another one-star story. What was this even supposed to mean? It was full of poor descriptions of weird creatures, self-esteem issues, and negative messages in my opinion.
The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King: Surprise, surprise! Another tale of winter and summer. I would have been a little tired of reading the same-old-thing, but this one was actually a little interesting as it was kind of the start of what became [b:Wicked Lovely|305234|Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely, #1)|Melissa Marr|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327814035s/305234.jpg|296240]. This tale also had a pretty spin to it.
As for the Wicked Lovely Tales, I'm going to go ahead and review them all together: It was incredibly fun revisiting that world. I actually miss that series and those characters, so it was nice to have a little catch-up with them. Old Habits and Stopping Time I'd read (and been disappointed with) previously, but besides that they were all cute, short, sweet stories that I enjoyed.
This was a fast read, and I did enjoy it overall. Not Marr's best work, though.
Where Nightmares Walk: Short, and a nice intro for the book. Not really much to say for this one!
Winter's Kiss: This was similar to a lot of Marr's story. A conflict between winter and summer, basically. It was a cute take on something she seems to write a lot about.
Transition: This is such an interesting take on vampires! I love the idea that not every vampire is turned willingly, and they aren't always so happy after they realize what's happened. I also love the whole "it's a game" idea. Who can kill who first. It was one of the better stories in this collection.
Love Struck: Now this was my absolute favorite piece. I've always had a soft-spot for winter fae (even mermaid) stories, so I really enjoyed reading this. It was also a cute story, which was nice. Definitely not one of the "nightmares".
The Art of Waiting: Another winter tale, except this one was... boring, in my opinion. I thought it was going to have a better message, or a surprising ending or something. It didn't. If I was rating this story on it's own it'd definitely be a single star.
Flesh for Comfort: Another one-star story. What was this even supposed to mean? It was full of poor descriptions of weird creatures, self-esteem issues, and negative messages in my opinion.
The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King: Surprise, surprise! Another tale of winter and summer. I would have been a little tired of reading the same-old-thing, but this one was actually a little interesting as it was kind of the start of what became [b:Wicked Lovely|305234|Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely, #1)|Melissa Marr|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327814035s/305234.jpg|296240]. This tale also had a pretty spin to it.
As for the Wicked Lovely Tales, I'm going to go ahead and review them all together: It was incredibly fun revisiting that world. I actually miss that series and those characters, so it was nice to have a little catch-up with them. Old Habits and Stopping Time I'd read (and been disappointed with) previously, but besides that they were all cute, short, sweet stories that I enjoyed.
This was a fast read, and I did enjoy it overall. Not Marr's best work, though.
lydiature's review against another edition
3.0
I wonder if I would have enjoyed this more if I had read more than just the first book in the Wicked Lovely series.
withthebanned's review against another edition
4.0
Originally reviewed here.
Full disclosure: I did not read the Wicked Lovely stories in this novel, I have never read the Wicked Lovely series so I didn't want to ruin anything for myself!
"Where Nightmares Walk," "Winter's Kiss" and "Transition" were all beautiful stories. I was especially interested in "Winter's Kiss" and found it to be truly fairy tale-esque with very sweet details. I thought Marr did a nice job with her vampire story, "Transition," vampires with attitude have a special place in my heart, especially snarky female ones!
The story "Love Struck" is where I fell in love with Marr's writing. Though I have been reading some mermaid books lately I was so interested in the way Marr twisted the traditional selchie tale into something different. I found myself wanting more and wishing that it was a full length novel and not just a short glimpse into the selchie world.
I also wanted more from "The Art of Waiting" and the messages of this and "Flesh for Comfort" were not lost on me. Both of these stories read like fairy tales but were also somewhat dark and twisted in a way that I really enjoyed.
Finally, "The Sleeping Girl and The Summer King" was the last story I read and I absolutely loved it. The descriptions of the winter world in contrast with the summer land were vibrant and gorgeous in my mind. This story has been described as a sort of sequel for Marr's Wicked Lovely series and I can assure you that after reading this short story I will definitley be picking up the series very soon.
The only book by Melissa Marr that I had read before this novel was Graveminder (which I loved) but it is not really a "fairy tale" and therefore I was wary that I was missing something by not reading her Wicked Lovely series. Reading this short story really made me understand how Marr weaves different elements into her story, she sets up a vibrant setting that really draws the reader in and makes you long for more.
Full disclosure: I did not read the Wicked Lovely stories in this novel, I have never read the Wicked Lovely series so I didn't want to ruin anything for myself!
"Where Nightmares Walk," "Winter's Kiss" and "Transition" were all beautiful stories. I was especially interested in "Winter's Kiss" and found it to be truly fairy tale-esque with very sweet details. I thought Marr did a nice job with her vampire story, "Transition," vampires with attitude have a special place in my heart, especially snarky female ones!
The story "Love Struck" is where I fell in love with Marr's writing. Though I have been reading some mermaid books lately I was so interested in the way Marr twisted the traditional selchie tale into something different. I found myself wanting more and wishing that it was a full length novel and not just a short glimpse into the selchie world.
I also wanted more from "The Art of Waiting" and the messages of this and "Flesh for Comfort" were not lost on me. Both of these stories read like fairy tales but were also somewhat dark and twisted in a way that I really enjoyed.
Finally, "The Sleeping Girl and The Summer King" was the last story I read and I absolutely loved it. The descriptions of the winter world in contrast with the summer land were vibrant and gorgeous in my mind. This story has been described as a sort of sequel for Marr's Wicked Lovely series and I can assure you that after reading this short story I will definitley be picking up the series very soon.
The only book by Melissa Marr that I had read before this novel was Graveminder (which I loved) but it is not really a "fairy tale" and therefore I was wary that I was missing something by not reading her Wicked Lovely series. Reading this short story really made me understand how Marr weaves different elements into her story, she sets up a vibrant setting that really draws the reader in and makes you long for more.