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elliedwrites's review
4.0
Like any anthology, not all of these were my faves, but there were enough in there that made an impression, I'm keeping it to read those again.
oisin175's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the stories were excellent and some were just ok. None of the stories were disappointing. It's definitely worth a read, but it's probably best as a sporadic read.
serar's review
4.0
Great collection of retellings of more or less famous Fairy Tales. The quality of the stories was overall very good and there were only a few I had previously read in other collections. What I enjoyed in particular were the editor's introduction to fairy tales in general at the beginning of the book, and the introduction to each story before the story's beginning.
phifalling's review against another edition
3.0
Rating anthologies is hard; some stories are 5 stars some are 0; read it yourself to figure out which is which.
kaisermatthias's review against another edition
5.0
Not quite 5 stars across the board, but the story slate is excellent, and the updates always mean something. A worthy read for any tale lover.
sarrie's review against another edition
2.0
I read this over the course of a few years, which I guess goes to show the evolution of my reading taste.
The first chunk I read I really enjoyed, way back I think shortly after it was published. However, on picking it up now I ended up skipping or DNFing a large majority of the remaining stories. Either I'd already seen/read them in other places or formats or they contained tropes or things I have no interest in reading about.
The first chunk I read I really enjoyed, way back I think shortly after it was published. However, on picking it up now I ended up skipping or DNFing a large majority of the remaining stories. Either I'd already seen/read them in other places or formats or they contained tropes or things I have no interest in reading about.
serar's review against another edition
4.0
Great collection of retellings of more or less famous Fairy Tales. The quality of the stories was overall very good and there were only a few I had previously read in other collections. What I enjoyed in particular were the editor's introduction to fairy tales in general at the beginning of the book, and the introduction to each story before the story's beginning.
elna17a9a's review
3.0
Full disclosure: I checked this out because I remember reading "Greensleeves" when I was younger and it has stuck with me vaguely, and I wanted to see if it still held up. Unfortunately, the "Greensleeves" I was remembering was by Paul Jennings, so.
"Red as Blood": 4/5 The classic re-imagined story of "Snow White" that probably everybody has read or heard of. Still holds up.
"In the House of Gingerbread": 2/5 Honestly not that bad, but I didn't even remember it until looking back through the table of contents for this review. Nice twist though.
"The Bone Mother": 3/5 I'm always a fan of Baba Yaga.
"Follow Me Light": 4/5 Very original and strangely sweet. Not strongly linked to a fairy tale, though.
"The Coin of Heart's Desire": 4/5 Another original and subtle tale that fits perfectly with the canon of traditional sea dragon tales.
"The Glass Bottle Trick": 5/5 The first truly great one. The story of Bluebeard viewed through a racial lens.
"The Maiden-Tree": 1/5 I love Catherynne M Valent, but this short story features her prose at it's most purple and ornate.
"The Coat of Stars": 5/5 Sweet, wonderful, and inventive.
"The Road of Needles": 1/5 The connection to "Little Red Riding Hood" is incredibly tenuous, and there's a lot of unnecessary stuff in here.
"Travels with the Snow Queen": 3/5. Fine (though I do NOT understand how it won an award for expanding or exploring gender).
"Halfway People": 4/5 So I guess all the stories I like are the quiet sweet ones.
"Catastrophic Destruction of the Head": 1/5 Man, I don't know. I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence for violence's sake, and that's exactly what this is.
"Lavanya and Deepika": 3/5. Fine.
"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon": 4/5 Just like Guran says, it totally feels like a fairy tale even though it's not based on anything.
"Fairy tale": 4/5 A more "realistic" (read: meta) take on Cinderella, which I thought would be tiresome but is pretty good.
"The Queen Who Could Not Walk": 3/5 Again, fine.
"Lebkuchen": 2/5 Kind of disconnected and pointless.
"Diamonds and Pearls: a Fairy Tale": 2/5 Honestly, why would Guran mention the photograph that's supposed to accompany this tale and not reprint it? Otherwise it's your standard "good sister rewarded bad sister punished" tale.
"The Queen and the Cambion": 2/5 Another story that's fine but that I didn't remember until this review.
"Memoirs of a Bottle Djinn": 3/5 Sweet.
"The Mussel Eater": 5/5 A wonderful tale on the dangers of trying to change someone.
"Bears: A Fairy Tale of 1958": 5/5 A great little story about nature vs nurture and intolerant societies.
"The Moon is Drowning While I sleep": 3/5. Fine.
"Rats": 3/5 Honestly a mess. Schanoes' anger comes through incredibly clearly, but why change the character's names? Everything else is clearly the story of Sid and Nancy.
"Beyond the Naked Eye": 2/5 An admirable attempt to revisit the land of OZ, and it started out strong with the reality TV show concept, but then went off into a story about societal unrest.
"Good hunting": 3/5 While it's not the most original, it's well done.
"By the Moon's Good Grace": 5/5 A wonderful take on werewolves and responsibility.
"The Juniper Tree": 4/5 Affecting and ultimately hopeful.
"Greensleeves": 3/5 Fine.
"Beauty": 3/5 Again, fine.
A few gemes, a few stinkers, and mainly mediocre.
"Red as Blood": 4/5 The classic re-imagined story of "Snow White" that probably everybody has read or heard of. Still holds up.
"In the House of Gingerbread": 2/5 Honestly not that bad, but I didn't even remember it until looking back through the table of contents for this review. Nice twist though.
"The Bone Mother": 3/5 I'm always a fan of Baba Yaga.
"Follow Me Light": 4/5 Very original and strangely sweet. Not strongly linked to a fairy tale, though.
"The Coin of Heart's Desire": 4/5 Another original and subtle tale that fits perfectly with the canon of traditional sea dragon tales.
"The Glass Bottle Trick": 5/5 The first truly great one. The story of Bluebeard viewed through a racial lens.
"The Maiden-Tree": 1/5 I love Catherynne M Valent, but this short story features her prose at it's most purple and ornate.
"The Coat of Stars": 5/5 Sweet, wonderful, and inventive.
"The Road of Needles": 1/5 The connection to "Little Red Riding Hood" is incredibly tenuous, and there's a lot of unnecessary stuff in here.
"Travels with the Snow Queen": 3/5. Fine (though I do NOT understand how it won an award for expanding or exploring gender).
"Halfway People": 4/5 So I guess all the stories I like are the quiet sweet ones.
"Catastrophic Destruction of the Head": 1/5 Man, I don't know. I'm not a fan of gratuitous violence for violence's sake, and that's exactly what this is.
"Lavanya and Deepika": 3/5. Fine.
"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon": 4/5 Just like Guran says, it totally feels like a fairy tale even though it's not based on anything.
"Fairy tale": 4/5 A more "realistic" (read: meta) take on Cinderella, which I thought would be tiresome but is pretty good.
"The Queen Who Could Not Walk": 3/5 Again, fine.
"Lebkuchen": 2/5 Kind of disconnected and pointless.
"Diamonds and Pearls: a Fairy Tale": 2/5 Honestly, why would Guran mention the photograph that's supposed to accompany this tale and not reprint it? Otherwise it's your standard "good sister rewarded bad sister punished" tale.
"The Queen and the Cambion": 2/5 Another story that's fine but that I didn't remember until this review.
"Memoirs of a Bottle Djinn": 3/5 Sweet.
"The Mussel Eater": 5/5 A wonderful tale on the dangers of trying to change someone.
"Bears: A Fairy Tale of 1958": 5/5 A great little story about nature vs nurture and intolerant societies.
"The Moon is Drowning While I sleep": 3/5. Fine.
"Rats": 3/5 Honestly a mess. Schanoes' anger comes through incredibly clearly, but why change the character's names? Everything else is clearly the story of Sid and Nancy.
"Beyond the Naked Eye": 2/5 An admirable attempt to revisit the land of OZ, and it started out strong with the reality TV show concept, but then went off into a story about societal unrest.
"Good hunting": 3/5 While it's not the most original, it's well done.
"By the Moon's Good Grace": 5/5 A wonderful take on werewolves and responsibility.
"The Juniper Tree": 4/5 Affecting and ultimately hopeful.
"Greensleeves": 3/5 Fine.
"Beauty": 3/5 Again, fine.
A few gemes, a few stinkers, and mainly mediocre.