Reviews

Buddy read this and really enjoyed delving into the stories, allusions and metaphors. Angela Carter isn't my favorite author, but I can sometimes underestimate her and reading about these stories taught me a lot!

madness_personified's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

mezaki's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mdevlin923's review against another edition

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2.0

Angela Carter's feminist, Gothic retellings of classic fairy tales and folk tales.

I had high expectations of this book, and thought that it would champion the strength, ingenuity, diversity, and courage of women (all things that I associate with feminism). While I recognize the importance that The Bloody Chamber had in the 70s, I think there are more contemporary books that better represent current feminist stances and ideas.

tabbyz's review against another edition

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3.0

The bloody chamber

The bloody chamber: great build up of anticipation, beautifully written prose, shocking in places, but not jarring. The often crude language fit nicely into the flowery but gothic prose. However, the ending was somewhat anti climatic.
The courtship of Mr Lyon: a beauty and the beast retelling which was descriptive and engaging. However, it did not add anything new to the story, which was disappointing.
The tigers bride: another variation of beauty and the beast but a bit more complex and nuanced.
Puss in boots - interesting to read Puss’s perspective, it was engaging and descriptive. However, it was crude at times and did not have much depth.
The Erl-King - some of the most beautiful and surreal descriptive writing I have read.
The Snow Child: short but not so sweet
The lady of the house of love: one of the highlights of this collection. Written in the same tone/spirit of Anne Rice. Beautiful descriptive writing and a memorable rendition of Beauty and the Beast.
The werewolf: little red riding hood with a twist
The company of wolves: inspired by Little red riding hood, the writing truly transported the reader.
Wolf-Alice: an interesting viewpoint which felt true to the main character

Overall, a beautiful collection of short stories, some are likely to stay with me for longer than others.

The distribution of the stories could have been more varied as it felt repetitive at times.

I will be reading other work by the author.
Given 3 stars as a body of work because although there were some real gems (the bloody chamber, erl king, the lady of the house of love) not all stories were of the same standard.

yanna22's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My favorite story was the first one, the title story „The Bloody Chamber“.
I also really enjoyed „The Lady of the House of Love“.

but as a non-native English speaker, this was tough for me to read ngl

oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition

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The only problem I had with this collection was that the first story was the best and none of the others, while excellent, could really match up. That being said, I did give it five stars, so I couldn't have been that disappointed. I love how dark and subversive the stories are, the prose luminous and seductive. As an introduction to Angela Carter's writing, this is an excellent place to start. I've read a number of her novels now, and Black Venus, but this is the collection that has stayed with me the longest after reading it, and the one that left the deepest impression.

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