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notionsofdragonsfire's review
1.0
One line from the introduction to this collection, possibly, ruined the entire thing for me. “Destroy the Brothers Grimm.” The editor wanted “new stories that twisted the sterilized and cutely mouse-eared folktales of our time and returned them to darker places…” This implied to me that the editor has never read the original Brothers Grimm folktales; therefore, he might not understand the concept of a folktale.
Regardless, the authors for this collection set out to destroy the Brothers Grimm and they succeeded, so much so, that some of the original folktales are not recognizable at all. I did not find any of the stories that I read twisted or horrific. At best, I would say a few were a little weird.
Full disclosure, I received an advance copy of the book from one of the authors specifically to review it. I put off writing a review for a bit because I like the author that gave it to me and I am really disappointed in what I read in this collection.
Also, I did not read the entire book. I broke-up with it about halfway through it. None of the stories that I read could hold my attention. I frequently found myself thinking of other things I could be reading and then I would have to reread passages to figure out what I had missed. In the end I decided it was not worth it so I have set it aside. Maybe I will try again one day but I doubt it.
Regardless, the authors for this collection set out to destroy the Brothers Grimm and they succeeded, so much so, that some of the original folktales are not recognizable at all. I did not find any of the stories that I read twisted or horrific. At best, I would say a few were a little weird.
Full disclosure, I received an advance copy of the book from one of the authors specifically to review it. I put off writing a review for a bit because I like the author that gave it to me and I am really disappointed in what I read in this collection.
Also, I did not read the entire book. I broke-up with it about halfway through it. None of the stories that I read could hold my attention. I frequently found myself thinking of other things I could be reading and then I would have to reread passages to figure out what I had missed. In the end I decided it was not worth it so I have set it aside. Maybe I will try again one day but I doubt it.
shilo1364's review
1.0
*disclaimer: I received a free copy of this ebook from the member giveaway group on librarything*
The premise is good. rewrite the tales of the brothers grimm, modernizing them and injecting the horror and gore of the originals back into the whitewashed disnified versions we all know. The result was disappointing. I almost always like fairy tales. almost is key here. this book didn't inject the missing horror and fear as toss anything that *wasn't* horror, fear, blood, gore... shock value. ok i get it. but there has to be something *else* there. you can't just revel in the blood and throw around some guts and have your characters throw away their souls and kill all the animals in the forest out of glee.... it's like expecting a grown up disney - maybe the fairy tale theater version - and getting battle royale in princess costumes. ugh.
I read the first three stories. I couldn't continue. Not my style, i guess. maybe for the hardcore horror types?
The premise is good. rewrite the tales of the brothers grimm, modernizing them and injecting the horror and gore of the originals back into the whitewashed disnified versions we all know. The result was disappointing. I almost always like fairy tales. almost is key here. this book didn't inject the missing horror and fear as toss anything that *wasn't* horror, fear, blood, gore... shock value. ok i get it. but there has to be something *else* there. you can't just revel in the blood and throw around some guts and have your characters throw away their souls and kill all the animals in the forest out of glee.... it's like expecting a grown up disney - maybe the fairy tale theater version - and getting battle royale in princess costumes. ugh.
I read the first three stories. I couldn't continue. Not my style, i guess. maybe for the hardcore horror types?
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