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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'
That Way Madness Lies: 15 of Shakespeare's Most Notable Works Reimagined by Dahlia Adler
3 reviews
zoepagereader's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
4.0
This was a soft pick; one of those short story collections that start off great and progressively get worse. It may have just been me, but all of those tragedies at the end just weren’t enjoyable sad books, they were just depressing. I think it would have been better if they had sprinkled some comedies between the tragedies (though I appreciate the organization). Fine book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief
sarah984's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This anthology of Shakespeare retellings was pretty hit or miss for me. I really enjoyed some of the stories but others felt superficial in terms of not engaging with the themes of the original in any way, or they could be kind of corny in that way where YA authors really want you to know How Diverse Their Story Is. Most of the stories do also presume a familiarity with the original so I wouldn't really recommend this if you're not already at least vaguely familiar with the plays listed in the summary.
Favourites: Severe Weather Warning by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest), I Bleed by Dahlia Adler (The Merchant of Venice), Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow by Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet) and The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History by Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus)
Favourites: Severe Weather Warning by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (The Tempest), I Bleed by Dahlia Adler (The Merchant of Venice), Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow by Kiersten White (Romeo and Juliet) and The Tragedy of Cory Lanez: An Oral History by Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism and Bullying
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Animal death and Stalking
allonsythornraxx's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
05/04/2021
3 ⭐
I am traditionally not a short story reader - I usually DNF collections like these or just ignore them altogether since it's so rare for me to read a short story and enjoy it. But, then I heard about a collection inspired by Shakespeare's works and on top of that, that some of my favourite authors would be a part of it and I knew this would be the be all end all for myself and short stories.
I still think that I am 99% not a lover of short stories but, I did genuinely enjoy some of these which I think was entirely down to the writers. I genuinely think that I would read a shopping list if it was written by K Ancrum or Anna-Marie Mclemore.
TW: racism, antisemitism, homophobia, child neglect, physical abuse/violence, child abuse, emotional abuse, grooming, loss of a loved one, self-harm, miscarriage
Comedies
"Severe Weather Warning" - Emily W and Austin SB (The Tempest) ↣ 3 ⭐
Fun. I loved the storm and the forced discussion trope.
"Shipwrecked" - Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night) ↣ 2 ⭐
I couldn't keep track of who any of the characters were but I did really enjoy how diverse the characters were along with the talk about how love doesn't need to be romantic or compulsory.
"Taming of The Soulmate" - K Ancrum (Taming of The Shrew) ↣ 3.5 ⭐
When your favourite author champions the ultimate fanfic soulmate trope! I don't even like this trope but this is one of my favourite stories in the collection so far, I LOVE how K Ancrum writes characters!
"King of The Fairies" - Anna-Marie Mclemore (A Midsummer Night's Dream) ↣ 2.75 ⭐
Definitely interesting, I really love AMM's writing and it's what kept me reading the story.
"We Have Seen Better Days" - Lily Anderson (As You Like It) ↣ 2 ⭐
+0.5 stars just for Lily Anderson supporting Solo: A Star Wars Story. Otherwise, I didn't like this one.
"Some Other Metal" - Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing) ↣ 1.5 ⭐
Too meta for me. I thought I would love this because I usually love Much Ado but this was a no from the very beginning.
"I Bleed" - Dahlia Adler (Ther Merchant of Venice) ↣ 3 ⭐
Very disturbing and hard to read, but this was definitely one of the better stories in the collection.
A Sonet
"His Invention" - Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147) ↣ 4 ⭐
This was so good! Disturbing and a bit confusing in the beginning but definitely my favourite story in the collection so far and one I'd actually read again!
Tragedies
"Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow" - Kiersten White (Romeo + Juliet) ↣ 3 ⭐
Texts are one of my least favourite ways to tell a story but, this was actually really good, which is even more surprising because I am not an R+J fan. I loved the characters and how ridiculous Romeo was and I really think this story put in perspective how quickly the R+J story moves.
"Dreaming of The Dark" - Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar) ↣ 3 ⭐
Spooky vibes. I think I liked this one but I'm not really sure.
"The Tragedy of Cory Lanez" - Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus) ↣ 3.25 ⭐
I felt a bit detached from this one but I think that was just because it's music-centric which I'm not usually a fan of, otherwise this was really good.
"Out of the Storm" - Joy McCullough (King Lear) ↣ 3 ⭐
That moved very quickly and was very hard to read.
"Elsinore" - Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet) ↣ 1 ⭐
So so SO boring.
"We Fail" - Samantha Mabry (Macbeth) ↣ 3.5 ⭐
One of the best Macbeth retellings I've ever read!
Late Romance
"Lost Girl" - Melissa Bashardoust (The Winter's Tale) ↣ _ ⭐
This was cute. I loved the addition of all the other little stories and mythologies.
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3 ⭐
I am traditionally not a short story reader - I usually DNF collections like these or just ignore them altogether since it's so rare for me to read a short story and enjoy it. But, then I heard about a collection inspired by Shakespeare's works and on top of that, that some of my favourite authors would be a part of it and I knew this would be the be all end all for myself and short stories.
I still think that I am 99% not a lover of short stories but, I did genuinely enjoy some of these which I think was entirely down to the writers. I genuinely think that I would read a shopping list if it was written by K Ancrum or Anna-Marie Mclemore.
TW: racism, antisemitism, homophobia, child neglect, physical abuse/violence, child abuse, emotional abuse, grooming, loss of a loved one, self-harm, miscarriage
Comedies
"Severe Weather Warning" - Emily W and Austin SB (The Tempest) ↣ 3 ⭐
Fun. I loved the storm and the forced discussion trope.
"Shipwrecked" - Mark Oshiro (Twelfth Night) ↣ 2 ⭐
I couldn't keep track of who any of the characters were but I did really enjoy how diverse the characters were along with the talk about how love doesn't need to be romantic or compulsory.
"Taming of The Soulmate" - K Ancrum (Taming of The Shrew) ↣ 3.5 ⭐
When your favourite author champions the ultimate fanfic soulmate trope! I don't even like this trope but this is one of my favourite stories in the collection so far, I LOVE how K Ancrum writes characters!
"King of The Fairies" - Anna-Marie Mclemore (A Midsummer Night's Dream) ↣ 2.75 ⭐
Definitely interesting, I really love AMM's writing and it's what kept me reading the story.
"We Have Seen Better Days" - Lily Anderson (As You Like It) ↣ 2 ⭐
+0.5 stars just for Lily Anderson supporting Solo: A Star Wars Story. Otherwise, I didn't like this one.
"Some Other Metal" - Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (Much Ado About Nothing) ↣ 1.5 ⭐
Too meta for me. I thought I would love this because I usually love Much Ado but this was a no from the very beginning.
"I Bleed" - Dahlia Adler (Ther Merchant of Venice) ↣ 3 ⭐
Very disturbing and hard to read, but this was definitely one of the better stories in the collection.
A Sonet
"His Invention" - Brittany Cavallaro (Sonnet 147) ↣ 4 ⭐
This was so good! Disturbing and a bit confusing in the beginning but definitely my favourite story in the collection so far and one I'd actually read again!
Tragedies
"Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow" - Kiersten White (Romeo + Juliet) ↣ 3 ⭐
Texts are one of my least favourite ways to tell a story but, this was actually really good, which is even more surprising because I am not an R+J fan. I loved the characters and how ridiculous Romeo was and I really think this story put in perspective how quickly the R+J story moves.
"Dreaming of The Dark" - Lindsay Smith (Julius Caesar) ↣ 3 ⭐
Spooky vibes. I think I liked this one but I'm not really sure.
"The Tragedy of Cory Lanez" - Tochi Onyebuchi (Coriolanus) ↣ 3.25 ⭐
I felt a bit detached from this one but I think that was just because it's music-centric which I'm not usually a fan of, otherwise this was really good.
"Out of the Storm" - Joy McCullough (King Lear) ↣ 3 ⭐
That moved very quickly and was very hard to read.
"Elsinore" - Patrice Caldwell (Hamlet) ↣ 1 ⭐
So so SO boring.
"We Fail" - Samantha Mabry (Macbeth) ↣ 3.5 ⭐
One of the best Macbeth retellings I've ever read!
Late Romance
"Lost Girl" - Melissa Bashardoust (The Winter's Tale) ↣ _ ⭐
This was cute. I loved the addition of all the other little stories and mythologies.
Blog | Letterboxd | Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Sexism
TW: racism, antisemitism, homophobia, child neglect, physical abuse/violence, child abuse, emotional abuse, grooming, loss of a loved one, self-harm, miscarriage
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