Reviews

In Spindle Towers: Five Stories by Merrie Haskell

tyrshand's review

5.0

I picked this up ages ago because I loved Haskell's middle grade novels -- all three were completely wonderful even though I read them as an adult. This collection is aimed at a more adult audience and I'm finding myself regretting that I took so long to read it! Every story was excellent and I particularly loved the fairy tale related ones -- there's a science fictional Sleeping Beauty, a zombie-ish fantasy Rapunzel, and a surreal Snow White -- and, biased as I am, a beautiful magical library story. The fifth one didn't speak to me quite as much, but it has a lot to do with the Brontes and, well, Jane Eyre was one of my most tortuous reads in high school. (maaaaaybe someday I'll give it a go as an adult, but reading retellings still leave me cold, so maybe my youthful hatred is too solidified now) Still, the story here wasn't a bad one. It's quieter than the others, but has some themes that my librarian stuff adored so I'd say there's not a single story in this collection I couldn't recommend. I'm also buying her other collection right away and plan to read it soon!