Reviews

I love Oscar Wilde. I love the stories he tells and the way he tells them. This version of his fairy tales in particular I am completely in love with because the illustrations are so beautiful. And I am pretty much 100% comfortable saying that Wilde would love them, too.

jandi's review against another edition

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5.0

Beautiful stories. My favorites are "The Nightingale and the rose" and "The Birthday of the Infanta", so grim and beautiful.

ana_az_books's review against another edition

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4.0

1. The Happy Prince ★★★★★
12/28/15: It was lovely! Heartwarming, sad, yet still had some funny moments.

2. The Nightingale and the Rose ★★★★☆
1/2/16: What the heck. I can't believe the ending!

Spoiler

When the Nightingale was singing and dying, I was hurting inside. I wanted her sacrifice to be worth it, but those damn humans just wasted it!?

Ugh, I'm so irritated. But it's still mostly beautifully written, though.

3. The Selfish Giant ★★★★★
1/13/16: I was anticipating Wilde's twist in this story, but the type of twist was a twist itself. It was different from the one in "The Nightingale and the Rose" and didn't leave me as frustrated. This story was actually very sweet. There was a lot of personification which I found cute. There's a bit of a Christian message, but it's forgivable since it's not preachy.

4. The Devoted Friend ★★★☆☆
1/16/16: This story had a lot of funny quotes

Spoiler

such as "'Lot's of people act well,' answered the Miller, 'but very few people talk well, which shows that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also'," and "At present you only have the practice of friendship; some day you will have the theory also,"

. It was also very obvious in its making fun of people who think so highly of themselves and are quite unaware of it. Despite this, I couldn't rate it higher than 3 stars because it left me so irritated and frustrated.

5. The Remarkable Rocket ★★★☆☆
1/23/16: It's kind of the same as above. A lot of funny quotes, a lot of irritating characters.

6. The Young King ★★★★★
1/25/16: This had a beautiful message, despite the religion.

7. The Birthday of the Infanta ★★★★★
2/25/16: Oh, the cruelties of the beautiful to those who are not. This reminded me of Tyrion Lannister's ordeals.

8. The Fisherman and His Soul ★★★★★
3/1/16: This story was a little more complex than the others (or maybe it was just longer).

9. The Star-Child ★★★★☆
3/3/16: I enjoyed this story, but it read like the usual fairy tale. I couldn't really see Wilde's signature wit in this one. There were parts that were repetitive and I found the ending a little strange.

rachmcn's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

thepoetcatari's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

thechaptersthatchangedus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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? Yes

5.0

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