Reviews

There have been a lot of mythology retellings in the last few years, so there's always going to be pressure to live up to the best one. It's not necessarily about modernising the stories but making them more engaging for modern audiences. Do I think Storyland does the best job of this? Not completely. Don't get me wrong, this is a well-written collection but I just don't think it was particularly memorable. It might have been because I listened to the audiobook at work. However, I also think that the stories were a little dry. They were written from more of a historical point of view and the narration felt quite detached. As much as I liked the stories, I found the sections afterwards more interesting. In these sections, Amy Jeffs gave context to them. This included her own experiences visiting the places in the story.

In terms of the actual story, I recognised more of them than I expected but there were a lot that I just glossed over. Again, I don't think this was because they were bad; I just wasn't a fan of how they were told. I guess I was missing some sort of flair. Maybe the mythology of the British Isles just isn't that interesting? Maybe it's all a bit repetitive? I don't know but I just wasn't as invested in this as I'd hoped. I really wanted to learn more about these tales but it was a struggle to finish this one. Considering how well it was received, I was left wondering if I was missing something. How had I read something so different to everyone else?

I don't think it helped that I listened to this instead of reading the book. That way, I missed out on all of the illustrations that accompanied the stories. These illustrations were Amy Jeffs's own linocut and wood-engraved prints. As an art historian, these were really a major selling point of the book and were absolutely beautiful. I would definitely recommend picking up a hard copy so you can have the joy of seeing them as you read. They'll really help bring the stories to life. I'd have loved it if the book had just been more of the illustrations and Jeff's own experiences. It would have been more my kind of book.

As it is, Storyland disappointed me slightly. I was really looking forward to it but it just wasn't my style. I know these myths are odd and it was probably going to be a struggle to really update them for a modern audience. However, Amy Jeffs does a pretty good job and I think this is just a case of the wrong book and the wrong person. I'll probably read this again later and see if I change my mind. For now, I'll stick to other mythology to get my fix.

helenkath's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

kylechrisflynn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

rnr516's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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