Reviews

Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman

rachelfaye's review

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5.0

OBSESSED! First two and the last story were my favorite by far. Thank you to the author for this content

kelseyreads17's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

justcallmeemily's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sincerely_lila's review against another edition

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2.0

I was really excited to read this, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. Most of the retellings were too short for me to really get invested. The last story was probably my favorite because I felt like it explored its theme the best. I enjoyed the art and concept of this book, I think if it gave more time to retell maybe one or two stories instead of several then it would have made more of an impact for me.

2.5 stars

figsofpeach's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

storytellersam's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

lexi_lovesbooks's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I loved this! The art is so pretty and the stories are wonderful. I think goose girl was my favorite but they’re all great

applepie10's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

applepie10's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mehsi's review

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5.0

I received this book from TBR and Beyond Tours/publisher in exchange of an honest review.

1. The art It was just absolutely stunning! I really love Melanie Gillman’s work (been following them on Twitter for some time) and that was also one of the reasons for myself to pick up this book and hope that I could review it! They really has a soft and pretty style.
2. The stories The stories were just wonderful. I love how we had a prologue and an epilogue. I enjoyed all the stories and was totally into them. I think my favourite ones were the ones about the suitor followed by the mermaid x the old woman.
3. The romance/LGBT + feminism (OK, maybe this is 3 reasons, haha) There are so many cute romances and I was just rooting for everyone to get their happy ending in one way or another. Like the girl with the cold suitor, that turned out in a way I hadn’t expected but totally loved. I absolutely loved how we didn’t have, and I hope I am saying this right, I am so sorry otherwise, we don’t have your typical princes and princesses or standard characters at all. The princess don’t all wear frills or look all dainty. The knights aren’t all male or have fancy shiny hair. It was just such a breath of fresh air. Don’t get me wrong, I love myself some frills and fancy dresses, but this was even more perfect. I definitely fell in love with the princess in the goose story and the knight in the story about a hole in the heart/protecting people.
I loved the feminism. The strong girls vibe. The we don’t need a knight to protect us. We don’t need magic or sparkles to find our luck (though I definitely, at the moment at least, wouldn’t mind some sparkles or magic to feel happy). The side characters are also important. The old woman and the mermaid story was just so sweet!
4. The classic fairy tale vibe Despite these being way more modern and feminism/queer-filled, they just had that feel as if they were really old classic tales. Often with retellings it just feels real modern, new, shiny, but with this one I didn’t have that, and I adore that!
5 How we see people come back: Haha, this may sound a bit weird, but with that I mean that in later stories we may see characters we met earlier. Like we meet the Goose Girl and her family and people in the story about the knight who was searching for something. I just adore it when stories connect. When the country and lands we visit are all in the same world, the same universe.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/