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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
4.5
Some of these tales are fantastic and have me going "oh my gosh" while others were a bit subpar.
That being said, there was not a single one I disliked.
Some of these tales are fantastic and have me going "oh my gosh" while others were a bit subpar.
That being said, there was not a single one I disliked.
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
This is exactly (and not quite) what I was expecting. Ortberg retells classic fairy tales and puts her own dark spin on them. From beauty and the beast, to the velveteen rabbit, to cinderella, and to the little mermaid; they're all accounted for and are all predictably creepy. She modernizes the stories a bit and brings them back to their true "Grim" roots. This collection is filled with death and unhappy endings, perfect for reading to your children at night ;) Overall, it was alright, but there were a few stories I couldn't get in to or went over my head a little bit. Beautifully written, but it's not a collection I think I'll ever re-read.
I've loved Daniel Mallory Ortberg ever since The Toast and this did not disappoint. It's weird, surreal, queer (there's amazing playfulness with gender roles and identities and reversals - at points, it is a bit confusing). Weirdly, it sort of reminded me of Boris Vian's stories.
For me, the standouts were the play on the Six Swans fairy tale, which ends up being about giving consent and breaking consent in a very interesting way, also the Little Mermaid interpretation which opens the book is just fab. Some of the stories were a bit dense and abstract, and I probably didn't get the references all that much.
I pretty much loved this. It was creepy and ominous but beautifully written and with plenty of laughs.
For me, the standouts were the play on the Six Swans fairy tale, which ends up being about giving consent and breaking consent in a very interesting way, also the Little Mermaid interpretation which opens the book is just fab. Some of the stories were a bit dense and abstract, and I probably didn't get the references all that much.
I pretty much loved this. It was creepy and ominous but beautifully written and with plenty of laughs.
As others have said, a couple stories were decent but most of them were terrible. Boring, confusing, or lack of compelling plot. Not worth reading
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow, this book was evilly delightful. Fairytales are meant to be dark and the twists in these stories made me gleeful with with their darkness. Vengeance, gaslighting, plenty of death, characters getting what they deserve, with some interesting gender stuff in play. So great.
These takes on fairy tales, children's books, and the Bible are unsettling (though I wouldn't classify them as "horror", despite the subtitle of the book), creative, and fuck with gender and pronoun usage which is really cool. A good companion to similar books in the genre, such as Emma Donoghue's "Kissing the Witch" and Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber".
i did not expect this to be a book full of stories i already knew!
but i guess i didn't know them very well...
but i guess i didn't know them very well...