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traceymcg 's review for:
Once Upon a Winter: A Folk and Fairy Tale Anthology
by Katherine Shaw, Joyce Reynolds-Ward, S. Markem, Jenna Smithwick, Ella T. Holmes, A.J. Van Belle, Caroline Logan, Laila Amado, Jake Curran-Pipe, Rebecca F. Kenney, M.J. Weatherall, Bharat Krishnan, H.L. Macfarlane, R.A. Gerritse, Josie Jaffrey, Kate Longstone, Adie Hart
3.5 stars
This was a nice read for cold winter nights when all you want to do is curl up under a quilt next to a roaring fire with a piping hot mug of tea or cocoa.
I typically stay away from anthologies when I am not familiar with at least one author because you never know what you’re going to get. I was drawn to this one by the cover art and the promise of fairy tales that have been twisted in some way. While I was happy to see diversity in the characters, many of these tales fell short for me.
Most of my issues were with structure rather than story... There was quite a bit of cliched plot twists that killed the suspense in certain stories. There were a few that held such promise, only to end abruptly - as if the author knew their word limit was closing in and just decided to end without attempting to cut words elsewhere so as not to negatively impact the ending. Lastly there were a few where the writing felt stilted and did not flow; but then, I am a big fan of lyrical prose in writing.
All that said, if you’re a fan of twisted fairy tales and don’t mind a few structural issues, you’ll probably enjoy this one!
I received a free advance review copy from BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was a nice read for cold winter nights when all you want to do is curl up under a quilt next to a roaring fire with a piping hot mug of tea or cocoa.
I typically stay away from anthologies when I am not familiar with at least one author because you never know what you’re going to get. I was drawn to this one by the cover art and the promise of fairy tales that have been twisted in some way. While I was happy to see diversity in the characters, many of these tales fell short for me.
Most of my issues were with structure rather than story... There was quite a bit of cliched plot twists that killed the suspense in certain stories. There were a few that held such promise, only to end abruptly - as if the author knew their word limit was closing in and just decided to end without attempting to cut words elsewhere so as not to negatively impact the ending. Lastly there were a few where the writing felt stilted and did not flow; but then, I am a big fan of lyrical prose in writing.
All that said, if you’re a fan of twisted fairy tales and don’t mind a few structural issues, you’ll probably enjoy this one!
I received a free advance review copy from BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.