Scan barcode
A review by thingslucyreads
Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan
5.0
I AM YELLING! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!
It set such a high standard for itself with the Cinderella retelling and then continued to just smash the ball out of the park. Some retellings went exactly the way I expected them to (The Little Mermaid) and others I never could have predicted (The Beauty and the Beast).
Each story was an absolute treat and I’ve said this a lot but this is a fairytale retelling collection that actually DESERVES to be called feminist. And not in the way that “feminist” often means “the female protagonist is sassy.”
Bluebeard is the standout story in this collection and the one that really solidified the above opinion. Feminism isn’t just about women being rightfully treated as humans, it’s also about men having the space to be humans.
Please read this one, it’s so worth it.
Rep, from memory: an autistic side character and a black side character in the Fair, Brown and Trembling retelling, a black main character in the Donkeyskin retelling, an ff relationship in the The Goose Girl retelling.
CW, from memory: animal death, parental death, threat of rape, threat of incest, description of corpses, pretty much all CWs you’d expect from traditional fairytales.
Disclaimer: I read this collection over a fairly long period of time and cannot remember rep and CW details from every story, for which I apologise. When I reread this I will amend this review to include anything I’ve missed.
It set such a high standard for itself with the Cinderella retelling and then continued to just smash the ball out of the park. Some retellings went exactly the way I expected them to (The Little Mermaid) and others I never could have predicted (The Beauty and the Beast).
Each story was an absolute treat and I’ve said this a lot but this is a fairytale retelling collection that actually DESERVES to be called feminist. And not in the way that “feminist” often means “the female protagonist is sassy.”
Bluebeard is the standout story in this collection and the one that really solidified the above opinion. Feminism isn’t just about women being rightfully treated as humans, it’s also about men having the space to be humans.
Please read this one, it’s so worth it.
Rep, from memory: an autistic side character and a black side character in the Fair, Brown and Trembling retelling, a black main character in the Donkeyskin retelling, an ff relationship in the The Goose Girl retelling.
CW, from memory: animal death, parental death, threat of rape, threat of incest, description of corpses, pretty much all CWs you’d expect from traditional fairytales.
Disclaimer: I read this collection over a fairly long period of time and cannot remember rep and CW details from every story, for which I apologise. When I reread this I will amend this review to include anything I’ve missed.