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alba_marie's review against another edition
4.0
“That's quite a story,” I said. I was already trying to figure out what to do with Lou and Jerry's bodies since I had a feeling that Sebastian would regard corpse clean up as women's work. “You should sell the TV movie rights."
As Red As Blood, As White as Snow by Christina Henry - Sooo good. I didn't like her other book, Girl in Red, but this story was awesome. And one of the only “traditional” fairytales, complete with fairy world. It left me with ice daggers in my heart, it was bloody and cold and vicious and tragic and read so much like a Grimm tale, I was so impressed with it. Too bad not the case with other books by the same author. 5/5
Troll Bridge - Perhaps not Neil Gaiman’s best work, but still one of the more interesting stories in the collection. The ending was unexpected (though maybe shouldn't have been) though not unoriginal. The story itself was well written, better than most here. 4.5/5
At that Age - Catriona Ward - I literally don't remember this story at all. Oh wait this was the weird twin one. I'm so over weird twins stories, why can't twins just be twins, just two children who happen to share a birthdate? This trope doesn't work for me at all. (This is largely why this gothic nerd didn’t like The 13th Tale despite it being a famous modern gothic text.) 1/5
Listen - Jen Williams - This story centres on pagan ancient gods, redolent of fires and stone age monoliths, atmospheric and smoky. Coupled with a proper curse. Very atmospheric and evocative, and really exudes ancient peoples and times. So good! 5/5
Henry and the Snakewood Box - M.R. Carey - Demons! With the devil ! Pandora’s box! F*ck yeah! My only issue was that Henry read like a child except he was apparently an adult. I feel like this could have been handled better. Still. The deeemon. That’s my jam. 4.75/5
Skin - James Brogan - Creepy and gross, this literally gets under your skin. A little but preachy and I would’ve done a few rewrites but overall very good. 4/5
Faith and Fred - Maura McHugh - More weird twin stuff, nothing new to see here, just a haunted house and 2 screaming skulls and a boring ending, very late 20th century “scary” story, not in a good way. 1.5/5
The Black Fairy’s Curse - Karen Joy Fowler — Yeah I didn't get this one at all. It was all over the place, full of anachronisms and parallel worlds and the it was all a dream? 1/5
Wendy, Darling - Christopher Golden - Totally creepy and just very sad. Not sure if the author intended but brings up some valid points on motherhood and how it is unfairly forced on women. Motherhood should be a choice and should be done only ready and shared equally with a loving father. It shouldn’t be forced on girls and women, left to bear the consequences. It shouldn't be a curse. I didn't appreciate the end though because the author seemed to be saying the opposite. 3/5
Fairy Werewolf v Vampire Zombie - Charlie Jane Anders - hahahaha. This was clearly meant to be darkly comical. It was fantastic, all I wanted was for it to have offered more details. There was a bit too much going on to be contained in 15 pages. I liked the end a lot though, and Rachel. It's pretty obvious Anders had the name/morph concept before the actual story and she maybe tried to shove too much stuff in but I still really liked it. 4.5/5
Look Inside - Michael Marshall - A nice fairy haunting, tying in folklore to modern life. 4/5
New wine - Angela Slatter - I really like the concept but found the execution lacking. I wanted some kind of fantasy element or maybe something a bit more and don't get why she kept pushing the new wine line. OK we get it, but she said it soo times! 3.5/5
Haza and Ghani - Lilith Saintcrow - Didn’t like it at all, tried to stuff too much world building in too short a time, and confusing characters. Didn’t finish. 1/5
Hated - Christopher Fowler - This was a proper straight-up fairytale curse and ended the way that curses usually do - death. What I didn’t like was that I didn’t feel that the MC was actually a prick. A bit self-inflated and a little bit narcissistic but not as bad as the other characters made him out to be. The ‘moral tale’ side of things could have been better. 3.5/5
Merrie Dancers - Alison Littlewood - Love the wee folk inclusion and Orkney setting but didn’t care for the young woman listening to the story. 3.5/5
Again -Tim Lebbon - Why is not dying a curse? Just the (brief) pain associated with dying and coming back to life, and others getting old around you? I don’t think this would be a curse for me. 2/5
Girl from Hell - Had high hopes from the name but overall a bland & forgettable end to the collection. I’ve already forgotten what it was about. 1/5
As Red As Blood, As White as Snow by Christina Henry - Sooo good. I didn't like her other book, Girl in Red, but this story was awesome. And one of the only “traditional” fairytales, complete with fairy world. It left me with ice daggers in my heart, it was bloody and cold and vicious and tragic and read so much like a Grimm tale, I was so impressed with it. Too bad not the case with other books by the same author. 5/5
Troll Bridge - Perhaps not Neil Gaiman’s best work, but still one of the more interesting stories in the collection. The ending was unexpected (though maybe shouldn't have been) though not unoriginal. The story itself was well written, better than most here. 4.5/5
At that Age - Catriona Ward - I literally don't remember this story at all. Oh wait this was the weird twin one. I'm so over weird twins stories, why can't twins just be twins, just two children who happen to share a birthdate? This trope doesn't work for me at all. (This is largely why this gothic nerd didn’t like The 13th Tale despite it being a famous modern gothic text.) 1/5
Listen - Jen Williams - This story centres on pagan ancient gods, redolent of fires and stone age monoliths, atmospheric and smoky. Coupled with a proper curse. Very atmospheric and evocative, and really exudes ancient peoples and times. So good! 5/5
Henry and the Snakewood Box - M.R. Carey - Demons! With the devil ! Pandora’s box! F*ck yeah! My only issue was that Henry read like a child except he was apparently an adult. I feel like this could have been handled better. Still. The deeemon. That’s my jam. 4.75/5
Skin - James Brogan - Creepy and gross, this literally gets under your skin. A little but preachy and I would’ve done a few rewrites but overall very good. 4/5
Faith and Fred - Maura McHugh - More weird twin stuff, nothing new to see here, just a haunted house and 2 screaming skulls and a boring ending, very late 20th century “scary” story, not in a good way. 1.5/5
The Black Fairy’s Curse - Karen Joy Fowler — Yeah I didn't get this one at all. It was all over the place, full of anachronisms and parallel worlds and the it was all a dream? 1/5
Wendy, Darling - Christopher Golden - Totally creepy and just very sad. Not sure if the author intended but brings up some valid points on motherhood and how it is unfairly forced on women. Motherhood should be a choice and should be done only ready and shared equally with a loving father. It shouldn’t be forced on girls and women, left to bear the consequences. It shouldn't be a curse. I didn't appreciate the end though because the author seemed to be saying the opposite. 3/5
Fairy Werewolf v Vampire Zombie - Charlie Jane Anders - hahahaha. This was clearly meant to be darkly comical. It was fantastic, all I wanted was for it to have offered more details. There was a bit too much going on to be contained in 15 pages. I liked the end a lot though, and Rachel. It's pretty obvious Anders had the name/morph concept before the actual story and she maybe tried to shove too much stuff in but I still really liked it. 4.5/5
Look Inside - Michael Marshall - A nice fairy haunting, tying in folklore to modern life. 4/5
New wine - Angela Slatter - I really like the concept but found the execution lacking. I wanted some kind of fantasy element or maybe something a bit more and don't get why she kept pushing the new wine line. OK we get it, but she said it soo times! 3.5/5
Haza and Ghani - Lilith Saintcrow - Didn’t like it at all, tried to stuff too much world building in too short a time, and confusing characters. Didn’t finish. 1/5
Hated - Christopher Fowler - This was a proper straight-up fairytale curse and ended the way that curses usually do - death. What I didn’t like was that I didn’t feel that the MC was actually a prick. A bit self-inflated and a little bit narcissistic but not as bad as the other characters made him out to be. The ‘moral tale’ side of things could have been better. 3.5/5
Merrie Dancers - Alison Littlewood - Love the wee folk inclusion and Orkney setting but didn’t care for the young woman listening to the story. 3.5/5
Again -Tim Lebbon - Why is not dying a curse? Just the (brief) pain associated with dying and coming back to life, and others getting old around you? I don’t think this would be a curse for me. 2/5
Girl from Hell - Had high hopes from the name but overall a bland & forgettable end to the collection. I’ve already forgotten what it was about. 1/5
shayneyj's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the stories within this anthology are really good and I would rate a very high five stars, but just like with most anthologies and short story collections some are better than others.
Sadly, even though you got your great stories, you also got your not so great ones within this book that I personally didn’t enjoy and just didn’t stay with me. It’s not that some were bad, it’s just that they were so easily forgettable.
Sadly, even though you got your great stories, you also got your not so great ones within this book that I personally didn’t enjoy and just didn’t stay with me. It’s not that some were bad, it’s just that they were so easily forgettable.
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