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davidcottington's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't it!
I'm not sure who this book is for but it didn't give me the queer energy I was looking for.
I also think some of the language used in this book was maybe a bit dated or offensive.
I'm not sure who this book is for but it didn't give me the queer energy I was looking for.
I also think some of the language used in this book was maybe a bit dated or offensive.
lsparrow's review against another edition
2.0
a collection of queer tales, mostly fairy tale retellings. I have to say I wanted more from these stories. The twists and reworkings seemed a little simplistic for me.
sjess421's review
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
emmalthompson85's review against another edition
2.0
Oh heck.
I want to start this by saying I truly believe the author to have nothing but the best intentions and by saying that I think a lot of these stories probably work better told at a story telling event than they do on the page. It's likely that his live delivery is more dynamic and brings some life to the text.
But these stories really don't work on the page.
My first problem is this isn't a collection of folk tales. I'm gonna be real, I bought it on the recommendation of the title because queer folk tales are my jam. This book is actually a collection of stories the author tells at storytelling events. Some are based on myths or fairy tales (though few are based on folk tales) but some are just contemporary stories, a few with a fairy tale style plot twist.
And a lot of them just aren't very good. They just don't work on the page.
Take one story, Chris. It's about an older man who marries a younger man. One day, the younger man stats acting strangely. The younger man goes away for a week and when he comes back the pov character raised he actually married a twin and, when he started acting odd, it's because the twins swapped. And it ends with him asking why. And i can kind of see how, at a story telling event, when you're being a bit loose and building things up with tone etc, that could get a laugh maybe. But as a short story in a book it just feels deeply unsatisfying. Because yes, why? Why would anyone do that? Why didn't he notice? What did anyone gain here?
It's just so weird.
I'd have probably put it down after that one of it wasn't so short...
As well as the plots being flat and the writing stilted, it also felt like a lot of wasted opportunity. These are stories that feature queer people but there almost no attempt to queer or make strange the narrative. The fact that it's two men or two women other than a man and a woman has almost nothing to the narrative. It creates no disturbance. It says nothing. Which, like, queer people do deserve to just exist and have straightforward stories but what's more interesting: the princess who sets the impossible challenge and the simple person who meets it just happens to be female or the Princess who sets the impossible challenge because she doesn't want to marry a man, she'd rather stay with her female lover, but this one clever farm boy somehow keeps completing her impossibly tasks and what are her and her lover going to do now? Because the first one is the one in this book.
Okay, general rant over. Based on this I'd have probably given three stars. Boring but readable.
It lost an extra star over gender.
There are a few stories in this correction that deal with what I believe the author thinks is a trans experience. I'm sure these were written with the best of intention but they consistently refer to anyone presenting as a male with male pronouns and anyone presenting as female with female pronouns, making gender a function of how you appear in the words not some internal truth. As though one can be a man all one's life and need only pop on a skirt to be a woman.
That's not great.
The better way (and the way that would give these stories more dept) would be to refer to the person always as the gender they feel inside. So a trans man who had not yet transitioned is still a man, for example. And a cis woman who puts on men's clothing to run away from sexual abuse is still a cis woman. Like, there could be a story in there about a person who discovers complex gender feels through having to present as the other gender but that's very much not the story presented here. Instead it's girl is nearly raped, dresses as man to run away, then referred to as male.
Like, I don't think the author is being malicious, i think he's trying to be inclusive, he's just got a really weak grasp of trans stuff for a guy writing in 2020 and I feel like someone at some point in the publication process should have checked best practice when using pronouns to refer to trans people.
I want to start this by saying I truly believe the author to have nothing but the best intentions and by saying that I think a lot of these stories probably work better told at a story telling event than they do on the page. It's likely that his live delivery is more dynamic and brings some life to the text.
But these stories really don't work on the page.
My first problem is this isn't a collection of folk tales. I'm gonna be real, I bought it on the recommendation of the title because queer folk tales are my jam. This book is actually a collection of stories the author tells at storytelling events. Some are based on myths or fairy tales (though few are based on folk tales) but some are just contemporary stories, a few with a fairy tale style plot twist.
And a lot of them just aren't very good. They just don't work on the page.
Take one story, Chris. It's about an older man who marries a younger man. One day, the younger man stats acting strangely. The younger man goes away for a week and when he comes back the pov character raised he actually married a twin and, when he started acting odd, it's because the twins swapped. And it ends with him asking why. And i can kind of see how, at a story telling event, when you're being a bit loose and building things up with tone etc, that could get a laugh maybe. But as a short story in a book it just feels deeply unsatisfying. Because yes, why? Why would anyone do that? Why didn't he notice? What did anyone gain here?
It's just so weird.
I'd have probably put it down after that one of it wasn't so short...
As well as the plots being flat and the writing stilted, it also felt like a lot of wasted opportunity. These are stories that feature queer people but there almost no attempt to queer or make strange the narrative. The fact that it's two men or two women other than a man and a woman has almost nothing to the narrative. It creates no disturbance. It says nothing. Which, like, queer people do deserve to just exist and have straightforward stories but what's more interesting: the princess who sets the impossible challenge and the simple person who meets it just happens to be female or the Princess who sets the impossible challenge because she doesn't want to marry a man, she'd rather stay with her female lover, but this one clever farm boy somehow keeps completing her impossibly tasks and what are her and her lover going to do now? Because the first one is the one in this book.
Okay, general rant over. Based on this I'd have probably given three stars. Boring but readable.
It lost an extra star over gender.
There are a few stories in this correction that deal with what I believe the author thinks is a trans experience. I'm sure these were written with the best of intention but they consistently refer to anyone presenting as a male with male pronouns and anyone presenting as female with female pronouns, making gender a function of how you appear in the words not some internal truth. As though one can be a man all one's life and need only pop on a skirt to be a woman.
That's not great.
The better way (and the way that would give these stories more dept) would be to refer to the person always as the gender they feel inside. So a trans man who had not yet transitioned is still a man, for example. And a cis woman who puts on men's clothing to run away from sexual abuse is still a cis woman. Like, there could be a story in there about a person who discovers complex gender feels through having to present as the other gender but that's very much not the story presented here. Instead it's girl is nearly raped, dresses as man to run away, then referred to as male.
Like, I don't think the author is being malicious, i think he's trying to be inclusive, he's just got a really weak grasp of trans stuff for a guy writing in 2020 and I feel like someone at some point in the publication process should have checked best practice when using pronouns to refer to trans people.
hippocapybara's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
It was a fantastic idea to rewrite folk tales with queer characters, but the collection is not especially well written.
mscoleman's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
onleesbaar's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
3.75
mitropoulos's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Death
Minor: Dysphoria, Body horror, and Deadnaming