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tessla's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
deedoo's review against another edition
2.0
There were only a handful of stories that were readable in my opinion. Spinning a Yarn, How I Came to Marry a Herpetologist, True Love, Gilly the Goose Girl, and Baron Boscov's Bastard.
Fifi's Tail could have been good but they tried to cram in every fairy tale.
The Beanstalk Incident was ok too.
Now that I think about it, there were just some really really bad ones that ruined the bunch for me.
Fifi's Tail could have been good but they tried to cram in every fairy tale.
The Beanstalk Incident was ok too.
Now that I think about it, there were just some really really bad ones that ruined the bunch for me.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Includes several good stories. The best one being "True Love", a tale about Prince Charming and his brides.
misreadmeg's review against another edition
2.0
As with all short story collections, I really liked some, really hated some, and the rest were somewhere in between. My average rating for the book as a whole was 3 stars, but I decided to go with an "It's okay" rating of 2 stars because of the repetitive stories. There was not enough variety in the retellings, with 2 of the 18 being about finding Rumpelstiltskin's name, and 3 being about how Jack (of the Beanstalk variety) is a murderous piece of crap. Of those three stories, two were set in a court room. Beyond that, the seven dwarves and Hansel and Grethel show up A LOT. There should have been more thought given to the overall composition of the collection to avoid this. It became tiresome reading about the same set of characters in different ways. There are more than enough fairy tales out there to avoid any sort of overlap at all.
The stories I most enjoyed were How I Came to Marry a Herpetologist, Gilly the Goose Girl, and Baron Boscov's Bastard. I absolutely hated Wolf at the Door and The Emperor's New (and Improved) Clothes.
The stories I most enjoyed were How I Came to Marry a Herpetologist, Gilly the Goose Girl, and Baron Boscov's Bastard. I absolutely hated Wolf at the Door and The Emperor's New (and Improved) Clothes.
albatrossonhalfpointe's review against another edition
2.0
"Slay the dragon... Find the treasure... Marry the princess... That's what fairy tales are all about -- or are they? What if the dragons, the princesses, the big bad wolves, the giants, and all the other characters -- good and bad alike -- got to tell their side of the story? Well, here's your chance to find out, as some of today's finest fantasy weavers -- such master crafters as Jody Lynn Nye, Josepha Sherman, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Nancy Springer, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Jane Lindskold, and Esther Friesner -- give classic stories a brand-new spin.
From the lawsuit brought against Jack -- of beanstalk fame -- by the giant's grieving widow... to Rapunzel's self-instituted escape from her tower prison... to a princess who'd rather be a goose girl than marry a prince... to the story that only began after the bear found Goldilocks in his bed... Now you can learn the other side of the stories -- and discover whether anyone did get to live happily ever after!"
I picked it because it seemed cute, but I have to admit that "other side" stories of faeri tales are kind of overdone. That said, some of the stories in here were really cute, or really sweet. The one about Prince Charming and his many loves was pretty funny. A story with Red Riding Hood's sweetheart trying to save her but being too late was surprisingly sad. Cinderella running off with another servant instead of the prince was a cute one. And the frog prince and his bride trying to fend of ridiculous lawsuits was quite humourous.
It would have been kind of neat to see a little more awareness of other stories within each one. What I mean by that is that in a way, they all seemed like they were taking place around the same Enchanted Forest, and periodically, the paths of the characters in one story would cross the paths of characters from some other story. But never in any related way to any of the other stories actually in this book, if that makes any sense. For example, a PI trying to find Rumplestiltskin's name discovers that R only wanted the princess's firstborn because he and his wife couldn't have kids of their own, so when the PI finds Hansel and Gretel abandoned in the forest, he brings them to the Rs, who adopt them. But there are other stories in the book, about both R and H&G. So it just would have been neat if any mention in passing of a character form another faeri tale actually corresponded with the details of the story about that character.
Of course, in order to do that, the editor would have had to make sure there was only one story about each tale, rather than just letting each author pick the one they wanted, regardless of what others were writing. Certain characters were mentioned in various ways in several stories, and there were two stories actually about the finding of Rumplestiltskin's name -- although at least those were from different angles. I do have to seriously question the editor's decision to include not two, but THREE tellings of the story of how Jack is not a hero, he's a horrible murderous thief who climbs the beanstalk and completely abuses the hospitality of the peaceful and friendly giant family. If you're going to allow three stories about Jack, they should at least be different. By the third, it was really quite tedious.
But all in all, it was a nice fluffy read.
From the lawsuit brought against Jack -- of beanstalk fame -- by the giant's grieving widow... to Rapunzel's self-instituted escape from her tower prison... to a princess who'd rather be a goose girl than marry a prince... to the story that only began after the bear found Goldilocks in his bed... Now you can learn the other side of the stories -- and discover whether anyone did get to live happily ever after!"
I picked it because it seemed cute, but I have to admit that "other side" stories of faeri tales are kind of overdone. That said, some of the stories in here were really cute, or really sweet. The one about Prince Charming and his many loves was pretty funny. A story with Red Riding Hood's sweetheart trying to save her but being too late was surprisingly sad. Cinderella running off with another servant instead of the prince was a cute one. And the frog prince and his bride trying to fend of ridiculous lawsuits was quite humourous.
It would have been kind of neat to see a little more awareness of other stories within each one. What I mean by that is that in a way, they all seemed like they were taking place around the same Enchanted Forest, and periodically, the paths of the characters in one story would cross the paths of characters from some other story. But never in any related way to any of the other stories actually in this book, if that makes any sense. For example, a PI trying to find Rumplestiltskin's name discovers that R only wanted the princess's firstborn because he and his wife couldn't have kids of their own, so when the PI finds Hansel and Gretel abandoned in the forest, he brings them to the Rs, who adopt them. But there are other stories in the book, about both R and H&G. So it just would have been neat if any mention in passing of a character form another faeri tale actually corresponded with the details of the story about that character.
Of course, in order to do that, the editor would have had to make sure there was only one story about each tale, rather than just letting each author pick the one they wanted, regardless of what others were writing. Certain characters were mentioned in various ways in several stories, and there were two stories actually about the finding of Rumplestiltskin's name -- although at least those were from different angles. I do have to seriously question the editor's decision to include not two, but THREE tellings of the story of how Jack is not a hero, he's a horrible murderous thief who climbs the beanstalk and completely abuses the hospitality of the peaceful and friendly giant family. If you're going to allow three stories about Jack, they should at least be different. By the third, it was really quite tedious.
But all in all, it was a nice fluffy read.
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