Reviews

How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen, Marissa Meyer

erintowner's review against another edition

4.0

I read more short story collections in 2018 than during any other year of my life thus far. Most of them were underwhelming. Among those underwhelming short story collections was The Merry Spinster by Daniel Ortberg which got good reviews but was disappointing. So good to have the short story, especially the fairy tale retelling, redeemed for me by the master Jane Yolen. Some of the poems at the end of the book were enjoyable as well. My least favorite tales in this collection were the ones to do with religious source material. My favorite stories were "The Undine", "Mama Gone", "One Old Man, With Seals", "Sleeping Ugly", and "Happy Dens or A Day at the Old Wolves' Home". "The Gwynhfar" made me think. Overall I highly recommend this anthology to fans of good writing, clever plots, and folktales.

alex_pedrianes's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

kleonard's review against another edition

1.0

Jane Yolen is, as many know, an award-winning and oft-hailed writer of fantasy. However, her work has never stuck with me much, and I wanted to read this collection, which includes work from throughout her career and author's notes on each story, as well as a poem for each story, to try to figure out why. Having read the book, I find her work rather dated and stuck in a 1970s ethos of second-wave feminism, and where she tries for inclusivity--borrowing Appalachian speech patterns and the like--her work comes off as being appropriative. I think it's also aimed for readers we don't really have anymore: young readers who have never heard a fairy tale from the "villain's" POV; readers to whom the hint of sex is titillating, and who only know the cliches of heternormativity; readers who have grown up with characters and plots more sophisticated than what Yolen delivers. I wanted to find stories here that really stood out, that I could recommend to young readers and even older or more experienced readers who like subversions of the norm, but Yolen's writing is prosaic and dull, the issues she deals with are old and tired, and there's unfortunately little magic to be found here.

emilyrandolph_epstein's review against another edition

4.0

A collection of short stories and poems inspired by various fairy tales and myths. Some of the stories were lovely and poignant, but some didn't touch me. Although, I'm now inspired to work on my own fairy tale fractures.

knittyreader's review against another edition

4.0

A story book full of fairy tales. It's great! But not just fairy tales, they're fractured, different, twisted.

Most of the tales I loved. Some of them were not my cup of tea, but that's only to be expected with such an amount of them. I did very much like the twist given to them though, which made them all original and sometimes strange. This could be one of the reasons I liked the tales I already knew best, because the twist was more clear to me.

I think I will never be able to read or hear Rumpelstiltskin the same way ever again.

I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

im211's review against another edition

4.0

This is a collection of tales ranging from humorous to even the shadowest ones. I loved quite a few of them, and si=ome I didn't really connect with and the rest I admit I lost my flare for fairytales by then so I just let them go...But that by no means is an indicator that this anything short of an entertaining, fun and memorable book but it's not the one you'll enjoy in one sitting but rather in between your normal reading days or even during a slump!

franklyfrank's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-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

3.75

jacsu's review against another edition

5.0

Spectacular! Wonderful! Thought provoking!

Read my full review here: https://readingasfastasica.wixsite.com/home/review-how-to-fracture-a-fairy-tale

belellcollins's review against another edition

5.0

This collection of twisted fairy tales was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Unique and inventive with a touch of the stories I've heard retold again and again. There is something to be said for the ability to twist stories so well known and this collection makes it clear why Jane Yolen is considered to be one of the best! I enjoyed both the stories rooted in beloved stories and the ones I had no knowledge of. This is the perfect addition to any fairy tale lover's collection.

someonetookit's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this anthology of reworked fairytales.

While I could recognise the majority of tales within, each story is unique from the original. Dependant on the story in question, some make subtle nods while others tell the fairytales from a different point of view.

I feel like Happy Dens, Sliding Sideways Through Eternity and The Bridge's Complaint were my favourite but most others were enjoyable as well.

I found the explanations of how each was rewritten at the end of the book to be insightful as i find the whole process rather genius no matter the author. As an added bonus, the foreword is written by Marissa Meyer, a master of the twisted tale herself.

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel from Netgalley and the publisher. All opinions contained within are that of the author and have in no way been influenced by the publisher or its affiliates.