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discomagpie's review
5.0
I gave this book 4.5/5 stars on InsatiableBooksluts.com (A digital ARC was provided by Candlemark and Gleam.)
Review excerpt:
"Series could be called–and, I guess, will be called, as I’m calling it that right now–adult fairy tales. Not the Disneyesque idea of a fairy tale, where everyone is a princess, a prince, or a witch, and everything is wrapped up in the happily ever after; nor, I’d say, a story à la Brothers Grimm, dark and twisted and often tragic. Rather, these stories about ordinary people finding themselves in magical circumstances bring Lewis Carroll’s [b:Alice in Wonderland|13023|Alice in Wonderland|Lewis Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166512952s/13023.jpg|2933712] to mind. (Stevie Carroll, Lewis Carroll–happy coincidence?) The stories range from sweet to sinister, all teeming with jittery undercurrents; reading Series feels a bit like walking past a cemetery at the stroke of midnight. You hold your breath and listen to your heart pound; you giggle like a loon when you’ve made it just past.
The stories center around fantastic events woven seamlessly into the fabric of our reality: a temp worker battles a dragon; a lottery winner encounters a minotaur; a grieving woman hatches a mysterious creature. The stories are set mainly in England, in cozy villages and towns where people never seem to shop at mega-marts; modern technology, while not conspicuously absent, fades into the background. Carroll’s lovely characters and their peculiar circumstances come sharply into focus without the competition of hyperrealistic elements that might distract from the fantasy. We recognize their world as our own, but blurred just a tad. Just enough to let our imaginations follow Carroll down secret paths we wouldn’t have noticed otherwise."
Read the full review on our site.
Review excerpt:
"Series could be called–and, I guess, will be called, as I’m calling it that right now–adult fairy tales. Not the Disneyesque idea of a fairy tale, where everyone is a princess, a prince, or a witch, and everything is wrapped up in the happily ever after; nor, I’d say, a story à la Brothers Grimm, dark and twisted and often tragic. Rather, these stories about ordinary people finding themselves in magical circumstances bring Lewis Carroll’s [b:Alice in Wonderland|13023|Alice in Wonderland|Lewis Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166512952s/13023.jpg|2933712] to mind. (Stevie Carroll, Lewis Carroll–happy coincidence?) The stories range from sweet to sinister, all teeming with jittery undercurrents; reading Series feels a bit like walking past a cemetery at the stroke of midnight. You hold your breath and listen to your heart pound; you giggle like a loon when you’ve made it just past.
The stories center around fantastic events woven seamlessly into the fabric of our reality: a temp worker battles a dragon; a lottery winner encounters a minotaur; a grieving woman hatches a mysterious creature. The stories are set mainly in England, in cozy villages and towns where people never seem to shop at mega-marts; modern technology, while not conspicuously absent, fades into the background. Carroll’s lovely characters and their peculiar circumstances come sharply into focus without the competition of hyperrealistic elements that might distract from the fantasy. We recognize their world as our own, but blurred just a tad. Just enough to let our imaginations follow Carroll down secret paths we wouldn’t have noticed otherwise."
Read the full review on our site.
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