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tanouska's review against another edition
4.0
I liked how many of the stories were recognizable as the famous fairytales I read and listened to when I grew up, but that they were different enough to keep them interesting.
I also enjoyed how they went from set in 'medieval'-ish times, to modern day and even sci-fi settings, it kept it interesting and diverse :D
I also enjoyed how they went from set in 'medieval'-ish times, to modern day and even sci-fi settings, it kept it interesting and diverse :D
manon2g's review against another edition
3.0
To be fair, I got this book because my friend authored one of the stories - I'm not involved in the ace community whatsoever and probably wouldn't have read the book otherwise, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I felt some of the stories ended a bit abruptly or could have used more subtle wordings for certain concepts (I agree with another reviewer that notions like 'validity' or 'attraction' don't fit into this type of writing), and I spotted quite a few typos... But it was great to read fairy tales, modern as well as ancient, from a different perspective than what I'm used to. I especially liked 'Handsome and the Beast', 'Expectations' and 'Match Sticks'.
hedgehog_o_brien's review against another edition
3.0
A bit of a mixed bag, as with all short story anthologies. Some of them definitely used a language that was 'too modern' for a fairytale (you are valid is a nice sentiment, but not when it's uttered by Rumpelstiltskin), others were interesting but far too short to be satisfying. Still, a quick and nice read all in all.
candidceillie's review against another edition
3.0
Some of these stories I loved, some I didn't, but it was a good collection.
claire_luna's review against another edition
4.0
This book was incredibly hard to rate, because there were stories I absolutely loved, while I didn't enjoy others much. I felt that overall, there was a lot of telling vs showing going on, which often disrupted my immersion. That said, I think books like this, that very deliberately retell common stories in unique, diverse ways are incredibly important, which is why, overall, I feel okay giving this 4 stars. I also know that others have enjoyed it a lot more, and I believe it's great to get literature like this out into the world.
annalisaely's review
4.0
As is common with anthologies, this is a mixed bag. Some of the retellings were very creative and took interesting and sometimes humorous twists on the classic stories (I'm looking at you, Goldilocks and the Three "Bears") while some were just the exact story we are familiar with but with a lgbtqpa+ ending. I would say about 60% are aspec while the rest include polyamory, gays, lesbians, and trans people. I really liked how the stories are drawn from a number of different cultures, and I think my favorite was a Chinese fairy tale retelling about a dragon-slaying lesbian.
actualspinster's review
4.0
the last few tales i didnt enjoy very much, but some of these stories were lovely!!
tapsandtomes's review
4.0
These are the fairy tales we should have all grown up with–where we a prince might climb a tower to save the princess, but then she is given the choice to go with him…or the daring woman who swoops in to maybe save them both. And maybe that prince just stays and hangs out with all those books that princess left because HECK YES I WANT TO STAY IN THE TOWER BY MYSELF! HEAVEN!
Ok, that might have been a spoiler for one of the stories. Oops. But you catch on pretty quick to the theme once you get going. All of them are pretty delightful. These are worlds where the bad guys are those who hate and try to stomp on people for who they are. Wouldn’t that be nice if that were true in real life, too?
And even though this is a book written by some super Creative Aces–don’t think there isn’t love. There is all kinds of romantic acceptance in this book–just not the sexy stuff we see so much of these days. Every story is full of whimsy and happiness, but also the morals that are the intended purpose of fairy tales, after all. You’ll recognize a lot of them, and maybe find a few new ones along the way. I think my favorite was the one about Matchstick Girl. Come back and let me know your fave, after you read these.
Ok, that might have been a spoiler for one of the stories. Oops. But you catch on pretty quick to the theme once you get going. All of them are pretty delightful. These are worlds where the bad guys are those who hate and try to stomp on people for who they are. Wouldn’t that be nice if that were true in real life, too?
And even though this is a book written by some super Creative Aces–don’t think there isn’t love. There is all kinds of romantic acceptance in this book–just not the sexy stuff we see so much of these days. Every story is full of whimsy and happiness, but also the morals that are the intended purpose of fairy tales, after all. You’ll recognize a lot of them, and maybe find a few new ones along the way. I think my favorite was the one about Matchstick Girl. Come back and let me know your fave, after you read these.
theknightswhosaybook's review
3.0
As with any anthology, the fact that I didn't love all stories equally must be considered here. I felt like some of them just didn't bring anything new to the classic stories they were telling— the main character being ace, gay, or trans, yes, but besides that they didn't really add much. And one story was very original but just plain confusing. But there were some really great stories as well, such as Brenna, the Match Girl, and the Peter Pan retelling. All in all it was an easy, positive read, with good intentions, even if not all the stories lived up to their purpose.
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