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sleepswimming_selkie's review
Too much sex and violence, bad writing, boring plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, and Child abuse
ethoslost's review
5.0
Fantastic collection of stories! These retellings of well known fairy tales and folklore themes are familiar yet intriguingly new. Each author added an element of originality to these beloved tales. I particularly loved After Push Comes to Shove and The Fox Wife.
books_n_pickles's review
4.0
Short/nonexistent reviews because I'm in school and have no time. (Except on my commutes, which is when I'm reading all of these.)
Favorites from this collection:
Summer Wind, by Nancy Kress. Man this take on Sleeping Beauty was a thing of beauty in its own right. Gorgeous writing, ponderous depths. I read it three times.
The Emperor Who Had Never Seen a Dragon, by John Brunner. One of the few set in a non-European-inspired culture. Loved the twist on The Emperor's New Clothes!
The Real Princess, by Susan Palwick. A dark take on The Princess and the Pea with my kind of twist at the end. I'll say no more to avoid spoilers. Read it twice.
After Push Comes to Shove, by Milbre Burch. I was delighted to find poetry scattered through the stories. This one is from the perspective of the witch in Hansel and Gretel.
The Fox Wife, by Ellen Steiber. Another (the only other?) non-European-esque fairy tale. This one felt a little more original, based on a legend than an actual story, but it's very possible that's only because I'm not familiar with Japanese folklore. More like a novella.
The White Road, by Neil Gaiman. To be fair, I knew he was in here, so I was avoiding looking at the authors until after I'd read the stories. But really, no one should be surprised. Another one of my kinds of twists, further empowering--and interest-i-fying--women who, unusually, were already somewhat empowered in the original story.
The Printer's Daughter, by Delia Sherman. Because what book-lover can't appreciate a person made out of books? Another one I read twice.
Favorites from this collection:
Summer Wind, by Nancy Kress. Man this take on Sleeping Beauty was a thing of beauty in its own right. Gorgeous writing, ponderous depths. I read it three times.
The Emperor Who Had Never Seen a Dragon, by John Brunner. One of the few set in a non-European-inspired culture. Loved the twist on The Emperor's New Clothes!
The Real Princess, by Susan Palwick. A dark take on The Princess and the Pea with my kind of twist at the end. I'll say no more to avoid spoilers. Read it twice.
After Push Comes to Shove, by Milbre Burch. I was delighted to find poetry scattered through the stories. This one is from the perspective of the witch in Hansel and Gretel.
The Fox Wife, by Ellen Steiber. Another (the only other?) non-European-esque fairy tale. This one felt a little more original, based on a legend than an actual story, but it's very possible that's only because I'm not familiar with Japanese folklore. More like a novella.
The White Road, by Neil Gaiman. To be fair, I knew he was in here, so I was avoiding looking at the authors until after I'd read the stories. But really, no one should be surprised. Another one of my kinds of twists, further empowering--and interest-i-fying--women who, unusually, were already somewhat empowered in the original story.
The Printer's Daughter, by Delia Sherman. Because what book-lover can't appreciate a person made out of books? Another one I read twice.
himissjulie's review against another edition
4.0
These short stories--all riffs on classic fairy tales--are like the literary equivalent of eating some good dark chocolate. It tastes so good, but don't indulge in too much all at once. Yeah, I just did the food as book metaphor. So there.
duplica123's review against another edition
3.0
It was an interesting mix, but none of the stories really stood out to me.
The end had an "About the editors" section with photos and interesting biographies about Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, so that was a fun bonus to read.
The end had an "About the editors" section with photos and interesting biographies about Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, so that was a fun bonus to read.
emtobiasz's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of decidedly adult retellings of fairy tales and legends. I appreciated the mix of settings (present-day, historical, fantastic, futuristic, American, European, Chinese, Japanese, Russian) and many of the tales were interesting takes on familiar stories. Still, I got into fairy tale retellings through more recent YA books (think Ella Enchanted and the Once Upon a Time series), and so the sex, violence (especially sexual violence), and overt gender politics shocked me at first. Course, then I remembered how omnipresent these issues were in so many pre-Victorian versions of folk tales, so it's only fair. Several of the stories in the book (published mid-90s) felt a bit dated, too-- personally, besides being turned off by its rape scenes, I didn't think "Match Girl" aged well. The mother-goddess redemption-of-women language reminded me of Robin McKinley's Deerskin, another retelling that got stuck in feminism's second wave. Still, if these kinds of stories help even one abuse survivor, who am I to judge?
Favorites: "The Fox Wife" by Ellen Steiber and "The Printer's Daughter" by Delia Sherman
Favorites: "The Fox Wife" by Ellen Steiber and "The Printer's Daughter" by Delia Sherman
reader44ever's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
Incredibly fun and entertaining stories! I love this series of re-imagined fairy tales for adults. :-)
Incredibly fun and entertaining stories! I love this series of re-imagined fairy tales for adults. :-)
eoppelt's review against another edition
4.0
As with most short story collections this one had some hits and some misses. But overall an interesting collection.
kesterbird's review against another edition
2.0
It's just a really spotty anthology. Some of the stories are pretty great, many are ok, a few make one wonder why they're getting published at all.
himissjulie's review
4.0
These short stories--all riffs on classic fairy tales--are like the literary equivalent of eating some good dark chocolate. It tastes so good, but don't indulge in too much all at once. Yeah, I just did the food as book metaphor. So there.