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A review by hollowspine
Fat & Bones: And Other Stories by Larissa Theule
4.0
When I got this in audio I thought that it was a children’s book, I was thinking grades 4-6 or so, but having read it I would say that 6-12 would be a more appropriate age range and even then, parents may balk and children may squeam at the bloodiness and cruelty of the stories. The book is a collection of interwoven stories surrounding one event. Mr. Bald dies and this finally frees two enemies, his son Bones and the fairy Fat, to fight to the death. The two face off and their resulting scuffle takes a toll on the entire farm, from the flowers, to the mice, pigs, cat and dog. Everyone has a story and most of them are fairly dark.
Weaving in and out of the initial story we have other narratives all happening in conjunction and sometimes causing a domino effect. Bones wants pig foot stew for dinner and thus there is a story about the pigs, only one of whom still retains all her feet. A story of jealousy and ultimately redemption follows as the farmer’s wife comes out to collect the pigs foot. Each story is like that, something that links it to the overall story of the day of the showdown between Fat & Bones and something that links love to bad advice or anger to being stomped into the dirt, or self-sacrifice to peace...etc.
The tone reminded me a lot of the graphic novel Beautiful Darkness, which was also a dark depiction of childhood fairy stories. Ok, I’m geeking myself here (like aging only with geekiness) but for those who’ve played the RPG Fairy Meat, this book reads a like a game of Fairy Meat with Grimm’s tales tossed in.
Weaving in and out of the initial story we have other narratives all happening in conjunction and sometimes causing a domino effect. Bones wants pig foot stew for dinner and thus there is a story about the pigs, only one of whom still retains all her feet. A story of jealousy and ultimately redemption follows as the farmer’s wife comes out to collect the pigs foot. Each story is like that, something that links it to the overall story of the day of the showdown between Fat & Bones and something that links love to bad advice or anger to being stomped into the dirt, or self-sacrifice to peace...etc.
The tone reminded me a lot of the graphic novel Beautiful Darkness, which was also a dark depiction of childhood fairy stories. Ok, I’m geeking myself here (like aging only with geekiness) but for those who’ve played the RPG Fairy Meat, this book reads a like a game of Fairy Meat with Grimm’s tales tossed in.