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A review by postitsandpens
Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes by Georgia McBride, Michelle Zink
3.0
3.5/5 stars.
Before I get started, I want to preface this by saying that I tend to be an enormous fan of retellings. Combine that with the fact that I am teaching nursery rhymes throughout this school year to my first graders, and it's pretty much guaranteed that I was going to enjoy this book. Like most anthologies this one has its high and low points, but for the most part I'd rate the stories included in my e-galley 3 stars or above, with just a couple of exceptions. I'm not going to go into major detail on each of the individual stories, however; if you want to see my thoughts on most of the stories I read, please checkout my status updates.
Just as a heads-up as well, my e-galley didn't include all of the stories that are found in the completed version, so I can't make any comments regarding Interlude: Humpty Dumpty, one of the versions of Sea of Dew, and The Lion and the Unicorn: Part the Second. All of the other stories, however, were included, and I did read all of them.
For me, in order to be a good retelling, you have to be able to see the original sourcework somewhere in the story. Because of this, some of the tales fell a bit flat for me, particularly if it was about a nursery rhyme I was familiar with. It was for this reason alone that Blue was not one that I particularly enjoyed. It was simply too confusing and not explained terribly well. On the other hand, Sing A Song of Six Pence and Wee Willie Winkie were extraordinarily well done. Other highlights for me included Tick Tock (fabulously creepy!) and I Come Bearing Souls (I am not ashamed to admit that I loved this one simply because it included Egyptian Mythology). And then you had Life In A Shoe, which was simply too short; it needed a lot more to allow for the necessary world-building, and ended too abruptly.
All in all, Two and Twenty Dark Tales was a solid anthology with some true gems. If you enjoy retellings - particularly of the creepy variety - you would most likely find at least a handful of stories in this collection to entertain you. I know it certainly made me look at some of the nursery rhymes a little differently!
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
***
To see more of my reviews, please visit me @ Read and Reviewed!
Before I get started, I want to preface this by saying that I tend to be an enormous fan of retellings. Combine that with the fact that I am teaching nursery rhymes throughout this school year to my first graders, and it's pretty much guaranteed that I was going to enjoy this book. Like most anthologies this one has its high and low points, but for the most part I'd rate the stories included in my e-galley 3 stars or above, with just a couple of exceptions. I'm not going to go into major detail on each of the individual stories, however; if you want to see my thoughts on most of the stories I read, please checkout my status updates.
Just as a heads-up as well, my e-galley didn't include all of the stories that are found in the completed version, so I can't make any comments regarding Interlude: Humpty Dumpty, one of the versions of Sea of Dew, and The Lion and the Unicorn: Part the Second. All of the other stories, however, were included, and I did read all of them.
For me, in order to be a good retelling, you have to be able to see the original sourcework somewhere in the story. Because of this, some of the tales fell a bit flat for me, particularly if it was about a nursery rhyme I was familiar with. It was for this reason alone that Blue was not one that I particularly enjoyed. It was simply too confusing and not explained terribly well. On the other hand, Sing A Song of Six Pence and Wee Willie Winkie were extraordinarily well done. Other highlights for me included Tick Tock (fabulously creepy!) and I Come Bearing Souls (I am not ashamed to admit that I loved this one simply because it included Egyptian Mythology). And then you had Life In A Shoe, which was simply too short; it needed a lot more to allow for the necessary world-building, and ended too abruptly.
All in all, Two and Twenty Dark Tales was a solid anthology with some true gems. If you enjoy retellings - particularly of the creepy variety - you would most likely find at least a handful of stories in this collection to entertain you. I know it certainly made me look at some of the nursery rhymes a little differently!
An e-galley was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
***
To see more of my reviews, please visit me @ Read and Reviewed!