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secondhandpages's review against another edition
4.0
I have to start with the forward (introduction). Meyers is a Queen in her own right, and reading her intro to the stories was a pleasant, easy read that made me even more eager to jump into the collection.
Over all, I really enjoyed the collection. Yolen's stories were well thought out. It was a collection of stories, most easily identifiable, with each story not exactly as it should be. I expected each story to be based on a different tale, much like a typical collection of fairy tales, but that is not the case. While there truly are about a thousand different ways you can spin the story of Cinderella, the repetitive nature of those types of stories did bog down the global feel of the book. Several times I felt like I was reading something I'd already read, simply because the basis was the same. This could be because I read them all in one sitting. Maybe if broken up over the course of a few days, it would not have seemed redundant.
ALL THAT ASIDE.... These stories. WOW. The original ideas were flowing, the metaphors were strong, and the puns -- yes I picked up on puns -- were spot on. Yolen took tales that we thought we knew and shed new light onto them. From a stepmother swallow up by the earth, to a Godmother that decided who lived and who died - there is literally something for everyone. The characters were well written and dynamic, even in such a short amount of characters. Each story created it's own world, a distinct place - different from the last. It was beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Each story gave me a shred of hope, and many yanked that hope and drug it deep down into the belly of hell. I could not get enough of this collection, and I was telling people about specific stories (Particularly Godmother Death) for weeks afterwards.
Yolen's brilliant use of analog and world building left me breathless, and some times in awe of the investment I'd made in such a short time. While I have read some complaints of works going over reader's heads, I found that not as true for me. There were some that really made me think about what Yolen was saying, but over all - I felt like the stories connected solidly. I loved that there was an index of notes about each story in the back of the book. This was immensely helpful when sorting out my own feelings about each story.
I give this collection a 4/5 stars! I did not care for the repetition, and I do want to warn people that it is not sunshine and rainbows. Some of this is dark, and twisted. But, if this is your thing **It's totally mine!**, then dive in and enjoy!!
Over all, I really enjoyed the collection. Yolen's stories were well thought out. It was a collection of stories, most easily identifiable, with each story not exactly as it should be. I expected each story to be based on a different tale, much like a typical collection of fairy tales, but that is not the case. While there truly are about a thousand different ways you can spin the story of Cinderella, the repetitive nature of those types of stories did bog down the global feel of the book. Several times I felt like I was reading something I'd already read, simply because the basis was the same. This could be because I read them all in one sitting. Maybe if broken up over the course of a few days, it would not have seemed redundant.
ALL THAT ASIDE.... These stories. WOW. The original ideas were flowing, the metaphors were strong, and the puns -- yes I picked up on puns -- were spot on. Yolen took tales that we thought we knew and shed new light onto them. From a stepmother swallow up by the earth, to a Godmother that decided who lived and who died - there is literally something for everyone. The characters were well written and dynamic, even in such a short amount of characters. Each story created it's own world, a distinct place - different from the last. It was beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Each story gave me a shred of hope, and many yanked that hope and drug it deep down into the belly of hell. I could not get enough of this collection, and I was telling people about specific stories (Particularly Godmother Death) for weeks afterwards.
Yolen's brilliant use of analog and world building left me breathless, and some times in awe of the investment I'd made in such a short time. While I have read some complaints of works going over reader's heads, I found that not as true for me. There were some that really made me think about what Yolen was saying, but over all - I felt like the stories connected solidly. I loved that there was an index of notes about each story in the back of the book. This was immensely helpful when sorting out my own feelings about each story.
I give this collection a 4/5 stars! I did not care for the repetition, and I do want to warn people that it is not sunshine and rainbows. Some of this is dark, and twisted. But, if this is your thing **It's totally mine!**, then dive in and enjoy!!
ceena's review against another edition
3.0
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Fairy tales!
I absolutely love fairy tales and reading how people retell them or "fracture" them into different versions. I actually picked this book up because I recognized the author's name from picture books (that's just my life as a Children's Librarian), and wanted to see which tales she would pick and how they would be fractured.
I will say I was surprised at how many tales are featured! The last fairy tale type book I read was Language of Thorns which has longer tales, but just a few. This book has a different take with them being more fairy tale-like than full stories. Some make sense, some almost prompt an immediate re-read to more fully understand, and others were just a bit too out there for me.
These are not your children's fairy tales. Some of them are pretty intense. Others you might be able to read to your children but they might not understand the morals or what actually happened in the stories.
Ones I really liked:
Snow in Summer
The Bridge's Complaint
The Moon Ribbon
Happy Dens
One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King
Brother Hart
One Old Man, with Seals
Sleeping Ugly
Great-Grandfather Dragon’s Tale
Cinder Elephant
--These tended to be longer ones because that is the style I like.
Most of the stories featured are bittersweet, you've got to realize that going in. There are also fairy tales fractures from outside the Western world, as well as some Jewish ones or takes of tales, which gives it a nice diversity. Honestly, I found myself thinking "wow, why so religious??" then realized how religious some stories are and I just never thought about it before because of my own privilege! Learn something new every day...
After the tales, there is a section with explanations about the tales--either how they came about and/or why they were included. This section includes poems that go along with the tale's theme or as a companion piece. I'm not big on poetry, but some were pretty nice. Just... by the time I hit the poems I was already feeling melancholy. Life is cruel...
Do I recommend this? If you like fairy tales and seeing different versions of them, you should really check this out. I'd also recommend this one to people looking for fairy tale inspired poems.
Fairy tales!
I absolutely love fairy tales and reading how people retell them or "fracture" them into different versions. I actually picked this book up because I recognized the author's name from picture books (that's just my life as a Children's Librarian), and wanted to see which tales she would pick and how they would be fractured.
I will say I was surprised at how many tales are featured! The last fairy tale type book I read was Language of Thorns which has longer tales, but just a few. This book has a different take with them being more fairy tale-like than full stories. Some make sense, some almost prompt an immediate re-read to more fully understand, and others were just a bit too out there for me.
These are not your children's fairy tales. Some of them are pretty intense. Others you might be able to read to your children but they might not understand the morals or what actually happened in the stories.
Ones I really liked:
Snow in Summer
The Bridge's Complaint
The Moon Ribbon
Happy Dens
One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King
Brother Hart
One Old Man, with Seals
Sleeping Ugly
Great-Grandfather Dragon’s Tale
Cinder Elephant
--These tended to be longer ones because that is the style I like.
Most of the stories featured are bittersweet, you've got to realize that going in. There are also fairy tales fractures from outside the Western world, as well as some Jewish ones or takes of tales, which gives it a nice diversity. Honestly, I found myself thinking "wow, why so religious??" then realized how religious some stories are and I just never thought about it before because of my own privilege! Learn something new every day...
After the tales, there is a section with explanations about the tales--either how they came about and/or why they were included. This section includes poems that go along with the tale's theme or as a companion piece. I'm not big on poetry, but some were pretty nice. Just... by the time I hit the poems I was already feeling melancholy. Life is cruel...
Do I recommend this? If you like fairy tales and seeing different versions of them, you should really check this out. I'd also recommend this one to people looking for fairy tale inspired poems.
narteest's review against another edition
4.0
Many thanks to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for this copy, the review below is my honest opinion.
I've never read a fractured fairytale collection by Jane Yolen before and I find it to be a very interesting collection. It's order throws me a little but I like the way she's given a new fractured spin to familiar fairytales. I spotted at least 3 different cinderella fractures, all very interesting. If I had to name a favourite from this collection, however, it would be the story of One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King.
I've never read a fractured fairytale collection by Jane Yolen before and I find it to be a very interesting collection. It's order throws me a little but I like the way she's given a new fractured spin to familiar fairytales. I spotted at least 3 different cinderella fractures, all very interesting. If I had to name a favourite from this collection, however, it would be the story of One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King.
luna_bear's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
lizzycatslibrary's review against another edition
3.0
This book was achingly slow for me. Many of the stories I dragged through while others were simply fantastic. I got to the end only to discover an entire section written about the inspiration and pieces of each story. I wish I had known about this as I would have followed it for each short story. I feel it would have added greatly to my experience if I had read it in sync with the short stories. Overall 3 stars.
erintowner's review against another edition
4.0
I read more short story collections in 2018 than during any other year of my life thus far. Most of them were underwhelming. Among those underwhelming short story collections was The Merry Spinster by Daniel Ortberg which got good reviews but was disappointing. So good to have the short story, especially the fairy tale retelling, redeemed for me by the master Jane Yolen. Some of the poems at the end of the book were enjoyable as well. My least favorite tales in this collection were the ones to do with religious source material. My favorite stories were "The Undine", "Mama Gone", "One Old Man, With Seals", "Sleeping Ugly", and "Happy Dens or A Day at the Old Wolves' Home". "The Gwynhfar" made me think. Overall I highly recommend this anthology to fans of good writing, clever plots, and folktales.
alex_pedrianes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
kleonard's review against another edition
1.0
Jane Yolen is, as many know, an award-winning and oft-hailed writer of fantasy. However, her work has never stuck with me much, and I wanted to read this collection, which includes work from throughout her career and author's notes on each story, as well as a poem for each story, to try to figure out why. Having read the book, I find her work rather dated and stuck in a 1970s ethos of second-wave feminism, and where she tries for inclusivity--borrowing Appalachian speech patterns and the like--her work comes off as being appropriative. I think it's also aimed for readers we don't really have anymore: young readers who have never heard a fairy tale from the "villain's" POV; readers to whom the hint of sex is titillating, and who only know the cliches of heternormativity; readers who have grown up with characters and plots more sophisticated than what Yolen delivers. I wanted to find stories here that really stood out, that I could recommend to young readers and even older or more experienced readers who like subversions of the norm, but Yolen's writing is prosaic and dull, the issues she deals with are old and tired, and there's unfortunately little magic to be found here.
emilyrandolph_epstein's review against another edition
4.0
A collection of short stories and poems inspired by various fairy tales and myths. Some of the stories were lovely and poignant, but some didn't touch me. Although, I'm now inspired to work on my own fairy tale fractures.
knittyreader's review against another edition
4.0
A story book full of fairy tales. It's great! But not just fairy tales, they're fractured, different, twisted.
Most of the tales I loved. Some of them were not my cup of tea, but that's only to be expected with such an amount of them. I did very much like the twist given to them though, which made them all original and sometimes strange. This could be one of the reasons I liked the tales I already knew best, because the twist was more clear to me.
I think I will never be able to read or hear Rumpelstiltskin the same way ever again.
I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Most of the tales I loved. Some of them were not my cup of tea, but that's only to be expected with such an amount of them. I did very much like the twist given to them though, which made them all original and sometimes strange. This could be one of the reasons I liked the tales I already knew best, because the twist was more clear to me.
I think I will never be able to read or hear Rumpelstiltskin the same way ever again.
I received a free copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.