Reviews

Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron by Jonathan Strahan

bookishbay's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Average: 2.94

Stray Magic: 5/5
Payment Due: 2/5
A Handful of Ashes: DNF
Little Gods: 4/5
Barrio Girls: 4/5
Felidis: 4.5/5
Witch Work: 3/5
The Education of a Witch: 4/5
The Threefold World: DNF
The Witch in the Wood: DNF
Which Witch: 3/5
The Carved Forest: 4/5
Burning Castles: 4/5
The Stone Witch: 3/5
Andersen's Witch: 5/5
B is for Bigfoot: 4.5/5
Great-Grandmother in the Cellar: 3/5
Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow: DNF

tehani's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Fantastic collection of YA stories involving witches (in some way).

idratherliveinbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

4.0

pam_ritchie's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Set between Fool Moon and Grave Peril, this is a fun short story and the first in the Bigfoot short stories

readerxxx's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Good short story

wetdryvac's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

A nifty little short.

rashthedoctor's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

only read the B , Is For Big Foot Storyline , which is also a part of the Dresden Files series .

Honestly I am not a fan of short stories , in that I generally don't like reading short stories , because the pay off doesn't feel very satisfying in the end .

This one was no different either , featuring Harry taking a case for a Bigfoot and dealt with something I personally have had also dealt with - Bullying . It was a very nice story , however the cause for dissapointment came in the form of the fact that Harry's magical use was almost non-existent in this , we didn't really delve much into the Lore of the Big foot or the later introduced Svartalfar. And it's the later one which really sucked too bad , coz I am not very familiar to the Norse Mythology and I was really looking forward to knowing how they would be dealt with .

In the end the Bullying part was handled really well , but the story , as almost every short story I have ever read , left me unsatisfied in terms of it's usage of the magical creatures and magic itself

shelbycat's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

octavia_cade's review

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

3.0

Fun collection of witch-themed stories that are nearly all directed at young adults, although the ending story, by Margo Lanagan, doesn't seem particular attuned to that audience. The stories I liked best were a little more keyed into adolescence, and there's the interesting parallel of coming into all sorts of powers at that time, or becoming aware of them, which is not perhaps blindingly original, but is still something I consistently find appealing. I don't know why, exactly - some things just resonate more than others - but I think I like the reflective possibilities, the potential explorations of maturity and consequence.

I think the story I most enjoyed here was Delia Sherman's "The Witch in the Wood," but the one that most interested me was "Barrio Girls" by Charles de Lint, which is coincidentally the only story here that swings more towards horror than fantasy. I feel as if witches should have some capacity for horror, or at least some interaction with it, and there's a casual sort of brutality to the plot that's very much red-in-tooth-and-claw in a way that I can appreciate. 

shannen_m's review

Go to review page

3.0

Introduction - Jonathan Strahan 3/5
Stray Magic - Diana Peterfreund 5/5
Payment Due - Frances Hardinge 3/5
A Handful of Ashes - Garth Nix 3.5/5
Little Gods - Holly Black 4/5
Barrio Girls - Charles de Lint 2.5/5
Felidis - Tanith Lee 3.5/5
Witch Work - Neil Gaiman 4/5
The Education of a Witch - Ellen Klages 4/5
The Threefold World - Ellen Kushner 4.5/5
The Witch in the Wood - Delia Sherman 5/5
Which Witch - Patricia A McKillip 1/5
The Carved Forest - Tim Pratt 3/5
Burning Castles - M Rickert 2/5
The Stone Witch - Isobelle Carmody 2.5/5
Anderson's Witch - Jane Yolen 4/5
B is for Bigfoot - Jim Butcher 2.5/5
Great Grandmother in the Cellar - Peter S Beagle 3/5
Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow - Margo Lanagan 4/5