paulalovesbooks's review
4.0
Me encantó. Hay cuentos para todos los gustos y con giros muy moderno. Aquí hay fantasía oscura, urbana, ciencia ficción, ficción histórica, personajes lgbtqi+, heroínas que no buscan ser salvadas por el príncipe, villanos/as, de todo!
Hay muchos cuentos en esta colección que daría todo para que fueran novelas completas, es que son asombrosos esos relatos, y en tan pocas páginas tienen tanto potencial y contenido.
Pueden leer sobra una caperucita roja escapando de los nazis. Una bestia que se enamora de un hombre muy bello, la Reina de Corazones interrogando a Pinocho por una desventura de Alicia, y muchos otros cuentos geniales.
Hay muchos cuentos en esta colección que daría todo para que fueran novelas completas, es que son asombrosos esos relatos, y en tan pocas páginas tienen tanto potencial y contenido.
Pueden leer sobra una caperucita roja escapando de los nazis. Una bestia que se enamora de un hombre muy bello, la Reina de Corazones interrogando a Pinocho por una desventura de Alicia, y muchos otros cuentos geniales.
nadiacoleccionista's review
4.0
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
First of all I am totally fascinated by this book, I really love that there are so many short stories and each one has a different author.
What I liked about this story is that we can see some modern and fantastic reinterpretations of several classic stories and they give them a very interesting and entertaining twist, plus each of the stories is a different genre; we can see dark fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy and much more.
Most of the stories I liked a lot and they entertained me too much, there were a couple that didn't quite convince me, but overall they are very good stories.
Another thing is that the English is a basic-intermediate one, the advantage is that as they are short stories it is not a very complicated English and that helps a lot to be read very easily:)
I highly recommend it for all those who are fans of anthologies and are looking for short fantasy stories and even for people who want to enter the genre this is a very good option, I leave with a good taste in my mouth with this book:)
First of all I am totally fascinated by this book, I really love that there are so many short stories and each one has a different author.
What I liked about this story is that we can see some modern and fantastic reinterpretations of several classic stories and they give them a very interesting and entertaining twist, plus each of the stories is a different genre; we can see dark fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy and much more.
Most of the stories I liked a lot and they entertained me too much, there were a couple that didn't quite convince me, but overall they are very good stories.
Another thing is that the English is a basic-intermediate one, the advantage is that as they are short stories it is not a very complicated English and that helps a lot to be read very easily:)
I highly recommend it for all those who are fans of anthologies and are looking for short fantasy stories and even for people who want to enter the genre this is a very good option, I leave with a good taste in my mouth with this book:)
roshreviews's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
3.5
Having enjoyed the first anthology in this series (Upon a Once Time), I was really looking forward to this second installment of fairy tale and folklore retellings. But unlike the first book, this one satisfied me to a lesser degree than I had wanted.
The anthology contains 21 fairy-tale/folklore mashups. Just as in the first edition, each story is a refurbished version of two fairy tales. The collections covers a nice variety of genres, though most of the tales are from SFF.
I didn't know the original tale in a few cases. That hindered the enjoyment of a few of the retellings as the lack of context created a vacuum in the understanding. (This didn’t happen in the first volume of this series.) In most cases where I was aware of the original tale, my admiration of the retelling was far greater as I could appreciate the nuanced changes incorporated by the author.
The one thing in common to all these stories is that they are creative. Try writing a double fairy tale mashup and you'll understand the difficulty of the task. But as happens with every anthology, some stories shine brighter than the others. My favourites from this collection were the following:
Arzadu and the Sea - Alex Hernandez – Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
A Dance of Birds and Men - Jenni Meade - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (What a dark twist to two of my favourite stories! This was mind-blowing!)
The Swan and Bellerophon - Leo Otherland - High Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (This would easily have been a five star if the writing were a bit tighter. It was too drawn-out for my liking.)
The Fisherwoman, Her Husband, and the Never-Dead Nymph - Havi Navarro - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
Traveling Songs for Star-Warriors Taylor Rae - Science Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Red Princess Who Was Hidden Underground - L. P. Melling - Magical Realism - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Restless Treasure - Kayla J. Espinoza - Urban Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Selfish Jeeant and the Twelve Dancing Robots - Evergreen Lee - Science Fiction - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Twice in the Telling - Carina Bissett - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Bathed in Silver - Lex T. Lindsay - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
When Apple Woke - Sarah Lyn Eaton - Science Fiction - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Sweet as Honey - Henry Herz – Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Other decent ones were:
The Queen of Hearts Interrogates Pinocchio - Gabriel Ertsgaard - Crime fiction - 🌟🌟🌟
Through the Bitter Glass, Enticingly - Sam Muller – Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟
The Golden Feather - Alexandra Seidel – Epistolary - 🌟🌟🌟💫
Rule of Threes - Rebecca Hardy - Dystopian fiction - 🌟🌟🌟
The Legend of Moon and Ship - Bettina Juszak - Science Fiction - 🌟🌟🌟💫
17 out of 21 stories is not at all a bad deal for an anthology. This book would certainly be a nice read for SFF fans.
Thank you, NetGalley and Air and Nothingness Press, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The anthology contains 21 fairy-tale/folklore mashups. Just as in the first edition, each story is a refurbished version of two fairy tales. The collections covers a nice variety of genres, though most of the tales are from SFF.
I didn't know the original tale in a few cases. That hindered the enjoyment of a few of the retellings as the lack of context created a vacuum in the understanding. (This didn’t happen in the first volume of this series.) In most cases where I was aware of the original tale, my admiration of the retelling was far greater as I could appreciate the nuanced changes incorporated by the author.
The one thing in common to all these stories is that they are creative. Try writing a double fairy tale mashup and you'll understand the difficulty of the task. But as happens with every anthology, some stories shine brighter than the others. My favourites from this collection were the following:
Arzadu and the Sea - Alex Hernandez – Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
A Dance of Birds and Men - Jenni Meade - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (What a dark twist to two of my favourite stories! This was mind-blowing!)
The Swan and Bellerophon - Leo Otherland - High Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (This would easily have been a five star if the writing were a bit tighter. It was too drawn-out for my liking.)
The Fisherwoman, Her Husband, and the Never-Dead Nymph - Havi Navarro - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
Traveling Songs for Star-Warriors Taylor Rae - Science Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Red Princess Who Was Hidden Underground - L. P. Melling - Magical Realism - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Restless Treasure - Kayla J. Espinoza - Urban Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Selfish Jeeant and the Twelve Dancing Robots - Evergreen Lee - Science Fiction - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Twice in the Telling - Carina Bissett - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Bathed in Silver - Lex T. Lindsay - Dark Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
When Apple Woke - Sarah Lyn Eaton - Science Fiction - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Sweet as Honey - Henry Herz – Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Other decent ones were:
The Queen of Hearts Interrogates Pinocchio - Gabriel Ertsgaard - Crime fiction - 🌟🌟🌟
Through the Bitter Glass, Enticingly - Sam Muller – Fantasy - 🌟🌟🌟
The Golden Feather - Alexandra Seidel – Epistolary - 🌟🌟🌟💫
Rule of Threes - Rebecca Hardy - Dystopian fiction - 🌟🌟🌟
The Legend of Moon and Ship - Bettina Juszak - Science Fiction - 🌟🌟🌟💫
17 out of 21 stories is not at all a bad deal for an anthology. This book would certainly be a nice read for SFF fans.
Thank you, NetGalley and Air and Nothingness Press, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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