cami19's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
lydiature_'s review against another edition
too weird and disturbing for me personally. hard pass
karawhipple's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of bizarre going on but I like this as an overall project. Only one of the stories was straight boring and I drudged through on principle. Per my interests, this is more ⭐️⭐️⭐️ but like I said I dig the intent and collaboration behind the whole thing.
servemethesky's review against another edition
3.0
Phew!! Finally done with this behemoth. Can’t remember the last time I’ve read a book over 500 pages. This is a hard one to rate since it’s short stories and an anthology—short story collections are hard enough since they can be uneven, but this is 40 different writers, too!
I mostly picked this up because awhile back, I’d been working on my own retelling of The Wild Swans and I heard there were a few retelling of it in here. Honestly I didn’t love any of them! And it was refreshing that my take on it was very different from theirs.
Some absolute favorites in here were: Dapplegrim by Brian Evenson, The Brother and the Bird by Alissa Nutting, and The Color Master by Aimee Bender. The first two were delightfully dark and fun, the third was very beautiful and moving.
Other stories in here I just did not get or hated the style, as you might expect with an anthology like this. Very interesting overall!
I mostly picked this up because awhile back, I’d been working on my own retelling of The Wild Swans and I heard there were a few retelling of it in here. Honestly I didn’t love any of them! And it was refreshing that my take on it was very different from theirs.
Some absolute favorites in here were: Dapplegrim by Brian Evenson, The Brother and the Bird by Alissa Nutting, and The Color Master by Aimee Bender. The first two were delightfully dark and fun, the third was very beautiful and moving.
Other stories in here I just did not get or hated the style, as you might expect with an anthology like this. Very interesting overall!
saevers's review against another edition
2.0
This book ultimately earned a "meh" from me. It started out with one star, nearly redeemed itself with a handful of five star stories, and went back downhill at the end. There were enough really good stories that I'm not entirely sorry that I read it, but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it as a whole body of work to someone else.
It wasn't this book's fault, but I was also disappointed that the Kelly Link story was a republished piece I'd already read in another collection of hers.
It wasn't this book's fault, but I was also disappointed that the Kelly Link story was a republished piece I'd already read in another collection of hers.
books_blackcats's review against another edition
2.0
With a title as horrific as this one, my expectation was that the stories would be spooky and dramatic. However, they lacked atmosphere and did not hold my attention.
cursedartichoke's review against another edition
This short story collection is not, I think, meant to be read all at once—giving each contained story room to breathe by not immediately crushing with the next tale is key to its richness But, by doing that, it came due at the library before I could make my way through very many of its tales. will absolutely come back to it.
chrispy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Rape