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adancewithbooks's review
2.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for the review copy in exchange for an honest review
2,5 stars
TW: Rape / Drugging / Suicide
When I started this anthology I guess I had different expectations. I thought this anthology was going to focus more on unicorns. However a lot of these stories just use unicorns in the background. That could have been really interesting if the plots hadn’t overall been so filled with virgins and the same old unappealing ideas. Some of the writing also wasn’t stellar.
The foreword by Peter Beagle mentions that some of these stories were older (think eighties) and that a lot of them were already used in other anthologies. There is little new to be found here. While I think some older stories certainly can be very current in today’s society, in some ways a bunch of these really don’t fit.
I would also like to add that Peter Beagle clearly doesn’t want to be known as the unicorn guy from his foreword and that really didn’t make it that appealing to start this book.
If you do plan on picking up this book I think there are about three stories that make it worth your while out of sixteen. That is Stampede of Light by Marina Fitch, The Highest Justice by Garth Nix and The Transfigured Hart by Jane Yolen.
Separate Stories
The Magical Properties of Unicorn Ivory / 2 stars
Bad writing. Bland. Lying about death to a child is never a good idea.
The Brew / 2 stars
The story was unappealing. There was no actual unicorn in it. Just a nudge to it. The mc is also in the Netherlands as she tells the story and makes a weird reference to black pete we have and ties it to Christmas. No we don’t have black elfs as the author called it. We have black pete, a racist figure tied to Sinterklaas that is a children’s holiday at the start of December. Don’t refer to something you don’t know anything about.
Falling of the Unicorn / 3 stars
Decent story. LGBTQ+, Lesbian relationship.
A Hunters Ode to Bait / 2 stars
Disgusting relationship at the end where the hunter who BOUGHT his virgin bait at the age of 12-13 ends up with her. Initial idea I liked (though the whole bait has to be virgin makes me roll my eyes).
Ghost Town /3 Stars
This was decent story. Nothing outstanding.
A Thousand Flowers / 2 stars
TW: Suicide
A confusing story that has the point of view changed 3 times in first person point of view without much of a hint towards it going to change.
The Maltese Unicorn / 3,5 stars
TW: Rape / Drugging
Compelling story of an mc that works in a book store and does odd jobs for a supernatural person in the city.
Stampede of Light / 4 stars
Compelling story about being seen
The Highest Justice / 4 stars
A story where the unicorn is more in the foreground has to be applauded in this anthology.
The Lion and the Unicorn / 3 stars
Just a decent story
Survivor / 2 stars
All I can say is meh here.
Homeward Bound / 2,5 stars
While the idea was interesting the writing was bland and boring.
Unicorn Triangle / 3 stars
I liked the idea but the story was cut off way too early to really draw you in.
My Son Heydari and the Karkadarnn / 3 stars
A Peter Beagle short story which was decently written. I got the impression it was set in Africa though and I don’t think he should have nessecarily gone there.
The Transfigured Hart / 4 stars
A beautiful story about two children finding friendship amidst finding the beauty of a unicorn.
Unicorn Series / 1 star
Nope, all the nope.
2,5 stars
TW: Rape / Drugging / Suicide
When I started this anthology I guess I had different expectations. I thought this anthology was going to focus more on unicorns. However a lot of these stories just use unicorns in the background. That could have been really interesting if the plots hadn’t overall been so filled with virgins and the same old unappealing ideas. Some of the writing also wasn’t stellar.
The foreword by Peter Beagle mentions that some of these stories were older (think eighties) and that a lot of them were already used in other anthologies. There is little new to be found here. While I think some older stories certainly can be very current in today’s society, in some ways a bunch of these really don’t fit.
I would also like to add that Peter Beagle clearly doesn’t want to be known as the unicorn guy from his foreword and that really didn’t make it that appealing to start this book.
If you do plan on picking up this book I think there are about three stories that make it worth your while out of sixteen. That is Stampede of Light by Marina Fitch, The Highest Justice by Garth Nix and The Transfigured Hart by Jane Yolen.
Separate Stories
The Magical Properties of Unicorn Ivory / 2 stars
Bad writing. Bland. Lying about death to a child is never a good idea.
The Brew / 2 stars
The story was unappealing. There was no actual unicorn in it. Just a nudge to it. The mc is also in the Netherlands as she tells the story and makes a weird reference to black pete we have and ties it to Christmas. No we don’t have black elfs as the author called it. We have black pete, a racist figure tied to Sinterklaas that is a children’s holiday at the start of December. Don’t refer to something you don’t know anything about.
Falling of the Unicorn / 3 stars
Decent story. LGBTQ+, Lesbian relationship.
A Hunters Ode to Bait / 2 stars
Disgusting relationship at the end where the hunter who BOUGHT his virgin bait at the age of 12-13 ends up with her. Initial idea I liked (though the whole bait has to be virgin makes me roll my eyes).
Ghost Town /3 Stars
This was decent story. Nothing outstanding.
A Thousand Flowers / 2 stars
TW: Suicide
A confusing story that has the point of view changed 3 times in first person point of view without much of a hint towards it going to change.
The Maltese Unicorn / 3,5 stars
TW: Rape / Drugging
Compelling story of an mc that works in a book store and does odd jobs for a supernatural person in the city.
Stampede of Light / 4 stars
Compelling story about being seen
The Highest Justice / 4 stars
A story where the unicorn is more in the foreground has to be applauded in this anthology.
The Lion and the Unicorn / 3 stars
Just a decent story
Survivor / 2 stars
All I can say is meh here.
Homeward Bound / 2,5 stars
While the idea was interesting the writing was bland and boring.
Unicorn Triangle / 3 stars
I liked the idea but the story was cut off way too early to really draw you in.
My Son Heydari and the Karkadarnn / 3 stars
A Peter Beagle short story which was decently written. I got the impression it was set in Africa though and I don’t think he should have nessecarily gone there.
The Transfigured Hart / 4 stars
A beautiful story about two children finding friendship amidst finding the beauty of a unicorn.
Unicorn Series / 1 star
Nope, all the nope.
simonlorden's review
4.0
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Average rating: 3.7 stars (rounded to 4)
A great variety of unicorn stories, some that could still be read to children, and some decidedly adult ones. Two of the stories have queer women as their protagonists, and one of them has a gay male side character and also mentions the severity of the AIDS crisis. I'm used to anthologies like this not really acknowledging queer people at all, so that was nice.
I expected some plotlines about virgins and unicorns, because that's a big part of unicorn stories, but some of the stories took the virginity = purity thing to uncomfortable extremes. In several of the stories, even kissing someone, or just HEARING too much about marriage can stain a virgin's "purity". I know that's the traditional unicorn story, but in a fresh new anthology that has "not just for virgins anymore" in the description, I really expected more subversion of this trope.
I much preferred stories like Ghost Town, where the purity in question is more about moral purity and pureness of the heart.
Some stories have really interesting worldbuilding: for example, in Falling off the Unicorn, only virgins can ride unicorns, so competitive riders are heavily infantilised. They have to be short, they have to be girly, even when they are teens or adults, they aren't allowed to use bad words, etc. Thankfully, this is shown to be just as toxic as it sounds.
However, at one point the same story implies that having lesbian sex doesn't count. In the end, it felt more like they were trying to say that only boys stain girls (because even kissing a boy stains you, but sex with a girl doesn't), but yeah, I'm not a fan of the implications there, and it wasn't really clear what the authors wanted with it.
My lowest rated story in the anthology is A Hunter's Ode to His Bait, where a hunter buys a twelve-year-old girl from her mother to help him lure unicorns. They work together for years, and sure, the girl is of age when they start a relationship, but it reaaaaally felt like the guy was grooming her there.
My absolute favourite was Stampede of Light, which is about lonely children and the teachers who don't let them get lost.
Individual ratings:
The Magical Properties of Unicorn Ivory by Carlos Hernandez: 4.5 stars
The Brew by Karen Joy Fowler: 4.5 stars
Falling Off the Unicorn by David D. Levine and Sarah A. Mueller: 4.5 stars
A Hunter's Ode to His Bait by Carrie Vaughn: 2 stars
A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan: 3 stars (rape/dubious consent)
The Maltese Unicorn by Caitlín R. Kiernan: 3 stars (rape/dubious consent)
Stampede of Light by Marina Fitch: 5 stars
Ghost Town by Jack C. Haldeman II: 5 stars
The Highest Justice by Garth Nix: 4 stars
The Lion and the Unicorn by A.C. Wise: 3 stars
Survivor by Dave Smeds: 4 stars
Homeward Bound by Bruce Coville: 3.5 stars
Unicorn Triangle by Patricia A. McKillip: 3 stars
My Son Heydari and the Karkadann by Peter S. Beagle: 3 stars
The Transfigured Hart by Jane Yolen: 3.5 stars
Unicorn Series by Nancy Springer: 4 stars
Average rating: 3.7 stars (rounded to 4)
A great variety of unicorn stories, some that could still be read to children, and some decidedly adult ones. Two of the stories have queer women as their protagonists, and one of them has a gay male side character and also mentions the severity of the AIDS crisis. I'm used to anthologies like this not really acknowledging queer people at all, so that was nice.
I expected some plotlines about virgins and unicorns, because that's a big part of unicorn stories, but some of the stories took the virginity = purity thing to uncomfortable extremes. In several of the stories, even kissing someone, or just HEARING too much about marriage can stain a virgin's "purity". I know that's the traditional unicorn story, but in a fresh new anthology that has "not just for virgins anymore" in the description, I really expected more subversion of this trope.
I much preferred stories like Ghost Town, where the purity in question is more about moral purity and pureness of the heart.
Some stories have really interesting worldbuilding: for example, in Falling off the Unicorn, only virgins can ride unicorns, so competitive riders are heavily infantilised. They have to be short, they have to be girly, even when they are teens or adults, they aren't allowed to use bad words, etc. Thankfully, this is shown to be just as toxic as it sounds.
However, at one point the same story implies that having lesbian sex doesn't count. In the end, it felt more like they were trying to say that only boys stain girls (because even kissing a boy stains you, but sex with a girl doesn't), but yeah, I'm not a fan of the implications there, and it wasn't really clear what the authors wanted with it.
My lowest rated story in the anthology is A Hunter's Ode to His Bait, where a hunter buys a twelve-year-old girl from her mother to help him lure unicorns. They work together for years, and sure, the girl is of age when they start a relationship, but it reaaaaally felt like the guy was grooming her there.
My absolute favourite was Stampede of Light, which is about lonely children and the teachers who don't let them get lost.
Individual ratings:
The Magical Properties of Unicorn Ivory by Carlos Hernandez: 4.5 stars
The Brew by Karen Joy Fowler: 4.5 stars
Falling Off the Unicorn by David D. Levine and Sarah A. Mueller: 4.5 stars
A Hunter's Ode to His Bait by Carrie Vaughn: 2 stars
A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan: 3 stars (rape/dubious consent)
The Maltese Unicorn by Caitlín R. Kiernan: 3 stars (rape/dubious consent)
Stampede of Light by Marina Fitch: 5 stars
Ghost Town by Jack C. Haldeman II: 5 stars
The Highest Justice by Garth Nix: 4 stars
The Lion and the Unicorn by A.C. Wise: 3 stars
Survivor by Dave Smeds: 4 stars
Homeward Bound by Bruce Coville: 3.5 stars
Unicorn Triangle by Patricia A. McKillip: 3 stars
My Son Heydari and the Karkadann by Peter S. Beagle: 3 stars
The Transfigured Hart by Jane Yolen: 3.5 stars
Unicorn Series by Nancy Springer: 4 stars
bookdragonshoard's review
3.0
I was lucky enough to receive a digital proof of this and my inner little girl was squealing when I was. Unicorns have been a favourite of mine for the longest time, and I was always sore that they were never featured in fantasy as often as dragons. Like, these beautiful babies are cool too?!
I enjoyed these stories and was surprised that most were set in a more modern setting, I was going into it expecting knights and castles and other medieval period settings. Despite this, it was definitely an interesting take and I was mostly pleased with it.
I only had to bypass a one or two stories where the writing didn't really click with me, or I wasn't engaging with the story and just decided to move on (i.e. Falling off the Unicorn - which, can I just mention, talks about the bra size of a twelve year old girl? That squicked me out A LOT.)
Other than that, it was enjoyable and I enjoyed getting introduced to new authors, as well as being introduced to some I'd heard lots about but hadn't had the opportunity to delve into previously.
I enjoyed these stories and was surprised that most were set in a more modern setting, I was going into it expecting knights and castles and other medieval period settings. Despite this, it was definitely an interesting take and I was mostly pleased with it.
I only had to bypass a one or two stories where the writing didn't really click with me, or I wasn't engaging with the story and just decided to move on (i.e. Falling off the Unicorn - which, can I just mention, talks about the bra size of a twelve year old girl? That squicked me out A LOT.)
Other than that, it was enjoyable and I enjoyed getting introduced to new authors, as well as being introduced to some I'd heard lots about but hadn't had the opportunity to delve into previously.
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