Reviews

Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird by Mike Ashley

jennyrs01's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense

4.5

claire2305's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

noshyira's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

amalia1985's review

2.0

 Upon finishing this book I couldn't help but think that there was a reason that most of these stories remained hidden. One of the most disappointing volumes in the Tales of the Weird series. Melodrama, ridiculous dialogue, and plots that have little to do with either the Gothic or the Weird. Queens of Boredom would have been a more appropriate title... 

millssb's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

jennykeery's review

4.0

A short story collection of ghostly tales and genteel horror stories written by women in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A fun one to read around Halloween, and the editor did a good job of picking a mixture of well-known and unknown (to me, at least) names.

fdallachy's review

mysterious medium-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

3.5

A collection of strange short stories, there's no real theme that unites these other than the stated criterion that they're all written by female authors. Most of them feel a little dated, and there are definitely some 'of their time' moments. Nonetheless, there are some good eerie stories in the volume that I genuinely enjoyed, and those which were less enjoyable were still interesting in their own ways.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Xenophobia

katiewhocanread's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

jewelleryjen's review

4.0

I was worried I might regret reading this at bed time but they weren't as terrifying as I'd feared. I loved the variety in the stories, some were ghosty, some myths and fables and others were more sci-fi so it was a good mix.
I don't think I've ever read anything by any if the author's in the collection (maybe The Secret Garden?) and I definitely found some of them easier to read than others, but that's mostly due to my inability to read older prose! It was interesting how the language and way of writing changed as the years the stories came from moved towards the present day.

juanonito's review against another edition

5.0

Es una antologia maravillosa de principio a fin, la selección de cuentos es increíble e inesperada, me encontré con escritoras que conocía, con cuentos maravillosos y en un libro donde todo puede ocurrir

Hay cuentos mejores que otros y sí lo aceptó. Sin embargo la primicia del libro es espantar sino inquietar, que no te deja desapercibido. Todos los cuentos te provocan algo y es lo mas admirable.

Si buscas un terror que te asuste y te provoque escalofríos este libro no es para ti ya que su derrotero consiste en otra cosa completamente diferente y es encontrar lo bello, lo hermoso en lo sobrenatural, en lo que no tiene lógica ni explicación.

Creo que reinas del abismo cumple su cometido al sacar del abismo a cuentos y escritoras desconocidas las cuales tienen una belleza enorme en cuanto a calidad y arte en la pluma. Si buscas algo diferente el tan diverso mundo del terror, este libro te encantará.

10/10