A review by larkais
Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales by Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
I thought this anthology stuck the landing for me. I thought the writing style was compelling across them all and none of them overstayed their welcome. There was no overly long short story and I'm grateful for that. I did not take this as a fairy tale but rewritten to be darker, this is simply a book of fairy tales because the originals were dark enough to match the tones here especially since it opens with Bluebeard.
They had solid endings that wrapped up the story nicely. Some other people commented they didn't like the purple prose, but this sort of flowery, metaphorical, fantasy writing is exactly up my alley. I think the descriptions were great and immersive for a fairy tale.
My stand out favourites were As red as Blood and as White as Snow by Christina Henry, New Wine by Angela Slatter, and Again by Tim Lebbon.
I thought all of them had interesting nuggets!
They had solid endings that wrapped up the story nicely. Some other people commented they didn't like the purple prose, but this sort of flowery, metaphorical, fantasy writing is exactly up my alley. I think the descriptions were great and immersive for a fairy tale.
My stand out favourites were As red as Blood and as White as Snow by Christina Henry, New Wine by Angela Slatter, and Again by Tim Lebbon.
I thought all of them had interesting nuggets!