A review by ielerol
Burning Roses by S.L. Huang
5.0
I remembered just a little bit into this that there are two other stories in the same setting, they're both short and available free online ("Hunting Monsters" and "Fighting Demons") so I went ahead and read them and came back to this. I don't think they're necessary to enjoy the novella, and you could potentially argue that Fighting Demons spoils some of this one, but they're good too and I was glad to have the additional context.
Fairytale retelling doesn't seem right to describe this story, there are lot of fairytales (both European and Chinese) in the background, but the events of those stories all happened long ago. This story is about consequences and aftermaths, what happens when the story you thought you were in wasn't the story that was really happening. It's also about how hard it is to change, even when you know you've been wrong.
I don't think I've read many stories about how mothers have hurt their children from the perspective of the mothers, maybe because nobody writes stories centering aging mothers of adult children. I loved it.
Fairytale retelling doesn't seem right to describe this story, there are lot of fairytales (both European and Chinese) in the background, but the events of those stories all happened long ago. This story is about consequences and aftermaths, what happens when the story you thought you were in wasn't the story that was really happening. It's also about how hard it is to change, even when you know you've been wrong.
I don't think I've read many stories about how mothers have hurt their children from the perspective of the mothers, maybe because nobody writes stories centering aging mothers of adult children. I loved it.