A review by nataliejwong
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Elsie Chapman, Ellen Oh

5.0

I enjoyed this book far more than I was expecting to. I was just reading this for a book bingo, but ended up loving the stories within this book! I really liked the way this book was formatted: retelling first and author's note/original explanation after. I found this helpful because you still got to enjoy the retold story with no strings attached regarding required themes or sticking to the script of the original myth/epic. But, then, once the story was complete, you were able to see how it strung together with the original. As an Asian American woman who does not know anything of Asian folklore, I found this to be an enticing and diverse novel that taught me about mythology from my Asian heritage. I also appreciated that this book did not focus on just one Asian group, often East Asian with South Asian left out, but did a good job of containing stories from all over the continent. Finally, the creativity and imagination these authors wrote with was impressive and endearing. I would highly recommend this book.