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A review by lavendermarch
Tamamo the Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories by Kel McDonald
4.0
This was a pretty good fairytale anthology. I hadn't heard the majority of the stories, which was really nice, and I had fun reading most of them. My favorites were "Frog Skin", "After the Rain", "The Great Flood", "Gold Sister, Silver Sister, and Wood Sister, "Ghost Pepper", and "The Legend of Asena". I was given a free ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars.
Individual Story Thoughts:
"The Lucky Teapot": I liked it. The tanuki was cute.
"#EndoftheWorld": Funny. It was about an elephant mermaid creature who thinks the sun has died and it's the end of the world. Short but cute. I enjoyed the social media.
"The Great Flood": I liked it a lot! It was a bit longer than some of the others, and reminded me a little of Noah's Ark, what with the flood and all. It was pretty good, and I liked the boy, the granny, and the mother. Not the butcher though. I didn't like the art in it all that much, however.
"The Demon with the Matted Hair": A fun one! I liked the art, and a haughty prince in trouble is always enjoyable to see.
"Frog Skin": Interesting. It reminded me of the fisherman who took the skin of a selkie and made her his bride. But with a happier ending. The young man was a bit silly! His wife seemed awesome! The lord was obnoxious, and I enjoyed seeing him get pissed off when the young man managed to do the impossible (with the help of his wife's parents, haha). I love the lord's mom! Also, this is probably my favorite story in the anthology.
"The Girl Who Married a Tiger": It was good with trickery and revenge!
"Ghost Pepper": It had nice art! It was really cute and funny, too!
"Two Foxes": Good. I liked the man and the yokai. All the trickery was entertaining.
"After the Rain": Awesome! I liked the friendship between Min and Yeik, and the romance between Min and the princess from the other country. Favorite line: "C'mon! When was the last time we went on an adventure?" "Last week, when you wanted to go to the end of the horizon, and you went down a waterfall." Hilarious! Good story!
"From the Journal of the Monkey King": Super short. I'm glad the magistrate's daughter eventually got out of that marriage.
"Urashima TarÅ": One I've heard before. Not much to say about it, except people are predictable.
"The Ballad of Mulan": Interesting style. Impressed she kept the secret of being a woman for so long! I liked that her companions all accepted her at the end.
"The Tiger, the Brahmin, and the Jackal": Hmm. Interesting. Conniving jackal. Good on him.
"Tongue Cut Sparrow": The old man was nice. The old woman got what was coming to her.
"The Legend of Asena": Cute! I liked the wolf and the warrior.
"The History of the Spectre Ship": A bit creepy, but had a happy ending. Nice art.
"Tamamo the Fox Maiden": Interesting. I'm glad it ended well.
"The Three Rhymesters": Meh. It was okay. I liked the wife.
"Gold Sister, Silver Sister, and Wood Sister": Kind of sad. Okay ending. Decent art.
"Hoichi the Earless": Poor guy, playing for the dead, The art suited the story really well.
"The Flying Ogre": Super short. Not sure how I felt about it.
Individual Story Thoughts:
"The Lucky Teapot": I liked it. The tanuki was cute.
"#EndoftheWorld": Funny. It was about an elephant mermaid creature who thinks the sun has died and it's the end of the world. Short but cute. I enjoyed the social media.
"The Great Flood": I liked it a lot! It was a bit longer than some of the others, and reminded me a little of Noah's Ark, what with the flood and all. It was pretty good, and I liked the boy, the granny, and the mother. Not the butcher though. I didn't like the art in it all that much, however.
"The Demon with the Matted Hair": A fun one! I liked the art, and a haughty prince in trouble is always enjoyable to see.
"Frog Skin": Interesting. It reminded me of the fisherman who took the skin of a selkie and made her his bride. But with a happier ending. The young man was a bit silly! His wife seemed awesome! The lord was obnoxious, and I enjoyed seeing him get pissed off when the young man managed to do the impossible (with the help of his wife's parents, haha). I love the lord's mom! Also, this is probably my favorite story in the anthology.
"The Girl Who Married a Tiger": It was good with trickery and revenge!
"Ghost Pepper": It had nice art! It was really cute and funny, too!
"Two Foxes": Good. I liked the man and the yokai. All the trickery was entertaining.
"After the Rain": Awesome! I liked the friendship between Min and Yeik, and the romance between Min and the princess from the other country. Favorite line: "C'mon! When was the last time we went on an adventure?" "Last week, when you wanted to go to the end of the horizon, and you went down a waterfall." Hilarious! Good story!
"From the Journal of the Monkey King": Super short. I'm glad the magistrate's daughter eventually got out of that marriage.
"Urashima TarÅ": One I've heard before. Not much to say about it, except people are predictable.
"The Ballad of Mulan": Interesting style. Impressed she kept the secret of being a woman for so long! I liked that her companions all accepted her at the end.
"The Tiger, the Brahmin, and the Jackal": Hmm. Interesting. Conniving jackal. Good on him.
"Tongue Cut Sparrow": The old man was nice. The old woman got what was coming to her.
"The Legend of Asena": Cute! I liked the wolf and the warrior.
"The History of the Spectre Ship": A bit creepy, but had a happy ending. Nice art.
"Tamamo the Fox Maiden": Interesting. I'm glad it ended well.
"The Three Rhymesters": Meh. It was okay. I liked the wife.
"Gold Sister, Silver Sister, and Wood Sister": Kind of sad. Okay ending. Decent art.
"Hoichi the Earless": Poor guy, playing for the dead, The art suited the story really well.
"The Flying Ogre": Super short. Not sure how I felt about it.