A review by blueberryhotel
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

so glad i finally got around to reading a kelly link book because this was brilliant! doing a short story collection of reimagined fairy tales could easily veer into cliche or heavy-handed, but link has such a prolific imagination and expansive way of approaching this retelling concept. i think she succeeds in that she works from the perspective of considering each original fable’s themes and overall tone rather than trying to replicate exact plotlines or transpose age-old stories into modern-day iterations. so cleverly written, so haunting; her writing propels the reader forward, hungry to uncover the secrets in the story. the twists are never easily predictable, the prose is vivid and creative. i love that one of the authors who blurbed the book on the back cover called these “Linkian fairy tales” because they truly feel singular and i’m excited to read more of kelly link’s work to hear more of her voice and style.