Mini Reviews

The Robber Bridegroom by Brothers Grimm

Published 26th February 2015 by Penguin Classics (first published 1812)

Star Rating - ****

2018 Goodreads Challenge - 34/50

My Thoughts

I do enjoy a good fairy tale and this little book had 7 from one of the best fairy tale writing duos, The Brothers Grimm. Fairy tales as we know and love them today in modern times are something we would read to children. They are often magical, whimsical and fun however, the Grimm's fairy tales are completely the opposite. These tales are dark, full of murder, blood and gore. In this collection you read about Robbers who murder children, giants who have their heads cut off and an evil queen who dances to her death in hot iron slippers. These tales are not for the faint hearted and nothing like those we read to children today. Even the iconic Snow White, which is featured in this collection, is darker than the familiar Disney version. Each of these tales features many fairy tale tropes that, if a lover of these sorts of things, you will be familiar with. They often follow a similar story structure and they all have morals that your supposed to consider at the end. That being said, I enjoyed the collection for what it was and I would quite like to get my hands on a full collection of the Grimm's tales. 

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

My edition was published 4th October 2007 by Headline Review

Star Rating - ***

2018 Goodreads Challenge - 36/50

What I Liked: I loved how magical the plot was but still rooted in realism, there were lots of interesting ideas and concepts which I enjoyed reading about. I enjoy Neil Gaiman's writing style I think its unique and interesting and he does a great job of keeping you engaged. 

What I Didn't Like: I would of loved for this book to be longer. I wanted more depth and detail to the characters and storylines. A lot of the plot felt rushed, especially near the end, and could of been expanded upon a lot more, like in the film. 

Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan

Published 18th October 2018 by Little Island

Star Rating - ***

2019 Goodreads Challenge - 5/50

What I Liked: The stories were all based around female characters with many having a feminist twist and many of the stories were quite dark and a little twisted. These are my top 3 stories...

Ash Pale 
This one was a retelling of Snow White. I was able to follow this one without too many problems and I enjoyed the way Snow White was depicted. It was a bit of a spin on the evil step mother vs princess trope and it had quite a dark ending which I liked. 

Doing Well 
This one was a retelling of The Frog Prince which I'm familiar with but I don't think I've ever read the original. This had quite a tragic ending and I think it did a great job of depicting the way woman can be treated and the hardships they can sometimes face. 

Beauty and the Board 
This one was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and it was a bit of a strange one. In the beginning I was wondering what was going on but halfway through I picked up the plot and I thought it was a really interesting and sightly disturbing twist on the idea of the 'Beast' in this fairytale. 

What I Didn't Like: The writing didn't gel with me. It was very poetic, too poetic for me to enjoy. Many of the stories were written using short sentences which made the writing feel disjointed.