Reviewed by Lotte:
What a deliciously wicked collection of dark and twisty fairy tales. O’Regan and Kane have done it once again, sourcing the most excellent takes on new and re-imagined fairy tales written by renowned authors such as Neil Gaiman and Christina Henry. This anthology contains 20 short stories that are based loosely around the theme of curses. These authors have taken this cue, warping and twisting stories so good that even the re-imagined ones bear hardly any resemblance to their originals.
I think I can honestly say I found each and every one of these stories both enchanting and captivating. They were each written in the individual author’s style and covered a different take on the cursed theme. No two were the same yet I was equally drawn into them all. Some were beautifully written about magical curses turned sweet and others were disturbingly cold and wretched.
Even the placement of each story was well laid out, with each varying greatly from the last, meaning they didn’t mash into one. My particular favourites have to be Christina Henry’s ‘As Red As Blood, As White As Snow’, Neil Gaiman’s ‘Troll Bridge’, Jen Williams’s ‘Listen’ and Christopher Golden’s ‘Wendy, Darling’. Using poems my Jane Yolen to bookend this anthology was a lovely touch. I would highly recommend delving into this if twisted tales are your thing!
Author: Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane
Publisher: Titan Books
Release date: 3 March 2020
Lotte's Library 