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This was a decent take on fairy tales. Like real ones, not the fluffy kind. My book club has pointed out several times that it's a bit gloomy.

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Somehow, I missed this. Now on my TBR.

Another delightfully weird collection of short stories from Kelly Link.

An unpopular opinion based on other Litsy reviews, but I enjoyed most of these stories. I loved their strangeness and occasional creepiness. A couple were a miss for me, but I loved The White Cat‘s Divorce, Prince Hat, The White Road and Skinner‘s Veil. Finished these while at a conference in Atlanta.

#tob24

I love weird, and I love fairytale retellings. Kelly Link is a brilliant writer, but there were only two stories in this collection that I enjoyed.

The others felt lackluster in comparison. I do appreciate that she explored fairytales not commonly known. Some of the connections to the original tales were too loose, which made it difficult to follow.

I guess this proves I‘m still not a short story person. The first two stories were well written and compelling enough to keep me going. The third not so much. I read the 4th because I wasn‘t ready to turn out the light but didn‘t want to pick up something new. Bailed at the half way point. #TOB24

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I liked some of these stories quite a bit, but others fell a little flat for me. I found them all wildly creative, though, and Link is clearly a good writer. I‘m just not sure her type of weird (and these are weird) is my type of weird. #tob24

#ShortStories #Pub2023
Mentioned in a #TOB chat 💬 “The Long List is coming! The Long List is coming!!” 😂

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⭐️⭐️⭐️

My favorite stories were the first and last ones. I liked how there was a different audiobook narrator for each story. I felt like I didn‘t fully understand some of the stories or what the point was, but maybe it would be worth revisiting this collection again someday? The writing was engaging and unexpected. 🎧

Link captures folktales‘ self-assurance, internal logic & demand for suspended disbelief, but there‘s a level of scary missing. What‘s the contemporary version of the deep dark woods? The endless dark parking garage? (Maybe still the deep dark woods.) Scary things diminished in safe world rather than safety threatened. Where were the BAD CHOICES? Doors to KEEP CLOSED? Fun, but made me turn to Erben & Němcová for some real folktale shivers. 2023

All the stories, except one which I didn‘t understand, were very strange and cool. Reimagining fairytales is wild. The last story, about Death, was particularly weird. Recommend and want to read more

I LOVE KELLY LINK. So many moments where you just stop and go “how does she do that????” These stories are clever and playful and grim and unsettling and and and and…! This is an author at the height of her power and we are all just along for the ride. All but one story were 5⭐️ reads for me (I didn‘t click with the Hansel & Gretel retelling.)

“Pity the introvert with the face of a therapist or a kindergarten teacher. Like the werewolf we are uneasy in human spaces and human company, though we wear a human skin.”

Kelly Link never disappoints! All around good short stories; a variation of Prince Hat Underground (which is very scandinavian so I was surprised an anglo writer used it) and one on Tam Lin (which I struggled to remember the plot of since I didn't read it until adult age), overall the whole collection was very deft and felt effortless. Skinder's Veil took a long time to take off but was almost as weird as Two Houses, which, oof. Strong recommend!

I‘m huge fan of Kelly Link and have read all of her books. This collection was my least favorite but still very good. Magical-realism with a pinch of horror. 3.5 Stars

Finding seeds of inspiration in the Brothers Grimm, seventeenth-century French lore, and Scottish ballads, Kelly Link spins classic fairy tales into utterly original stories of seekers—characters on the hunt for love, connection, revenge, or their own sense of purpose.

"Analysis slides off Prince Hat like water off a duck engendered from dark matter. "

Kelly Link. HOW. HOW DOES SHE WRITE LIKE THIS.

This is just a small sampling of what I have planned for June. 😎

Feb was a great reading month and I got through eleven arcs!