A Fairy King, a rising sea, and predatory men make up the fetid water in A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. It’s not something you would want to swim in, but it is a story you will want to read. Reid blends real life with a foreboding fairytale to showcase the difficulties women face…
A mermaid and a plague doctor walk across a burning kingdom. She doesn’t say anything as she watches her daughters devour the corpse of her husband. Her tongue had been removed, prepared for her to seal a pact of subservience to the prince that lies dead at her feet. The doctor chuckles softly, remarking on…
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente is one of the hardest books I have read. It is magical and terrifying like all good fairy tales are, but I also had to fight to find my footing with every sentence. As soon as I had a grasp of Valente’s tale, it would change so sharply that I…
The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne was an unintended adventure. I did not seek this book out, but it fell into my hands, and I gave it a go. There was probably a reason this story did not make it onto my carefully crafted TBR, and now I know why. Haelewise has a simple…
Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes duology comes to a close with a fairytale ending fitting for its rambunctious heroine. The story gets even bigger and better in The Dragon’s Promise as we follow Princess Shiori attempting to fulfill her stepmother’s wish. There was a lot more action in this book, and while both are amazing,…
I am never one to shy away from retellings, and I can’t deny Alix E. Harrow presented an intriguing remix of Sleeping Beauty in A Spindle Splintered. I certainly loved what this story tried to be, but unfortunately, there were other forces at play. Zinnia Gray is obsessed with Sleeping Beauty because she’s been cursed…
Continue reading ➞ A Spindle Splintered – Fractured Fairy Tale
Alicia Jasinska’s The Dark Tide was my third and final Dark Horse debut pick for the first half of 2020. The novel slotted neatly into my dark horse reading slate, adding an atmospheric fairy-tale inspired story to pair with my epic fantasy (The Kingdom of Liars) and sci-fi (Goddess in the Machine) selections. The Dark…
