I will, as I always do with anthologies, review these stories separately then as a whole. For reference I've linked the original fairy tale to the SurLaLune article so you can better compare and look for other retellings.

The Key by Rachel Hawkins, based on Bluebeard
This was surprisingly enthralling. I didn't catch on to what I was reading at first--despite the numerous hints (the key tattoo, black-blue hair, missing girlfriend), but once it all became clear it became very chilling very fast. I wanted more though since the ending is a bit of a "Lady or the Tiger" ending.

Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready, based on Puss-in-Boots
On the one hand it was a little heartbreaking, as poor Fig only wanted the best. On the other I applaud our hero for becoming everything Fig thought he would be. This was another one that was a bit hard to connect with the source tale at first, but makes a whole lot of sense in retrospect.

The Twelfth-Girl by Malinda Lo, based on the Twelve Dancing Princesses
I cottoned on to this one real quick (it being my favorite fairy tale and all) and I kind of enjoyed how Lo re-imagined it in a boarding school setting with a bunch of entitled rich girls. I was iffier on the main character though as well as the resolution which was just two steps short of uber-creepy. The short nature didn't give us enough time to really feel very much for the girls or their predicaments.

The Raven Princess by Jon Skovron, based on The Raven
This was the story I could not quite place. I really enjoyed this one--with the huntsman who couldn't hunt to the Giants who stopped eating humans because they adopted a baby to the ending which felt right.

Thinner than Water by Saundra Mitchell, based on Cat-Skin
o.o Seriously, that is my entire reaction to this story. Its very well crafted in how easily the...unspeakable builds. As with any books of Mitchell's I read the atmosphere and the wording is very important as she lays the foundation for the ending. And what an ending it is.

Before the Rose Bloomed by Ellen Hopkins, based on The Snow Queen
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a pretty standard retelling wasn't it? It read a bit like Bridget Fonda's "Snow Queen" from 2002 movie actually. So for what it was, it was enjoyable. I wanted more substance to the Queen and K though, since really only Greta was given page space at all.

Beast/Beast by Tessa Gratton, based on Beauty and the Beast
I enjoyed this to a certain extent. Beauty's realization that neither of them were free was good, and the story never felt forced. There's precious little to know about the Beast's curse or what would really free/them. Will her saying yes to his marriage proposal free them? Is it her love he needs? Its a bit too open form.

The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa, based on The Three Little Pigs
I'm not even going to pretend I got too far in this one. Kagawa and I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to short form and "The Three Little Pigs" was never a favorite of mine.

Untethered by Sonia Gensler, based on The Shroud
I think this is the most changed of any of the stories. The only obvious tie-in is the mother and the deceased child. What this reminds me more of was the episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? "The Tale of the Dream Girl". Anyhow I really liked how this one was set up and enjoyed how Gensler used preconceptions against the reader. The atmosphere and tension is also very well handled.

Better by Shaun David Hutchinson, based on The Pied Piper
I really really liked this story. The Pied Piper has always been one of those fairy tales that gave me a queasy feeling (look you're told not to go with strangers and that story epitomizes all of that while presenting itself as justifiable). I really liked how Hutchinson incorporated not only the morality issues inherent in the story, but also what it means to be someone's child.

Light it Up by Kimberly Derting, based on Hansel and Gretel
I want a follow up epilogue about what their stepmother does when the truth comes out. This is pretty much a straight up modern retelling of Hansel and Gretel, but I liked the siblings and could understand where they both came from. I would have liked a bit fleshing out with Hanson, but Greta was a damn gutsy girl.

Sharper than a Serpent's Tongue by Christine Johnson, based on Diamonds and ToadsThe ending sentence to this story is almost perfect to sum it up - "Blessings. Curses. Who was to say which was which?" As the girl who is known as the "nice one" and the "pushover" most often, I feel bad for Clara here. She's doing what she thinks is right--taking care of her mother, but at the expense of what is right for her. I can only hope things work out for her as they did in the original tale, but even that HEA was a bit skewed.

A Real Boy by Claudia Gray, based on Pinocchio
Loved loved loved this. Granted I would have loved my expansion on the world and such, but really I was quite all right with what was presented. Though I admit I was a bit worried this was going to end in a "lady or a tiger" scenario, but thank god it didn't. There's a definitive ending. It felt a bit like what I wanted the oldish Robin Williams movie "Bicentennial Man" to be like actually.

Skin Trade by Myra McEntire, based on The Robber Bridegroom
Did. Not Like. Like, at all. I don't think this was a particularly good rendition of the story and I'm still trying to puzzle out whether this involved vampires, cannibals or some weird voodoo sort of thing.

Beauty and the Chad by Sarah Rees Brennan, based on Beauty and the Beast
You may think its weird there's two versions of the same story here, but this is as different from Gratton's story as possible. This is about a much more proactive Beauty--she decides to be the master of her fate. The beast, or rather Chad, was amusing as he tried to communicate with Beauty who didn't understand most of what he said. Just a cute fun story overall.

The Pink by Amanda Hocking, based on The Pink
Evil people get evil rewards. Its a good tale, though nothing truly extraordinary about it. Reads very much like a fairy tale though and that's not a bad thing.

Sell Out by Jackson Pearce, based on Snow White (I think)
Uhhh....this needed some fleshing out. So the guy can kiss awake the dead (only within a certain timeframe though) and he has a change of heart by the end? Kind of? It was okay, but not really anything special like Pearce's other fairy tale retellings, so I was rather surprised.

Overall this wasn't a bad collection of stories, but the ones I didn't enjoy really stood out against the stories that just flowed better for the short form. Definitely worth a look, especially if you already enjoy many of these authors' other works.
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Este libro lo leí hace un buen tiempo, no sé por qué no traje la reseña antes. Creo que es el hecho que sean varias historias cortas muy disparejas lo que me hace difícil darle una valoración y opinión global.

Algunas de las escritoras que aparecen en la lista ya había leído, caso de Julie Kagawa y Rachel Hawkins. Y luego otras que tenía pensado nunca leer como (y únicamente): Amanda Hocking. Ok, no sé por qué nunca me ha caído bien la señora Hocking, y sus libros no me han interesado mucho, se me hacen muy clichés. Y esta antología solo confirmó mis sospechas, la historia corta de Hocking es tan presuntuosa, no, en serio, me imagino al editor leyendo el material de los otros escritores y llegar al de Hocking...



Pero esa solo soy yo siendo un poco hater xD

Grim tiene muy buenas historias cortas. Mis favoritas:

• Beauty and The Chad de Sarah Rees-Brennan: me reí un montón, está sí es un buen retelling de La Bella y la Bestia. Buenísimo.
• Figment de Jeri Smith-Ready: #Crying
• Thinner than water de Saundra Mitchell: Una de las mejores del libro. Oscuro, retorcido. Justo lo que el libro buscaba. Quiero leer más de Saundra.
• The Brothers Piggett de Julie Kagawa: Me gustó mucho la adaptación que se hizo
• Untethered de Sonia Gensler: ♥

Les voy a ser sincera y estos son solo algunos que me acuerdo xD Mi cuaderno me está ayudando, pero fui muy tacaña con los comentarios ahí.

Grim me ha gustado, como les digo tiene algunas historias que no me engancharon a su lectora, otros como el de Sarah Ress supieron darme mucho en pocas páginas. Es una poco complicado reseñar una antología.
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A great collection of short stories that retell fairy tales. All of them were good, but some of them were absolute standouts.

Trigger Warning for child abuse.
Thinner Than Water by Saundra Mitchell is one of those standouts. "I’m the Princess of Flamen, and every night, my father— the king—comes to my bed." Merula is trapped. Her father's desire to marry her--to fuck her--is wrong and she knows it. But he's the King and no one, not even she, can defy him. So she creates challenges to delay their wedding. She wants a gown of sunlight, a stola of moonlight, a palla of starlight. And when her father the King produces all these things, she is trapped. What I loved about this story was Augusta Merula herself. She was angry, rightly so, and she made certain that every person collaborating with the King knew exactly what they were doing to her. And then she made her own plans to save herself.

Beast/Beast by Tessa Gratton is, of course, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The Beast knows his part in the curse and the Beauty slowly finds hers. It's a sad, lovely story of Beauty finding her purpose and discovering herself.

Untethered by Sonia Gensler is a ghost story about a family's terrible loss. It's about mothers and daughters and sisters, it's about grief and coming together. It's about love.

Beauty and The Chad by Sarah Rees Brennan is a hilarious Beauty and the Beast retelling. Beauty believes in honor and The Chad misses his XBox.

(Provided by publisher)
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This collection of short stories contain all the best elements of the classic fairy tale: magic, quests, and a dark twist. Some are strictly modern tales, with the magic a paranormal element. Some are set in the timeless fairy tale world. There are even a few that have no magic at all save for the magic of bravery. As a fan of the "Beauty and the Beast" story, I was pleased to see two different interpretations of that classic tale. Part of the fun of reading each story was that moment of recognition of the fairy tale inspiration. My favorites: Beast/Beast, Light it Up, A Real Boy, Beauty and the Chad. ( )

The Key by Rachel Hawkins: I’m a big fan of Rachel Hawkins, and this story did not disappoint. I didn’t see the ending coming, and I love when that happens. The Key was a great way to start this anthology, and added in the right amount of creepy.

Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready: I loved this story. It’s kind of bittersweet. I like that there is an epilogue included at the end. We get closure from this tale, and it definitely gave me the warm fuzzies.

The Twelfth-Girl by Malinda Lo: This needs to be a full length novel. I loved it, and I have to know more about the lives of the girls at the private school, and the “other” world. The ending totally creeped me out, and I think it could be elaborated on so much more.

The Raven Princess by Jon Skovron: This is another story that left me with warm fuzzies. There’s definitely a moral, and I kind of figured out where this was going early on. That didn’t stop me from enjoying it though.

Thinner Than Water by Saundra Mitchell: First, a disclaimer about this short story, it deals with incest. There isn’t anything graphically explained, but you know it’s going on. I will say after having a hard time reading about the incest, I did end up enjoying this story. The princess takes some great strides in setting things right.

Before the Rose Bloomed by Ellen Hopkins: This just wasn’t for me. I have no problems with writing in prose, but the way the story flowed didn’t work for me.

Beast/Beast by Tessa Gratton: I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, and this one was great. It was eery, and the writing was beautiful.

The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa: When I found out Julie Kagawa was doing a Three Little Pigs retelling I was anxious to know how she was going to do it. I freaking loved this short story. It was a bit predictable, but very enjoyable.

Untethered by Sonia Gensler: Untethered was an okay read for me. I knew what was going to happen from the beginning. I do like Gensler’s writing style, though.

Better by Shaun David Hutchinson: Loved this one. We get a sci-fi feel, and a crazy turn of events at the end. I don’t want to ruin the story, but this is definitely one of my favorites in the anthology.

Light It Up by Kimberly Derting: I didn’t finish this story. It just didn’t keep my attention.

Sharper than a Serpent’s Tongue by Christine Johnson: This one was just odd. I didn’t really see a point to it, and that could be because I don’t know the original tale it was based on.

A Real Boy by Claudia Gray: Probably one of my favorites in the anthology. I love the sci-fi element, and seeing things through new eyes again. There’s something about innocence that gives me the warm fuzzies.

Skin-Trade by Myra McEntire: Creepy, but great. Love Myra McEntire’s writing. This was a great short story!

Beauty and the Chad by Sarah Rees Brennan: I love how Brennan’s writing is always fun and draws you in. The story read like a mix between the Disney movie, and just pure fun.

The Pink by Amanda Hocking: Another in the middle short story for me. I don’t have feelings for it either way.

Sell Out by Jackson Pearce: My first time reading anything by Jackson Pearce, and I wish this was longer! I loved it. I will definitely be reading more of this author.

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