Thornhedge, by T. Kingfisher. Tor Books, 2023

Shades of fractured fairy tales! Kingfisher has taken the tale of the sleeping maiden in the tower, surrounded by brambles and briar roses, and humanized - albeit by using a not entirely human protagonist.

When a baby is born to the ruler of a tiny backwater kingdom, a fairy steps in. Within minutes of ( Read more... )

Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline: Dieselpunk & Decopunk Fairy Tales, Anthology edited by Rhonda Parrish. World Weaver Press, 2019The time of “Dieselpunk’ and “Decopunk” runs from the start of WW 1 to the end of WW 2. Like Steampunk, they refer to an alternate world history, one in which the mechanics of the world are futuristic- ray guns, robots ( ( Read more... )

The Sisters of the Winter Wood, by Rena Rossner. Redhook Books, 2018
Another modern telling of old fairy tales and more; here’s Christina Rosseti’s Goblin Market, Leda and the Swan, Russian folklore, and I suspect more. The author gives us duel POVs: Liba, almost 18, tells her tale in prose, is dark haired and considers herself fat; and Laya, 15, ( Read more... )

Harry’s Trees, by Jon Cohen. Mira, 2018

Harry has always loved trees and found them a comforting presence, so he went to work with the Forest Service. Then he found himself stuck behind a desk for years, putting information into a computer and never seeing the outdoors. When his beloved wife dies in a horrible accident, it upends his entire world ( Read more... )

What Should Be Wild, by Julia Fine. HarperCollins, 2018

Little Maisie Cothay was born from her mother’s dead body. Right away (thankfully) her father discovered that the touch of her bare skin would kill- or resurrect. It could even happen repeatedly- she killed her father several times before reaching toddlerhood. She could even resurrect the ( Read more... )

Magic for Unlucky Girls, by A.A. Balaskovits. SFWP, 2017 This is a book of 14 mostly reimagined fairy tales- not Disney fairy tales, but grimmer than the brothers Grimm. Think Angela Carter’s “Bloody Chamber” or Emma Donahue’s “Kissing the Witch”. These stories are feminist in a way; they explore the horrible ways in which women and girls are ( Read more... )

The Poison Diaries, by Jane, Duchess of Northumberland Illustrated by Colin Stimpson. Abrams, 2007 ‘The Poison Diaries’ is a book for children- and adults. The story is short- an abusive apothecary takes on a young boy named Weed as an assistant and puts him in charge of the poison garden- but it works as a fairy tale, has a moral, and is an ( Read more... )