Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed on 11/23/2014 + 2527 more book reviews

I originally bought this book to go towards the Fairy Tales Retold Challenge I was participating in this year. I have read a few of Lia Blocks books, they are always intriguing. Lia Block has a very different writing style that is beautiful and a bit ambiguous. Shes an author I enjoy reading occasionally but not all the time.

This was a dark, yet strangely beautiful, collection of fairy tales told in Blocks typical ambiguous writing style. Really they read more as poetry than story.

My favorites were Charm which was a disturbing but beautiful retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I also really enjoyed Beast, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Ice was a well done retelling of the Snow Queen.

You can see the stories included in this anthology along with a rating and brief synopsis below.

Overall this was a quick and beautiful read of some fairy tale retellings. If you enjoy Lia Blocks writing style and like reading fairy tale retellings I would definitely recommend.

Snow (3 stars):
A retelling of Snow White where the Prince is the girls father and the love of the dwarves is more important than the love of a prince.

Tiny (3 stars)
A pretty basic retelling of Thumbalina set in the modern day.

Glass (4 star)
Retelling of Cinderella, where Cinderella actually enjoys the work she does serving her sisters and is prodded on to greater things by her fairy god mother.

Charm (5 stars)
A very disturbing and yet beautiful retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The main girl is drugged into what sounds like sex trafficking, but saved by a beautiful woman from her past who shared in some of her pain. Very beautifully written with excellent imagery.

Wolf (4 stars)
Retelling of Red Riding Hood set in modern day where a girl flees her sexually abusive father by running into the desert to meet her grandma. Has the harshest prose and most swearing of the bunch, but I enjoyed the ending.

Rose (4 stars)
A retelling of Snow White and Rose Red. A sweet story about two sisters who have a wonderful relationship until love tears them apart.

Bones (3 stars)
A retelling Bluebeard set in modern times, in which the girl has to save herself

Beast (4 stars):
Retelling of Beauty in the Beast in which Beauty would rather be like the Beast than have her prince.

Ice (4 stars):
A retelling of the Snow Queen. A young man immersed and overwhelmed falls in love with a girl but his heart is filled with ice when he meets a beautiful woman who has him dancing on her strings. Beautifully told and full of hope and love.

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