Author: Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith-Ready, Shaun David Hutchison, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton & Jon Skovron
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 9780373211081
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The Key - 3/5 - Based on Bluebeard. Lana was a daughter of a psychic but possessed her own powers as well. Unfortunately, her powers revealed a dark and dangerous secret that was best left unseen.
Whoa. Since, I was unfamiliar with the fairy tale, I had no idea where this story was going and the ending took me by surprise. The only reason I didn't give it a better rating was because it wasn't something I normally like. I wish the ending was expounded just a bit.
Figment - 4/5 - Based on Puss in Boots. Upon his father's death, Eli was given a stuffed cat. This was no ordinary cat - it has the power to grant its user good fortune.
The fairy tale was a little obscure. You had to get past the teenage angst to see the whole picture. The plot had a good moral lesson of believing in oneself and how you can succeed. I found the hero to be down-to-earth and someone to root for.
The Twelfth Girl - 3.5/5 - Based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Liv wanted to be part of the 12 girls that disappear every night to party. When her chance came to become one of them, things were not as cool as they seem.
There was no romance like the original tale. Liv sort of saved herself, which was kind of neat via her method. And the modern rewrite was had an interesting twist. Note - there was a little bit of girl/girl at the end
The Raven Princess - 4/5 - Based on The Raven. A princess was cursed to be a raven since she was a baby. When she met a young man in the woods, can he be the one to break her curse?
This was your typical fairy tale with an atypical ending. I liked the predictability of the plot - quest after quest that ended in a slightly twisted conclusion.
Before the Rose Bloomed - 4/5 - Based on The Snow Queen. The Snow Queen was envious of Greta and K's devotion to each other. Hoping to have K's love for herself, she kidnapped him. Greta must travel long and far to save her true love.
Sweet. Pretty much followed true to the original tale except the children were of marriageable age. I like the explanation of the Snow Queen's origin. Gave a little more depth to the tale.
Beast/Beast - 4/5 - Based on Beauty & the Beast. A cursed rose forced Beauty to Beast's castle. Can she break the curse?
It loosely followed the French version. Due to length, the plot wasn't exactly fleshed out. But you got the main points. This beast was actually quite interesting. The ending was disappointing to me. I'm pretty sure she saved him but I would've love that extra tidbit.
The Brother Piggett - 3/5 - Based on The Three Little Pigs. Percival was spoiled by his two older brothers and was unmercifully teased for his weight and shyness. When he met the girl of his dream, will it be happily ever after or a nightmare of epic proportions?
A good lesson of not spoiling your child and don't jump to hasty conclusions. Personally, I found the "hero" to be annoying and couldn't like him. I'm glad his family got their just desserts.
Untethered - 5/5 - When a death of a daughter/sister tore apart a family, can the spirit of the decease bring them peace?
Wow. A short, but poignant story that had a little twist at the end. Kind of like the Sixth Sense. I had to tear up a little bit at the end. However, I wouldn't claim it to be a fairy tale.
Better - 3/5 - Based on the Pied Piper. In this sci-fi futuristic tale, children were dying of a debilitating disease. Pip was created as a lab rat to research the cure. But as experiments keep failing, Pip was no longer needed. Can Pip promise a cure before her life was destroyed?
This brought to mind of a combination of "Frankenstein" and "Twilight Zone." I'm not a fan of the tale and sci-fi, so that was why the rating was middling. Note: There was a sexual assault scene.
Light It Up - 3/5 - Based on Hansel & Gretel. When Hansen and Greta were abandoned in the woods by their evil stepmother, they luckily came across a cabin in the woods. However, they were jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Literally.
My rating was middling since this wasn't one of my favorite fairy tales but I do admit this was a good modern adaption. I can believe something like this could happen.
Sharper than a Serpent's Tongue - 3/5 - Based on Diamonds and Toads. A good girl was blessed that whenever she spoke, jewels and flowers would fall from her mouth. Her sister was cursed to have snakes and frogs fall from her mouth.
The story felt incomplete but the modern premise had promise.
A Real Boy - 3/5 - Based on Pinocchio. Another sci-fi futuristic retelling. A robot that was almost human and the girl who fell in love with him.
This was actual quite sweet. The idea of falling in love with your creation and have his fate in your hands was quite interesting and everything just worked.
Skin Trade - 2/5 - A group of men pick up women, kill them, skin them and then eat them. But what happens when one fell in love with his victim?
Again, not sure if this would be consider a fairy tale per se. Thought this was creepy and can be graphic.
Beauty and the Chad - 4/5 - Based on Beauty & the Beast. Beauty's father stole a rose and promised to send a stable boy to help the Beast with his horses. Beauty went and realized that this Beast was not a monster as she expected.
This was fun. A modern Beast meets Historical Belle. I like how levelheaded Belle was but still naive from her lack of education. Quite good.
The Pink: A Grimm Story - 4/5 - Based on The Pink. A prince has the ability to grant and wishes. He was kidnapped from his family. Alone and scare, he wished for a companion. A girl made from a flower was born.
I have never heard of this tale before but this was pretty basic and predictable. Sweet.
Sell Out - 3/5 - Based on Snow White. He had the ability to revive people from the dead with his kiss. Can he used his kiss to save a girl he hated?
Felt a little shallow. An interesting idea that would've been stronger if there were more details provided. As is, it was okay.
There were two things that all the stories had in common. One - The writing was fabulous. Despite being short, each author made an effort to weave a beautifully crafted tale and gave a twist you wouldn't see coming. Two - All stories were definitely grim. It would be rare not to be affected. There was always something that was pushing the envelope - like rape, incest, cannibalism, alcoholism, etc. So, if you were expecting something light, this was not definitely it. Only Beauty & the Beast and The Pink seem to be on the tamer side. So, yes, this is a solid fairy tale anthology that reminds me of the original Grimm brothers. If you love fairy tales, this is the book for you. However, if you aren't comfortable with the darker side of the tales, skip it. Some of the stories were a little hard to get through. But all in all, I'm glad I got a chance to read this. Will I read it again? Most likely not.
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