Twelve short stories ranging from four to about twenty pages that tell fairy tales in the modern world. Holly Black's fairies are evil. They know how to cross from their world into the mortal world, or iron side as they call it. The book's stories cover a wide variety of fantasy creatures from vampires, werewolves, fairies, elves, the occasional gnome, and things that call themselves king or prince, but are something unnamed, but definitely not human.

Anyone who enjoys modern versions of fairy tales, but wants more than just an updated version of Brother Grimm's tales and instead something more sinister, more chaotic, and sometimes less understandable.

I liked that the stories were all very different. No two were in the same world or had the same characters. The book was an easy and entertaining read.

Some story endings left me wondering. Some characters changed their behavior abruptly and seemingly without any reason. The outcomes of the stories sometimes made me feel confused. Not that there were any open endings, it was just that the ending appeared to make no sense at times. I can understand that fairies by definition make no sense, but fiction should be a little more than fairy chaos.

Look at my bookshelf for more of her books. She has an easy to read style that I can settle into when I'm tired and still enjoy it.

Curious about more of her books.

Holly Black signed this copy of my book in front of me when she and Cassandra Clare did an author event at Barnes and Noble in Santa Monica. She was very friendly to all present and generous with signing stacks of books.

It is fun to read.

The only reason I would not recommend this book is if someone hates fantasy. Other than that, this book has my full support.

I bought all of the books by Holly Black at Barnes and Noble during an author meet and greet. Somehow, I never read all of them. Reading this book made me want to dive back in and finish reading the other books by her that I have.
Although some of the stories left me slightly confused in the end and wanting a little more explanation, I am rating this book five stars all in all categories because I can see how not being completely clear is her specific style and I like it in the end.

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Created Jan 13, 2022 at 8:57pm • Submit your own review...