a little too over-the-top for my taste, but still many of the excerpts are very thought provoking and often humorous. I would only recommend this to mature (and mostly female) readers. ( )

A quirky little collection of short stories that borrow lightly from fairy tales without falling into Feminist Retellings 101. Likeable, familiar, chick-lit voice, but the surreal props, plot twists, and characters keep it from being too precious. A definite read for fans of Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen. (I did want to give it 3.5 stars, rather than 3 or 4.)

BTW, the author is a professor at the University of Tasmania. Most of the stories are set in Tasmania or Australia. Not so common. ( )