My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/OWnP8cWjSGE

Enjoy! ( )

For one thing: The cover is INCREDIBLE. It's spooky yet detailed and grabs all of my attention.

I absolutely love fairy tales, so seeing them in graphic novel form is an absolute delight. I was more than thrilled to be able to pick this book up because it's just fun seeing different authors and illustrators ways of recreating fairy tales. Plus, I grew up pretty heavily on fairy tales so it's like a blast to the past for me. To add to this awesome sauce, this collection includes fairy tales from various European countries (and I haven't heard of some of these before so this is wicked cool!).

Included in this collection are (with my star rating, of course):
1. Jack and the Beanstalk - "I SMELL THE BLOOD OF AN ENGLISHMAN" - 3 stars

2. The Singing Bone - - 4 stars. I had never heard of this story before, so that was wildly amusing!

3. Puss in Boots - "Oh great, a weirdo that puts clothes on his pets." - 5 stars. This was always one of my favourite fairy tales.

4. Tatterhood - 4 stars. Yet another I hadn't heard of before!

5. Rapunzel - 5 stars.

6. Kid Brother -3 stars.

7. The Nixie of the Mill Pond - 4 stars.

8. Bisclavret - 2 stars.

9. Hamelin's Piper - 3 stars.

The illustrations are very much comic book and 90s after school cartoon inspired and I am digging it! It made these stories more fun for me.

These include some of the lighter tales, but also some of the darker. I think YA and up would be the general age group for these stories (but hey, middle graders have seen a lot worse too).

Four out of wild boar five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Iron Circus Comics for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. ( )

Dark and twisted takes on dark and twisted fairy tales, with all the cold-blooded murder, decapitation, and cruel fates that would upset tots but should please horror-loving teens and adults.

FOR REFERENCE

Originally published in 2012 as as "Cautionary Fables and Fairy-Tales: Europe Edition." Reprinted in 2020 as "The Nixie of the Mill-Pond and Other European Stories."

Contents:
• Jack and the Beanstalk (England) / Mary Cagle
• The Singing Bone (Germany) / K. C. Green
• Puss in Boots (Italy) / Kate Ashwin
• Tatterhood (Norway) / Adapted by Shaggy Shanahan [a/k/a Steven Shanahan] and drawn by Katie Shanahan
• Rapunzel (Germany) / Ovens [a/k/a Lin Visel]
• Kid Brother (Russia) / Carla Speed McNeil
• The Nixie of the Mill Pond (Germany) / Kory Bing
• Bisclavret (France) / Story by Marie De France, Art by Kel McDonald
• Hamelin's Piper (Germany) / Jose Pimienta
• About the Artists
• Extras ( )

[rating from personal enjoyment]

This is my least liked of the A Cautionary Fables & Fairytales series.

Jack and the Beanstalk (3 stars)
The artwork really gave this story personality. It had a few touches to give the story a different spin too.

The Singing Bone (2 stars)
I had never heard of this story before, but it was all over the place. Drunk bunnies? Dead boars? MURDER! This was a little morbid overall. Reminds me of those Brothers Grimm stories because they feel so unsatisfying and dark. Eh, I like the cartoony artwork though. Very expressive!

Puss in Boots (1 star)
Dumb. The Cat’s got the brains tho.

Tatterhood (2 stars)
Loved that the sisters got a long and the parents didn’t sow discourse between them.

Rapunzel (3 stars)
Loved the art. This one was incredibly sad.

Kid Brother (1 star)
Didn’t get it. And the overly inked layouts made everything confusing.

The Nixie of the Mill-pond (2 stars)
???

Bisclavret (1.5 star)
Trifling.

Hamelin’s Piper (2 stars)
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