Received via Netgalley for review.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I think maybe Jane Yolen isn't for me. Or, at least, this collection of her stories isn't for me. I appreciate that it's a mix of original stories and others previously collected, but the tone and quality varied so wildly that I kept getting the equivalent of whiplash.

I don't think this is suitable for younger readers (less than maybe 12/11, depending on the maturity of course) - there's a lot of discussion of sex, incest, and rape. I understand that these are aspects that were present (usually) in the original tales, and that they were much darker than we are used to, which is why some might be drawn to it. The way that she glosses over some potentially troubling aspects made me a little uncomfortable, though (things like how the Foxwife didn't want to get married, and I wasn't sure if the sex in "Sule Skerry" was consensual or not).

The notes on how Yolen fractured her tales in the back half of the book were interesting to read, and provided some enlightenment, but I don't understand why the poems were included here as well. It would make more sense to have the poems accompanying the actual story they're meant to accompany; I think few people will read them in their current placement.

The ones I didn't like were generally the ones that she originally envisioned as pictures books - "Happy Dens or A Day in the Wold Wolves' Home" (and yes, there are a little more than a few typos in my version, including some repeated sentences, but I'm sure that will be corrected before publication), "The Bridge's Complaint," and "Sleeping Ugly," generally because they still felt juvenile and out of place in a collection where other stories discuss topics such as the commodification of women etcetera.

I wanted to like "The Gwynhfar" more than I did - the idea of women solely as political pawns is an old one, but with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the characters and the ideas in this story felt underdeveloped.

I really enjoyed "The Golden Balls," "Allerleirauh," and "Cinder Elephant" (and the poem meant to accompany "Wrestling with Angels"). Cinder Elephant is a fairly innocent tale with a beautiful last couple of lines (about the step-sisters's not being able to understand her forgiveness), while the other two were darker and more poignant. I had absolutely no idea that "Allerleirauh" was a Cinderella variant - I thought it was Snow White or Donkeyskin! Even when Yolen revealed the inspiration in her note, I still don't quite understand the influence of Cinderella on the telling, and am wondering if that was maybe an error?

For so many stories, liking 3, disliking 3, and feeling ambivalent about the rest isn't a successful record. ( )

I jumped at the chance to read this early. I love all fairy tales, even those who have been re-imagined with new endings. Jane Yolen is a masterful storyteller and keeps the stories dark yet charming which is a difficult balance. There are stories from Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm, Native American stories, Greek Mythology, Japanese folk tales, Celtic mythology and more.

They remind of the old Fractured Fairy Tales. There is a Snow White located in West Virginia and many other tales from around the world. I read an advance copy on my kindle and I’m pre-ordering it to add it into our geography studies. ( )

I often enjoy Jane Yolen's fairy tales in other anthologies, and they are very good amongst the genre, but I struggled to keep motivated to finish all the stories in this book. I often have that problem with short story collections, finding that I'd rather read one or two here and there, spread out over years until I've read them all. This is especially the case when the stories all have the same feel.

I can't say exactly what makes these stories all feel the same to me. I read about half, maybe more, and there are different themes, tones, and effects, but overall just felt a little ploddingly the same. Maybe it's the narrative voice and Yolen's personal vocabulary all running together? I didn't dislike any of them, I just gradually found my reading pace slowing down (I excitedly devoured the first few! because I love fairy tale retellings!) until it was due back at the library and I just couldn't believe that I would finish before the next due date if I renewed the checkout.

Something that I did dislike about the book - but not the stories themselves - is the conceit of "fractured tales" and pairing each previously-published story with a little history or anecdote related to it and a poem that may or may not be directly related to the story. This is fine, but many of the little add-ons made me wonder why Yolen bothered, and why I bothered flipping to the back of the book to refer to them. Maybe it would have made more sense to put the add-ons directly after the related story, instead of sticking them all in the appendix. Maybe putting them in the appendix was so they'd be easier to skip. I don't know.

I didn't like any of the poems I read and I didn't like the Jane Yolen I met in the little anecdotes. ( )

A collection of short stories that riff, retell, and fracture fairy and folk tales from a variety of cultures and countries. Yolen is a skilled hand and the majority of these stories utterly tickled my fancy. My personal favourite was "Sleeping Ugly" in which the sleeping princess trope is revisited. I also enjoyed the notes included at the end of the volume on the origins of each of the stories (many of which have appeared in other publications or collections previously) although I could take or leave the poems included for each of these notes as I'm not a big poetry reader. Recommended if you enjoy a good fairy tale retelling. ( )

Perfectly competent retellings. And what's the point. I just can't get Jane Yolen - whatever she's aiming at, it isn't my viscera. Over the years I've picked up novel after story collection laced with little poetic gems that sparkle and leave me indifferent. Competent and clever, wily even, but not to my nose, stinky gutsy. ( )