A collection of stories, many sad but all hopeful. Enjoyed this book quite a lot. ( )

A very well written collection of short stories. They're heavy and dark and grim and remind you of your insignificance, but they're so well written. You just keep hoping something will go right in one of these stories. Hang on for the last one. It's an appropriate hope-tinged finale to this great anthology. ( )

A collection of short stories. I don't read anthologies much -- I prefer novels -- but I really enjoyed this one. Each story takes your imagination, and emotions, in a different and unexpected direction. I shall never look at Cinderella and her fairy godmother in the same way again.

Awesome. How come I never heard of Susan Palwick before? How come she hasn't been on the Tiptree Award lists? How come how come?I really liked all of the stories in this collection. My favorite might be the first one, "The Fate of Mice", about a smart, talking mouse and the girl who tells him stories. Then again, "Ever After" is pretty cool too. And I didn't even get what was going on with the godmother until most of the way through.And it was "Jo's Hair" that I read in an anthology that made me seek out more of her stuff, so that must be pretty good too.I wonder how much she realizes she has a pregnancy theme going on here. There's at least 4 in here you could read as being about that.I'm very glad I skipped Paul di Fillipo's introduction until after I'd read the book. Not only do introductions like that tend to spoil the stories, but he completely missed a major point. He gives passing reference to her 'feminist concerns' in a paranthetical. I don't think he grasps how almost all of the stories are about women. No matter if the protagonist is male. No matter if it's a mouse.I've borrowed more Palwick from the library. They're high on my to-read list. ( )

Really brilliant short stories. Definitely one of the strongest collections I've read, but I suppose that has more to do with my taste than actually how good these stories are; I like Neil Gaiman's short stories a lot, and these satisfy me just as much.

Most, if not all, of these stories center around or feature death... in positive, negative, and faded-back light. The stories are short - give it a try! ( )