Megan Engelhardt

My favorite of the collection was "Questing for Princesses" by Davis. It did what I like retellings to do: show me the other side of a fairy tale, and either be dark or really funny. Different POVs, backstory, fractured viewpoints, whatever - I like to explore multiple versions, all the angles. In this story, the other side was a prince who thought it ridiculous to do all that just to snag a bride. That being fight dragons, treat a monster with TLC, search an entire kingdom for an anonymous chick who dropped her shoe, and so on.

The poem "A Shining Spindle Can Still Be Poisoned" by Davis explained why Sleeping Beauty was never a prince, and I might have to agree. *wink*

"A Mouth to Speak the Coming Home" by Engelhardt was a mash-up of Hansel and Gretel and other folklore, and the one story I wanted more of. I immediately fell into Maryn's world and wished the story was longer!

The collection felt whole; it read like stories meant to be collected and presented together. I thought it quite clever to include side-by-side versions of the same original. So yeah, I'd definitely read more by either of these authors.

(And how cool is it that they're sisters?!)

4 stars… (meer)

This was such a cool book. Quick read, but very enjoyable. The stories and poems were beautiful and creative as they retold old tales or extended them. This was truly a remarkable work. Half of the fun was trying to figure out what story the authors were retelling. I loved the new perspectives and twists to the stories. I definitely recommend this book. My personal favorites were "The Long Con", "A Letter Concerning Shoes", "A Shining Spindle Can Still Be Poisoned", and "Questing for Princesses".… (meer)