I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Short stories and new interpretations on fairy tales. What could be wrong with that?
I normally dont have a problem with third person, when it moves the pace well but this had too many glue/filler words that slowed the pace, this one took some determination to finish.
Speer can set a scene well, her descriptions put you in the story, it was the telling, not showing that let it down.
"Every Word I Speak" was one I enjoyed, and "Can You Let Him Go" was great.
"The Jester's Heart" was deliciously dark, as was "Necklace of Rubies".
There were a few typos, some grammar issues but not enough to really detract from the stories themselves.
Negativity aside, these harken back to The Brothers Grimm, when fairy tales weren't fun songs and Disney. They would have fit in with the story telling of characters seen in tv show Once Upon A time.
While I didn't become immersed in "The Bell Witch and Queen of Vines", I did enjoy a heroine NOT being a distressed damsel, and choosing for herself.
This was a mixed bag for me. Some great retellings, some not so great. But if you like dark versions of fairy tales, I recommend giving it a go. ( )

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This book has been sitting in my TBR pile for a VERY LONG TIME. Every time I flipped through my library to see what I should choose to read next, Wishes and Sorrows by Cindy Lynn Speer would pop up and I would hesitate before swiping away. This is another of those times where a cover can be deceiving. I mean, the cover is GORGEOUS but also a little misleading. I kept putting this book off because I kept thinking it would be some long, overdrawn, very uppity type story and I was never in the mood to read that.

Finally, in an attempt to clear my galley TBR list, I thought I would give it a try and get it over with. Sweet gods in heaven, how could I have been so wrong about a book! Wishes and Sorrows was so amazing! I absolutely fell in love with it and all of the different stories within. Wishes and Sorrows is a collection of short stories, many of which can be divided into Wishes and Sorrows, ergo the title. They’re all a bit fantastical, tales including ghosts, ghouls, fae, witches, and more.

The collection starts with what is possibly my favourite tale of the book, The Bell Witch and the Queen of Vines. In it, we see an older woman, a town witch that uses bells and dancing to ward off evil spirits and creatures from the town to which she belongs. She befriends one of these “evil” creatures one day, a werewolf, who shares with her a warning — danger and death are actively following her. What happens? I won’t give it away but it does hold a bit of Greek mythology in it…

Another ghoulish favourite is A Necklace of Rubies. This story could actually be its own full length novel (which I would have loved to read). Here, we see the typical trope of a character being given everything in the world, all of the freedoms available, and yet, cannot keep themselves from doing the one thing that was forbidden. Yet, there is a turn which leads to an unpredictable (yet enjoyable) ending. Also, Don Joaquin is exquisitely delectable and I could definitely see him being a Man Crush Monday character.

On the Sorrows side of the collection, you have some truly horrific tales in Remember and The Train, both of which leave you feeling unsettled. The former is told in bits and pieces where the reader jumps to conclusions about a lover who is abusive or false, while the latter is a perverse rendition of Frankenstein.

On the whole, each of these stories are interesting, well written, and solid. More than half of them have me wanting to reread them already, which definitely earns Wishes and Sorrows five stars.

// I received this title for free in exchange for an honest review // ( )

This book contains a collection of short fantasy-based tales from Cindy Lynn Speer. I had originally read some of Ms. Speer's short stories in a past anthology, which I loved. So I was excited to give this collection a read. Overall a good collection. My favorites in this collection are still the one's I had read in previously published anthologies, however I did enjoy several others. These stories range from fairy tale remakes, urban fantasy and some regular fantasy thrown in. Some stories were less memorable than others (but I think that is due to subject preference), however I did enjoy reading more from this author and would be interested to read a novel from Ms. Speer in the future.

Received this book via LibraryThing.com Early Reviewer giveaway (3.5 stars). ( )

This book is quite enjoyable. The author's retelling of these traditional tales for the most part is very good. I'm a big fan of fairy tales and their retelling and these are definitely some of the best that I have read, though I will say that a good editing would help. This author’s work will definitely find its way onto my things to read list. ( )

A collection of fairytales - some new, some rewritten. The first story in the collection sucked me right in, to the characters and the magic and the world. Unfortunately most of the rest of the collection didn't quite match up, and a couple of the stories were just duds. But overall, I enjoyed the collection. ( )