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savage_book_review 's review for:
Darker than Dark Fairytales for the Unloved
by Alex Upchurch, Brooke Eisen, Billie Nicks, Memo Rable, Emmy Crimson, Selina Shaw, Gareth Ian Davies, Ellen Winter, S D Paine, Isaac Lotharus, Hannah L Evans, Zaryn Finch, Grace Vice, S A McDaniel
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
*Please note, I was provided with an ARC version of this book by the authors and am voluntarily leaving an honest review*
The second volume of dark fairytales by the indie authors collective brings you more short stories reminiscent of the tales from your childhood, but these are most definitely for adults. As the name suggests, dark themes abound and they are certainly not for the faint-of-heart - this is one you will absolutely positively need to check your trigger warnings for before diving in. We go from the queen that bathes in the blood of maidens to the Goblin King eating the hearts of his victims, and those are some of the 'lighter' elements of the stories!
As with the previous volume, I found the stories to be a bit of a mixed bag. By far and away my favourite was 'The Blood Maidens' by Billie Nicks, not just because I love her work anyway, but because the story was well paced, beautifully written and gave me everything I needed to enjoy the premise, feel the connection of the characters and their choices, and use my imagination to fill in the gaps and imagine my own next chapter. The most important thing for me though was that the story felt balanced - every element had a purpose which contributed to the overall effect. And there's a certain revelation that gave the tale an extra layer of grounding in reality, and made my inner history geek incredibly happy!
The other tale I enjoyed profusely was 'Fairy Godfathers from Hell' by Emmy Crimson. Although I would say the technical execution wasn't as high quality - it reads almost as one long stream of consciousness without pause for breath - the underlying story is actually really enjoyable. If I'd picked this up on its own, I probably would have read the first couple of pages and said it wasn't for me, but as part of the anthology it really works! This is a tale that could be developed into a longer-form piece, which I think would really help with the pacing and build to the story.
Another notable highlight was 'The Musician and the Inkwell' by Grace Vice. I loved Grace's story in the previous volume, and this one lived up to my expectations too! This is quite a creepy story, because it feels on the surface like a proper fairytale. Our FMC makes a wish and, lucky her, it comes true. Except the way it manifests clearly makes her a villain... but because she still gets her HEA and only the sweet and good princesses get those in 'real' fairytales, there is this fantastic element of it being a total mindf**k; somehow, you can't equate her to the wicked witch or evil queen!
Rounding out the top five for me are 'Wen-Did-It-Go' by Alex UpChurch and 'Whispers of a Goblin Heart' by Zaryn Finch. The former isn't necessarily what I would choose to read in the normal course of events, but the love and devotion between the husband and wife in this one gave me the warm-fuzzies, even if the events in the story absolutely do not! Similarly, the development of the relationship in the latter is gentle and sweet, compared to the violence of the rest of the narrative.
While I appreciate that these are 'dark' fairytales, with the obvious implication being that there are going to be themes of an uncomfortable nature included, there is a part of me that got a little frustrated with the sheer volume of gratuitous scenes of a sexual nature. I have no triggers and am absolutely a fan of a good spicy scene or two, but in the vast majority of these stories there were a mix of scenes that were integral to the plot, which was fine, and then just 'extras' that felt superfluous, or only there to fulfil the brief of the anthology as a whole. And of course, a lot of the scenes contain elements of non-con/dub-con, which makes my squirming about them worse.
In the same way as with volume one, there are of course stories that didn't speak to me. However, that's the joy of an anthology - it's quick and simple to move on if what you're reading isn't your cup of tea. I did read all of the stories so I could make my own mind up and make a true comparison of them all, and overall it's definitely worth a read purely for the showcasing of some wonderful authors. I really hope you find a new favourite in here!
The second volume of dark fairytales by the indie authors collective brings you more short stories reminiscent of the tales from your childhood, but these are most definitely for adults. As the name suggests, dark themes abound and they are certainly not for the faint-of-heart - this is one you will absolutely positively need to check your trigger warnings for before diving in. We go from the queen that bathes in the blood of maidens to the Goblin King eating the hearts of his victims, and those are some of the 'lighter' elements of the stories!
As with the previous volume, I found the stories to be a bit of a mixed bag. By far and away my favourite was 'The Blood Maidens' by Billie Nicks, not just because I love her work anyway, but because the story was well paced, beautifully written and gave me everything I needed to enjoy the premise, feel the connection of the characters and their choices, and use my imagination to fill in the gaps and imagine my own next chapter. The most important thing for me though was that the story felt balanced - every element had a purpose which contributed to the overall effect. And there's a certain revelation that gave the tale an extra layer of grounding in reality, and made my inner history geek incredibly happy!
The other tale I enjoyed profusely was 'Fairy Godfathers from Hell' by Emmy Crimson. Although I would say the technical execution wasn't as high quality - it reads almost as one long stream of consciousness without pause for breath - the underlying story is actually really enjoyable. If I'd picked this up on its own, I probably would have read the first couple of pages and said it wasn't for me, but as part of the anthology it really works! This is a tale that could be developed into a longer-form piece, which I think would really help with the pacing and build to the story.
Another notable highlight was 'The Musician and the Inkwell' by Grace Vice. I loved Grace's story in the previous volume, and this one lived up to my expectations too! This is quite a creepy story, because it feels on the surface like a proper fairytale. Our FMC makes a wish and, lucky her, it comes true. Except the way it manifests clearly makes her a villain... but because she still gets her HEA and only the sweet and good princesses get those in 'real' fairytales, there is this fantastic element of it being a total mindf**k; somehow, you can't equate her to the wicked witch or evil queen!
Rounding out the top five for me are 'Wen-Did-It-Go' by Alex UpChurch and 'Whispers of a Goblin Heart' by Zaryn Finch. The former isn't necessarily what I would choose to read in the normal course of events, but the love and devotion between the husband and wife in this one gave me the warm-fuzzies, even if the events in the story absolutely do not! Similarly, the development of the relationship in the latter is gentle and sweet, compared to the violence of the rest of the narrative.
While I appreciate that these are 'dark' fairytales, with the obvious implication being that there are going to be themes of an uncomfortable nature included, there is a part of me that got a little frustrated with the sheer volume of gratuitous scenes of a sexual nature. I have no triggers and am absolutely a fan of a good spicy scene or two, but in the vast majority of these stories there were a mix of scenes that were integral to the plot, which was fine, and then just 'extras' that felt superfluous, or only there to fulfil the brief of the anthology as a whole. And of course, a lot of the scenes contain elements of non-con/dub-con, which makes my squirming about them worse.
In the same way as with volume one, there are of course stories that didn't speak to me. However, that's the joy of an anthology - it's quick and simple to move on if what you're reading isn't your cup of tea. I did read all of the stories so I could make my own mind up and make a true comparison of them all, and overall it's definitely worth a read purely for the showcasing of some wonderful authors. I really hope you find a new favourite in here!