A collection of 20 portraits, detailing the childhood of various infamous villains like Ursula, Hades, Seth, Loki, Baba Yaga, or Maleficent. It is a gA collection of 20 portraits, detailing the childhood of various infamous villains like Ursula, Hades, Seth, Loki, Baba Yaga, or Maleficent. It is a good mix of well-known and lesser known villains from different cultures ranging from mythological creatures to book characters and fairytale figures. My favourite stories were about Captain Hook, The Queen of Hearts, The Evil Queen from Snow White, and Bluebeard, because they did not offer an already established villain origin story and they had something in there that I was not anticipating, something that surprised me. They made me want to read a whole novella about it, which is also why I wish the individual stories were a bit longer.
The double-page illustrations are beautiful by the way, especially the one featuring The Big Bad Wolf and the one with Jack O'Lantern in it. The latter might be my favourite illustration of the whole book. ...more
One of the best modern fairy tale collections! The twelve stories are very diverse, have unique twists, add to the original tale, and some are even heOne of the best modern fairy tale collections! The twelve stories are very diverse, have unique twists, add to the original tale, and some are even heartbreaking. It's sad that it is over so soon, I would have loved to read even more stories.
Great collection of interconnected stories about Cardan. I especially loved the stories within the story and the beautiful illustrations by Rovina CaiGreat collection of interconnected stories about Cardan. I especially loved the stories within the story and the beautiful illustrations by Rovina Cai!...more
A well-crafted retelling of The Nutcracker that mostly focuses on the backstory of the toymaker, Drosselmeier. The book essentially follows his whole A well-crafted retelling of The Nutcracker that mostly focuses on the backstory of the toymaker, Drosselmeier. The book essentially follows his whole life, from early childhood in a Bavarian forest to teenage years and late adulthood in different German cities. It pretty much reads like a slow-paced, atmospheric and character-driven historical fiction, which I very much loved. There are a lot of German words and phrases in the book, which made the world feel even more alive and real. In general, the writing style was very detailed and there are a few quotes which I really liked.
The actual retelling of the well-known classic by E.T.A. Hoffmann only takes place at the very end of the story. However, everything leading to it was just as enchanting and captivating. Without giving too much away, there is a mythological twist in which Greek myths play a huge role, especially those about Pan and Athena. Music is mentioned and talked about quite often. And even other fairy tales pop up here and there. Drosselmeier grew up listening to various tales by the Brothers Grimm and references them in certain situations. Later on, there was a tiny plot twist about one such tale, namely (view spoiler)[
Hansel and Gretel(hide spoiler)], which I did not see coming.
"You scoff, but really, do you know the Odyssey? [...] Athena disguises herself as an old woman. She helps [Odysseus] out with magical interventions. She then transforms him by giving him a disguise so complete that even his son and his wife can't recognize him. Only his dog. Who does this sound like to you, this Athena? [...] Who do you think really is the fairy godmother in those tales by the Brothers Grimm, those household märchen that they published to such success, but Athena herself? You must know Aschenputtel [...]. There is a French version written up by Perrault - Cinderella, no less - and in that one, the girl is elevated by divine manipulation, she is so glorified and disguised that her own family can't recognize her. Just like Odysseus, hidden in plain sight." p. 158-159
The only thing I could think of that I did not enjoy as much, was the fact that the main character was too melancholy and depressed sometimes. In those parts of the story, the plot dragged a bit. Besides that, this is not the perfect book to pick up if you are looking for something that will put you into the Christmas cheer. But other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed Hiddensee....more
A diverse and enchanting collection of winter stories from all over the world which are set around christmas, New Year's Eve, the winter season and evA diverse and enchanting collection of winter stories from all over the world which are set around christmas, New Year's Eve, the winter season and even seasons in general. Themes around friendship, companionship, family, nature, joy and life are all represented in the collection.
There is probably at least one story in there that you have never heard of before. I only ever read The Nutcracker and The Snow Queen prior to this collection, and while those two tales are still one of my favourites, I did discover some new great stories as well.
The beautiful illustrations on every single page also help bring the narratives come to life.
A few of these tales are meant for a very young audience which is why I could not enjoy them as much, but they were cute nonetheless.
The non-fiction parts were eye-opening and the choices Lacombe made when it comes to the depiction of the Little Mermaid alone made me look at the illThe non-fiction parts were eye-opening and the choices Lacombe made when it comes to the depiction of the Little Mermaid alone made me look at the illustrations in a completely different light! ...more
This is essentially a book in a book in a book, telling three different yet interconnected stories. It is similar to Cloud Atlas in the sense that it This is essentially a book in a book in a book, telling three different yet interconnected stories. It is similar to Cloud Atlas in the sense that it starts with the first half of each story and ends with the second halves. In the beginning, we follow our well-known ka-tet who is stuck in a storm, so Roland starts to tell a story from his past. This sets about the next story which is about trying to solve murders committed by a so-called shapeshifting Skin-Man. On top of that, it is also about Roland's parents, especially his mother, Gabrielle. At one point, the younger version of Roland tells a story as well. That third story is actually a bedtime story which exists as a fictional book in Roland's world. It is about a young boy named Tim who is going on a quest to help his mother.
I liked this last story the most because it read like a fairytale including fantastical creatures, monsters, magic, wands, creepy woods, our favourite villain RF, references to Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia and a likeable AI device called Daria. The story about the Skin-Man was way too much about solving the uninteresting cases of murder. Crime just is not for me. The stuff about Gabrielle on the other hand was very interesting again and definitely improved the story for me. I loved the idea of a book in a book in a book very much and how they were connected and expanded King's multiverse. All in all, this is sadly not the best book in the series, but still worth a read, if any of the three included stories sound intriguing to you....more
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