I did not skip any of the short stories, but some I felt were longer than necessary. I was also expecting, or maybe hoping for, more fantasy, but I was fascinated by the stories chosen. I loved the Charles Vess drawings throughout, with his descriptions of the narratives they are from. I also loved that they included an afterword, for each story, written by the authors. The afterword explained why they chose that piece and why they decided to go the route they did with their own narrative. Often, explaining how they would have liked the story changed or felt that the impact of their story highlighted the essence of the other, but also captivated their new audience. One of the ones I really enjoyed was the reworking of Rumplestiltskin. It places this old fairytale in the slums of modern day, where children end up in foster care and young women are often sold into prostitution. The story was realistic, sad, and grotesque. It really made me realize how twisted the tale of Rumplestiltskin was, with a young woman being given by her father to the King, knowing her inability to spin gold means her imminent death. So, while some of the stories were only okay, most were well executed and enjoyable. They were often a manageable length and I was able to set the book aside for another novel and come back to it with little issue. I recommend this anthology for fans of old stories, who are interested in reading how some of today's top authors reimagine the horror of a fairytale situation.
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