Step into the realm of the fairies, where darkness and light come together to create a world full of mischief and magic. A place where pixie dust and brownie favors are often counter balanced by the sinister temptations and mad schemes of the darker side. Here, you can choose to walk with the heroes or be carried away by the fairy lover of your dreams. Just be careful not to fall too deeply, you may never come home.
In this collection, ten talented authors have come together to bring you sixteen fantastical stories of the lighter and darker sides of the fae. The product of this collaboration is an incredible journey into a world that will whisk the reader away on gilded wings, but might not let them go.
Catherine Stovall is the author of many fiction works in the horror, steampunk, paranormal, fantasy, dark fantasy, and YA genres.
Catherine is a fearless creature who surrounds herself with the joys of life both in and out of her fictional worlds. She lives in Southeast Missouri with her husband, three children, and pets. When not writing, she spends her time riding motorcycles, wearing elaborate hats, and genuinely enjoying the oddities in life.
A lover of social media, she encourages her fans to reach out to her through facebook, her website, and twitter, so they can share in the experience of publishing and creating.
This is a gorgeous read. From the second you pick it up, with that beautiful cover image, to the minute you finish reading the last line, you are swept away in the realm of the Fae. I enjoyed the way the tales were split into light and dark. I read through the light half, through stories that were uplifting and reinforced a sense of rightness, I found myself smiling more and more with each one but it was the dark half of the anthology that really captured my fancy. Each tale is beautifully told and each brings a different perspective on the world of the Fae. All of the traditional beliefs are covered, from tiny winged creatures, to human sized beauties – whatever you imagine fairies to be, you are sure to find them in here.
I intended to make note of my favorite stories, the ones deserving of particular mention, however I realized that to do so would just have me listing each of the stories. There simply wasn’t one that I did not enjoy. I would even be hard pushed to rate any of the individual stories below a five star rating. FM by Andrea L. Staum was my personal favorite. (Thank you for revitalizing one of my favorite children’s stories in a fabulously new and funny way). I not only recommend this to readers, I encourage you to pick it up. For me…well it is now on my TO BE READ AGAIN list.
I received a copy of the anthology in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the Authors, Editor and CHBB.
None of these stories was long enough to suit me. The one story that completely sucked me in was Don't Let Go because it reminded me of how shortsighted people can be. The purpose may have been to reveal a dark side to the fae but what I saw was a woman who betrayed her best friend for a man who would inevitably learn what she had done to the love of his life and come to despise her. All because she did not think of the consequences before she acted and allowed others to have witnessed her blatant betrayal of them both. It unfortunately mirrored human nature far too closely to not leave an impact on me.
This was such an interesting collection of fairy stories! I love any literature that has to do with fairies on default, but this anthology offered a wide variety of stories from the imaginations of a bunch of talented authors. It did tear at my heart a little but as the stories switched from sweet and classic to dark and heart wrenching. This collection is a must for all fairy lovers, or those who simply appreciate classic fairy tales.
This was an interesting book. The stories were not always well-written so one less star for that. Also trigger warning: girl is betrayed by friend and sentenced to be raped for the rest of her life. One less star for that. *shudders*
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In many ways, I did not like this anthology. Many of the stories were very short and seem to only serve the purpose of presenting a type of fairy/fae. Many like a good plot. There are a couple of well written stories - good plot line and well written. Those stories are why I give 2 stars.