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Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul
Poet, writer, and Instagram sensation Nikita Gill returns with a collection of fairytales poetically retold for a new generation of women.
Traditional fairytales are rife with cliches and gender beautiful, silent princesses; ugly, jealous, and bitter villainesses; girls who need rescuing; and men who take all the glory.
But in this rousing new prose and poetry collection, Nikita Gill gives Once Upon a Time a much-needed modern makeover. Through her gorgeous reimagining of fairytale classics and spellbinding original tales, she dismantles the old-fashioned tropes that have been ingrained in our minds. In this book, gone are the docile women and male saviors. Instead, lines blur between heroes and villains. You will meet fearless princesses, a new kind of wolf lurking in the concrete jungle, and an independent Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.
Complete with beautifully hand-drawn illustrations by Gill herself, Fierce Fairytales is an empowering collection of poems and stories for a new generation.
Traditional fairytales are rife with cliches and gender beautiful, silent princesses; ugly, jealous, and bitter villainesses; girls who need rescuing; and men who take all the glory.
But in this rousing new prose and poetry collection, Nikita Gill gives Once Upon a Time a much-needed modern makeover. Through her gorgeous reimagining of fairytale classics and spellbinding original tales, she dismantles the old-fashioned tropes that have been ingrained in our minds. In this book, gone are the docile women and male saviors. Instead, lines blur between heroes and villains. You will meet fearless princesses, a new kind of wolf lurking in the concrete jungle, and an independent Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.
Complete with beautifully hand-drawn illustrations by Gill herself, Fierce Fairytales is an empowering collection of poems and stories for a new generation.
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2018
874 people are currently reading
19545 people want to read
About the author
Nikita Gill
27 books5,753 followersNikita Gill is a Kashmiri Sikh writer born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and brought up in Gurugram, Haryana in India. In her mid twenties, she immigrated to the South of England and worked as a carer for many years. She enjoys creating paintings, poems, stories, photos, illustrations and other soft, positive things. Her work has appeared in Literary Orphans, Agave Magazine, Gravel Literary Journal, Monkeybicycle, Foliate Oak, MusePiePress, Dying Dahlia Review, The Rising Phoenix Review, Eunoia Review, Corvus Review, After The Pause and elsewhere.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,854 reviews
November 13, 2023
4.5/5 ⭐
"Where are the stories for the wicked girls, the ones where they are told perfection is a lie?"
I know it might sound a bit deranged, but I would make sure that I would read some of the poems and stories in this book to my children to make them understand that stories, even though beautiful and magical, can be told in so many different ways.
There is a thing about fairy tales: they never change. Even though the times change. So one has to do what one has to do and make some adjustments to them in order to make them fit better in the world.
I loved it how empowering this book is. It is not like other books I've read about empowerment, only because it does not contradict itself in the process. It just shows to us all the faces and the possibilities this world has to offer. There's no such thing as only black or only white. We can't expect this in our lives because it is totally implausible. We live in a grey area where every bit of light has it sown shadow. And this book is exactly like this.
"Not all girls are made of sugar and spice and all things nice. These are girls made of dark lace and witchcraft and a little bit of vice."
"Where are the stories for the wicked girls, the ones where they are told perfection is a lie?"
I know it might sound a bit deranged, but I would make sure that I would read some of the poems and stories in this book to my children to make them understand that stories, even though beautiful and magical, can be told in so many different ways.
There is a thing about fairy tales: they never change. Even though the times change. So one has to do what one has to do and make some adjustments to them in order to make them fit better in the world.
I loved it how empowering this book is. It is not like other books I've read about empowerment, only because it does not contradict itself in the process. It just shows to us all the faces and the possibilities this world has to offer. There's no such thing as only black or only white. We can't expect this in our lives because it is totally implausible. We live in a grey area where every bit of light has it sown shadow. And this book is exactly like this.
"Not all girls are made of sugar and spice and all things nice. These are girls made of dark lace and witchcraft and a little bit of vice."
March 16, 2019
5*****
“A clever woman is more lethal than a freshly crafted magic wand, and that is why she is fear."
(For some reason my review deleted itself so here it is again! Thank you to those who had liked and commented).
Spellbinding and magical! I loved “Wild Embers” by Nikita Gill and this book of poems was just as good!
Nikita Gill blends poetry and fairytale stories designed to empower and reimagine the tales we are told as children.
Imagine fairytales where the line between heroes and villains are blurred, where there is violence in supposed Prince Charming’s, and where the girl is independent, brave and smart- and can fight her own battles against monsters. This book explored themes of abuse and self-love, how women as well as men can be toxic, and how it is your own business how you decide to heal- and that healing and becoming yourself again is a form of magic in its own right.
The writing of this had me awestruck and there was so much magic throughout, the perfect blend of real life and fantasy. The illustrations that accompanied these poems and stories were wonderful and Nikita Gill is a talented artist!
Will definitely reread this again when looking for magic in my life 🌟🧜🏼♀️🧚🏻♀️🧙♀️👸🏻🐉✨
“A clever woman is more lethal than a freshly crafted magic wand, and that is why she is fear."
(For some reason my review deleted itself so here it is again! Thank you to those who had liked and commented).
Spellbinding and magical! I loved “Wild Embers” by Nikita Gill and this book of poems was just as good!
Nikita Gill blends poetry and fairytale stories designed to empower and reimagine the tales we are told as children.
Imagine fairytales where the line between heroes and villains are blurred, where there is violence in supposed Prince Charming’s, and where the girl is independent, brave and smart- and can fight her own battles against monsters. This book explored themes of abuse and self-love, how women as well as men can be toxic, and how it is your own business how you decide to heal- and that healing and becoming yourself again is a form of magic in its own right.
The writing of this had me awestruck and there was so much magic throughout, the perfect blend of real life and fantasy. The illustrations that accompanied these poems and stories were wonderful and Nikita Gill is a talented artist!
Will definitely reread this again when looking for magic in my life 🌟🧜🏼♀️🧚🏻♀️🧙♀️👸🏻🐉✨
June 25, 2019
"Her mother told her she could grow up to be anything she wanted to be, so she grew up to become the strongest of the strong, the strangest of the strange, the wildest of the wild, the wolf leading the wolves."
What a brilliant collection of poems and short stories! Magical and creative and enthralling, Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul is fairytales for feminists. If I had a daughter, these are the versions I would want to tell her. This isn't a book for children though; it deals with such themes as child abuse and eating disorders and thus isn't really appropriate for a child. However, the basic message of the poems, that girls and women have power and strength in themselves and do not need a man to rescue them, is a message all young girls need to hear.
The poems and stories are cleverly written, imagining "what if" the princesses in the stories knew they could rely on themselves instead of waiting to be rescued. The females become heroes for themselves. Sleeping Beauty does not need a stranger to come kiss her, without her permission. Rapunzel can cut off and climb down her own hair, rather than let a man use any part of her body to climb over. Maybe the old woman in Hansel and Gretel was misaligned and wasn't the one who tried to eat the children but instead rescued them when their father abandoned them. Indeed, I've wondered before why it is that the father wasn't made out to be the monster he was. He left his children in the woods to fend for themselves and yet he is not the bad one in the story!! Not all the females are good though, just as not all the males are bad. Jack, for instance, climbed the bean stalk to escape his abusive mother, preferring to face giants rather than the woman who should have loved and protected him but did the opposite.
These poems and stories are simple and yet oh-so-profound! It was an absolute joy to read them and I'm excited to see that the author Nikita Gill has other collections of poetry. She is brilliant and this book is brilliant and well worth reading!
What a brilliant collection of poems and short stories! Magical and creative and enthralling, Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul is fairytales for feminists. If I had a daughter, these are the versions I would want to tell her. This isn't a book for children though; it deals with such themes as child abuse and eating disorders and thus isn't really appropriate for a child. However, the basic message of the poems, that girls and women have power and strength in themselves and do not need a man to rescue them, is a message all young girls need to hear.
The poems and stories are cleverly written, imagining "what if" the princesses in the stories knew they could rely on themselves instead of waiting to be rescued. The females become heroes for themselves. Sleeping Beauty does not need a stranger to come kiss her, without her permission. Rapunzel can cut off and climb down her own hair, rather than let a man use any part of her body to climb over. Maybe the old woman in Hansel and Gretel was misaligned and wasn't the one who tried to eat the children but instead rescued them when their father abandoned them. Indeed, I've wondered before why it is that the father wasn't made out to be the monster he was. He left his children in the woods to fend for themselves and yet he is not the bad one in the story!! Not all the females are good though, just as not all the males are bad. Jack, for instance, climbed the bean stalk to escape his abusive mother, preferring to face giants rather than the woman who should have loved and protected him but did the opposite.
These poems and stories are simple and yet oh-so-profound! It was an absolute joy to read them and I'm excited to see that the author Nikita Gill has other collections of poetry. She is brilliant and this book is brilliant and well worth reading!
September 25, 2018
Was pretty good until halfway through when I noticed it kept recycling its own ideas over and over again. Also one story in here perpetuating the idea that women cannot be their own person while also being a wife and/or mother? Yeah um fuck that?
February 1, 2021
A bit too much feminism (for my humble taste) but a lot of it was actually nice and mostly well-balanced.
Poetry? Maybe. But I liked quite a lot of it, so 5 stars is a given.
Q:
Maybe magic ends with me
and it will never cross your path
but I want you to remember
that survival is an art.
The world is falsehood
so you rely on your smarts.
Princes fail all the time.
Passion sometimes goes cold
And princesses on days of fortune
can turn straw into gold.
Kind kings become greedy
And dragons can have soft souls.
Fairies cast the wrong spells,
Mermaids can be drowned,
Goblins and trolls can be heroes
and giants can fall without a sound,
and even the darkest things can be defeated
once their names are spoken out loud. (c)
Q:
So when you tell the story of Red Riding Hood, remember this too:
Her mother told her
she could grow up to be
anything she wanted to be,
so she grew up to become
the strongest of the strong,
the strangest of the strange,
the wildest of the wild,
the wolf leading the wolves. (c)
Q:
Desperation turns people sour, and she now saw life as an open wound. A shallow promise. A dark thing that should have loved her but instead tried to drown her. Her beauty fading, she recognized that she had failed to pass on her looks to her two daughters. And now she knew how important it is for a woman to be beautiful, as it is the only currency she truly had in this world, she became even more bitter. (c)
Q:
She listened to the roar of the thunderstorm,
She fell in love with the fragrance of petrichor,
She searched the night sky for shooting stars,
She planted flowers on her meagre windowsill
to brighten up her attic room every evening.
She hid away books with words that would
touch her slowly fraying soul, (c)
Q:
Ask me what I was praying for,
and I will tell you: a Fairy Godmother
who never appeared for me.
But that is what faith is, I was told.
Finding a reason to believe even when
no reason finds its way to you.
So I began to find her in odd places.
That time the car narrowly missed me.
That time the sea nearly drowned me but couldn’t. (c)
Q:
But how else is a woman supposed to survive
if not by her wits? (c)
Q:
And after the prince is thrown out, the moon dragon and the princess continue to share the day and night and live happily ever after. (c)
Q:
You did not know that Athena is my patron saint, Hera is my deity. (c)
Q:
Difficult Damsels
...
Not all girls are made of sugar
and spice and all things nice.
These are girls made of dark lace
and witchcraft and a little bit of vice.
...
These are damsels made of flawless fearlessness
made of more bravery than knights have ever seen.
These are princesses made of valour and poison alike
and they are here to hold court as your queens. (c)
Q:
Once upon a time,
Matter dreamed up an idea.
It was a small hopeful dream
a thought with the wings of the fairy.
but as with all things full of hope
it would be terribly difficult to birth.
Several events needed to come together
in the millisecond of the time it took to build Earth.
It depended on a 1 in 10^2,685,000 chance of existing.
A 1 in 20,000 chance meeting between two beings.
An ancestral heritage that goes back 4 billion years
all the way to single-celled organisms.
And only then can this idea be so finely crafted
into a gift with actual presence.
Imagine how much the universe must have loved
this thing to make it happen.
Imagine how many stars gave up their hearts
to bring this into fluid motion.
Does it make you curious?
Make you wonder what could be so marvellous?
That idea . . . it was you.
You are the universe’s fairytale come true. (c)
Q:
The Fable in Thermodynamics
The first law of thermodynamics states this:
‘energy can neither be created nor destroyed.’
Which is that everything around us is recycled energy:
you, me, your dog, those we love and those we avoid.
Which is to say that the energy that makes us
is as ancient as the beginning of time itself.
Which is to say that our bones could have been
fragmented together from the ashes of the library of Alexandria.
Which is to say our sinews and spine were crafted from the
end of a hundred-year-old oak tree and our smiles a comet.
Which is to say our hearts could be Achilles’ spirit
when he battled at Troy, bringing his enemies down with it.
Which is to say, when we feel like life is overwhelming,
we must remember that we’re just sparks of energy borrowing skin.
That no matter how much this pain feels everlasting,
this is just the temporary fabric we are in. (c)
Q:
I wonder where the wildest things go
when the devilled copse is no longer there. (c)
Q:
Tell Me a Tale I Can Relate To
Where are the stories for the wicked girls,
the ones where they are told perfection is a lie?
Where are the legends fashioned from nuance,
the ones that cause the hero and the villain to blur lines?
Where are the myths for darker things,
the ones of us who were never snow-white pure?
Where are the lessons for naughty children,
the ones who want to be lost in the forest and folklore?
If you’re looking for secrets you will find them here,
these words have been resurrected from old fairytales’ ruins.
This is the place where those stories come to be reborn
and from the wreckage emerge things
more human than humans.(c)
Poetry? Maybe. But I liked quite a lot of it, so 5 stars is a given.
Q:
Maybe magic ends with me
and it will never cross your path
but I want you to remember
that survival is an art.
The world is falsehood
so you rely on your smarts.
Princes fail all the time.
Passion sometimes goes cold
And princesses on days of fortune
can turn straw into gold.
Kind kings become greedy
And dragons can have soft souls.
Fairies cast the wrong spells,
Mermaids can be drowned,
Goblins and trolls can be heroes
and giants can fall without a sound,
and even the darkest things can be defeated
once their names are spoken out loud. (c)
Q:
So when you tell the story of Red Riding Hood, remember this too:
Her mother told her
she could grow up to be
anything she wanted to be,
so she grew up to become
the strongest of the strong,
the strangest of the strange,
the wildest of the wild,
the wolf leading the wolves. (c)
Q:
Desperation turns people sour, and she now saw life as an open wound. A shallow promise. A dark thing that should have loved her but instead tried to drown her. Her beauty fading, she recognized that she had failed to pass on her looks to her two daughters. And now she knew how important it is for a woman to be beautiful, as it is the only currency she truly had in this world, she became even more bitter. (c)
Q:
She listened to the roar of the thunderstorm,
She fell in love with the fragrance of petrichor,
She searched the night sky for shooting stars,
She planted flowers on her meagre windowsill
to brighten up her attic room every evening.
She hid away books with words that would
touch her slowly fraying soul, (c)
Q:
Ask me what I was praying for,
and I will tell you: a Fairy Godmother
who never appeared for me.
But that is what faith is, I was told.
Finding a reason to believe even when
no reason finds its way to you.
So I began to find her in odd places.
That time the car narrowly missed me.
That time the sea nearly drowned me but couldn’t. (c)
Q:
But how else is a woman supposed to survive
if not by her wits? (c)
Q:
And after the prince is thrown out, the moon dragon and the princess continue to share the day and night and live happily ever after. (c)
Q:
You did not know that Athena is my patron saint, Hera is my deity. (c)
Q:
Difficult Damsels
...
Not all girls are made of sugar
and spice and all things nice.
These are girls made of dark lace
and witchcraft and a little bit of vice.
...
These are damsels made of flawless fearlessness
made of more bravery than knights have ever seen.
These are princesses made of valour and poison alike
and they are here to hold court as your queens. (c)
Q:
Once upon a time,
Matter dreamed up an idea.
It was a small hopeful dream
a thought with the wings of the fairy.
but as with all things full of hope
it would be terribly difficult to birth.
Several events needed to come together
in the millisecond of the time it took to build Earth.
It depended on a 1 in 10^2,685,000 chance of existing.
A 1 in 20,000 chance meeting between two beings.
An ancestral heritage that goes back 4 billion years
all the way to single-celled organisms.
And only then can this idea be so finely crafted
into a gift with actual presence.
Imagine how much the universe must have loved
this thing to make it happen.
Imagine how many stars gave up their hearts
to bring this into fluid motion.
Does it make you curious?
Make you wonder what could be so marvellous?
That idea . . . it was you.
You are the universe’s fairytale come true. (c)
Q:
The Fable in Thermodynamics
The first law of thermodynamics states this:
‘energy can neither be created nor destroyed.’
Which is that everything around us is recycled energy:
you, me, your dog, those we love and those we avoid.
Which is to say that the energy that makes us
is as ancient as the beginning of time itself.
Which is to say that our bones could have been
fragmented together from the ashes of the library of Alexandria.
Which is to say our sinews and spine were crafted from the
end of a hundred-year-old oak tree and our smiles a comet.
Which is to say our hearts could be Achilles’ spirit
when he battled at Troy, bringing his enemies down with it.
Which is to say, when we feel like life is overwhelming,
we must remember that we’re just sparks of energy borrowing skin.
That no matter how much this pain feels everlasting,
this is just the temporary fabric we are in. (c)
Q:
I wonder where the wildest things go
when the devilled copse is no longer there. (c)
Q:
Tell Me a Tale I Can Relate To
Where are the stories for the wicked girls,
the ones where they are told perfection is a lie?
Where are the legends fashioned from nuance,
the ones that cause the hero and the villain to blur lines?
Where are the myths for darker things,
the ones of us who were never snow-white pure?
Where are the lessons for naughty children,
the ones who want to be lost in the forest and folklore?
If you’re looking for secrets you will find them here,
these words have been resurrected from old fairytales’ ruins.
This is the place where those stories come to be reborn
and from the wreckage emerge things
more human than humans.(c)
September 15, 2019
I’ve been eyeing this poetry collection for over a year. I’m sad that I don’t like it. Though the illustrations are gorgeous and there’s a couple of impactful poems/stories in there, I was ultimately unmoved and unimpressed with like, 95% of it.
I kind of lost any hope for enjoyment when the phrase “how to play with your brokenness like it is a fidget spinner” was used. It’s just a bad line and I’m shocked it was given the green light to include in this final published version, because it’s just not good at all.
I found some poems to be corny. I found some to be completely out of place with the theme of the collection. I found that most of them rang hollow. Though Gill technically says a lot of important things, I didn’t feel anything when she said it. Most of these poems read like they were ripped from a Tumblr post or Twitter thread on empowerment and self-love. Nothing new was truly brought to the table and it was executed in a way that seemed a little off. The only poems I truly enjoyed were the ones that discussed racism, using beautiful metaphors to do so. Everything else was meh.
There’s also a lot of hatred towards men sprinkled throughout, as well as the message that if you are a wife/mother/whatever then you are not living an important, full life or... something. I kind of just started skimming when there were horrible blanket statements about men and shameful undertones towards women who would want a “traditional” lifestyle. There’s empowering women to be independent and standing up to the patriarchy, and then there’s being an asshole. Just saying.
I also found there to be a lot of repetitive phrases. They read less like important mantras to tie together the collection and more like Gill couldn’t find different ways to say the same thing. Which is also a problem, because theres no need to say the same thing over and over.
Overall a strange reading experience. I thought this would be the perfect poetry collection for me but Gill’s interpretations of fairytales/folklore and creative choices as a whole didn’t connect with me at all.
I kind of lost any hope for enjoyment when the phrase “how to play with your brokenness like it is a fidget spinner” was used. It’s just a bad line and I’m shocked it was given the green light to include in this final published version, because it’s just not good at all.
I found some poems to be corny. I found some to be completely out of place with the theme of the collection. I found that most of them rang hollow. Though Gill technically says a lot of important things, I didn’t feel anything when she said it. Most of these poems read like they were ripped from a Tumblr post or Twitter thread on empowerment and self-love. Nothing new was truly brought to the table and it was executed in a way that seemed a little off. The only poems I truly enjoyed were the ones that discussed racism, using beautiful metaphors to do so. Everything else was meh.
There’s also a lot of hatred towards men sprinkled throughout, as well as the message that if you are a wife/mother/whatever then you are not living an important, full life or... something. I kind of just started skimming when there were horrible blanket statements about men and shameful undertones towards women who would want a “traditional” lifestyle. There’s empowering women to be independent and standing up to the patriarchy, and then there’s being an asshole. Just saying.
I also found there to be a lot of repetitive phrases. They read less like important mantras to tie together the collection and more like Gill couldn’t find different ways to say the same thing. Which is also a problem, because theres no need to say the same thing over and over.
Overall a strange reading experience. I thought this would be the perfect poetry collection for me but Gill’s interpretations of fairytales/folklore and creative choices as a whole didn’t connect with me at all.
October 2, 2018
Before I even talk about the content in this book, I just want to express just how much I love the cover. It is so attractive, and I'm afraid I've ran my hands over it countless times, which obviously, I'm unapologetic about, because it's simply beautiful. I'd buy it just for the cover.
Nikita Gill has taken classic fairytales, and in these she has masterfully combined the subjects of empowerment, love, feminism, abuse and mental illness. I enjoyed the way Gill kind of climbs into these characters in the stories, whether they are villains or heroes, and enables the reader to see them in a different perspective.
I do support that fact of what many feminist writers quote today, and that is that princesses are not damsels in distress, we need not rely on our princes, we rely on ourselves.
It was wonderful to read this beautiful and creative writing, as they are a different angle on my favourite stories from childhood. This was fun as well as being thought provoking, and I recommend it to everyone!
Nikita Gill has taken classic fairytales, and in these she has masterfully combined the subjects of empowerment, love, feminism, abuse and mental illness. I enjoyed the way Gill kind of climbs into these characters in the stories, whether they are villains or heroes, and enables the reader to see them in a different perspective.
I do support that fact of what many feminist writers quote today, and that is that princesses are not damsels in distress, we need not rely on our princes, we rely on ourselves.
It was wonderful to read this beautiful and creative writing, as they are a different angle on my favourite stories from childhood. This was fun as well as being thought provoking, and I recommend it to everyone!
July 19, 2019
The idea is good, the illustrations gorgeous; but the last 1/3 of the collection is just a big giant bash against men with no real fairytale link at all. It’s really too bad Nikita Gill can’t seem to understand that not all men are awful. The last few poems are very disturbing to me considering they are the most likely to be remembered (being last). It's too bad because many of the poems near the beginning of this compilation are solid, strong takes on known stories.
Great pacing & feel
Gill gives us some wonderful quotes and moments in Fierce Fairytales throughout her (very) short stories and poem snippets. She has taken known fairy tales (some from around the world) and given them a darker or more realistic spin.
One example of that writing that really stood out to me (being as I have a medicated Anxiety disorder) is:
"Anxiety makes more heroes than history would care to repeat. It is better than sitting and waiting, letting the demon claw into your mind with worry. Anxious people are resourceful, they need to know how to keep the sea of panic at bay so they do not drown.”
This resonated as very true for me. Some people tell me I’m brave. But I’m really not, I just can’t stand not knowing or waiting to find something out. My lack of ability to breathe, be patient and not panic is a detriment and shows weakness more so than anything. Although I will agree with the resourcefulness comment. I have gotten good at distracting myself, calming myself down, or otherwise finding a way to not pass-out or show external signs of any given panic attack I may be having.
Pretty Isn't Enough
The idea of updating fairy tales or poems and putting them in a gorgeously bound (and illustrated) book for children/teens is wonderful. The actual production of this book is amazing. I would have cherished it as a child just for how pretty it is; even if I didn't like all the stories. I think there is probably something here for everyone; but unfortunately you have to navigate a lot of obnoxious, in your face rhetoric to find it. Gill starts us out with the tamer stories and sets the tone and mood. She lures the reader into buying into her ideas, stories and verse. Only to take the last quarter of this book bashing, and I mean declaring all out war on, men. I didn't like this. It felt too overt and just too nasty to teach children or teens.
Being upset about the inequality to date in our world is not really a useful thing to teach our children. What we need to teach them is how to stand up for themselves and speak out against those that are treating women (or others) inappropriately. This doesn't require us to fear-monger or make like all men in this world are awful. At one point I felt like maybe Gill was building a new lesbian army of teens to take over the world; that's how all out awful a lot of the last poems/stories were. Just unnecessary in my mind and not productive.
Overall
Were it not for the last quarter of the book this would probably get a four star rating from me; but I struggle to even give it three stars given how much I disliked the last few passages. Gill needed an editor or publisher that spoke up about how any boy/man that picks up her book is likely to be put off by the end. And perhaps needed to hear, in advance of publication, that many women don't take kindly to generic bashing of males. I would love to give this book to two little girls I know in order to have them use their imagination when it comes to Disney or modern-day interpretations of fairy tales; but I'd have to rip out the last few pages. Given the children know how much I love books that would cause all kinds of questions. So instead I will leave Fierce Fairytales off my gifting list and be conscious of the rhetoric around me that all the lovely children in my life (none of which are my own) may be subject to on any given day.
In order to really be an equal society we must get over our anger and remove the chip on our shoulder. The only way to true equality is to work together to level the playing field; not to get revenge and one-up anyone over anyone else. I'm disappointed that the overall point and end of Fierce Fairytales was clearly that we women need to take control of everything over our male peers.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Great pacing & feel
Gill gives us some wonderful quotes and moments in Fierce Fairytales throughout her (very) short stories and poem snippets. She has taken known fairy tales (some from around the world) and given them a darker or more realistic spin.
One example of that writing that really stood out to me (being as I have a medicated Anxiety disorder) is:
"Anxiety makes more heroes than history would care to repeat. It is better than sitting and waiting, letting the demon claw into your mind with worry. Anxious people are resourceful, they need to know how to keep the sea of panic at bay so they do not drown.”
This resonated as very true for me. Some people tell me I’m brave. But I’m really not, I just can’t stand not knowing or waiting to find something out. My lack of ability to breathe, be patient and not panic is a detriment and shows weakness more so than anything. Although I will agree with the resourcefulness comment. I have gotten good at distracting myself, calming myself down, or otherwise finding a way to not pass-out or show external signs of any given panic attack I may be having.
Pretty Isn't Enough
The idea of updating fairy tales or poems and putting them in a gorgeously bound (and illustrated) book for children/teens is wonderful. The actual production of this book is amazing. I would have cherished it as a child just for how pretty it is; even if I didn't like all the stories. I think there is probably something here for everyone; but unfortunately you have to navigate a lot of obnoxious, in your face rhetoric to find it. Gill starts us out with the tamer stories and sets the tone and mood. She lures the reader into buying into her ideas, stories and verse. Only to take the last quarter of this book bashing, and I mean declaring all out war on, men. I didn't like this. It felt too overt and just too nasty to teach children or teens.
Being upset about the inequality to date in our world is not really a useful thing to teach our children. What we need to teach them is how to stand up for themselves and speak out against those that are treating women (or others) inappropriately. This doesn't require us to fear-monger or make like all men in this world are awful. At one point I felt like maybe Gill was building a new lesbian army of teens to take over the world; that's how all out awful a lot of the last poems/stories were. Just unnecessary in my mind and not productive.
Overall
Were it not for the last quarter of the book this would probably get a four star rating from me; but I struggle to even give it three stars given how much I disliked the last few passages. Gill needed an editor or publisher that spoke up about how any boy/man that picks up her book is likely to be put off by the end. And perhaps needed to hear, in advance of publication, that many women don't take kindly to generic bashing of males. I would love to give this book to two little girls I know in order to have them use their imagination when it comes to Disney or modern-day interpretations of fairy tales; but I'd have to rip out the last few pages. Given the children know how much I love books that would cause all kinds of questions. So instead I will leave Fierce Fairytales off my gifting list and be conscious of the rhetoric around me that all the lovely children in my life (none of which are my own) may be subject to on any given day.
In order to really be an equal society we must get over our anger and remove the chip on our shoulder. The only way to true equality is to work together to level the playing field; not to get revenge and one-up anyone over anyone else. I'm disappointed that the overall point and end of Fierce Fairytales was clearly that we women need to take control of everything over our male peers.
To read this and more of my reviews visit my blog at Epic Reading
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
January 21, 2019
It was at mention of "people who know how to play with your brokenness like a fidget spinner" that I realized I couldn't keep doing this to myself. The premise is good, the writing is bad.
DNF at 50 pages.
(Side note: I've learned a valuable lesson on why we don't judge books by their covers...)
DNF at 50 pages.
(Side note: I've learned a valuable lesson on why we don't judge books by their covers...)
October 21, 2018
Content warnings include abuse, mental illness, trauma, alcoholism, betrayal, abandonment, bullying and eating disorders.
In these short stories and poems you’ll find well known fairytales with insights into characters, backstories and different endings. Sleeping Beauty doesn’t wait for a Prince to awaken her; she does it herself. Jack is willing to face a giant to escape his abusive mother. Tinkerbell embraces her anger.
My absolute favourite was this empowering gem:
Towards the end of the book I began to wonder if the author had run out of fairytales and was simply fuelled by anger. Poems like The Modern-day Fairytale and Ode to the Catcaller Down the Street felt like I was suddenly reading another book altogether, one that wasn’t enchanting and empowering, just mad. Perhaps if there were two sections in the book the shift would have been easier to process.
Some stories and poems fuelled my hope, showing me victims becoming survivors and villains humanised. Others left a bitter aftertaste. Life’s like that though. While we want our happily ever after, it’s not guaranteed. When we think we have nothing left we find reserves of strength we didn’t even know we possessed. Some things life chooses for us but it’s our choices that define us.
I’d give this book 3.5 stars but am rounding up.
In these short stories and poems you’ll find well known fairytales with insights into characters, backstories and different endings. Sleeping Beauty doesn’t wait for a Prince to awaken her; she does it herself. Jack is willing to face a giant to escape his abusive mother. Tinkerbell embraces her anger.
My absolute favourite was this empowering gem:
Once Upon a Time IIEach time I read it I can feel myself sit up straighter and the resolve to rise up gets stronger. I don’t usually quote an entire poem but I had to here. I love it!
But the universe never promised
you this would be easy,
after all, you are the hero here.
And heroes are meant
to be forged golden
from the blaze.
It is up to you to rise again
from the fragmented shards
your foes left of you.
You must lift a sword
with reborn strength and take on
the demons in your ribcage.
You must devastate the chains
every violent person
has brutally placed on you.
And you must show them all
how they were simply
characters in your story.
But you, you are the author
of this spellbinding tale
built of hope and bravery.
Out there may be monsters, my dear.
But in you still lives the dragon
you should always believe in.
Towards the end of the book I began to wonder if the author had run out of fairytales and was simply fuelled by anger. Poems like The Modern-day Fairytale and Ode to the Catcaller Down the Street felt like I was suddenly reading another book altogether, one that wasn’t enchanting and empowering, just mad. Perhaps if there were two sections in the book the shift would have been easier to process.
Some stories and poems fuelled my hope, showing me victims becoming survivors and villains humanised. Others left a bitter aftertaste. Life’s like that though. While we want our happily ever after, it’s not guaranteed. When we think we have nothing left we find reserves of strength we didn’t even know we possessed. Some things life chooses for us but it’s our choices that define us.
I’d give this book 3.5 stars but am rounding up.
September 27, 2020
Enjoyable and love the illustrations, but got a bit repetitive.
September 13, 2018
Thank you Hachette Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Trust Nikita Gill when she turns classic fairytales in verses and her take about feminism, abuse, mental illness, love and empowerment. The poems are creative and beautifully written. I'm carried away with her words. Nikita Gill digs deeper into each character's personalities -- both villains and heroes. Our princesses aren't damsel in distress, they do not rely on their princes. It's refreshing to read my childhood stories in a different perspective. I enjoyed reading the villains the most because it's fascinating to read what caused them to be vile.
My top ten favorites are:
- Beauty and Bravery
- The Stepmother's Tale
- An Apology from Rumpelstiltskin
- Two Misunderstood Stepsisters
- Wonderland Villain
- Rapunzel's Note Left for Mother Gothel
- The Looking Glass
- Hunger: The Darkest Fairytale
-Metamorphosis
- Four Spells to Keep Inside Your Mouth
I recommend this collection to everyone. It's good for the soul.
Trust Nikita Gill when she turns classic fairytales in verses and her take about feminism, abuse, mental illness, love and empowerment. The poems are creative and beautifully written. I'm carried away with her words. Nikita Gill digs deeper into each character's personalities -- both villains and heroes. Our princesses aren't damsel in distress, they do not rely on their princes. It's refreshing to read my childhood stories in a different perspective. I enjoyed reading the villains the most because it's fascinating to read what caused them to be vile.
My top ten favorites are:
- Beauty and Bravery
- The Stepmother's Tale
- An Apology from Rumpelstiltskin
- Two Misunderstood Stepsisters
- Wonderland Villain
- Rapunzel's Note Left for Mother Gothel
- The Looking Glass
- Hunger: The Darkest Fairytale
-Metamorphosis
- Four Spells to Keep Inside Your Mouth
I recommend this collection to everyone. It's good for the soul.
June 24, 2019
I DNF'd this one by page 107. This collection was a pretty great rep for villains we love to hate in our stories. This talks about abuse, superficiality, heartbreak, and has this recurring feminist theme. HOWEVER, This was just too freaking repetitive and dare I say unoriginal? I felt way too uncomfortable reading the cheesy poems and the predictability of it all, sometimes I feel like it tries so hard to be an aesthetic self-help book Hahhahaahahh. YES, THE MESSAGE IS QUITE RELEVANT and I think a younger audience would have appreciated this. For me, not so much. Although, here are some excerpts I really love in this collection.
"We traded the woods for high-rises,It's nice right? But it also doesn't elicit any profound emotion from me other than "Oooooohhhh." Gahd I feel horrible because this was actually a nice concept but just wasn't executed well for me xc
the wolf became the boy next door,
soft brown eyes and close-lipped smiles
to hide the flash of fangs instead of teeth.
The huntsman became the ‘nice’ man
that happened to live down the street
whose laugh never quite reached his eyes,
and the beaten track gets hazy
between grandmother and beast.
I wonder where the wildest things go
when the devilled copse is no longer there."
July 9, 2020
Read this at the request of a friend. This book is an attempt to re make patriarchal fairytales into feminist and female positive remasterings. It did not achieve its goals. But rather, uses tropes , repeating ideas and language, cliches, mixed metaphor and boring images to project “girl power” which evokes such a lack of sincerity, that the intended feminist ideas in the book are cancelled out and falsified in the sheer light of inadequacy. I want to like this book so badly. So so badly. The premise for the book is one that appeals to younger audiences. But I am sad for our future generations if they think this is all poetry can do. Though, I value this is a modern poet who younger audiences can relate to. The messages are good for children. I did enjoy the sentiments of many of these pieces. But really? If you want to read reimagined fairytales, turn to Anne Sexton.
September 17, 2018
2.5 Stars
I wish I could say I loved this more. I follow Gill on Instagram and while I’ve enjoyed her posts there, these longer stories didn’t have the same oomph that her shorter ones do. Many just fell short for me.
"Seven," "Trolls," and "In The Old Days II" all resonated with me though.
*A big thank you to Hachette Books and Nikita Gill for a free copy of this book.*
I wish I could say I loved this more. I follow Gill on Instagram and while I’ve enjoyed her posts there, these longer stories didn’t have the same oomph that her shorter ones do. Many just fell short for me.
"Seven," "Trolls," and "In The Old Days II" all resonated with me though.
*A big thank you to Hachette Books and Nikita Gill for a free copy of this book.*
February 14, 2022
Generally I enjoy fairytale retellings and a couple of these had some nice turns-of-phrases, which would get me thinking. But mostly the content is on the affirmative, self-help-y side, which I don’t find appealing in my reading. Though I appreciate their messages, these poems/stories turned out to be not my kind of thing.
April 6, 2020
Grāmatiņu nopirku smukā vāka dēļ. Nu patīk man tie kaķīši! Un kāpēc gan šajā laikā nepalutināt sevi ar kādu īsu stāstiņu vai dzejolīti, kad tik grūti smadzenēm likt pievērsties kādam tekstam.
Saturs nebija perfekts, bet patika pasaku un teiksmu alternatīvās versijas.
Tiek pieminētas tādas problēmas kā depresija, ēšanas traucējumi, pašvērtējuma problēmas, pašmīlestības svarīgums un sabiedrības nosodījums pret sievietēm, ar viedokli, nevēlēšanos radīt ģimeni, kā arī mēģinājumi lauzt nosodījumu, pret vīriešu emocijām, kas bija ļoti negaidīti un ārpus sieviešu emancipācijas vispārejai tēmai, kas valdīja šajā krājumā. Nav vienlīdzības pasaulē un taisnības daudzās jomās.
***
If all girls were taught
how to love each other fiercely
instead of how to compete
with each other
and hate their own bodies,
what a different and beautiful world
we would live in.
Saturs nebija perfekts, bet patika pasaku un teiksmu alternatīvās versijas.
Tiek pieminētas tādas problēmas kā depresija, ēšanas traucējumi, pašvērtējuma problēmas, pašmīlestības svarīgums un sabiedrības nosodījums pret sievietēm, ar viedokli, nevēlēšanos radīt ģimeni, kā arī mēģinājumi lauzt nosodījumu, pret vīriešu emocijām, kas bija ļoti negaidīti un ārpus sieviešu emancipācijas vispārejai tēmai, kas valdīja šajā krājumā. Nav vienlīdzības pasaulē un taisnības daudzās jomās.
***
If all girls were taught
how to love each other fiercely
instead of how to compete
with each other
and hate their own bodies,
what a different and beautiful world
we would live in.
February 23, 2023
"And darling I hope you remember
To kiss the ghosts goodnight
They are only older versions of you
That you have had to discard and forget.."
Nikita Gill is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. These poems are beautiful and empowering, and hearing the author read them was truly a delight!
To kiss the ghosts goodnight
They are only older versions of you
That you have had to discard and forget.."
Nikita Gill is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. These poems are beautiful and empowering, and hearing the author read them was truly a delight!
April 24, 2019
I loved this book! Twists on fairy tales that finds emotions hidden within poetry.
August 11, 2019
I hardly ever read poetry, but sometimes some books just seem so interesting that they don’t leave you until you pick them up. This is one such book. Right from that captivating cover, this book has had my attention and when I finally had the opportunity to participate in Read-India-Thon this week, I decided it was finally time to read it. Even if this turns out to be my token poetry book for the year, I’m so glad to have made the choice.
We all love fairytales, with damsels in distress and prince charmings and evil queens - but what if each of these tales could be explored from a different perspective? What if the princesses never needed to be saved, the prince charmings had an evil abuse so side to them, and the evil queens had a reason to be that way? The author takes on these questions and gives us a much more darker and fierce version of the classics like Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood etc. We get to see each of the women in these stories in different ways and the reasons for their actions. The author’s writing style is very simple and plain but effective at making us understand her thoughts and I really liked that. She also manages to tackle many important topics and themes in such few words that I thought it was masterful. I especially loved the way she talked about learning to love and believe in ourselves, to standup for our convictions, how we are complete by ourselves and don’t need a man to save us, and how we should be in solidarity with other women instead of viewing them as competition. There’s also a lot of emphasis on being both brave and kind. I thought the author brought all these messages to us in a very accessible way, even for poetry noobs like me, which is what makes this so special. Some tales make us angry, some evoke powerful emotions and some soothe and heal us - this collection has something for every kind of reader.
To conclude, if you love reading poetry or books written in verse, you should definitely check this out. If you are a fan of fairytale retellings, especially ones which explore the classics in a more feminist perspective, then this collection is just perfect for you. It is powerful, evocative, beautiful and utterly fierce.
We all love fairytales, with damsels in distress and prince charmings and evil queens - but what if each of these tales could be explored from a different perspective? What if the princesses never needed to be saved, the prince charmings had an evil abuse so side to them, and the evil queens had a reason to be that way? The author takes on these questions and gives us a much more darker and fierce version of the classics like Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood etc. We get to see each of the women in these stories in different ways and the reasons for their actions. The author’s writing style is very simple and plain but effective at making us understand her thoughts and I really liked that. She also manages to tackle many important topics and themes in such few words that I thought it was masterful. I especially loved the way she talked about learning to love and believe in ourselves, to standup for our convictions, how we are complete by ourselves and don’t need a man to save us, and how we should be in solidarity with other women instead of viewing them as competition. There’s also a lot of emphasis on being both brave and kind. I thought the author brought all these messages to us in a very accessible way, even for poetry noobs like me, which is what makes this so special. Some tales make us angry, some evoke powerful emotions and some soothe and heal us - this collection has something for every kind of reader.
To conclude, if you love reading poetry or books written in verse, you should definitely check this out. If you are a fan of fairytale retellings, especially ones which explore the classics in a more feminist perspective, then this collection is just perfect for you. It is powerful, evocative, beautiful and utterly fierce.
January 23, 2023
Ohhhhh no. Deary me, this was quite awful.
Pretty words, yes, but very lazily compiled. As someone who has done in-depth research into a lot of the female characters employed in this poetry compendium, it was very clear that the author didn’t even read the primary texts these characters came from. They replied solely on their superficial and surface level understanding and literary history of these characters, probably collated from Disney films or other mass-made reception material, and then wrote them into a painfully repetitive aggressive girl power, misandristic narrative because that’s what feminism is, right?!
It was poor. There was no research done. No poetic composition. I would bet good money every one of these poems are first drafts and never touched again. The first few poems were soo overdone — at first I thought I was reading my own poetry from when I was sixteen because I wrote about the exact same topic in the exact same way.
It wasn’t compiled without any thought or poetic craft. The figures weren’t researched in the slightest, they were merely exploited to peddle some easy to shill marketable feminism that became outdated back in the early noughties. There was no consider for their literary historicity or place with feminist history either. Shame such a wonderful front cover illustration was wasted on this collection.
Pretty words, yes, but very lazily compiled. As someone who has done in-depth research into a lot of the female characters employed in this poetry compendium, it was very clear that the author didn’t even read the primary texts these characters came from. They replied solely on their superficial and surface level understanding and literary history of these characters, probably collated from Disney films or other mass-made reception material, and then wrote them into a painfully repetitive aggressive girl power, misandristic narrative because that’s what feminism is, right?!
It was poor. There was no research done. No poetic composition. I would bet good money every one of these poems are first drafts and never touched again. The first few poems were soo overdone — at first I thought I was reading my own poetry from when I was sixteen because I wrote about the exact same topic in the exact same way.
It wasn’t compiled without any thought or poetic craft. The figures weren’t researched in the slightest, they were merely exploited to peddle some easy to shill marketable feminism that became outdated back in the early noughties. There was no consider for their literary historicity or place with feminist history either. Shame such a wonderful front cover illustration was wasted on this collection.
September 11, 2019
This book is STUNNING - I absolutely love all the fairytales turned on their heads. The language is great, all the self-love poems are fabulous, and I found so many good nuggets to remember for later.
May 5, 2020
Nikita Gill’s poetry always manages to make me tear up and feel 1000 times better after I finish it❤️ Really needed to read this
February 2, 2021
Rounded upto four stars from 3.75. This is a fantastic book of feminist tales / poems. A different spin on the fairytales and fables we all know and love. Some of them really resonated with me.
January 21, 2019
I really enjoyed what she did here. Well known (and some not so well known to me) fairy tales, turned ass over teakettle, with a feminist twist. I can totally dig it.
April 12, 2021
If you're a Disney lover, don't pick this up.
I was so excited about this, and it just ended up being...
But there were some beautiful lines and sentiments, for sure. I'm obsessed with the poem about the Evil Queen (no surprise there). And the Wonderland Villain.
But I felt like I was constantly getting beaten over the head with The Feminist Stick © Which is an okay stick - don't get me wrong - but it hurt. And was mildly annoying. There were a lot of lectures, and not enough poetry. Just my opinion. Also, if you're a shipper of Disney Princesses and Princes, you probably won't enjoy some of the darker interpretations the author pursued 😂 Wanted to like it, just didn't enjoy it, unfortunately!
Writing Quality: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Ranting: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Empowerment Level: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Enjoyment Level: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
「 Overall: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆」
I was so excited about this, and it just ended up being...
But there were some beautiful lines and sentiments, for sure. I'm obsessed with the poem about the Evil Queen (no surprise there). And the Wonderland Villain.
I am that dark thing
that you loved to hate,
now the terror that keeps you awake.
But I felt like I was constantly getting beaten over the head with The Feminist Stick © Which is an okay stick - don't get me wrong - but it hurt. And was mildly annoying. There were a lot of lectures, and not enough poetry. Just my opinion. Also, if you're a shipper of Disney Princesses and Princes, you probably won't enjoy some of the darker interpretations the author pursued 😂 Wanted to like it, just didn't enjoy it, unfortunately!
🎵 Song to Listen to While Reading 🎵
mad at disney by salem ilese
Writing Quality: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Ranting: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Empowerment Level: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Enjoyment Level: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
「 Overall: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆」
January 12, 2021
Menuda preciosidad de libro y de poemas; desde la primera página, quedé absolutamente cautivada por la forma en que tiene la autora de transmitir tanto sentimiento, a través de sus relatos, tanto los originales como aquellos que reinterpretan los cuentos de hadas que todos conocemos, como el de Caperucita Roja, Hansel y Gretel, o Peter Pan. Es verdad que todos son muy breves, con una extensión de una página o dos, pero a pesar de ello, logran plasmar una historia completa, y muchísima emoción.
Reseña: http://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/202...
Reseña: http://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/202...
November 9, 2018
”These days, falling in love is letting your soft, innocent heart get into a car with a dangerous stranger and just praying nothing dreadful happens to it.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars
Beautiful book filled with beautiful tales. It just gets a bit redondant after a while.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars
Beautiful book filled with beautiful tales. It just gets a bit redondant after a while.
January 27, 2019
Nikita Gill puts an adult, mostly feminist spin on common fairytales and legends in her collection, titled Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul. For me, though, the content wasn’t as stirring as promised.
Gill uses various points of view, including main and sideline characters from traditional tales. And she draws from tales around the world, which is a positive. The primary angle on the retelling is advice for young women from one who’s somewhat older. For example, Cinderella’s Mother Sends Her a Message from Heaven. Even when Gill uses her own voice, she takes that same attitude of both cautionary tale and sage advice.
I think the crux of the book is contained in these poetic lines from, Question the Fairytale. (ebook, location 1336)
“What if fairytales aren’t as innocent
as they sound and even princesses
aren’t perfect?”
My conclusions
I’m not much of a retold fairytale reader. This was a backup choice to fulfill a reading challenge prompt, after DNFing my first choice. It’s just 175 pages long, but still dragged on too long for me. I’m 100% in favor of encouraging young women, but her advice became repetitive and ponderous by the twentieth tale.
My regular readers know I’m not a young woman. Therefore, I’m likely not the author’s target audience. On the other hand, I have granddaughters so the ideas matter to me. But Gill could have drawn me in with a more magical writing style. Although the tales aim for the fantastical, they mostly fell flat for me.
Given that there’s not much here for women “of a certain age,” I was happy to find the reworked story of Baba Yaga. Gill makes it into a tale about what it’s like to be an “invisible” older woman. And—hooray—Baba Yaga revels in it!
Her advice for young women struck me as a moment from Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth.
“Remind each and every girl out there that youth and beauty are not her shackles, nor her only currency.” (ebook, location 833)
Fierce Fairytales is just so-so for me. But if you enjoy empowering retellings, you may love it.
You'll find more reviews like this at my book blog, TheBibliophage.com.
Gill uses various points of view, including main and sideline characters from traditional tales. And she draws from tales around the world, which is a positive. The primary angle on the retelling is advice for young women from one who’s somewhat older. For example, Cinderella’s Mother Sends Her a Message from Heaven. Even when Gill uses her own voice, she takes that same attitude of both cautionary tale and sage advice.
I think the crux of the book is contained in these poetic lines from, Question the Fairytale. (ebook, location 1336)
“What if fairytales aren’t as innocent
as they sound and even princesses
aren’t perfect?”
My conclusions
I’m not much of a retold fairytale reader. This was a backup choice to fulfill a reading challenge prompt, after DNFing my first choice. It’s just 175 pages long, but still dragged on too long for me. I’m 100% in favor of encouraging young women, but her advice became repetitive and ponderous by the twentieth tale.
My regular readers know I’m not a young woman. Therefore, I’m likely not the author’s target audience. On the other hand, I have granddaughters so the ideas matter to me. But Gill could have drawn me in with a more magical writing style. Although the tales aim for the fantastical, they mostly fell flat for me.
Given that there’s not much here for women “of a certain age,” I was happy to find the reworked story of Baba Yaga. Gill makes it into a tale about what it’s like to be an “invisible” older woman. And—hooray—Baba Yaga revels in it!
Her advice for young women struck me as a moment from Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth.
“Remind each and every girl out there that youth and beauty are not her shackles, nor her only currency.” (ebook, location 833)
Fierce Fairytales is just so-so for me. But if you enjoy empowering retellings, you may love it.
You'll find more reviews like this at my book blog, TheBibliophage.com.
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