Desires and Dreams and Powers

by Rosamund Hodge

"Truth," she said, "is stronger than magic."

Three sisters fall in love with the star their father holds captive in the basement.

Three brothers set out for the factory where gods are made.

Three young women meet and match wits with the beautiful, heartless forestborn.

In this anthology of twenty stories by NYT-bestselling author Rosamund Hodge—including three set in the world of Crimson Bound—horror and wonder go hand-in-hand, and even when all hope is lost . . . truth is stronger than magic.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Mythology, Retellings, Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal

263 pages, ebook

First published January 20, 2014

About the author

Catholic. Writer. Lay Dominican. I write books about gods & death & girls with knives. Next: WHAT MONSTROUS GODS, coming 03/05/2024.

Goodreads policies: I do read messages. I seldom friend people. I never comment on reviews of my own work.

Reviews

[Sherwood Smith]

On the YA fantasy front, author Rosamund Hodge has been making quite a splash with her moody, dark, intensely atmospheric reworkings of myths and fairy tales. So when I had the chance to review this collection, Desires and Dreams and Powers, I pounced.

As in her novels, Rosamund Hodge takes images and ideas from the classics and fairy tales as well as more modern works and refashions them into multifaceted stories short on wordcount but long on punch. You know, with titles like "And Her Eyes Sewn Shut With Unicorn Hair" that these stories are not going be fantasy fluff. As for the neutral-sounding "Situation Normal," I do not recommend reading this sfnal fantasy before bedtime.

One recurring element that grabbed my attention is sisters. There is a wide variety of sisterly relationships in these stories, some of which go very dark indeed. As for actual darkness, the Persephone myth shows up more than once, most directly in the lead story, “Desires and Dreams and Powers.” But there are echoes in others, as these complex, intense stories examine recurring themes from several angles.

A few of these stories, like “Textual Variants”, are so tight they could easily have expanded into novels—that one, with its abrupt narration and many breaks, feels like a longer work distilled to its core elements. But my favorite story, “More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand,” is exactly right for its length. In truth, I loved the story so much I would have happily sunk into it at novel length, and ordinarily I can take or leave faerie.

It has everything—mothers and daughters, sisters, culture clashes, the deep delight of scholarship. Men and women, war. All woven together in shimmering prose:

“Cold fingers brushed her back, and her shoulders loosened. She knew that her wings were blossoming; she could feel their colours in her throat. When she opened her eyes, the world was different: shadows were longer but filled with hidden glimmers, and the house was hazed with mist but she could see leaves on a tree half a mile away.

 “Come across the water,” said her faery mother.

“Perfect World’ addresses the highly contrived moral dilemma of Ursula K. Le Guin’s much-anthologized “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” That story has sparked many essays and reviews, pro and con, since it first appeared. Here, Hodge engages in literary conversation with it, offering a slant that could spark an interesting discussion all on its own.

As mentioned above, some of the stories are very dark. Others offer hope, or consolation. “Apotheosis,” in which  a group of people decide they need to purchase a god, lights up with sly humor before the whirlwind climax. None of these stories was the least predictable, except in the expectation of an emotional rollercoaster as well as a visual feast.



[SEE Interview over on my Goodreads Blog]

[Suzannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read. Still a bit jealous. Favourites this time: Situation Normal, Don't Look, Apotheosis, A Guide For Young Ladies Entering the Service of Fairies.

-

This collection of short fantasy stories makes me kind of a little bit jealous, because Rosamund Hodge snatches awesome spec-fic concepts out of thin air and spins them into little tiny stories and then is done with them, and I can't help wishing she'd played in these worlds a little bit longer. There are a ton of stories here that stick with you, and a ton of recurring themes and echoes - fairytales, Greek myths, evil mothers, sisters with strong feelings for each other, choices, and nearly always, the way that people wreak terrible cruelty on each other in order to buy their own peace and security. It's hard to pick out favourites, but I really loved the one about the factory of gods, Apotheosis, and as for the one that was most unsettling, I loved Situation Normal.

[W.R. Gingell · Rating 5 out of 5]

exactly my brand of punch-in-the-stomach-and-then-kiss-on-the-lips

there's darkness here, so don't go into it thinking that you're just in for a whimsical ride--there's a delightful amount of whimsy to be had, but it will probably also stab you in the back so watch out for that

couldn't pick a fave; gave up after "situation normal" and "rules for riding the storm" and then "cut her out in little stars" had me crying into my pilaf at the local turkish restaurant.

if you want to see story-by-story reactions, check out my progress notes

i love this book and 100% recommend for everyone, with very slight language warning for one or two swears that you can easily skip over

[Medini✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Available for free here:
http://hanginggardenstories.tumblr.co...

A modern take on the story of Hades and Persephone, with more emphasis on Persephone's relationship with her mother, Demeter. Also this is the first book I'm reading in 2nd person pov.

[Amrita Goswami]

3.5 stars

Most of the stories in this anthology had the feel of dark folklore and fairytales, with vivid imagery wrapped up in simple, often lyrical prose. One of my favourites was the Hades and Persephone retelling.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange collection of short stories and fairytales.

They all had something interesting or beautiful, but some were quite confusing, and definitely too short even for short stories.

Rosamund Hodge is definitely very talented, though! I would love to read some of these as novels, or at least novellas.

[Jeff Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

An impressive collection of loosely-themed short stories. So many of the interesting ideas could easily make for the background of full-length novels. Fairy stories with a tinge of horror to them which invokes the cautionary tales of older Fairy-stories. Held my attention throughout.

[Grace T · Rating 5 out of 5]

THESE ARE THE FANTASTICAL SHORT STORIES I WANT TO WRITE

like seriously this is what the short-story side of my brain aspires to i cannot stress that enough a;lskdfjalskd

[Argie Maniati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Individual ratings and mini reviews/thoughts on the stories:


1. Desires and Dreams and Powers
4.5/5⭐
Beautiful!! I didn't expect the characters to be who they were!! And the 2nd pov was interesting!

2. Don't Look
3/5⭐
So creepy!!

3. Textual Variants
4/5⭐
Confusing at times but so, so good!!

4. And Her Eyes Sewn Shut With Unicorn Hair
4.5/5⭐
"No" was my reaction for most of the story😭 Loved it!!

5. Ways of Being a Mermaid's Daughter
4/5⭐
Sad for all these mermaids and their
daughters 💔 That last one though!!! (I think I like the 2nd pov)

6. More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand
4.5/5⭐
Enchanting! (plus fairies and changelings!!)

7. The Lamps Thereof Are Fire and Flames
5/5⭐
The weaving of this one was perfection!!! Also, I wanna cry... (also, it gave strong Snow White vibes and I loved it!!)

8. Perfect World
3/5⭐
Appalling is the only word that comes to mind at the moment...

9. Three Girls Who Met a Forestborn
4.5/5⭐
All the Crimson Bound feels and some more!!!

10. Hunter, Warrior, Seamstress
4.5/5⭐
Hopeful was not the word I had in mind when I started this story but wow!!

11. Apotheosis
3.5/5⭐
This one was weird... but good weird!

12. Of the Death of Kings
4/5⭐
I really liked Ivannsa...

13. Situation Normal
3/5⭐
Ummm, for a second there I wanted to believe Stella's theory...

14. Rules for Riding the Storm
4/5⭐
I got goosebumps!

15. Cut Her Out in Little Stars
5/5⭐
(Sneaky 2nd pov❤) The change in the pov was awesome!! I loooved this one!! Three sisters fell in love with a star!😍

16. Titanomachy
4/5⭐
Another 2nd pov! This was unexpected but not at the same time...

17. Goodnight Sweet Prince
4.5/5⭐
"You already know this won't end well" Death is a main character what did you expect?? (Another change in pov I loved!!)

18. A Guide for Young Ladies Entering the Service of the Fairies
4/5⭐
Oh look! A guide!! It says so in the title. Half way through I had forgotten that. Of course, I realised it toward the final "steps"...😅😅


All in all, an amazing collection!!!!❤❤

[Connie P · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd pov is typically hard to engage with for me but this felt strangely easy. Almost as if the author was able to make her writing fit into a second suit of skin - captivating and elusive this short story was a small pomegranate seed I had to have

[The Story Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of 20 short stories by Rosamund Hodge, and I'm going to try to update my review as I read each one.

"Desires and Dreams and Powers" is the first short story, and it's a 10 page Persephone/Hades re-telling set in present-day US and told in second person point of view that I really enjoyed. This first one pulled me right in and reminded me how beautifully Rosamund Hodge writes!

"Don't Look" is a re-telling (?) of an urban legend that takes place at a college and has an open ending.

[Keri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me tell you, I LOVE mythology of all kinds BUT one of my all time favorite stories was the story of Hades and Persephone. I LOVE when someone takes the two characters and runs with them and I LOVED this story! (Did I mention I LOVE this story?) Aghhh! This is my favorite short from Hodge YET!
This is the third short I've read from the tumblr page and I don't see me stopping anytime soon! Unless, and this is worst case scenario, I run out of shorts to read...

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short stories is called Desires and Dreams and Powers; it might also be named Possibilities and Choices and Sacrifice. The myriad stories contained here are rich with description and imagination, full of girls who love deeply and make good and bad choices and live with the consequences. It got me from the word go, or in this case, “pomegranate juice.”

[Abigail Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were
disturbing, beautiful, terrifying, gut-wrenchingly truthful, thrilling, uneasy, enjoyable.
"Don't Look" and the stories of the Forestborn have given me nightmares: "The Sister" is the story that sticks with me the most after reading this entire book, due to the scene where the sister meets the Devourer. Wow. So dark and intensely true.
I could've read entire novelizations of "And Her Eyes Shown Shut With Unicorn Hair" and "More Full of Weeping Than You Can Understand". The worlds in those tales were so complete, the adventures so compelling and unique!
The tales I found to work best as shorts were "Situation Normal" and "Rules for Riding the Storm". Both eerie and epic, but not without being centered.
Bravo, RH, you've thoroughly inpired me to seek out more of your work!

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

some of these are well-written, some are not. initially i wasn't crazy about the inconsistency, but then i found out in the author's note that they're collected from over the past 15 years of her career, and i can appreciate that.

you can tell she has a wild imagination and comes up with all sorts of worlds. sometimes they were well-constructed and digestible, while other times there were too many details squeezed into too few pages.

i liked:

- Ways of Being a Mermaid's Daughter
- Cut Her Out in Little Stars
- Good Night, Sweet Prince
- A Guide for Young Ladies Entering the Service of Fairies

big fan of the multi-ending stories.

weirdest one i wished had been a novella:

- And Her Eyes Sewn Shut With Unicorn Hair

[LiB · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inventive collection of dark fantasy stories, many of which have more intriguing world-building in a few paragraphs than many manage in entire novels. But...
This author is preoccupied with the theme of dark bargains, often literally with malevolent powers, and the corrupting influence of the concessions people make for survival. Everything I‘ve read of hers returns to this theme - I can’t say of temptation, as the bargains are rarely seductive. Instead her heroines are always offered a stark choice between cruel deaths for them and their loved ones, or wielding cruelty against someone else, and their story is then of the attempt to find a way out. Usually through self-sacrifice and love, though rarely romantic love, despite the title and the cover. The strong emphasis on the bonds of friendship and family are a strength of these stories.
While she does this well, and cleverly, a whole collection of this is disconcerting. It suggests a lot of insecurity arounfd the inevitable disappointments and compromises of adulthood and reminds me I’m too old for YA.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I love short stories. I love short stories that are a perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy. And I LOVE these short stories written by Rosamund Hodge.

The different worlds of each story are just so intriguing. I want to be in them, I also want to stay far away from them, and of course, I want to read more of them. A few gave me a slight existential crisis (I'm looking at you Titanomachy and Situation Normal) but again, they were so interesting that I never knew what to expect on the next page or in the next story.

The only reason why this isn't rated five stars for me is that a couple of the stories were confusing and didn't seem to end completely but also that might've just been the style of the collection which just didn't work for a couple of stories.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

These fantasy stories brim with a mature and exciting vision. Hodge’s storytelling is almost painterly: bold, full of stunning contrasts, unexpectedly emotional, a web of captured moments. The enchantment of her writing is complemented by an unusual depth of mythic understanding, an intuition for what is Really Going On at the primal core of reality (both super- and proto-human reality). It’s been ages since I read a new collection of fantasy stories so engrossing.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tricky to rate. I didn't particularly ENJOY most of the short stories. Partly because I prefer novels to short stories. Partly because these were rather dark and disturbing. Partly because several were very well-written short stories, where the information is not spoon-fed and the reader is required to think to put it together. I wasn't in a thinking kind of mood. Personal preferences aside, these were quite good. 4 stars.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorites are: Cut her out in little stars, Situation normal, and Titanomachy. Interesting treatment of The ones who walk away from Omelas in Perfect world. I love the treatment of relationships between sisters in a lot of the stories, rather than just focusing on the romance. Really enjoyed this one.

[Giulia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book tried to be impactful but the writing is just too juvenile to accomplish that.
The writing tries to pass off as cool and edgy but it just comes across as a bunch of teens in Riverdale....
unfortunate

I think the author should try to find her own style
This just seems she is trying to emulate something she saw on tumblr or wattpad

You can do it

[Solène · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai beaucoup aimé cette collection de nouvelles. Le style de Rosamund Hodge me plaît toujours autant, et la façon dont elle écrit ses nouvelles me donne l'impression de lire des contes.
Mes préférées : "Cut Her Out in Little Stars", "Good Night, Sweet Prince", "Titanomachy", "Rules for Riding the Storm", "Situation Normal", "Of the Death of Kings" et "Apotheosis"

[Alison Sea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5 stars. This is the type of angsty second person that speaks to my inner angsty teen. I really liked this. Hades and Persephone retelling. As always, this could totally be expanded further.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a really lovely collection; a couple were a bit vague for my liking, and there was one I didn't like at all, but mostly very enjoyable. I could easily see a couple of them as parts of longer stories, but they still felt complete. Really liked the fairytale feel of most of them.

[Boxofdelights]

https://sartorias.dreamwidth.org/1010...

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing I like the most about Hodge’s writing is that it’s familiar but exciting. I love that she twists old stories of comfort into something dark and disturbing so it feels brand new.

[My Bookish Delights · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hades and Persephone story. Really liked it.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes dark and creepy, reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm.

[Lilienknochen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't even express how much I loved this collection of short stories. I'm calling it now: my favorite book of 2020.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reminded me why I love Rosamund Hodge and dare I say, relit the flame in me that burns for dark fairytales.

I want this as a physical book in my library. I loved it that much.