Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales

by Melanie Gillman

Once upon a time . . . happily ever after turned out differently than expected. In this new, feminist, queer fairy-tale collection, you’ll find the princesses, mermaids, knights, barmaids, children, and wise old women who have been forced to sit on the sidelines in classic stories taking center stage. A gorgeous all-new collection in graphic novel format from a Stonewall Honor-winning author and artist.

What if the giant who abducted you was actually thoughtful and kind? What if you didn’t want to marry your handsome, popular, but cold-inside suitor? What if your one true love has all the responsibilities that come with running a kingdom?

Award-winning author Melanie Gillman’s phenomenal colored-pencil art creates another "ever after" for the characters who are most worthy of it.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer, Young Adult, Comics, Short Stories

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘These stories are told for a reason,’ graphic novelist Melanie Gilman writes addressing the way fairy tales were often cautionary stories that subjugated women. Women are cautioned to remain chaste and obedient, to not stray from the path, and often are a prize for heroic men rather than having their own power and glory. Gilman’s graphic novel collection, Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales, is full of beautifully illustrated and clever tales that overturn patriarchy and power to give queer women the agency over their destinies. This charming collection captures the spirit of fairy tales, being full of menace and magic while delivering heartfelt morals and while categorized as a YA collection it is sure to appeal to adults just as well. Full of delightful twists that subvert expectations and speak to power, this is a wonderful and gorgeous book.

Gilman created many of these for 24-Hour Comic Day and while each tale is a standalone there are overarching themes and messages that come alive with them all bound together in one volume (the Goose Girl central to the story of the same name does make an appearance later in the collection to show her plan has been successful). The art is warm and whimsical, with an innocent childlike flair that still manages to portray the implied violence and darkness and I quite enjoy her colored pencil style illustrations. Plus there is a lovely effort for inclusivity in terms of race and body types showing queer women in a wonderful variety and it was really great to see a trans narrative included. And its all just a joy to look at honestly.

The variety of stories is well done too and there are some great twists at the ends of several stories that caught me by surprise. Things are not always what they seem here, and in quite welcome ways. While every story is a queer they don’t ever dwell in issues of homophobia and tend towards speaking out against power or finding community, love, and agency in a world where this is often denied to them. I particularly enjoyed one in which a kingdom is given to the people in order to uplift all. There is a great point about how kingdoms and power structures tend to devour girls for their benefit but with acts of resistance ‘may we live to see it starve.’ The stories have a lot of darkness. but these tales are ultimately kind, empowering and rather adorable.

There are a wonderful blend of eerie, cute, and subversive.’

The original tales in Other Ever Afters will leave you feeling good inside and with a smile on your face. They are a bit short, but they capture the fairy tale vibe quite successfully. As always with collections of stories, some hit harder than others, but overall this was a charming, worthwhile read that celebrates finding agency, subverting power and patriarchy to empower all, and embracing sapphic love. A gem of a graphic novel and a happily ever after.

4/5

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this collection of queer fairy tales. I'd read about half of them online (Melanie Gillman posts an original fairy tale comic every year in October, on 24 hour comic day) but it was a pleasure to see these familiar pieces presented in this new anthology. I also loved all of the new stories and the interwoven themes of belonging, self-naming, queer love, rebellion, and abolition of monarchy in fantasy settings. All of the art is done by colored pencil and the rich tones, smooth shading, and smart color palettes all please me right down to my artist's core.

[Mallory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book of queer fairy tales. I absolutely love fairy tales and I especially love when the classics are twisted into something new. I do wish there had been more to the stories or more stories, but only because I enjoyed what was there so much. The art was beautiful and the stories were fun. I would have liked a few more that were twists on familiar tales, but these unique and original tales were also very interesting. By far my favorite was “New Name.” I will say this is a very very quick read, but well worth that time.

[Niki Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

"May we live to see it starve."

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun retelling of several fairy tales in which the female is lesbian/queer and able to rescue herself. I love that message, and the book was fun.

It's a quick read - I read it in about an hour - and the artwork is well done. I've already forgotten most of the stories though, in just 2 weeks time.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

these fairytales are so warm and sweet and wise. oh, how i long for a loving noncapitalist forest community, surrounded by fruit trees!!

as in all good fairytales, things are beautiful and enchanting right up until the moment where they turn grisly. i really appreciate the balance between lightness and darkness. the art is stunning and expressive, bringing classic fairytale vibes to life with new, vibrant diversity.

my favorite stories are "the king's forest" (sweet, sharp, unhesitating justice!!!), "new name" (the power of community to aid in transformation and healing!!!), "sweet rock" (a frightening giantess creating a utopia of women!!!), and "hsthete" (the power of true love, of looking and being seen!!!).

[Danika at The Lesbrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love Gillman’s intricate pencil crayon illustrations, and this collection is no different. Despite having a cohesive style throughout, each face is distinctive and recognizable, and I appreciate how much the women’s facial features vary (no Pixar faces here). Each page is a joy to look at, and there are so many panels I’d love framed and hanging in my room.

As it says on the tin, these are queer fairy tales, and despite being original, they really capture the timeless feel of a fairy tale that’s been around for many generations. The cadence also reminds me of classic fairy tales, with some stories using repetition just as oral storytellers do.

Of course, these aren’t classic fairy tales, and they all feature queer characters, most of whom are sapphic. A ranger who falls for a girl sneaking around in the woods she protects. A princess who tries to convince the beautiful goose girl to marry her. A giantess who isn’t the monster the villagers make her out to be.

Buy this for a kid in your life and then buy it for yourself. I love this collection.

Full review at the Lesbrary.

[Steph ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

The illustrations in this are absolutely beautiful. They only thing I will say is that I felt the stories were a little bit too short, and some of them were a bit too open ended for me. However, my favourite story was New Name, I really did like this one.

Please note: this is not an own voices review.

[Althea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other Ever Afters is a gorgeous graphic novel story collection that does exactly what it says on the tin – it is a collection of other, alternative fairy tales full of vibrant and exciting characters and quests, all of them queer and filled with characters of colour! Straight away from the first few pages of the novel I knew I was going to love this collection. Each story starts with a gorgeous title page with a beautiful bouquet of plant-life related to each story and the beautiful illustrations continue throughout. Though the art style captivated me straight away, I adored the stories, too. There are butch knights, giantesses making a fool of cocky men, and of course, princesses falling in love, among other gorgeous stories. One of the standouts for me was a story featuring a trans main character dealing with deadnaming and their supportive grandmother, and I thought it was so wonderful.

I decided that since this review would be so short to include my little list of bullet points that I made while reading the book to really show you some of my live in-the-moment thoughts and feelings about the book as I thought it’d be a fun change!

- Hilarious & gorgeous illustrations
- Tarot imagery????? The fool?????
- Black sapphic princess wearing bonnet to sleep
- Cute silly geese!!!!
- TRANS FAIRYTALE!!!!!!!! I’m sobbing!!!
- Hairy giantess! My love!
- Goat goddess!! Sapphic love!!!!!!
- The bouquets of plants at the start of each story are so gorgeous and fitting!
- A BUTCH!!!!!

Although I absolutely loved the diversity within this book with regards to queer characters and especially Black characters, I would have loved to have seen that expanded to include characters of other races and ethnicities, disabled characters and fat characters, as for a book whose selling point is its diversity and subversion of the classic fairy tale, I felt that was slightly lacking.

Overall, this was a gorgeous read that I highly recommend picking up for a cute, quick and cheerful read, and it’s definitely a book that I will be sharing with my future children!

Thanks to TBR & Beyond Tours, Random House & Netgalley for an eARC in return for an honest review!

[aarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful set of subversive queer fairytales in a graphic novel. Melanie Gillman is so great at imbuing meaning/emotion in one still panel. I wish there were more stories because I tore through the comic in twenty minutes. 😭

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful fables celebrate diversity and feminism and justice. The first five stories are the strongest and most wonderful, with the tale about a ghost and dead-naming being especially moving.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Introduction -- The King's Forest -- The Goose Girl -- New Name -- Sweet Rock -- Hsthete -- The Fish Wife -- The People's Forest -- Conclusion

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, but these were way too short and half of them made no sense. It took me ten minutes to read the entire thing. I wish they had been real fairytales which is what I thought they would be. Great concept, poor execution. Thanks to the publisher for a copy.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tad underwhelming, but perhaps I'm just not the best audience. My favourite was "Goose Girl."

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely.

Queer fairy tales that veer off the beaten path, hug the beasts and embrace temptations.

The writing is divine, the illustrations are fantastic, and I adored the messages. It breaks down the monarchist and hierarchic fairy tales and installs happily ever after as one where power is rejected in favor of community and love comes in many forms.

[Eva B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this comes down to fairy tales not really being my favorite genre, namely because they're so short and simple. This was fine, the art was fine, but it won't be sticking with me.

[Dr. Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.

3.5/5

This was great but I wish some of the endings were happier and less open.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole book is good, particularly the ways it reframes the idea of "happily ever after," but what really made this for me was the conclusion. Some castles need to burn.

[Mae Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute, poignant, and unapologetically queer.

I saw this book show up in my library and IMMEADIATELY got excited, recognizing the art style and many of the characters on the cover. It was great to revisit some of my favorite works of Gillman in published form, as well as being introduced to some new stories.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art and illustrations were beautiful. My biggest complaint is that they were so short!!! I was left wanting more. Out of all of them, New Name was by far my favorite.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts:
It's funny the first time reading this I didn't understand what was going on. I actually didn't understand some of the stories at all. I knew there was something happening but I didn't understand.
It wasn't until I read the back of the book that I started understanding the book better and so I reread it and I loved the book and stories.
I loved the twist that was implemented into the stories. I thought they were really smartly put together and created well.

The drawings and illustrations in this book were drawn with Polychromos coloured pencils on Bristol board and hand-lettered with Microns. And they were beautifully done.

I enjoyed reading this book and the stories in it as well!

[Britt N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, interesting stories. I'm not familiar with the fairytales that this author used for their retellings, but I found them all so interesting. The retellings were well written and easy to follow, which I have been finding isn't always the case in some of the other graphic novels that I have been reading lately. I also enjoyed the LGBTQIA2S+ characters in these stories and am happy that people who identify as such have fairytales that they can see themselves in.

[Haylee Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was everything 🥺

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations were nice enough, but I can’t say that the stories engrossed me. Everything felt so bare. Also, I feel like there’s a lot of empty space throughout. Most graphic novels I’ve read have done a good job of utilizing the whole page, but this one didn’t really do that. Every page has a good bit of empty space above and below the illustrations. 2.4 rounded down for me.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Other Ever Afters has a great range of stories that will leave you feeling everything from sad to hopeful. I have read a few of Gillman's books and remain absolutely in love with their art style. The colored pencil gives the art a really personal feel. I really enjoyed these twists on traditional fairy tales. There's something for everyone in Other Ever Afters.

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other Ever Afters is a collection of queer fairy tales told in comic format. The illustrations are soft and lush and honestly were my favorite thing about the book. This collection contains seven fairy tales that have been reimagined and the endings changed. They are feminist, queer, and beautifully reimagined. The fairy tales aren't common ones like Cinderella or The Little Mermaid - they are a little less common. It would be nice to get a follow up collection containing more stories! A quick inventive read.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I love everything Melanie Gillman writes. They have a sense of story that just rocks. Their latest book, Other Ever Afters, subtitled New Queer Fairy Tales, takes a look at the traidinonal fairy tales, and plays with it. The giant that doesn’t eat her victims. The girl who doesn’t want to marry the handsome prince because he never looks at her. The knight who only wants to serve, but can find no one to serve.
Written as a series of short sequential art, some done for 24 hour comic day, these all have an overriding theme of showing how fairy tales can be reinterpreted. And also showing how girls are told these tales so they follow the social norms, and that these new tales are to show there are other ways to be.
Highly recommended. I was going to buy this sight unseen, because everything Gillman does is wonderful. (and I still have it on order, even after reading this advanced reader copy.)

Oh, and one little note, the author picture at the back is a drawing of Gillman as Baba Yaga, but with pencils instead of a pestle.

Thanks to Netgalley for making tis book available for an honest review.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retelling of fairy tales with feminist and queer characters is usually right up my alley. This collection of short stories in comic form somehow missed the mark for me. I liked the illustrations, and while I liked the premise of these tales none grabbed me. A couple of weeks after reading them none have stayed with me. This would probably work better for YA readers.

[Chase Coe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually obsessed with these new age, queer, feminist fairy tales. They can deal with dark themes (as fairy tales are prone to do) but the book will leave you with a warm heart.

“These stories are told for a reason.”

“What truly goes hungry when it is denied girls to devour is the castle. May we live to see it starve.”

Both of these quotes from the book give me soooo many chills. They’re so beautiful, especially in the context of the book.

Definitely check this one out!

[Virginia Montagne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this fairytale book filled with queer characters! I would have given it a full 5 stars but some stories just felt a little too incomplete to me. I'm all for leaving the reader to make their own assumptions on how the story ends, but not when it's a book full of entwined stories and most story lines feel completed. Would love a second volume maybe!

[Andrew Eder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars this was cute and I really liked each story! I just wish they were longer. We get a liiiiiitle taste of some really interesting ideas! But I’d at least like a whole bite?? Maybe even two??? Keep me posted if this author ever expands any of these stories!

Definitely recommend!