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Echoes
A collection of terrifyingly wicked fairytales and poems from The Times’ Talent to Watch, Laura Dockrill Immerse yourself in the magical world of Laura Dockrill; a land where all is not as it seems. Between the covers of this book lie worlds you’ll never want to leave, stories familiar and yet strange, and characters old, made new… Dip inside to discover today’s Princess and the Pea, the modern Hansel and Gretel, twenty-first century ghouls, monsters and more. Darkly humorous and bone-shatteringly terrifying – this collection of tales will reel you in and won't let you escape its spell…
- GenresShort StoriesFantasy
336 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 13, 2019
Meh. Just meh. I absolutely hated this book until the final few stories. The poetry is atrocious. Sorry, it just is. There are much better fairy-tale adaptations and retellings out there; this collection just tries too hard. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, “Onions” and I wish the other stories came close to it. I think the author is talented, perhaps she just needs some time for her writing to mature. 😕
December 8, 2016
Bad. Every story loses momentum after first paragraph, slides around for a while in self-conscious hipness, and ends with a dull thud. Many grammatical errors. Messy, pointless illustrations.
February 3, 2022
Honestly, I gave up reading this book half way through. The quirkiness loses it's shine pretty quickly and you're left with mediocre stories and bad poetry.
February 1, 2012
Absolute tripe. The Vogue blurb on the front says "Everyone's" falling for these "modern" musings.... well, not "everyone", only people who don't read enough to know that these stories and poems are neither modern nor well-written nor interesting. This book is full of borrowing, which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't a collection of washed-out cliches. The "poetry" sounds and looks like it was written by a grade-schooler. The book's parenthetical title calls these tales "wickedly terrifying". Nope. Not wicked, not terrifying, not scary, not even funny. I'd be tempted to call this a very weak debut into the YA market, but the sheer amount of "fuck" and "shit" and other cussing here makes it somewhat inappropriate as a recommendation for a teen.... and it also reveals just how weak a writer Ms. Dockrill really is. She's only in her early 20s, and it shows. This book does not display any dazzling intellect, innate creative writing ability, or real talent. This is easily digestible pap for the masses who don't like to think much. If you watch a lot of television, you might like this. Otherwise, go back to some classic fairy tales and feed your mind something other than junk food.
March 17, 2015
If you told me a 14-year-old wrote this during her "gothic" phase I would not be surprised.
June 11, 2014
Fantastically ludicrous !!!
March 7, 2018
A lot of gore-y fairytales. The book had a lot of typos .
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September 28, 2020A brilliant book - fun and imaginative, modern takes on fairytales.
December 1, 2014
It's hard for me to say whether I liked this or not. I really enjoy poems and short stories, and this promised a modern retelling of tales such as Hansel and Gretel, and the Princess and the Pea. The idea was great, modern fairy tales? Who wouldn't want to read that?
What I can say about this collection of short stories is that it didn't fail to keep me on my toes, while some, if not all of the stories were a bit hard to decipher, I still enjoyed reading them. Many were a bit....odd, and I found myself saying 'wtf' plenty of times. If you're into the out of the ordinary and like short stories/prose then I think this would be the book for you. I do however suggest to anyone who reads not to think too much while you're reading, because I was constantly thinking "What story is this from? What is she retelling?" and I think if I had just read them straight through that I would be less confused. The ones that were retold from older stories were obvious, though there may have been some I missed..
One of the short stories towards the beginning of the book totally had me gagging. The one titled 'Gutted' oh god, I will have images of that story in my mind for a while now.. It's the story of Caitlyn who is overweight and wants to lose weight and has tried everything in the book. She comes across an ad in the paper for a cream puff diet or something like that and she's all for it. When she see's the lady in charge she feels like something is off, and the office has a iron-y smell and it's really dirty. OKAY HONEY, if you are going to a weight loss clinic for a new diet thing and the office is dirty THAT'S FREAKING SKETCHY, YOU NEED TO RUN. second, the room smells like IRON.. IRON!! Is she completely unaware of the fact that that is what BLOOD smells like?!?! Okay, moving on, she eats these cream puff things and begins violently puking every night and ends up vomiting up ORGANS. FREAKING ORGANS. WTF!?! But she's losing weight and doesn't stop. I'll leave it at that, I wouldn't want to give anything too big away..
Just a Warning though, if you thought my description of this story was too graphic for you I advise you not to read this book, there are plenty of other stories just as graphic, this one was the only one that stayed with ME though. Have fun if you choose to read this! It was definitely a trip for me.
What I can say about this collection of short stories is that it didn't fail to keep me on my toes, while some, if not all of the stories were a bit hard to decipher, I still enjoyed reading them. Many were a bit....odd, and I found myself saying 'wtf' plenty of times. If you're into the out of the ordinary and like short stories/prose then I think this would be the book for you. I do however suggest to anyone who reads not to think too much while you're reading, because I was constantly thinking "What story is this from? What is she retelling?" and I think if I had just read them straight through that I would be less confused. The ones that were retold from older stories were obvious, though there may have been some I missed..
One of the short stories towards the beginning of the book totally had me gagging. The one titled 'Gutted' oh god, I will have images of that story in my mind for a while now.. It's the story of Caitlyn who is overweight and wants to lose weight and has tried everything in the book. She comes across an ad in the paper for a cream puff diet or something like that and she's all for it. When she see's the lady in charge she feels like something is off, and the office has a iron-y smell and it's really dirty. OKAY HONEY, if you are going to a weight loss clinic for a new diet thing and the office is dirty THAT'S FREAKING SKETCHY, YOU NEED TO RUN. second, the room smells like IRON.. IRON!! Is she completely unaware of the fact that that is what BLOOD smells like?!?! Okay, moving on, she eats these cream puff things and begins violently puking every night and ends up vomiting up ORGANS. FREAKING ORGANS. WTF!?! But she's losing weight and doesn't stop. I'll leave it at that, I wouldn't want to give anything too big away..
Just a Warning though, if you thought my description of this story was too graphic for you I advise you not to read this book, there are plenty of other stories just as graphic, this one was the only one that stayed with ME though. Have fun if you choose to read this! It was definitely a trip for me.
July 20, 2010
Echoes is a beautifully presented book, the cover is stunning and the illustrations within are simple yet intriguing, if not a little disturbing at times.
In fact, the whole book tends to be somewhat disturbing, it disturbs the senses of the reader constantly with each story and poem.
I dont like to make comparisons to other authors, Laura Dockrill's work is fresh, exciting, puzzling and different, however I was reminded of Tim Burton's 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy' whilst I was reading, by both the text and the illustrations.
I'll admit that I didnt understand all of the stories, but that didnt stop me want to keep turning the pages, engaged as I was by the humour and magic of her mind.
New, entertaining, refreshing, puzzling - the descriptions could go on and on.
On the whole, I enjoyed this reading experience - I'm sure I know what it was all about, but I do know that Laura Dockrill should have a long and great future in the arts.
In fact, the whole book tends to be somewhat disturbing, it disturbs the senses of the reader constantly with each story and poem.
I dont like to make comparisons to other authors, Laura Dockrill's work is fresh, exciting, puzzling and different, however I was reminded of Tim Burton's 'The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy' whilst I was reading, by both the text and the illustrations.
I'll admit that I didnt understand all of the stories, but that didnt stop me want to keep turning the pages, engaged as I was by the humour and magic of her mind.
New, entertaining, refreshing, puzzling - the descriptions could go on and on.
On the whole, I enjoyed this reading experience - I'm sure I know what it was all about, but I do know that Laura Dockrill should have a long and great future in the arts.
July 19, 2015
Echoes is a collection of fairytales and retellings of Grimm stories. Dockrill modernizes such stories as Hansel and Gretel, and The Princess and the Pea. Not only were they modernized, they were given a very gothic feel.
The retellings and modernized fairytales are very cleverly written, giving the audience an new perspective of how they can be interpreted. You don't know what tale is being told and it's very interesting trying to figure it out, though that can be distracting. They tended to be pretty odd, to the point where I could be disturbed. They were reminiscent almost to Tim Burton. I enjoyed the aspect of the modernized telling, but sometimes it just became a test of how can we weird out the audience. Content warning: graphic. If you're queasy about blood and organs, don't read.
The retellings and modernized fairytales are very cleverly written, giving the audience an new perspective of how they can be interpreted. You don't know what tale is being told and it's very interesting trying to figure it out, though that can be distracting. They tended to be pretty odd, to the point where I could be disturbed. They were reminiscent almost to Tim Burton. I enjoyed the aspect of the modernized telling, but sometimes it just became a test of how can we weird out the audience. Content warning: graphic. If you're queasy about blood and organs, don't read.
June 1, 2012
Stylish, sassy, and scary stories. Is swirly a good enough descriptor for a bunch of stories? This collection isn't perfect for younger readers due to some explicit content, however older teens will dig it. Dockrill's work contains hand drawn poetry, scatterings of sketches, and collaborations with at least one other visual artist. The combination of visuals in a largely short story based book makes this worth checking out. As with most scary story collections, the tales are best read out loud. Check for the oft occurring and awesome British swearing.
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December 26, 2011 Her work as a poet shows throughout her writing; Dockrill has very deft prose and the book is fun from start to finish. They’re all fables and fairytales, full of animals, children and monsters. The stand out story (in my opinion) is “Gutted” which is, not to give too much away, about an obese woman duped into an all cake diet by a strange doctor with nefarious plans for her flesh.
Read the rest of the review at: http://www.mystgalaxy.com/ReviewsRB-L...
Read the rest of the review at: http://www.mystgalaxy.com/ReviewsRB-L...
May 4, 2011
I really enjoy her poems and other stories so I thought I'd give it a go. Some of the stories are very strange and some even scared me a little, I didn't really understand what some of them meant, if they meant anything at all, bit o can see this as a book I will go back to. Kind of reminds me of a more twisted, adult version of roald Dahl. Especially the illustrations!
June 8, 2012
A collection of oddities; some grim, some strange. The child-like artwork, and hand scribbled poetry add to the weirdness. Was an overall good read for me, but not a must-have to read again and again.
October 18, 2010
A very twisted collection of short stories - very enjoyable though! Perfect for my at-work-lunch-break reading *grins*
April 7, 2012
This is Grimm's Fairy Tales meets Roald Dahl, which is pretty great. Not every story is a hit, but all in all this was a fun read.
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February 6, 2014Odd story was okay
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews