Yolen is a master storyteller and it shows. Her stories are a joy to read, they flow effortlessly beginning to end.
This is a collection of fairy tale retellings, different in origin and execution. I like that Yolen picked stories from different cultures and tried to let that culture speak through the story.

Some of these are very weird – like the one taking place in a house for retired wolves, where new nurse Lamb gets to hear the wolves’ version of many different stories. Some are really clever – like the retelling of Icarus’s myth without ever mentioning his name. Some other are very much recognizable, but with a twist – like Snow White.

Personally, I was expecting something more radical, some more daring retellings, though some of these stories are quite radical, like the retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, where Rumpelstiltskin is a Jewish moneylender in the Jewish ghetto. I was expecting more of these, whereas I got more ‘classic fantasy’ retelling. But it’s nonetheless a fun read. I enjoyed it.

I love fairytales so I really enjoyed revisiting old tales with a modern twist. Anyone who's a fan of fairytales might enjoy this book.

An ARC of this title was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a fairytale addict., and this collection sated my appetite for fantastic beasts, enchanted endings, and conflicted heroes. The stories included in this volume tackle the folktales and mythologies of many civilizations, from medieval China to ancient Greece, and even explore alternative futures and the magic to be found in the mundane.

If you need a refuge, a journey to a place of wonder, or a suspension of reality, pick up this book.

This book, although creative, didn’t meet the mark for me in most of the stories. I did laugh a few times. I also dozed off in some of the stories. Some were amazing. Whether or not you read it is up to you of course.

I have loved Jane Token for years and this is one of her best. Her twists make you never out the book down. It's easy for me to recommend this one to customers.

When it comes to giving classic (and not-so classic) fairy tales a new twist, nobody does it better than Jane Yolen. This collection includes her children’s book, Sleeping Ugly, which I read aloud innumerable times to my own daughters. Best of all, though, are Yolen’s own comments on the tales, the nature of fairy tales, and how we grow and heal through story-telling.

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything in particular about it. Although chocolates and fine imported tea are always welcome.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories, and it was a great example of satire. Though I have read many satirical retellings of fairy tales, these still bring a new and fresh look at some of our favorite old stories. I believe my favorite was the story of the billy goats gruff, told from the viewpoint of the bridge.

Some of the stories are delightfully tongue in cheek, pointing out the mistakes and holes in the familiar tales. The cover is beautiful, and the book is filled with stories from a variety of cultures. This would be a wonderful book to teach satire and parody.

Thank you Tachyon Publications for the review copy.

This book was such a treat! I really enjoyed reading it slowly and taking my time with each fairytale as it made me enjoy the book more.

I couldn't connect with the style, the characters, he plots... anything from this book. There were some elements I liked but in general I couldn't feel anything besides the need to finish it.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I loved that they took such a unique perspective from traditional tales and twisted them to become super interesting. I really enjoyed the one about the bridge. Who would have thought a story told from the perspective of a bridge would be so interesting??

I recommend this to fairy tale lovers and anthology lovers alike.

I’m an absolute sucker when it comes to fairytale retellings so I was really excited to start this book.

Unfortunately this is a collection of short stories, so while I loved some of them, there were a few that I just couldn’t finish.

Thank you for providing me the e-ARC of this book!
This book is great. I get to know many informations about writing fairy tales and fiction. Yet, some of the re-imagining are not for me, because they are confusing with their high language.
All in all, it is an entertaining read. Thank you for writing this book. 😊

I adore fairytales and fairytale retellings/reimaginings so you can imagine my excitement about seeing this book and being able to get a copy. Unfortunately this was one I had trouble connecting to. Anothologies are always a hit or miss with me. I will say the entire idea behind this book is something I loved and the writing of these tales was absolutely excellent. I really love how Jane Yolen really captured the feel and essence of classics fairytales. They all just felt very authentic. Despite that I just simply wasn't drawn into each tale. Many just felt too short making it hard to really connect to them and the book as a whole. I think another thing is that many of the tales and stories we're based on ones I'm not familiar with. Which definitely isn't a bad thing but simply made it harder to connect with the stories. I also just think many of the stories we're bleak and I didn't care for many of the different fractures of the story as the author puts it.

I definitely would recommend giving this book a try because it's not had by any means. It's simply just wasn't entirely for me.

Absolutely stunning stories, one of the best collections I've read in years! Jane Yolen knows how to capture your imagination from the first line, and keep it, whether the story is two pages or twenty. I also really enjoyed the brief notes at the end that told the original of each story and how she "fractured" it. Wonderful all around!

I absolutely loved this book. You can learn a lot about fantasy writing and writing in general in a most entertaining way from a fantastic writer while also learning about various fairy tales from different cultures and ages. The stories differ from each other a lot which I actually enjoyed a lot. I think The Emerald Circus you will enjoy this one as well, certainly give it a go!

This is a collection of tales ranging from humorous to even the shadowest ones. I loved quite a few of them, and some I didn't really connect with and the rest I admit I lost my flare for fairytales by then so I just let them go...But that by no means is an indicator that this anything short of an entertaining, fun and memorable book but it's not the one you'll enjoy in one sitting but rather in between your normal reading days or even during a slump!

The stories included in How to Fracture a Fairy Tale were vast, immersive, clever and varied. Thinking beyond the typical, well-known tales, the anthology introduced me to tales I had not heard of, and those I suspect may have been largely invented by Yolen herself. Each of the stories was inventive. Yolen thought through old plots in new and different ways, creating very unique stories.

Being an ARC, this digital copy of How to Fracture a Fairy Tale still contained a number of formatting, editing and proofreading errors. Obviously, this will be remedied before publication, but I think that it is still worth mentioning here for the publisher's benefit.

Many of the stories in this collection were outside of comfort zone and usual reading habits. Some stories, one drawing from the Pied Piper and another on Dragon history, particularly held my attention. Others contained themes that bothered me or made me uncomfortable. This is a matter of personal preference. However, I cannot deny that the stories in How to Fracture a Fairy Tale were creative. They changed the way that I understand the nature of fairytale fracturing and the fairytale genre itself.

Brandon Sanderson blurbed this book; so I had no choice but to request it on Netgalley for review.

It is unfortunate that I hadn't heard of Jane Yolen before I read Sanderson's blurb. Turns out she is a well-known female writer within the fantasy genre. As a fantasy enthusiast, I felt like this book was requisite education for me.

This book is a collection of diverse fairytale retellings. It borrows from some of the oft-heard fairytales like The Little Mermaid but also includes retellings of Jewish, Scandinavian, Chinese, Japanese and Irish folklore. Some stories in this collection are testament to Yolen's talent and well-deserved acclaim. Her use of point-of-view to write famous stories from an alternative character's perspective is remarkable. Yolen certainly knows how to make her words come to life in the voice of her characters. She flawlessly narrates from a child's perspective, and then in another, narrates from a grandfather's perspective. You need a special kind of command over words to perform magic tricks like that. In fact, when you read her notes at the end of the book - specifying how she fractured these fairytales - you can tell that Yolen knows she's a giant, she knows she's incredible. There's an authoritative tone to her words in this section, which demands respect.

Having said all of this, I have to admit that half of the stories in this collection were not for me. They were so abstract in some cases that I immediately forgot them as soon as I read. Some like 'Cinder Elephant' although written based on personal associations with obesity, left me feeling confused but at the same time very very amused (SPOILER: "Cinderella" appears looking like a big fluffy hen at the ball and the prince being an avid bird-watcher falls in love). Sometimes her stories also gave me the impression that the author was from a different time, especially when addressing themes like race and beauty. And it makes sense, Yolen is 80 years old!

Overall, I would recommend this if you're interested in broadening your fantasy-reading horizons.

I picked this one up because I'm a fan of Jane Yolen's "How Do Dinosaurs..." picture book series and "The Devil's Arithmetic," one of her middle grade novels. I expected great things. Sadly, although I'm usually a fan of fairy tales, especially fractured fairy tales, this one was just a slog to get through. Although I enjoyed the take on Cinderella and Snow White, the rest just never captured my attention and I had to force myself to pick this book up each time. If you're a die hard fan of fractured fairy tales or a die hard fan of Yolen, give it a shot. Otherwise, I suggest passing on this one.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.