I have always had a fascination for fairy tales especially since I thought I was clever to identify the morbid undertones of most of them. I have since learnt that it is pretty much an open secret that before Disney decided to use them, they are meant to be extremely dark. Retellings have also been something that I have kept my eye out for but not yet found any that really appeal to me. The series Once Upon a Time came close before it got boring. This particular collection also came close. The stories I liked I really liked, the ones I did not I was equally against. This basically means that I gave it a three star rating. I found out how much I did not know about the jewish community though, which was a bonus.

I would recommend this book to those interested in reading an eclectic collection of 'fractured' fairy tales. The author gives detailed information about the tales as well as extra poems to go with each. Overall an interesting read.

"How To Fracture a Fairy Tale" features a variety of short stories and poems based on fairy tales. I really didn't know what to expect as I have not read any of Jane Yolen's work prior to this. I immediately fell in love with the title and cover.
Because this book consists of short stories, it is a little difficult to review as a whole. I enjoyed some stories more than others. There were a few problematic issues within a particular story as well as more than a few trigger warnings (those familiar with Grimm fairy tales and the like know just how dark they can get).
I really had high hopes for this book but it just kind of fell flat in my opinion. This, coupled with the problematic issues has led me to giving it a 2.5 rating.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been a fan of Jane Yolen’s short fiction for many years, so it was a delight to sit down with this new collection of re-told fairy tales.

It can be a bit difficult to review short fiction collections as there will be, inevitably, some stories that connect more with you as a reader than others. I find that a true here as well, but that comes down to personal taste; every story was well-crafted and what I’ve come to expect from Jane Yolen’s writing. The stories vary quite a bit in tone, but they all have that common thread of putting a new spin on timeless stories. One of the things that fascinated me the most with this collection is seeing how the style of writing varies from story to story. Jane Yolen has an impressive array of devices in her writer’s toolbox; she truly is a master of her craft.

Here are just a few of the stories that I really loved in this collection:

- Granny Rumple – This is a play on that famous tale, Rumpelstiltskin. It’s a bit of a frame story in that it’s narrator is telling the story passed down in their family about a Jewish moneylender in Ukraine several generations ago. It’s one of the tales steeped with history, things that shouldn’t be forgotten.
- Brother Hart – Such a strange tale, but deeply moving, and I’m still thinking on it weeks after having read it!
- One Old Man, with Seals – I loved this story so much, I think it has to be my favorite in the entire collection. The protagonist is a senior woman who is living out her retirement in an old lighthouse when a mysterious stranger shows up on the rocks one day. I love the POV character and what this story says about aging.

Honestly, I could go on and on about the wonderful stories included in this volume, but I’d encourage you to check it out and experience them for yourself instead. 4/5 stars.

How to Fracture a Fairy tale for the most part is an enchanting read full of fairy tales completely flipped on their head and carries important messages through the tale, however at times I was left confused through the tales.

My favourite tales from the collection would be Sleeping Ugly, Ella Elephant and One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox. These tales were enchanting from the start and the morals of the story were easy to see. Yolen weaves humour throughout her stories both dark and light, at times I was definitely laughing out loud.

I would recommend this book for people who enjoy traditional tales being uprooted and transported to different eras.

*ARC received from publisher via netgalley all opinions voice are my own*

An awesome collection by Yolen! It never ceases to amaze me how well she can tell tales and weave great stories.

I absolutely love fairytales and retellings so I was EXCITED for this. However...I was let down. Not because the book was bad but because I didn't connect with the writing in the way that was intended. Besides the overall writing style I liked the different stories which really sucks. Anyways, it was somewhat enjoyable and I would recommend it to others!

There a number of stories and poems, as well as author insights which I enjoyed. Like most short story collections there were some that I really enjoyed and could read again and again and others that were just okay. Some of the twists in the tales I didn’t see coming which made it worth the read.

My favourite stories are;
Snow in Summer – retelling Snow White but she makes her own happiness. I didn’t see the twist with the stepmother and I had to say I enjoyed it!
The Bridges Complaint – POV of the bridge in Billy Goats Gruff.
Godmother Death – I love Godfather Death so I knew I would enjoy this! I loved this story, I loved that Death was a woman and the tale of her godson.
One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox and the Dragon King – story with dragons! I love dragons in any form.
Sleeping Ugly – retelling of Sleeping Beauty which I really enjoyed and highly recommend! I loved the twist and did not see it coming! The ending is truly great and you should read it!

There was also a section on author reflections with poems which was interesting! The author reflects and gives insight into the stories which I really liked and it helped me understand the author and the stories better. I enjoyed seeing the authors thoughts on the stories. The poems were a nice added extra and I enjoyed reading them!
Overall I enjoyed the book and their were a few stories I loved and will read again but others I won’t.

I personally love Jane Yolen stories but story collections typically do not check out well in my library regardless of the genre.

Jane Yolen is one of the pioneer Young Adult authors and she has been writing for decades. This book is a collection of retellings of myths and fairy tales that she has written over the years. I liked that they weren't all Disney princess retellings, because were getting a lot of that in YA right now. She used some very well known fairy tales as well as some less recognizable ones. She even goes back to Greek mythology with Icarus. As with most short story collections, there are hits and misses within it but overall I liked it.

How to Fracture a Fairy Tale is part writer's advice manual, part poetry and part prose. For each fairytale she fractures, Yolen includes an accompanying poem and notes about how she approached fracturing that particular tale. I really loved most of them but my favorite was easily "The Bridge’s Complaint" - a take on the Three Billy Goats Gruff from the point of view of the bridge. Some of the stories are light while some are dark and cruel. There's a wide variety of subject matter, from Jewish money lenders to bridges and girls in the WWII era.

While all of  the tales are reprints, it's nice to have them collected in a single volume. My one complaint about the book is its organization. The stories are presented with no commentary until the end of the book where the commentary and poem to accompany each story are segregated. I would have much preferred that the commentary and poem be situated next to the short story because by the time I've gotten all the way through the short stories to the commentary and poetry, I have to remember what each story is about which is jarring. 

Overall, How to Fracture a Fairytale is a wonderful collection of twisted fairy tales, perfect for any fan of Jane Yolen or folk lore. 

How to Fracture a Fairytale is on shelves now. 

Thank you to Tachyon Publications for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

An exemplary collection of tales that depicts absolutely horrid and sweet stories. With that, you are warned; trigger warned. How to Fracture a Fairy Tale really did an amazing job of showing us that stories can never only be one thing. It adapts with each storytellers but almost always, the moral holds true.

Each tale really held up to their own. Every story had a unique twist that you wouldn't expect. If asked, what is my favourite from the collection, I'd definitely pick the "Great-Grandfather Dragon's Tale," simply because of the possibility that their might really be a dragon at some point in time. But on a more serious note, I definitely adored "Mama Gone," because of how close to heart the story is. It showed me that a mother's love truly exceeds and overpowers anything. Even in death.

Overall, it is ostensible that Jane Yolen can truly "fracture" a fairy tale. With her prowess in setting out her own vivid imagination into a wonderfully crafted story that she can definitely call her own.

If I didn't already love Queen Yolen, I do now. She is AMAZING - Come on, her output is just ridiculous and so unique! And then she brings out this, and you just think, how could I not love her work??? She has so much to give to the world and these stories are like her personality shining through, and I think that is what makes them better. Great writing, great plot weaving, and a cool cover - Read it!

This book gave a fresh look on some old tales!

Overall, the vibe was just in line with truly classic fairy tales - a little trippy, a little creepy, and yes! hello there moral of the story! nice to see you!

The writing style was refreshing and a great read - I'll be keeping my eye out for future works!

This is a wonderful version of some of my fairy tale classics at times I felt like I was reading a personal collection of stories told by generations of Yolens. Here and there was s modern or different twist, which makes this book more of a psge turner. I'm still making my way through it but 100% would recommend to anyone who loves fairy tale anthologies.

This is my first work from Jane Yolen and I was so impressed!! I was drawn to the book by the description of fairy tales retold. I have very recently gotten interested in reading more fairy tales and this fit the bill.
The book is a diverse set of fairy tales with some great twists to the stories. There were a lot favorites that I loved and a few that were just OK for me .Most of the stories ,I recognized the original fairy tale that inspired the short story but there were a few I had no idea where it came from. That in no way detracted from the enjoyment of the story though.
This is a strong anthology and I would recommend it to any one who enjoys fairy tales. One of the strongest, aspects of the book that I loved was the Author's Notes at the end , she describes what fairy tale each story came from and a lot of the back story. I loved this part of the book!!

****This eArc was supplied by Netgalley for an honest review****

Although well-written, this book just didn't fully capture my interest the way I wanted it to. However, this would be the perfect book to offer a child during readers advisory looking for a collection of intriguing and unique short stories.

This is a collection of fairy tales, popular and not, that Yolen has "fractured." Some of them were close to the originals, while others strayed so far that I had to search for their inspiration.

I'm torn on my feelings about this book. Some of the short stories I quite enjoyed, while others I found bizarre and off-putting. My favorite part was the end, where the author revealed a bit about the inspiration for each story, as well as included an original poem for each. I almost wish that they preceded or followed each story directly instead of being grouped together at the end.

This was a very interesting book, and I honestly have never read one like it. The premise is that the author takes common fairy tales or stories and changes them around. She even explains what she changes somewhat in the back of the book. I thought that this was super interesting, and I loved seeing a bunch of my favorite tales. The changes she made to some of the stories made them so much more interesting and fresh. I just haven’t seen those kinds of renditions of my favorite stories. However, some of the stories were just kind of dull. As much as I loved some of them, others just didn’t have the same quality to them. I’m sure that a lot of people would really enjoy this, if only for some of the stories in it.

I'm usually a big fan of fairy tales retellings, they're so flexible and have evolved so much already. I even wrote a paper on that subject in college, comparing several versions of Sleeping Beauty. But sadly How to Fracture a Fairy Tale didn't live up to my expectations.

I'll start with a few Trigger Warnings: murder, rape, violence, concentration camps, hate crime, incest (and paedophilia, I guess), ... This sure ain't Disney.

I did love a few stories.
- Godmother Death has a very calm but sinister atmosphere and I really enjoyed it. The ending was unexpected and I thought the story made a great fairy tale.
- Granny Rumple moved me. Rumplestiltskin being jewish makes total sense and I'd very much like to read the author's paper about the original tale. This was a unique and fresh retelling, like I was hoping to get in this book.
- Sun/Flight was an interesting idea too, because I like the idea of writing fairy tales out of actual mythology. I would have loved to read more of these.
- Mama Gone was heartbreaking but beautiful. Probably my favourite.
- Wrestling with Angels is another mythology retelling, though Christian this time, and again, I thought it was interesting to read. Just like Sun/Flight, I thought there was a lot of potential in rewriting this type of legend and I would have liked more.

The other stories didn't really stick with me, two being actual disappointments:
- Slipping Sideways through eternity is the first one. Not only was I not so won over by the actual tale, reading in the notes that we could have had an Hansel and Gretel instead of this recycled concept of a book the author had already published? Missed opportunity here. I would have loved to read about a Nazi getting thrown in one of their own ovens (is it bad taste?).
- Allerleirauh, but mostly for an inaccuracy, the tale itself is okay. Yolen says she based this story on a variant of Cinderella but the incestuous father who promises to only marry a woman as beautiful as his dead wife and the dresses the colour of the sun, the moon and the stars sound closer to Donkeyskin.

Overall, what really bugged me was the lack of consistancy. We have 28 fairy tales, mashed together. No structure, no logic, they were written and published seperately over the years (ALL of them, there's no previously unpublished tale in the book, "only" 20 new poems) and brought together with no common theme. Why no Beauty and the Beast while there are three (four, if you count Allerleirauh, which I don't) Cinderella retellings? The possibilities were endless. Parallel Perrault's books in the structure. Write completely new tales. Write fairy tales out of biblical stories, or any mythology out there. Famous tales with a jewish perspective. There are many "fractured" fairy tales out there, now, I was hoping for a sharper angle.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed reading the jewish angle in those who had it. I already mentioned Granny Rumple but I'll do it again because it's in my opinion one of the best. It sticks very close to the original but has a completely fresh perspective. Another thing I was glad to read was the author's notes at the end, though I did wish they'd followed each story instead of all being at the end of the book. It was interesting to learn how each of them had come to life.


In the end, I'm not impressed. I definitely see some potential in some of these stories and some I really loved, but they were too few for me to consider the whole book worth reading.

Thank you so much to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!

Good for fans of the classic fairy tales and those who love twisted stories. I can see this studied in a classroom setting for folklore and fairy tale scholars as easily as I can see it on a casual reader’s bookshelf.