Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Other Ever Afters is a delightfully subversive collection of new queer fairy tales, relayed in muted colors with a diverse cast of characters, comic book style, with lovely decorative illustrations on pages without panels. Anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian, feminist, queer centering as well as affirming. Also just a quick and enjoyable read, but one that may leave you pondering the stories and their underlying messages long after you’ve finished reading. Reading fables specifically written to convey values so different from the current patriarchal white supremacist capitalist world can make you realize how many social expectations are coded into older fairy tales and fables. The comic style introduction and conclusion do a great job drawing that into focus well. My favorite line is, “What truly goes hungry when it is denied girls to devour — is the castle [itself].”

So if you’re looking for stories about rejecting society’s assigned expectations, risking it all to find true love, challenging systemic poverty, collective vs. communal economics, escaping patriarchy, and consumption/ control of resources, told in attractive understated art, consider checking out #OtherEverAfters . Big thank you to Random House and #NetGalley for sharing an advance copy with me, no matter how long it took me to finally review it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

While many of the stories featured in this graphic novel were ones I recognized from their original text, there were a few which I did not recognize and such was unsure if these were original stories crafted by the author or if they had taken them from an original text but aside from changing the story also changed the title. Despite not being sure of the origins of some of the fairy tales, I found that it was actually the stories I was not familiar with: Sweet Rock, Hsthete, and The People’s Forest that I enjoyed the most.

Whether or not these were original fairy tales or revamped fairy tales, I enjoyed these stories the most because of the love and caring between the characters and because of the found family and happily ever after each character finds in their tale.

As for the other tales which I was familiar with the original text, I found that the new take on the tales were well written but since these were stories that I had never been particularly fond of to begin with, the new versions didn’t particularly move me in either direction good or bad. Even with the text being given a feminist and queer rendering, they just didn’t speak to me the way the final three did. It is for this reason that the rating is only a 3.5.

Overall this was a quick read with beautiful images that bring the stories to life. Some of the fairy tales I will return to often, while others I will not just as I would with any other fairy tale collection.

A forest ranger is appointed to safeguard the forest but the ranger is looking out for a beast whilst being perturbed at the sight of a girl plucking the magical flowers.

A princess is rendered sleepless nights even though she has everything at her disposal. Servants, Royal Treasury and Loyal Subjects.

A commoner wants to break her marriage with a prince and evokes the Goddess of Mishap.

The treatment meted out in the stories reminded me of Princess Princess ever after where a prince is saved by the princess and two princesses live happily.

The stories are contemporary retellings of famous fairy tales that we heard in childhood. The girls are portrayed to be risk takers as opposed to just damsels in distress. The Matriarchs perform magic whilst the patriarch didn't have any special powers. Happiness and love are what the characters desired and they went to any length to acquire them.

Other ever afters breaks the preconceived notion of how quintessential characters are perceived by the readers. Contrary to the fairy tales that have a happy ending, some of these tales do not end on a happy note but are dispensed to the imagination of the readers. The lettering is done by Microns and illustrations are hand drawn with Polychrome pencils on a Bristol board.

I liked the illustrations and most of the stories which are retold with good intent. I revelled in some of the worlds created by the author. There is POC, plus size character and indigenous people representation.

A nice remix of fairy tales with a queer spin, it's interesting to see the stories and how they evolved. Some I saw as part of the 24 hour comic day Gillman posted online and I know one I was hoping to reread was not in this collection (maybe a future one)? I greatly enjoyed the stories and how they turned things on their heads. Do you need a prince? Maybe you need to find yourself or another who will see you. There's a very loose thread in all the stories that ends in a wonderful culmination of all the characters finding each other. Lovely and well done.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Other Ever Afters is a collection of fairy tales that are retold in graphic novel format with an LGBTQIA+ bent. This was a great collection and the colors and illustrations go well with the stories.

Today’s my tour day for Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by @MGillman! Thanks so much to @TBRBeyondTours and Netgalley for my review copy! I love fairytales and getting a collection centering queer people is exactly what I needed. The art in this was incredible and I can’t wait to grab my own copy in order to see it in its full glory!

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.

Every story was too short. I would have preferred less stories that had more developed plots. The art style is cool though.

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

My Review:

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review and place on this blog tour – thanks!

I have to start off by saying this was a beautifully illustrated collection. Gillman’s art style is so unique, and soft (may not be the best word, but its the first one that comes to mind). They truly give a happily ever after to the characters who very rarely receive it, had the narrator come from a different perspective. It was a very quick read, with plenty of stories that I think that everyone who picks it up will find one that they love.

I am not sure if these are based on any particular stories, or at least the specifics of those stories. But I loved how the classic fairy tale tropes were spun on their head to give us something that most wouldn’t expect. They are called “new queer fairy tales” so it would be interesting if any of these were one day spun again into a different direction, perhaps in a full length story for them.

That would be my only complaint about this book, or at least the most outstanding one. I wanted more from these stories. Most of them felt like they were over before they were begun. I do understand that graphic stories take longer to write, but I still think they need to flush out the story completely before moving onto the next one.

“The Fish Wife” and “The King’s Forest” were my favourite of the stories in this collection, though I am sure that the answers to that question will be quite divided amongst other readers. Like most anthologies, some stories will connect more with some folks and so on and so forth. It was hard to pick a favourite, which is why I have ended up with two.

Other Ever Afters releases September 20th, 2022

I liked the graphics in this graphic novel selection. However the stories seemed too short to really connect with to me. I really wanted to like this collection, but it fell short for me.

"Other Ever Afters" by Melanie Gillman is a refreshing comic with new queer fairy tales for modern readers. Still hopeful and newly empowering, I'm sure Gillman's fairy tales will stick in the mind of readers.
I would recommend this collection to young adult readers who enjoy a magical story but are looking for books that reflect the world around them better than traditional fairy tales.

This was such a fun collection of queer fairy tales! The vignette-style of these short stories made the pages fly by, and I had any complaint, it’s just that I’d want even more! I loved the blend of darker tales, romance, and humor. Will definitely be recommending this and it’s a perfect gift book for sure.

This book is truly beautiful. The stories, the art, the entire layout and design of the book: all are gorgeous. Some stories are sad, some are sweet, some are uncertain. This is a book to read again and again. Highly recommended for all graphic novel collections.

While I love the art style, the tales were too short and ambiguous to be very engaging. I couldn't figure out what was happening in most of the stories.

Other Ever Afters is a group of fantastical short stories centering on young women fairy tales seem to forget or negate. The fables sometimes have a moral to the story, but most of them are typical fairy tale deconstructions. The protagonists are strong, queer women, but each story is unique. Some of the endings felt a bit rushed, but the author wrote them for a particular challenge, which makes sense when you see how short each story is. Overall, an enjoyable book.

I've been in love with Gillman's work since I first saw Hsthete on Tumblr when I was in high school.. This collection is beautifully illustrated, Gillman's colored pencil illustrations are gorgeous. Like every good fairytale the stories in this collection are simple but meaningful, and each closes with a happy ending even if it's not the one the reader would expect. It's a gorgeous collection, and even the pieces that Gillman has posted on social media are still wonderful to revisit.

Other Ever Afters, by Melanie Gilman, is a collection of comics depicting queer and feminist fairy tales.

I really wanted to love this book. I always love fairy tale-type stories, especially sapphic ones, and the art is absolutely gorgeous (truly the best thing about the book).

The premises of each story are also quite interesting; they all keep perfectly within the expected tone and structure of fairy tales, while still featuring their own unique twists. The plots were all quite predictable, but that didn't bother me much due to the fairy tale premise; these are stories that feel innately familiar to us, but that doesn't mean they aren't enjoyable.

My favorite of the tales was definitely Hsthete; it felt interesting and compelled me in a way that the rest of the stories failed to. The King's Forest was also quite good, though the set-up was a little confusing.

My primary issue is that I just never felt at all invested in these stories. None of them felt particularly satisfying, and, indeed, it often felt like they cut off before reaching their conclusions. It's possible that this was an intentional choice to leave the stories more up to the interpretation of the reader, but, at least for me, it just left the book feeling very incomplete.

The world-building was also quite confusing; there simply wasn't enough explanation at the beginning of some of the stories, which made the first half of most of them feel a little confusing. Other Ever Afters just really could have benefitted by allotting more space to each story to allow for more set-up and a more satisfying conclusion.

I'm giving Other Ever Afters 3.5/5 stars (it would be 3/5 if not for how beautiful the illustrations are). I'd definitely recommend this book for people who love fairytales and fairytale retellings. It truly is a lovely (and quick) read; I just wish that it had had a little more substance and follow-through.

THE ART!

I genuinely love graphic novels because the authors somehow create the most beautiful art piece while conveying the most beautiful story out there. This is what this book did. I won't lie, there were some instances where I had to catch up where the story was going, but the other ever afters? They were truly amazing.

This was a super short, super cute series of fairytale retellings that I was 100% here for. These were extremely powerful in their own way, messages intact, but with great queer representation that was so on the nose, it still managed to bring tears to my eyes.

I'd like to think it's because I felt extremely seen and I know many others who get their hands on this will feel the same as well