How much does any retelling need to reference the original story? In sone it’s pretty much the original story but with a new perspective but another option is just the author to play with the bones of a tale and build a very different body for it. In Kelly Link’s beguiling White Cat, Black Dog we get a great collection of tales that use folk tales as the basis for some very different stories that knowing nothing of the source material will not prevent you having a great time reading them.

Starting off with the opening tale The White Cat’s Divorce reads like a folk tale mix of Succession and Wes Anderson tales as a greedy billionaire fearing death sends his children out to get impossible items so he has not got to fear seeing them age and see his own mortality staring at him. Link though makes this tale playfully work so it almost seems natural for a group of cats to run a recreational cannabis farm and then have one bell the slightly lost but good youngest son out. Then towards the end the tale gets darker and bloodier yet still managed to hold your attention.

Prince Hat Underground is a tale of a lover kidnapped by the Queen of Hell but in this case our Prince Hat if part of a middle aged gay couple based in New York. It is though about loving someone warts and all - knowing all their imperfections and still knowing they are the one for you. Link takes us to Iceland; the route to Hell underneath it and a strange assortment of charcters to we go to hell. It’s messy; icky, loving and one of my favourites in the collection and having older characters as the focus is a refreshing change and works better for the tale too.

A much more ominous tale awaits in The White Road a post apocalyptic tale mixing a group of Mail carriers and entertainers crossing a dangerous version of the US where a mysterious white road on the edge of vision can spell ruin for anyone. Link has a wonderful sense of build up dropping hints all is not well - corpses on display in living rooms; little superstitions and then leads to a horrific climax. How far will you ever got to save your skin and those of others? It’s nightmarish without ever fully explaining itself and leaves the reader to judge did the right thing happen and there are no easy answers.

Sone horror is best never explained and in The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear there are secrets kept and never revealed but we suspect the answers are devastating. A college professor is kept away from her wife and child thanks to airport delays. She has a medical appointment she cannot meet. Link uses the dislocation of waiting endlessly in airports to add pressure and stress to the situation creating a strange not quite right reality where people all resemble each other; revelations may have bearing on our narrator and their own unexplainable condition may be about to erupt. It’s got a sense of menace all the way through and yet very little truly horrible happens. Impressive storytelling!

With The Lady and The Fox have an almost English style tale of a young lady staying with a wealthy family every Christmas and being treated almost as one: yet every Christmas she meets a strange man who hangs outside. Link captures growing up; first lusts and loves; standing up for what you want and it’s ultimately a warm tale that I enjoyed a lot.

In Skinder’s Veil which I’ve had the pleasure of reading we get a strange wandering tale where a student meets his housemate’s girlfriend who gets constantly visited by an unseen ghost who finds her boyfriend repellent; then we move to a house he must sit with two rules – always let people in who are at the back door and never allow the owner Skinder inside. Link weaves in little dark folk tales that may or may not impact the story and it gets strangely weirder and uneasy as we wonder what happens when the front door is opened. A dark magical mythical tale that suggests so many strange things out there are still to find.

This is a hugely enjoyable set of stories and even when I didn’t know the source tale I had a lot of fun. Where I did I enjoyed the changes made. It’s definitely reminded me to try more of Link’s work and well worth your time if your enjoy unusual spins on classic tales as well as gorgeous storytelling.

2,5
I liked some of these reinvented fairy tales but most were too strange and silly for my liking. I’m afraid this was not for me.
Thank you Head of Zeus and Netgalley for the ARC.

An insanely brilliant, magical, mind-bending collection of fairytale inspired short stories. Link intrigues, delights and confuses in equal measure and this was a pleasure to read. Highly recommended for fans of Angela Carter.

This collection of short stories followed fairy-like tales, each with their own unique story, none similar to the next. Each one took on a wild unpredictable journey using fantastical elements to portray what people are willing to do for the ones they love, the role of death, the afterlife, breaking enchantments and showing that "perhaps hope, too, is merely habit.”

There were a few stories which reminded me of classic fairytales, taking inspiration from tales such as Hansel & Gretel and the Snow Queen, with their own twists. Whilst there were many wild descriptions, there were some really gripping stories too and each one had a purpose. Throughout the book, there were many gory descriptions which added to the horrific side of these fairytales, again reminding me of Grimm’s fairytales. I really enjoyed the paranormal elements which increased towards the end, with the last tale- ‘Skinder’s Veil’ surrounding death in a human form, which was my favourite out of the collection.

I enjoyed reading the magical elements, and the whimsical fantasy all with their own moral to the tale and found the stories unique to what I have read in the past. The story telling was done really well, as I was able to visualise the different aspects. This would be a great read for those who you enjoy dark fantasy and books like Coraline.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review.

With thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A suitably weird and not particularly moral set of stories related to fairytales - I really enjoyed 3 or 4 and the others were so-so (but not bad!) - that mean I’ll be keeping an eye out for Kelly Link books.

Still not sure how Hansel & Gretel came about aside from the crumbs… Prince Hat is ridiculously memorable and that last one with Andy and stories within stories and a black dog, while the white cat is in the very first tale which is a good opener. Some are good but melt into the background like the Honeywells sponsoring of a girl in a Tam Lin retelling.

Honestly, the reason the collection works is the voice telling the stories is just right and sometimes gives detail and sometimes not - while not accidentally sounding like someone dictating it - a bedtime story voice. But not for kids. Fairy stories are transgressive so the sometimes queer love stories and non-love stories, drugs and violence make perfect sense and normalcy is more bizarre.

"White Cat, Black Dog" is a delightful collection of short stories that takes the reader on a magical and fantastical journey. Each story is intricately crafted with unique characters, plot twists, and supernatural elements that will leave you both amazed and amused. Kelly Link's writing is whimsical and enchanting, drawing the reader into each story's world effortlessly.

One of the standout stories in the collection is "The Hortlak," which follows the story of a gas station attendant who discovers that the world outside his small town is not quite as he expected. Link's exploration of themes such as loneliness, love, and loss is insightful and profound, and the quirky characters she creates are both endearing and relatable.

Overall, "White Cat, Black Dog" is a must-read for fans of magical realism and speculative fiction. The collection showcases Kelly Link's brilliant writing and ability to transport readers to other realms. Each story is unique and captivating, making it hard to put down.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the eARC

Did not finish book. Stopped at 34%.
This book just wasn’t for me. It was painted as a retelling but unfortunately I didn’t recognised the two stories I read. I dnfed after that.

They are creepy and have a folklore vibe. The stories painted a very vivid picture and were brilliantly described. I just didn’t particularly enjoy the stories.

Most weird, most wonderful, most enchanting and bound to unsettle

What a delightful and varied mash-up of fairie story, transported into other places this is. I was not sure, story to story, whether I was reading originally dark faerie world, speculative sci-fi, post apocalyptic, horror, ghost story or romance, as I read each tale. All left me discombobulated and comfortably a bit shivered.

The collection is bookended by the two creatures which appear in the opening story, The White Cat’s Divorce, a classic faerie story of the king who sends his children out on quests to determine who will inherit the kingdom, and the closing story, modern setting, of a student trying to finish his dissertation, who house-sits a strange and isolated house, for a old friend. A black dog indeed makes an appearance, as companion to the peculiar owner of the house.

I enjoyed each story, haunting in its own way, and each rather full of unfinished business, somehow, leaving the reader wondering. I liked the fact closures were not zipped up, done and dusted

There are 7 long stories, which seems the perfect and acceptably magical number, for faerie.

I fell in love with the gorgeous cover and was attracted by the idea of this mix of sources for fairy tales retelling.
It's a mixed bag: some stories are well done and loved them, some are less interesting.
It wasn't easy to guess the origin but I don't it's very important, I liked the storytelling and enjoyed it.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories, the stories themselves have the feel of a fairytale but with a modern twist. I liked some more than others, as to expected and while most had a fairytale feel, I did find some didn't feel quite as much so, but the stories were interesting and fun.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I found a number of the stories in this book hard to follow and at times struggled to see where the fairy-tale and inspiration came from. This being said there were a number of stories that I did find enjoyable and really intriguing to read, the characters were interesting and the concepts behind them felt developed and full of imagination and creativity. I feel as though the expectations I had for this book were dispelled quite quickly and that this made my reading experience rather complicated however I pushed through the book and found myself enjoying the later stories a lot more than the initial ones.

The first story was the best because it literally felt like a fairytale on drugs - if I'd just read that one after coming across it in a literary journal or something, I think I would've been more excited. I couldn't get into the second story so skipped it. The rest were just okay. They all had a very similar tone which ended up making them read quite same-y in the end. Really, no different to how other short story collections tend to go.

Overall, the writing was lacking for me. I also felt like I was being told the theme and moral of each story rather than being allowed to figure it out for myself. The cover is beautiful, though!

A thoroughly entertaining read. The stories have the feel of a fairytale with the style of modern writing. As with any anthology, some stories I liked more than others: while most had an element of the supernatural, some didn't (or I somehow missed it) and I ended up waiting until the story, surprised there was no twist. But the strong stories were incredible and fun. A great collection overall.

How to describe White Cat, Black Dog? I think the first word I’d go for is “weird.” Sometimes weird in a good way, sometimes weird in a ‘what the f is happening’ way, and sometimes weird in a ‘nah not for me’ way.

The stories are varied in setting and theme but with a consistent tone of, well, weirdness. If I’m honest, I could have done with a little less subtext and a little more text: I don’t think I’m particularly stupid or oblivious as a reader but with several stories I finished them without a clue what was being hinted at, just knowing something WAS being hinted at!

Standout stories for me (the ‘weird in a good way’ ones) were The White Cat’s Divorce, Skinder’s Veil, and The Lady & The Fox.

White Cat, Black Dog is a beautifully written collection of seven fairytale reimagined with a modern twist. The writing is enchanting and wholly atmospheric. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out White Cat, Black Dog today.

Kelly Links collection of fairytale stories is absolutely fantastic! These classic tales have been adapted beautifully into modern tales, with morals that can still be applied to present day. I just loved it!

Magical, surreal and fast-paced, this is a fantastic collection of 7 fairytales that have been rewritten with a modern twist! I have read 5/7 so far and these are PERFECT for getting out of a reading slump. There is such a creepy, other-worldly vibe in each of the tales - especially since they are set in the present.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Kelly Link, @netgalley and Head of Zeus for this e-ARC in exchange for my unbiased review ✨📖

Kelly link writes such great stories. This offering is superb, the stories very much having the traditional fairy tale vibe but are something new and fresh. I devoured them.

Thank You Netgalley for the chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link is a collection of short stories which seem to be retellings of older fairy tales.

There is definitely a mixed bag regarding the short stories. Some were okay, others were very bizarre and not to my taste. I think the writing style just isn't for me unfortunately but I like the ideas within this book.

2.5 Stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for the eARC of this title.

Not reading many short-stories, I picked this up purely based on its striking cover. I must say I adored a couple of the stories and liked the rest. Each story is short enough that the pacing feels correct. The classic tales are purely inspiration and each story is new.

The White Cat's Divorce is a moralistic tale with a billionaire deciding how he should distribute his fortune. I follows the youngest sons attempts at gaining his father's approval. The story is quite drug heavy. 5/5

Prince Hat Underground was simultaneously dark and light-hearted. Gary goes to great lengths to rescue Price Hat from the Queen of Hell, where Hell is a suburban nightmare. 5/5

The White Road was unsettling with lots of build-up but I didn't really understand the narrative. it reminded me of Station Eleven. 3/5

The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear features the nightmare of being stuck away from home due to airport cancellations. I quite enjoyed the inner-monologue style and the story-telling aspects from secondary characters. 4/5

The Game of Smash and Recovery was unsettling and I didn't really know what was happening with the shifting perspective. 3/5

The Lady and the Fox felt very cosy in comparison to the rest of the collection. I liked Miranda and the Christmas vibes of the story. It was a nice read but out of place in this particular collection. 4/5

Skinder's Veil was the creepiest of the stories by a long-shot. The Veil of mist really embodies the atmosphere of the story. An academic house-sits for a landlord with unusual rules. A very good final story for the collection. 5/5