I feel bad. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. While I enjoyed some of the stories in this collection, others were very confusing to me and left me wanting more. I like the idea of dark fairytales but I feel like a lot of the stories were overly abstract or convoluted for my taste.

* Sundown at the Eternal Staircase - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* A Diviner’s Abecedarian - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* The Thread Boy - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
* Fox Jaw - ⭐️
* The War of Fog - ⭐️
* Drowning Lessons - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
* The Autumn Kill - ⭐️⭐️
* Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart - ⭐️⭐️
* A Lily is a Lily - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
* Dear Henrietta - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
* Possessions - ⭐️⭐️
* Homebody - ⭐️⭐️
* A Haunted Calendar - ⭐️
* The Plums at the End of the World - ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Vintage and GennaRose Nethercott for this ARC ebook. Fifty Beasts To Break Your Heart: And Other Stories will be published February 6, 2024.

I loved the previous book I read by GennaRose Nethercott, and while there were a few stories in this anthology that I found intriguing for the most part I couldn't get into this book. The stories were all kind of nebulous and vague, which I think was part of my problem. I do like a book that makes me work for it, but I didn't understand most of what was happening and found myself seriously confused by what I was reading.

While this didn't work for me personally it was a unique set of stories with some great illustrations and a lot of other people seem to really enjoy this anthology, and since I loved Thistlefoot by this author I will definitely be reading her future works.

This book is a real trip! And not a good one. The stories are, super abstract. Most of them feel more like wild fever dreams than your typical stories. There's this crazy stuff with armies of fog, endless staircases, girls drowning in the rain, a dude made out of thread, and some mysterious fox action. I'm telling you, it's a wild ride, and right now, I'm just sitting here like, "Oh god, what did I just read?" Seriously, after each story, my reaction is pretty much just a puzzled "Huh?!?"


Getting through these fourteen stories is like navigating a maze because they're incredibly abstract. The plots are so nebulous that most of the time, you're left wondering what's even going on. It's all stream-of-consciousness, and the haziness of it all makes you feel like you're getting lost in this intricate web of (admittedly beautiful) words. Nethercott definitely has a way with language, but it seems like she's more focused on making it sound pretty and vague, which unfortunately takes away from the storytelling and character development. It's like she's got a treasure trove of words, but sometimes you just wish she'd let the characters and the story shine through a bit more.

I was taken in by the gorgeous cover, expecting fairy tale retellings, beauty and the beast type of stories. That was my mistake, Perhaps I am just not clever enough to understand the depth of these tales.

There is a reader for every book and I’m sure some will devour this collection but I have to say it was not for me.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Vintage and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved Nethercott’s debut novel this year, and I’m delighted that her short stories have the same sort of delightful prose and infusion of fantasy into the real world. As with most short story collections, I definitely felt some stories were stronger than others, but I didn’t find any of these particularly weak. I thought these were all well crafted and I enjoyed their literary slant, which is about what I had expected after reading Thistlefoot. Nethercott’s writing is such a joy to indulge in, and each one of these was a treat.

My favorite is the titular story, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart, in part because I thought it was absolutely fascinating to read a short story told in the form of a bestiary (and the illustrations are gorgeous!). Some of these are structurally risky, but they definitely pay off. Nethercott’s ability to convey such raw emotion in some of these stories is impressive. Still, there are a couple where I didn’t quite feel like the ending stuck the landing, and at times I felt like some of them were a smidgen too long. There’s a certain kind of abstractness to these that made the overall meaning a little muddy, but as a prose and vibes-forward reader, I had a blast.

This book came in ebbs and flows and while it wasn’t necessarily my favourite book I’ve read lately, it was evident that it was a strong set of works.

I was impressed with the authors imagination and ability to create these lyrical and fascinating fantasy premises that are, at times, very gripping. In many of the stories, you’d be moving through this fantastical premise just taking it in and then out of nowhere, BAM, an emotional kick to the gut. These were the moments that kept me turning pages, even through the stories that resonated less with me.

I also felt like the author was structurally very strong. The ability to craft a story, to immediately immerse you in a unique premise, was definitely there. Her use of symbolism and the parallels between fantasy experiences and real-world emotions were also at times very poignant. That said, not all of the stories were equally gripping for me, so I did find my attention lagging here and there.

As a whole, I feel like this was a very literary-feeling fantasy story collection and I do think there’s an audience for it, even if that audience isn’t me. Some of the stories, like The War of Fog, are likely to stick with me for some time I think. If you’re a reader looking for fantasy stories that you can really analyze and peel off the layers of, this collection may be for you.

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is a haunting collection of short stories that touch on the brutal, greedy, dark secrets that lie within each of us. These fables speak to those small voices in your head who whisper of violence and revenge, who urge you to take that one step closer to danger. Fans of Carmern Maria Machado's "Her Body and Other Parties" with enjoy this deeply creepy collection of horror folk tales.

Stories that particularly stood out include:

A Diviner's Abecedarian - You'll find a theme here, but I loved the way GennaRose tells stories through compendiums. Each entry begins as a definition of the type of divination, but evolves into an interconnected story about teenage girls and the dangers and drastic measures taken by cliques.

The Thread Boy - A fable a la The Gingerbread Boy, this story illustrates the way our live becomes irrevocably interconnected with the people and places we find along the way.

Fifty Beast to Break Your Heart - A love story told through entries in a magical bestiary. This one is for all the medieval geeks out there who ogled over weird medieval bestiaries, and fell in love while doing it.

Dear Henrietta - This epistolary takes SUCH a twist. For the scorned women of the world.

The Plums at the End of the World - Goat girl and vampire examine what it means to be a monster. Unsurprisingly it's the humans who were the most terrifying of all in this story. This one has been haunting my thoughts since I finished.

Please consider this a dazzling 5 star review.

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I prayed to the universe that they would ignore my very little experience using the website and grant my request for the ARC. I read Thistlefoot the year before and couldn't (still can't) stop thinking about it and recommending it to everyone. I knew I was going to love this one, and I was so excited to read it I thought I'd be done in a couple of days, but this book didn't let me do that. I read each story pretty slowly, but I was able to savor it the way this book deserves to be savored. I am a ravenous beast wanting to devour, but finding myself chewing on each morsel of a story with reverence and relish. That is to say, I could deeply identify with some these beasts, and I didn't expect that.

Historically speaking, I don't like short story collections. I've tried many over the years and almost never get through them. (Even Murakami. Even Bradbury, excluding The October Country.) I read a few stories and I'm struggling by the end of each one to understand what the point is or what the author is trying to say, then get fed up and put it down. I never felt that way reading this book. They read like bizarre fairy tales and even when things aren't apparent at the beginning, each story drives quickly and purposely toward their meaning. Every story made me think, "This one is my favorite!" until the next story and actually that one was my favorite, all the way to the end. Now these beasts just live within me as my friends.

The writing was delicious. The stories were all different and interesting and yet they fit so perfectly together in this collection. I preordered myself a physical copy and I intend to tell everyone I know to read it. Anyone and everyone could learn something about life, about themselves from these stories. This one was so special.

NetGalley: Thank you so much for letting me read this book early. Please consider me for any GennaRose Nethercott book to ever come out for the rest of eternity, I am a fan for life.

A collection of short stories if you like fairy tales/folklore or loved Thistlefoot by the author! I recommend and will continue to read books by Genna Rose

A collection of short stories that indulge that base hunger inside us. Stories of what happens when we let the hunger decides what to devour. You know you want to find out more.

Read if you like: short stories, poems, folklore, cryptids, mysterious attractions, devious teen witches, longing, monsters and more tales of what the worst parts of us are capable.

This one is hard to explain without ruining the fun. Just know that you will dive in to the darkly creepy parts of the human heart guided by beautiful prose that blends artful metaphor with pop culture quirk. You are thrust into stories of heartache, discovery, or the unexplained. Individuals attempt to find their place and face their demons, metaphorical or perhaps not, with various outcomes. And the magical and paranormal parts of the world are explored and at least attempted to be understood and catalogued. Get ready for an adventure in thought and introspection of your own hunger.

Beguiling and clever and beautiful, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is one of my favorite new poetry books. I loved Nethercott's Thistlefoot, which I reviewed here, and am equally delighted by the creativity, language, and ideas of this collection. There's a love story told through a bestiary, the title work; a woman who, in trying to please her lover, becomes a house; a tale of love and madness centered around a preternatural roadside attraction; and much more, every piece blending in the supernatural and the human in ingenious ways.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart" by GennaRose Nethercott was one that I was excited for. The short story anthology promised "dark fairytales and fractured folklore" that's supposed to be subversive and all that. Unfortunately, what this anthology actually is, is a collection of not quite Weird Fiction with some fantastical elements.

I had a lot of issues with this collection, one of which was the narrative style that Nethercott. I think for the everyday casual reader, this might be exciting and different but their narrative style is so nebulous and so incomplete that the stories themselves end up feeling incomplete and airy. There aren't any complete storylines in this collection because every story ends abruptly with little to no explanation. This might work in the hands of a more technically advanced writer but I don't think that Nethercott is that writer. They have a great imagination which shows well in their work but the execution leaves A LOT to be desired. There's almost a waywardness to their narrative style and if they abruptly cut off one or two stories, I think it would have worked better but when every single story seemed to end that way, it just becomes exhausting and comes off as lazy writing.

I also think this was incorrectly marketed. It's not really a collection of "dark fairytales and fractured folklore." It's definitely closer to being a collection of Weird Fiction and even then, it's not exactly masterful. The stories seem confused as to what genre they were trying to be but they're not really dark or scary or folky.

I don't know. I was just so underwhelmed and disappointed by this. If I could give this collection a zero, I would.

For fans of Welcome to Nightvale, Twilight Zone, or the Brother's Grimm, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart captured mine and devoured it whole.

GennaRose Nethercott is like a lantern in the night, illuminating our need for human connection, loss, and love through ephemeral tales of the macabre and the strange. Whether we are a group of murderous teenage girls or a boy made from string, each short story encapsulates a unique aspect of human nature, leaving you raw and wanting.

As I read, I imagined Nethercott changing hats in preparation of writing each story. While her writing style is clear and consistent, each tale is so distinctive, existing solidly catty-corner to our own world, that I finished feeling inspired and impressed at her range. Its variety makes this collection fresh and unique while harking back to folklore we heard as children. Her prose is lilting, well-crafted, and reminds me of stories told by the fire while the dark waits to pounce.

Funny, heartbreaking, dark, and lovely, this collection of short stories is perfect for the fantasy, soft sci-fi, or urban fantasy loving adult. Fifty Beasts asks us to look deep within our own warped hearts and find our truth, whatever that may be. I found myself searching for small moments of magic and absurdity in my own life as I dreamed of a world in which an infinite staircase may entice me to my doom.

Thank you to Vintage Anchor via NetGalley for an advanced copy of this work.

3 stars

When I saw this was a collection of “dark fairytales and fractured folklore” I was instantly intrigued. I am grateful that NetGalley & the publisher fulfilled my request to read this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. I truly was excited to devour these short stories up.

To be honest, after reading several stories I realized that this wasn’t for me. The first story, The Eternal Staircase, gave me some hope but unfortunately ended abruptly and felt incomplete. I told myself “maybe the next one will be better,” but as I read each short story it felt agonizing and I couldn’t wait for the book to be over.

The stories are truly unique and I will say the author has an impressive imagination - there is definitely an audience who will delight in this literature and enjoy every short story, but sadly that wasn’t the case for me. Gennarose Nethercott is a great writer with a unique sense of humor, perhaps I might enjoy her other work more.

With that being said: I recommend this book to those who enjoy abstract science fiction moreso than fantasy. Some stories are just weird for the sake of being weird and it seemed like sometimes she was beating a dead horse or going overboard for shock value.

Delightfully weird, this collection of short stories was dark, spooky, and often uncomfortable in the underlying truths it shed light on. The author has taken the human experience and all of the insecurities and contradictions that come with it and crafted grotesque anti-fairy tales out of it. This is a collection that could be read and re-read, with different nuances coming to light with each pass. My favorite stories were A Diviner’s Abecedarian, The Autumn Kill, and Homebody.

Pub Date: 2/6/24
Review Published: 1/17/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!

GennaRose sure knows how to write lyrical, beautiful and abstract prose. Since this was a series of stories, there were obviously those which I preferred to others. That being said, overall I enjoyed my time with these stories. I have seen in other reviews people criticizing the stories for their abstractness. Abstractness in itself doesn't really bother me. I am game for things being open to interpretation. However, I can see how that would deter readers especially those who came into this with the expectations of it being the same caliber as GennaRose's previous work "Thistlefoot."

Thistlefoot still remains concretely my preferred read out of the two but I wouldn't slight this collection. Try it for yourself!

Loved thistlefoot, loved 50 beasts even more I feel. Creepy, lovely stories that feel of old- but resonating within our every day tales. I do wish it was longer - and I look forward to more from GennaRose!

Thank you NetGalley, and thank you to the publisher for allowing an advanced reader to review this book!

Thank you to Vintage and NetGalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review!

Having loved Nethercott’s Thistlefoot last year, I was excited to pick up this collection of short stories. I was expecting some dark, weird stuff and was not disappointed!

My favorite stories of the bunch:
“A Diviner’s Abecedarian” which explores the grossness, fierceness, and drama of girlhood as it explores some amateur oracles while it outlines a new fortune telling technique for every letter of the alphabet. Has a chilling twist that boosted its staying power.

“The Thread Boy” one of the shorter pieces, about a sewn boy who leaves behind a thread of himself every time he makes a connection. Poignant and effective even though it’s brief.

“The War of Fog” for sheer vibes alone - an atmospheric look an a fantastical, fictional war. Plays with mood and themes of memory.

“The Autumn Kill” is probably my favorite: It’s a visceral horror story about the monsters men make of a huntress and her kind. Some real feminine rage energy.

“Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart” complete with illustrations (which I’m sure look even better in the print copy and I’m excited to get my hands on a copy on its release to truly appreciate them), this tale chronicles 50 fictional mythical creatures (all of which are completely fabricated? I don’t think any of them are based on real life mythology). Many of the illustrations are horrifying, but all of the descriptions are ethereal and there is a surprisingly touching/heartbreaking side story about the people studying these monsters told within the descriptions as well.

“The Plums at the End of the World” about a goat girl who has an apple tree that has the power to end the world. Some of the most meaningful quotes in the whole collection.

There were only a couple of stories that I didn’t quite get the point/message of, but overall these stories were solid, weird, bloody, and delightful.

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is a collection of abstract gothic horror stories.

I do not feel like I am quite the intended audience, as I found the stories a bit too abstract and intangible - but I think many will enjoy the collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for an advance electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

As with all anthologies this was a mixed bag for me, the stories ranging from entertaining but not quite my taste anymore to heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. Gennarose clearly has a deep love for folktales and this manifests in her writing as finely woven whimsy and dark surrealism. You can also see her roots as a poet in several of her stories, which I particularly enjoyed. Since Goodreads doesn’t allow partial ratings, I am giving this 5 stars, however I would ideally place it closer to a 4.5.

The stories that really worked for me were those where she leaned into the natural darker side of humanity and poetic prose. I feel like these really encapsulated the modern storyteller that I expect from her. My favorite stories included Homebody, Dear Henrietta, The Autumn Kill, and The Plums at the End of the World.

The stories that I felt less enthusiastic about were the ones that leaned almost too heavily into the whimsical nature of storytelling. While they were still entertaining, they reminded me of media that I was really into at a younger point in my life and felt like they were weird for the sake of being weird, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I don’t feel as though they played as deeply to Gennarose’s strengths. This includes the first story of the anthology, so if it isn’t your style I encourage you to press on. If you are less a fan of non-linear narrative or a fan of things such as Welcome to Nightvale, then these stories may be more up your alley.

Ultimately I believe that Gennarose has carved her place as a modern storyweaver and that fans of folktales will find themselves right at home between the pages of her books.

2.5/5 I did not realize this was a book of stories. I generally do not enjoy reading a collection of stories and this was not any different. There were stories that I absolutely loved (A Lily is a Lily), but I struggled through more than half the stories. I appreciate that Gennarose writes lyrically and her prose is beautiful. This one just wasn’t for me.