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I absolutely adored this author's book Delphi which is why I requested this.

unfortunately this wasnt for me.
Whilst I enjoyed the fairytales themselves (deliciously dark), the scenes in the literary salon and those character's conversations and musings about the fairytales bored me - I felt the writing was quite dense and I think the style used wasn't my cup of tea.

For anyone else who grew up with Charles Perrault’s fairy tales, this will be so much fun! Pollard crafts a quirky litfic story set in the 1600s but very modernized language - think Coppola’s Marie Antoinette movie.

This is based on real events involving Perrault and the women around him, and how they crafted his famous fairy tales around the reign of Louis XIV. It’s an interesting take, and a shorter novel that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Pollard is definitely a writer I’ll be reading from again!

I totally loved Clare Pollard's Delphi and after reading the blurb of The Modern Fairies, I knew I just had to read this! This book did not disappoint!
Paris during the reign of Louis XIV, people started organising literary salons. I think the time period is very interesting, so many things are happening. The salon of Marie D'Aulnoy specializes in comtes de fees, fairy tales. As hard as people have it, they can spend some time together telling eachother stories and forgetting their problems. Linking some of the fairy tales back to the events of the people attending the salons was a good find. It also shows that fairy tales are not only for children.
From now on, Clare Pollard is an author I will automatically buy!
Thank you for the chance to read this book before publication.

I think Claire Pollard will become an auto-buy author for me, I’ve enjoyed both her books and love the richness of her prose.

Here, the historical and the fantastical combine in the very best way, with the salons of 17th century Paris coming alive in all the bawdy, wild ways you’d want them to. Im not typically into “fairy tale” retellings or references in books but somehow here it felt captivating rather than alienating (as a reader who can be wary of that genre).

The overarching theme of storytelling, of who gets to tell stories or subvert stories in the face of darker times, was nicely explored. This was such a unique and wonderful read! Thanks so much for my early copy!

Not my cup of tea, I'm afraid, though the "blurb" sounded fascinating. The writing is a little too elaborate and "precious" for me with an overly wrought (for me) plot. Since I didn't really care for the book, I will not repost elsewhere. Sorry!

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had a great historical feel to it and worked with the fairy tales being told. I enjoyed the use of true events perfectly. I thought it worked with everything that I was hoping for and the characters felt like they worked with the time-period. It had a suspenseful feel that I was looking for and really enjoyed how good this was written. Clare Pollard has a great writing style and can't wait to read more.