Wink

It’s rare for me to like all of the stories in an anthology, but that’s the case here. Sure, there were a few that stood out to me, but all of the tales in here are clever and worth a read. Fair warning, though…Seanan McGuire’s entry is a little different, shall we say.

There are a lot of big names in here, and they all did a good job at reimagining classic tales that most everyone already knows. I had fun trying to guess the original story as I read, and some of them stumped me until I read the answer at the end.

Please note: trigger warnings are located at the back of the book (although most of the short stories are pretty tame).

All in all, this was quite fun, and I hope they do a volume two!

My thanks to NetGalley, and Brigids Gate Press for the eARC. All opinions are mine alone.

It’s always a challenge to review a collection of short stories, especially when they’re so very different from each other, as these are. The theme of the collection is like fractured fairy tales - but based on modern children’s fiction instead.

The collection includes fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and fairy tale style short stories inspired by tales like The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and Black Beauty, among many others.

I certainly had favorites among them, like all collected works some just hit me more than others, and my favorites will likely not be yours. That’s the joy of short stories!

I laughed, I teared up, I was horrified - this collection is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon. I can imagine they’d be fun to read aloud as well, should you have the opportunity to share stories with others.

Thanks to NetGalley and Brigids Street Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

"Wink", a collection of stories by diverse authors, presents a reinterpretation of the children's classics we all fondly remember, such as "The Giving Tree" and "The Velveteen Rabbit". These stories, explored through fantasy and science fiction, promise to take us on a wondrous journey through our favourite childhood stories.
The award-winning and bestselling authors in this anthology, including Kendare Blake, Leah Cypess, Stacia Deutsch, David Gerrold, Nancy Holder, Alethea Kontis, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, and Maggie Stiefvater, make "Wink" a highly anticipated and engaging work for readers. Fans of the original stories will surely enjoy the new perspectives and twists these authors have brought to the classics that evoke so many memories in us.
In short, "Wink" is a wonderful and creative homage to children's literature, which is sure to stir emotions and joy in readers who grew up with these stories and those who are discovering them for the first time.

This was a fun collection - and what a clever idea! I love re-imaginings, and there are so many books devoted to classic fairy tales in this manner, but this is the first (and hopefully not the last) to take more contemporary children's stories and spin them out as well! I was really pleased with the unique nature of so many of the stories, and how they managed to stay true to their origins conceptually while also moving in truly original directions (I'm particularly calling out the Seanan McGuire tale here!). There's a motley collection of authors and styles represented, with something for everyone.

Anthologies are always difficult to rate given they typically vary wildly in both quality of stories and ability for the reader to connect to all/most of the stories. With that said, Wink may be the best anthology I’ve ever read.

This wonderful collection of stories is a trippy wander down memory lane full of science fiction and fantasy goodies, nods to feminism, shocking twists, and feel-good moments. The illustrations were also incredibly fun and entertaining.

The Fastest Horse in the World by Kendare Blake
Tale it winks at: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Premise: AI is taking over jockeys and horses.
Thoughts: Honestly, I’ve never read Black Beauty, but I do know the basics. Written from the main horse’s point of view, we first see horses being raced using AI jockeys and at the end seeing AI horses being introduced. While the concept was interesting, the story did not grip me as I believe it was intended to. It was fine, but not really my speed. I probably wouldn’t read a full story about this.
Rating: 3 stars

Precious Treasure by Wulf Moon
Tale it winks at: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Premise: N/A
Thoughts: At the time of reading, I was not in the right headspace for a Tolkien-esque tribute. As such, this story will be exempt from my rating.
Rating: N/A

The Scent of Cotton Candy by Leah Cypess
Tale it winks at: Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Premise: Now older, Julia is begrudgingly brought in to help her brother, Matt, track down Nanny Margaret. Why are they tracking her? Because she is snatching children of course! They just happened to get away…
Thoughts: This was absolutely hilarious! I loved Julia’s internal monologues that left me in stitches, as well as Matt’s craziness driving him to find Nanny Margaret. The idea of someone with Mary Poppins’s abilities caring for and then snatching children away is entirely eerie and something I was definitely sucked into. Where can I read more of this?!?!?
Rating: 5 stars

Waii-Chan and Sparklepony by Nancy Holder
Tale it winks at: The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Premise: Toys having existential crises about if they are part of a video game their owner designed or if they are “real” toys. No scarlet fever like in The Velveteen Rabbit, but there is espionage for a competition for a technology-based internship.
Thoughts: This was enjoyable, but it was definitely closer to the tale it winked at than others in the collection. The ending was a little confusing to me as I tried to piece together what caused the transformation, much like the fairy in the original. Was it being put in the video game that did it? I think so, but the story was a bit fuzzy about this causation.
Rating: 4 stars

The Monster at the End of this Story by Althea Kontis
Tale it winks at: The Monster at the End of this Book: Starring Loveable, Furry Old Grover by Jon Stone
Premise: Monster children go to a summer camp, in which they beg the counselor to tell them scary stories about “the monster” at the campsite. While being told many stories throughout their stay, while all the while creating memories of their own, each story has a resolution except the last. The overall theme of the story is that memories fade with time as we all get older.
Thoughts: I very much enjoyed this. I haven’t read the book about Grover, but my son plays this game quite often on the PBS Kids app, so I kept thinking about him while I read it, which was fun. This reminded me of Lumberjanes meets the summer camp from Addams Family Values meets monsters, which are all things I love! The pacing was also great. I would definitely read a longer version of this.
Rating: 5 stars

My Science Project by Henry Herz
Tale it winks at: Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Premise: A high school science nerd obsessed with aliens and space is contacted by actual aliens because they ran the data and he has the lowest chance of spilling the beans on their existence. They want him to answer questions they don’t understand about humans, like why they resist sleep in favor of social media, why they “use idioms when they make communication more confusing”, etc. In exchange for this, they offer him help with his science fair project. Of course, these frogs are Frog and Toad from their self-titled books!
Thoughts: I absolutely adored this story!!! It was cute, it was quirky, and it was a super enjoyable read for someone like myself who is a sarcastic science fiction and pop culture lover.
Rating: 5 stars

Tabula by Henry Neff
Tale it winks at: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Premise: A high schooler finds that there is the existence of another plane/dimension running alongside the current Earth/time plane and tells her teacher about it. While dismissing her ideas as ludicrous, he is also stealing them to present as his own.
Thoughts: I liked this take on Harold and the Purple Crayon, especially with its feminist take by making the MC female whose findings were being claimed by a man (sound historically familiar?). It did seem to drag a bit at parts, thus I’ve reduced my rating a bit.
Rating: 4 stars

Special by Seanan McGuire
Tale it winks at: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Premise: A child walks us through their thought process of what adults say is “bad”, how “bad” can be excused for various reasons (for example, if you are a musical prodigy), and why adults live up to the “Do as I say, not as I do” adage.
Thoughts: Oh boy, this one was intense! I believe our MC was neurodivergent, which I applaud the representation. I also liked the overall thinking the character had about how adults tell kids to do one thing and then do another, what constitutes as “bad” behavior, and how the more special you are or more desirable traits you have, the more you can be “bad” and no one cares. This hits on so many levels and is brilliantly executed through the mind of a neurodivergent child.
The twist that the story takes from a child’s internal ramblings to an all-out horror story was fantastically done and utterly shocking. I loved every minute of it!
Rating: 5 stars

Final Ella by James Aquilone
Tale it winks at: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Premise: Alice in Wonderland with a kidnapping Mad Hatter who traps girls in another dimension (aka, Wonderland)
Thoughts: This was an interesting take on the story, but I’ve read a lot of Alice in Wonderland-inspired tales and this was not my favorite. Still well written and an interesting plot.
Rating: 3.5 stars

Other Earth by Stacia Deutsch
Tale it winks at: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Premise: A group of individuals (scientists, doctors, etc.) live in an environmentally sensitive bubble with others being evacuated from Earth, since Earth is expected to die and not sustain life at some point soon due to pollution and other environmentally unsafe practices. Larissa is a Botany lab tech who is in charge is creating a new sustainable ecosystem of trees, streams, etc., while Oliver (her friend’s brother) is in charge of getting more people evacuated and set up in their bubble. Oliver proposes chopping down her trees to make room for more people, but she shows him how much trees can offer, helping him to hatch a new plan.
Thoughts: Oh my gods! Oh my gods! Oh my gods! This was not only a women in STEM story, but it had everything to make it an enemies-to-lovers, friend’s older brother romance!!! Fans of Ali Hazelwood would completely adore this one. I would totally read this as a full book, and I need it STAT!
Rating: 5 stars

Chloe’s Cabin by Tara Gilboy
Tale it winks at: Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Premise: Aliens have come to Earth but aren’t doing anything but hovering in spacecrafts. People are freaking out and starting to blame NASA, the government, and each other. Looting is starting, cities are burning, and none of it is the aliens’ doing.
During this time, a family evacuates to a cabin off the grid where the FMC learns how to do things like shoot a gun for self-defense, hunt, etc. Eventually the aliens leave because humans are acting so terribly, and the family is able to move back to the city, but she’ll never forget what she learned.
Thoughts: I have never read or watched anything to do with Little House on the Prairie, but from online summaries I found the premise seems similar enough to the original. I liked how the FMC embraced the new life her stepfather had created for their family and how she didn’t take what he offered them for granted. I also enjoyed that she wanted to get out and learn how to do all the things he was doing and that he taught her. Definitely had a touch of feminism I enjoyed.
Rating: 4 stars

Doc’s Lucky Day at the Dump by Alex Shvartsman
Tale it winks at: Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting
Premise: Doctor Doolittle but with AI “mods”. The Doc finds mods, fixes them up, and places them with new owners, on a typical day. However, our story leads the Doctor to find a most peculiar mod, more reminiscent of a real boy.
Thoughts: This is the only time in my life I’ve thanked the gods for Eddie Murphy, as I actually knew the story this was based on because of that terrible movie he was in. On another note, I knew I was going to love this from the beginning since it was by the amazing Alex Shvartsman!!
Doc was an incredibly loveable character, always acting in the best interest of others, sometimes to his own detriment. He was incredibly smart and a character I openly rooted for. I also adored his sidekick. I found this story completely heartwarming and I actually awwww’d at the ending.
Rating: 5 stars

Follow the Shattered-Brick Road by Jonathan Maberry
Tale it winks at: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum*
*(fun fact: the L is short for Lyman!)
Premise: Ethan is knocked unconscious during a hurricane by a tree and “wakes up” in an oz like land. He is told several times that he is not dead yet, but he must make his way to the other side of the land.
Thoughts: I believe the entire story was an allegory for grief and finding your way through it. Well written, but not my favorite.
Rating: 3 stars

State of Mind by Maggie Stiefvater
Tale it winks at: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Premise: This story is really a reversal of The Cat in the Hat. The babysitter wants to straighten everything up and judges everything the parents have taught and done, chalking everything up to rich people having no common sense.
Thoughts: For this story and the last, I feel like if you’re going to take a classic, you have to knock it out of the park; these were just meh. I did enjoy the grim twist at the end of this one though.
Rating: 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Brigids Gate Press, and the authors for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own