RECOMMENDED: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is $1.99 at Amazon! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals and isn’t being price-matched yet. This one was recommended to Carrie and she really enjoyed it, giving the book an A-:
I enjoyed the way this book both used and subverted Beauty and the Beast tropes. There’s a good blend of angst and humor and worldbuilding.
TW/CW: Murder, graphic violence, racism, ableist language, mentions of rape and sexual assault. The Girl in Red by Christina Henry is the latest addition in her gritty fairy tale retellings. They aren’t part of a connected series, but Henry has done retellings of Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan. This one retells Little Red Riding Hood where a young woman tries to get to her grandmother’s house following an outbreak of deadly … Continue reading The Girl in Red by Christina Henry
The Mermaid is a lyrical, dream-like story about a mermaid who falls in love with a fisherman and, many decades later, agrees to perform in P.T. Barnum’s Museum in New York City. Although this is not a romance novel, there are two love stories in the book, and I enjoyed the differences between them. I also enjoyed the relationships between women and the use of different settings to create atmospheres of claustrophobia versus expansiveness. The … Continue reading The Mermaid by Christina Henry
Alice isn’t your grandmother’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s my version of it either. It’s dark, disturbing, both a retelling and a continuation of the classic, and I’m issuing all the trigger warnings. The book is fraught with violence, including both physical and sexual violence against women. So if those things are difficult for you to read about, especially in relation to a much-loved story from your childhood, I … Continue reading Alice by Christina Henry
