Supernatural Fairy Tales (Fairytales) - The United States (9 books)

Supernatural Fairy Tales is now following Ed's reviews

Supernatural Fairy Tales is now following Neil's reviews

Supernatural Fairy Tales added a status update: Stop by Supernatural Fairy Tales for a chance to win a Wick'd Potion by Jfay! We are giving away one Blueberry Spell Potion Necklace, plus 4 samples of her fairy tale/dark fantasy scents. All you have to do is leave a comment for a chance to win :) http://www.dorlana.blogspot.com

Supernatural Fairy Tales gave

to:

Steamed
by Katie MacAlister (Goodreads Author)

My rating:

In the gracious blending of genres that brings the flavour of romance to each one in turn, Steamed is a brassy cup of tea. Ms. MacAlister gives us an interesting character in Captain Octavia Pye coupled with a somewhat less-so character in Jack Fletc...more

Supernatural Fairy Tales gave

to:

A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2)
by Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author)

read in April, 2010

My rating:

I was excited to get the chance to review Seanan McGuire's new Toby Daye novel, A Local Habitation. In A Local Habitation, we visit new fairy communities around San Francisco with October (Toby) Daye, changeling PI and knight errant in the service of...moreI was excited to get the chance to review Seanan McGuire's new Toby Daye novel, A Local Habitation. In A Local Habitation, we visit new fairy communities around San Francisco with October (Toby) Daye, changeling PI and knight errant in the service of Sylvester, Duke of Shadowed Hills. Toby is sent on a seemingly harmless errand to check on Sylvester's niece, Countess January O'Leary in her computer company and fiefdom in Fremont. As in the previous novel, a great part of the fascination of this novel is meeting new types of fairies and changelings and learning what their particular attributes are and how they have adopted to life between the mortal and fairy worlds. In this case, Toby is placed out of her comfort zone on the cutting edge of technological integration between fairy and computer networks.

Toby's world gives me the shivers as she's wandering down dark roads and flashes of delight as she tells stories about the creatures she's encountered. Following her down just one of those of dark roads makes for an exciting and entertaining read. Characters such as Tybalt, King of Cats, emerge from the story as suddenly familiar as something encountered long before, grown up for you in an unexpected way.

Toby's own marginal status allows her to be everywhere and to move deeply into the concerns of other characters while trying to keep to her own code. My only quibble is that the mystery seems to get short shrift. While Toby's ability to "read" the blood of the living and the dead (part of her heritage as half Daoine Sidhe) brings the story into a gut wrenching immediacy, she is often prevented by circumstance from fully investigating what has happened. This may be a question of the balance between action and detection--the action often receives priority, undercutting the impact of the mystery's solution.

I'm coming to realize that Toby Daye novels are clear-the-calendar books, since once I get started I'm hooked until the end. I would highly recommend that readers interested in urban fairy tales pick up A Local Habitation.

Good reading,
Chrissa(less)

Supernatural Fairy Tales gave

to:

The Girl With Glass Feet
by Ali Shaw (Goodreads Author)

read in February, 2010

My rating:

It is sometimes in the confounding of our expectations that a story can slip past our defenses, and so it is with The Girl with Glass Feet. The story centers on Midas Crook as he deals with family tragedy by mediating every interaction save a few t...more

It is sometimes in the confounding of our expectations that a story can slip past our defenses, and so it is with The Girl with Glass Feet. The story centers on Midas Crook as he deals with family tragedy by mediating every interaction save a few through the lens of a camera. “I cope [. . .:] with photography,” he explains early in the book. When he meets Ida, who has come to the remote archipelago of St. Hauda’s Land in search of a cure for an invasive metamorphosis of flesh to glass beginning with her toes, he is placed on a delicate journey back into his own body. Midas serves as a good fulcrum for the story, his own pain at the shifting of the story arcs apparent and well-drawn. Mr. Shaw draws Ida’s adaptability and determination as finely. Her response to her unexplained illness imposes upon the fairy tale elements a human dimension, linking with others mentioned in the story—and demonstrating that “why” questions are ultimately unanswerable and less important than those of how you will cope with the unexplained and painful events in life.

The Girl with Glass Feet is a thoughtful and interesting novel that brings some of the depth of feeling that old fairy tales had, when witches and curses were alive in the mind. As Mr. Shaw drains most of the colors from the land around them, the main characters dazzle in their sudden vividness. Ida’s irises gleam “titanium gray” and Midas chases a “golden ribbon” of light that dangles just out of his reach and then turns out to be resting beside Ida. A creature roams the forest that turns whatever glimpses it to stark white, the slow bleaching process both beautiful and eerie. Ida’s increasing physical pallor mirrors this transformation. The enchanted aspects carry sadness in addition to their beauty, echoing in the delicacy of the glass transformation in the way in which illness is shown to push and deform the family and personality of everyone around the sufferer. And yet, Mr. Shaw doesn’t ignore the beauty. When Midas and Ida find themselves become hills for one of the character’s herds of moth-like cattle, the sense of their looking out across eternity like the hills themselves and finding in this view a deep joy was as fulfilling a scene as any I’ve read lately.

While the answers that come from Ida and Midas sorting through the stories of their families and their tentative relationship were not what I had expected, I found myself reading hungrily and hopefully as the story moved toward the conclusion. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys traditional fairy tales that leave a bit of mystery in their weaving.

SFT thanks Henry Holt and Company for providing the review copy for this novel.

Good reading,
Chrissa(less)

Supernatural Fairy Tales gave

to:

Elfland
by Freda Warrington

read in January, 2010

My rating:

Frieda Warrington's Elfland draws the reader into an English landscape full of ancient mysticism, hidden magic, the Aetherials, who appear human but whose blood comes from Elfland. Rosie Fox, who is just beginning to respond to her Aetherial heritage...moreFrieda Warrington's Elfland draws the reader into an English landscape full of ancient mysticism, hidden magic, the Aetherials, who appear human but whose blood comes from Elfland. Rosie Fox, who is just beginning to respond to her Aetherial heritage in the beginning of the book, draws the reader into the corners to peer in wonder at the creatures revealed. It is this heavy and slantwise view of the Elfland of the Aetherials that first catches the attention. As Rosie shifts in age and perception, however, the secrets become less marvelous as they are revealed.

It's the beginning of the second introductory piece in which I found the heart of the narrative. Rosie Fox is rejecting fantasy--in this case the fantasy of unconditional love--but within this rejection is also that of the fairyland that has proved a cheat for the characters who have lost it or never knew it. While Rosie and her younger brother Lucas grow into their heritage without understanding it, the author takes some of the wonder that would normally have been given to the Aetherial world and gives it generously back to the human one.

In fact, it is Rosie's fascination with love that sets the tone for the tale. Is love the final revelation of who you are? The reward for bravely accepting yourself, despite your heritage, your fears, or your desire to fit in? Is it, in fact, sanity in the abode of madness? As I was trying to puzzle out what I could take from a story that was well-told but left me empty--one that took my expectations and shook them out, one that seemed to be laughing behind its hand at my looking for a fairy story in this day and age, it seemed that love and its betrayals were the only path through the narrative.

Although the prose is a delight, the multiple beginnings didn't serve to ground me in the narrative so much as to make me look for were they belonged within the larger story. Readers should be prepared for a story limned from Gothic tales by way of Peyton Place. There is wonder to be found here, but it is found in sharing a good cappuccino and gossiping about familial escapades rather than in the shimmering forests and arching bridges of Elfland. Between the chained angels, family secrets, and dark otherworlds overwriting the human one, Elfland itself embodied the idea of multiple worlds (or in this case narratives) existing and intertwining. As the story came to a sudden stop, I found myself in the sympathy with the characters: dazed and bereft.(less)

Supernatural Fairy Tales joined the Folklore & Fairytales group.

Supernatural Fairy Tales made a comment on KyleeJ's profile

"Hey Kylee!
Thank you :) I hope you have an awesome New Year!"

Supernatural Fairy Tales gave

to:

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
by Angela Carter

My rating:

Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, published by Penguin (ISBN 014017821x), tells a selection of fairy tales; however, like Emily Dickenson's suggestion for truth, she tells them slant. These are tales in wolves' clothing, wearing originals skinned a...more

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Supernatural Fairy Tales is now following Ed's reviews
Sep 30, 2011 04:00pm
Supernatural Fairy Tales is now following Neil's reviews
Sep 29, 2011 05:39pm
Supernatural Fairy Tales added a status update: Stop by Supernatural Fairy Tales for a chance to win a Wick'd Potion by Jfay! We are giving away one Blueberry Spell Potion Necklace, plus 4 samples of her fairy tale/dark fantasy scents. All you have to do is leave a comment for a chance to win :) http://www.dorlana.blogspot.com
Sep 10, 2010 06:00am · like · see status
Supernatural Fairy Tales gave to: Steamed by Katie MacAlister (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
In the gracious blending of genres that brings the flavour of romance to each one in turn, Steamed is a brassy cup of tea. Ms. MacAlister gives us an interesting character in Captain Octavia Pye coupled with a somewhat less-so character in Jack Fletc...more
Jun 17, 2010 06:42am · see review
Supernatural Fairy Tales gave to: A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2) by Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2010	My rating:
I was excited to get the chance to review Seanan McGuire's new Toby Daye novel, A Local Habitation. In A Local Habitation, we visit new fairy communities around San Francisco with October (Toby) Daye, changeling PI and knight errant in the service of...more
Apr 12, 2010 09:51am · see review
Supernatural Fairy Tales gave to: The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (Goodreads Author) read in February, 2010	My rating:
It is sometimes in the confounding of our expectations that a story can slip past our defenses, and so it is with The Girl with Glass Feet. The story centers on Midas Crook as he deals with family tragedy by mediating every interaction save a few t...more
Feb 18, 2010 07:45am · see review
Supernatural Fairy Tales gave to: Elfland by Freda Warrington read in January, 2010	My rating:
Frieda Warrington's Elfland draws the reader into an English landscape full of ancient mysticism, hidden magic, the Aetherials, who appear human but whose blood comes from Elfland. Rosie Fox, who is just beginning to respond to her Aetherial heritage...more
Jan 13, 2010 08:33am · see review
Supernatural Fairy Tales joined the Folklore & Fairytales group.
Jan 07, 2010 12:40pm · see group
Supernatural Fairy Tales made a comment on KyleeJ's profile "Hey Kylee! Thank you :) I hope you have an awesome New Year!"
Dec 30, 2009 05:35am
Supernatural Fairy Tales gave to: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter	My rating:
Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, published by Penguin (ISBN 014017821x), tells a selection of fairy tales; however, like Emily Dickenson's suggestion for truth, she tells them slant. These are tales in wolves' clothing, wearing originals skinned a...more
Dec 29, 2009 07:49am · see review

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