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Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women
Enter a world in which magic exists, hope wins and every woman’s heart is alive with courage!
This global feast of ancient tales features valiant women overcoming every kind of obstacle and danger to fulfil their destinies. Travel through Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific. Shudder, cheer and laugh out loud as the heroines deal with trolls, faeries, dragons and ghosts; admire their knowledge, wit and cunning; marvel at shapeshifting and other manifestations of the supernatural.
A rich collection of fairy tales, beautifully illustrated throughout with Joe McClaren woodcuts, this book is stitched together like a series of Scheherazade stories. It is story-telling at its best, pitch perfect fairy tales of fearless women for readers everywhere.
This global feast of ancient tales features valiant women overcoming every kind of obstacle and danger to fulfil their destinies. Travel through Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific. Shudder, cheer and laugh out loud as the heroines deal with trolls, faeries, dragons and ghosts; admire their knowledge, wit and cunning; marvel at shapeshifting and other manifestations of the supernatural.
A rich collection of fairy tales, beautifully illustrated throughout with Joe McClaren woodcuts, this book is stitched together like a series of Scheherazade stories. It is story-telling at its best, pitch perfect fairy tales of fearless women for readers everywhere.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published September 9, 2021
33 people are currently reading
950 people want to read
About the author
Rosalind Kerven
91 books59 followers"Rosalind Kerven, connoisseur of myths and folktales" – THE INDEPENDENT (one of the UK's leading online news websites)
I'm the author of over 70 books published in 22 countries, with total world sales of nearly a million.
Specialising in myths, legends, folk tales and fairy tales from all over the world.
Follow me on Twitter @MythsandTales
I'm the author of over 70 books published in 22 countries, with total world sales of nearly a million.
Specialising in myths, legends, folk tales and fairy tales from all over the world.
Follow me on Twitter @MythsandTales
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 3, 2022
Pros: I loved the variety of sources and cultures in this collection, and the emphasis on cunning in overcoming the antagonists of many of the tales. I enjoyed a lot of the ideas behind the tales.
Cons: I found it incredibly frustrating how frequently the men throughout were depicted as idiots without redeeming quality. To me it lessened the joy of seeing these women succeed because it half felt like in order for them to be clever and brave everyone else had to be pathetic. Yes, in some stories, the misogyny and/or aggression of the male characters served a narrative purpose. Most the time it felt thrown in like lol look at these hopeless idiot men who need women to save them. Fun once or twice as a contrast to some traditional ideas of female passivity in fairytales, but unnecessary and tiresome due to the sheer volume.
Cons: I found it incredibly frustrating how frequently the men throughout were depicted as idiots without redeeming quality. To me it lessened the joy of seeing these women succeed because it half felt like in order for them to be clever and brave everyone else had to be pathetic. Yes, in some stories, the misogyny and/or aggression of the male characters served a narrative purpose. Most the time it felt thrown in like lol look at these hopeless idiot men who need women to save them. Fun once or twice as a contrast to some traditional ideas of female passivity in fairytales, but unnecessary and tiresome due to the sheer volume.
August 10, 2022
The title of this book drew me in but the stories felt forced, pandering, and unsatisfying. The notes section in the back informs us the author has taken these stories which have been passed down through oral tradition and put her own modern spin to them, as others have done over time. I don't think I connected with the authors voice. The stories are "global", coming from many cultures, and more detailed notes about their origins can be found in the back of the book, but I wished they were presented with each story for a richer experience instead of stumbling upon them at the end.
Sentences like, "...she looked as a close to a goddess as possible for a middle aged woman" (from "Bandits") seem like an odd inclusion. Was that included in the oral story? Was it added by the author for our modern sensibilities? Because saying anything negative about women aging seems unnecessary. The entire story revolves around the woman protagonist cooking her would be rapists a delicious meal and dressing herself up beautifully, and they're too full and charmed by her graciousness to ransack her families wealth and defile her. Even if this is the traditional telling, in a "modern" collection the sentiment of wooing male brutes with gentle and gracious femininity is old, and outright dangerous for young women to be exposed to.
In "The Flying Head", an elderly woman lives alone and isolated in the wilderness after losing her husband and child. She is happier there, this is self chosen isolation, dreaming of happier times. When a widow eating monster comes for her however, she is fearless because of the amount of tragedy in her life and is able to outwit the monster and drive it from the village for good. The community she is once a part of celebrates and wants to find and reward the man they assume is responsible - instead the woman "happily" returns to her solitude. The author combined different versions of the story and chose one where age and tragedy isolate elderly women, but from the notes it seems she easily could have kept the woman living in her community. Another back-handed calling out of age, and an outdated idea of tying a woman's worth to marriage and motherhood.
The men in these stories are overly ignorant to the point of comedic uselessness. There are neither intelligent male villains or compassionate male allies. The tiny introduction asks us if we yearn for a world where "hope wins and every woman's heart is alive with courage". Hope to me looks very different than what I found in this book, and it's hardly novel that women have courage in the face of idiots and simpletons. I love the idea behind this collection, but I didn't enjoy the authors interpretations.
Sentences like, "...she looked as a close to a goddess as possible for a middle aged woman" (from "Bandits") seem like an odd inclusion. Was that included in the oral story? Was it added by the author for our modern sensibilities? Because saying anything negative about women aging seems unnecessary. The entire story revolves around the woman protagonist cooking her would be rapists a delicious meal and dressing herself up beautifully, and they're too full and charmed by her graciousness to ransack her families wealth and defile her. Even if this is the traditional telling, in a "modern" collection the sentiment of wooing male brutes with gentle and gracious femininity is old, and outright dangerous for young women to be exposed to.
In "The Flying Head", an elderly woman lives alone and isolated in the wilderness after losing her husband and child. She is happier there, this is self chosen isolation, dreaming of happier times. When a widow eating monster comes for her however, she is fearless because of the amount of tragedy in her life and is able to outwit the monster and drive it from the village for good. The community she is once a part of celebrates and wants to find and reward the man they assume is responsible - instead the woman "happily" returns to her solitude. The author combined different versions of the story and chose one where age and tragedy isolate elderly women, but from the notes it seems she easily could have kept the woman living in her community. Another back-handed calling out of age, and an outdated idea of tying a woman's worth to marriage and motherhood.
The men in these stories are overly ignorant to the point of comedic uselessness. There are neither intelligent male villains or compassionate male allies. The tiny introduction asks us if we yearn for a world where "hope wins and every woman's heart is alive with courage". Hope to me looks very different than what I found in this book, and it's hardly novel that women have courage in the face of idiots and simpletons. I love the idea behind this collection, but I didn't enjoy the authors interpretations.
September 20, 2021
Dark Fairy Tales + Strong Women = Top Notch Read!
This book of fairy tales is lovely. Some stories I knew of and others were unique, but they were all perfect in the way they are told. This is the kind of book you would want to read to others around a campfire/bonfire. I love that they are from different regions of the world, but still represent the various ways strong women stand up for themselves and others.
Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women is a must-read for lovers of fairy tales and strong female protagonists!
This book of fairy tales is lovely. Some stories I knew of and others were unique, but they were all perfect in the way they are told. This is the kind of book you would want to read to others around a campfire/bonfire. I love that they are from different regions of the world, but still represent the various ways strong women stand up for themselves and others.
Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women is a must-read for lovers of fairy tales and strong female protagonists!
August 6, 2025
Brilliant, I especially liked the last Japanese story. Really well written to make the stories neat and intriguing.
November 6, 2021
Actual rating 3,5 stars.
August 20, 2024
I bought this collection in a witch, sorcery and occultism book shop in london. I truly adored some of these stories, but the misandry (and misogyny) in a lot of them I didn't care for. I did enjoy the humour, which seemed almost modern at times and I appreciate the work that was behind the research for this book. The historical info section in the back is very interesting as well!
March 9, 2025
I loved the diversity of stories based on local ancient tales from around the world.
January 3, 2026
comforting and warm read. shout out to all the ladies out there!
October 28, 2025
This is the first book I have physically read in about a year and a half. It has a really cool cover and i literally brought it just beacuse of this (which I know I shlouldn't have) It is a selecton of short stories about myths and legends that envolve women from around the world. I LOVED it. Some of them are really funny and some are quite clever.
April 26, 2024
This was just too on the nose, to the point where it felt like pandering. 1 star rating just because I felt stupid reading it. I genuinely couldn't find any value in this book except as a pretty thing to have on a shelf.
I haven't heard of Rosalind Kerven before but from the one picture I could find of her online, she seems like a nice old lady. I'm a bit sceptical of the claim on her author profile which states her books have sold almost 1 million copies because her most popular book on goodreads has less than 300 ratings. But she seems like she's genuinely really passionate about folklore.
The fact that the stories are sourced from around the world is heavily emphasised but there didn't really seem to be much culture or history embedded in any of the stories. There didn't seem to be much of anything, really. All the stories are so short, like 3-4 pages, so it doesn't feel like there's any substance at all. There's no time to get to know these strong women or get any kind of understanding of their characters. Even worse, every single man is so aggresively anti-feminist to the point that it was comical. They're all idiots and they think that women are stupid and stinky. All the dialogue is just so preachy, so lacking nuance. It's a very basic type of feminism that doesn't really say anything.
I haven't heard of Rosalind Kerven before but from the one picture I could find of her online, she seems like a nice old lady. I'm a bit sceptical of the claim on her author profile which states her books have sold almost 1 million copies because her most popular book on goodreads has less than 300 ratings. But she seems like she's genuinely really passionate about folklore.
The fact that the stories are sourced from around the world is heavily emphasised but there didn't really seem to be much culture or history embedded in any of the stories. There didn't seem to be much of anything, really. All the stories are so short, like 3-4 pages, so it doesn't feel like there's any substance at all. There's no time to get to know these strong women or get any kind of understanding of their characters. Even worse, every single man is so aggresively anti-feminist to the point that it was comical. They're all idiots and they think that women are stupid and stinky. All the dialogue is just so preachy, so lacking nuance. It's a very basic type of feminism that doesn't really say anything.
July 13, 2025
I love both folk tales and short stories. Especially when they’re old or written plainly. Unfortunately, many of them were written with a modern voice. “Ach! Why do I have to read such modernized language in such a collection of old source material?” as Rosalind Kerven would write.
These stories were old, but the author decided to give them a modern spin. I felt that that improved only one of the stories (Scheherazade and her sister Dunyazad coming up with her plot, and the different ending Rosalind gives it.) With others, it was either neutral or she didn’t change much.
I did NOT like the modern writing of it. I liked the stories with the plainer writing for the most part (The Birds from Poland, The Flying Head from the Iroquois, The Ghost from Nigeria.) It’s not a bad thing to force readers to imagine or learn word meanings from context. Spoon-feeding content is how readers become complacent and lazy.
What was up with her usage of “Ach?” All of these different cultures could not have had the same sounds of disapproval. In The Stone Giant and The Ghost, the women say “er” which I also hated. It just seemed needlessly modern/anglicized. Come on now.
Finally, the men of the story. Contrary to others, I liked how useless the men were. In most stories they tend to be heroes! But, in reality, this is not true. In all of history men would sacrifice their daughters to downright beasts of men for money (Destiny from Lesotho,) cowardice (The Troll from Iceland and The Power of Stories from Arabia,) honor (Shining Bamboo from Japan,) and other ‘reasons’ that were not necessarily touched on in this compilation. Reality mirrored in these stories was nice for once.
However, she could have taken a modern spin to these stories and given those useless men the comeuppance they deserved. Instead, a lot of those despicable, spineless, misogynistic men reaped the spoils of women’s hard work like always (don’t even get me started on Bandits! From India.)
With that being said, I’m grateful to have learned the story of the girl from Nigeria, who is rewarded for being stubborn (a trait many females are punished for.) Most of the stories revolved around women’s ‘cunning,’ which I appreciated; especially when the woman was old (Fire Woman from Hawai’i and The Flying Head from the Iroquois.) Stories with old women are few and far between.
The cover and the illustrations on the inside are lovely as well. Definitely not mad that I bought it, but not exactly elated either.
These stories were old, but the author decided to give them a modern spin. I felt that that improved only one of the stories (Scheherazade and her sister Dunyazad coming up with her plot, and the different ending Rosalind gives it.) With others, it was either neutral or she didn’t change much.
I did NOT like the modern writing of it. I liked the stories with the plainer writing for the most part (The Birds from Poland, The Flying Head from the Iroquois, The Ghost from Nigeria.) It’s not a bad thing to force readers to imagine or learn word meanings from context. Spoon-feeding content is how readers become complacent and lazy.
What was up with her usage of “Ach?” All of these different cultures could not have had the same sounds of disapproval. In The Stone Giant and The Ghost, the women say “er” which I also hated. It just seemed needlessly modern/anglicized. Come on now.
Finally, the men of the story. Contrary to others, I liked how useless the men were. In most stories they tend to be heroes! But, in reality, this is not true. In all of history men would sacrifice their daughters to downright beasts of men for money (Destiny from Lesotho,) cowardice (The Troll from Iceland and The Power of Stories from Arabia,) honor (Shining Bamboo from Japan,) and other ‘reasons’ that were not necessarily touched on in this compilation. Reality mirrored in these stories was nice for once.
However, she could have taken a modern spin to these stories and given those useless men the comeuppance they deserved. Instead, a lot of those despicable, spineless, misogynistic men reaped the spoils of women’s hard work like always (don’t even get me started on Bandits! From India.)
With that being said, I’m grateful to have learned the story of the girl from Nigeria, who is rewarded for being stubborn (a trait many females are punished for.) Most of the stories revolved around women’s ‘cunning,’ which I appreciated; especially when the woman was old (Fire Woman from Hawai’i and The Flying Head from the Iroquois.) Stories with old women are few and far between.
The cover and the illustrations on the inside are lovely as well. Definitely not mad that I bought it, but not exactly elated either.
May 19, 2024
I feel like I came into it expecting something different then what I actually got.
[Arabic thoughts to follow]
───────────────────
When I pick up short story collections, I do not usually think it's going to be a collection of retold stories. That's why I was a bit surprised as I was going through Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women, since I expected inspirations from the cultures in their own stories, more so than anything else.
That doesn't happen exactly here, because there are stories I know of / grew up with like 1001 Arabian Nights and the hugely famous Kaguya-Hime as well. Which in turn, made a little bit more sense once I found out that the author is a folklorist and these stories are being kept in essence, even if there are some small alterations.
That in itself, would have been fine, great even, if only there wasn't a heavily childish atmosphere to the overall mood of it.
It felt like this would be a great option for a bedtime story for younger children because of that mood, instead of a book for everyone. Which is also good, but not exactly something I personally enjoyed for my own readings.
[Arabic thoughts to follow]
───────────────────
When I pick up short story collections, I do not usually think it's going to be a collection of retold stories. That's why I was a bit surprised as I was going through Dark Fairy Tales of Fearless Women, since I expected inspirations from the cultures in their own stories, more so than anything else.
That doesn't happen exactly here, because there are stories I know of / grew up with like 1001 Arabian Nights and the hugely famous Kaguya-Hime as well. Which in turn, made a little bit more sense once I found out that the author is a folklorist and these stories are being kept in essence, even if there are some small alterations.
That in itself, would have been fine, great even, if only there wasn't a heavily childish atmosphere to the overall mood of it.
It felt like this would be a great option for a bedtime story for younger children because of that mood, instead of a book for everyone. Which is also good, but not exactly something I personally enjoyed for my own readings.
September 12, 2023
I don't always get on with short story collections, partly due to the fact that there's little to no link between the stories in the collection. And this one was no exception.
~
One of the issues I had with this book, and maybe it was just me, but I didn't like the way the male characters were being portrayed throughout. Yes, the female characters were crafty and strong and fearless, but only because the male characters were pathetic and made stupid decisions. And I personally don't think you can say that female characters are super powerful and fearless, when you're comparing them to male counterparts who just don't have a braincell.
~
I think it's quite obvious I didn't get on with this book very well. And maybe my identity had biased me against this book, but whatever the reason I just didn't like it.
~
One of the issues I had with this book, and maybe it was just me, but I didn't like the way the male characters were being portrayed throughout. Yes, the female characters were crafty and strong and fearless, but only because the male characters were pathetic and made stupid decisions. And I personally don't think you can say that female characters are super powerful and fearless, when you're comparing them to male counterparts who just don't have a braincell.
~
I think it's quite obvious I didn't get on with this book very well. And maybe my identity had biased me against this book, but whatever the reason I just didn't like it.
September 18, 2022
This was a cute little book with beautiful illustrations. My favourite stories were the ones from Alaska, Iceland, China, the Arabian one which is well-known to all of us (the story of Sheherezad). I also knew the Polish one since I was a kid but with a couple of changes and probably even said in two separate stories. Also, I have no idea why the ending for the Nigerian one seemed so familiar!
All in all, most stories were nice, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the areas and traditions of each story at the end of the book. Liked that some of them turned out to be way more misogynistic originally and the author changed them for the better, it would be a good addition to any kid's nighttime stories. Would have loved if some of them were a bit more developed.
All in all, most stories were nice, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the areas and traditions of each story at the end of the book. Liked that some of them turned out to be way more misogynistic originally and the author changed them for the better, it would be a good addition to any kid's nighttime stories. Would have loved if some of them were a bit more developed.
March 11, 2023
Rosalind Kerven compiled together folk lore and fairy tales about brave, courageous women from a multitude of cultures and countries.
The winning touch of this anthology was the collection of stories from across different nations and backgrounds; some of its significance was lost being told through only one voice as opposed to be written through the eyes of a representative of the culture. A few of the fables were familiar while others were new adventures. The pattern of fearless and brave, yet observant and cunning, women shone through on the pages. The regularity fell into predictability of a rote nature, causing me as a reader to lose some of that curious spark when moving on to the next story. There's variation in culture, but no variation in message, and I'm not sure if the author intended for the stories to all intertwine with the same takeaway, or if more meaning was intended. Regardless, they're fun, quick tales with beautiful illustrations to match.
The winning touch of this anthology was the collection of stories from across different nations and backgrounds; some of its significance was lost being told through only one voice as opposed to be written through the eyes of a representative of the culture. A few of the fables were familiar while others were new adventures. The pattern of fearless and brave, yet observant and cunning, women shone through on the pages. The regularity fell into predictability of a rote nature, causing me as a reader to lose some of that curious spark when moving on to the next story. There's variation in culture, but no variation in message, and I'm not sure if the author intended for the stories to all intertwine with the same takeaway, or if more meaning was intended. Regardless, they're fun, quick tales with beautiful illustrations to match.
October 21, 2022
This book is closer to 2/5 due to the writing, but the extra star is because of how lovely the cover is and how thick the pages are.
This collection of mythological stories with a feminist spin is presented like something for adults, but it's written to be very child-friendly (hence the 'kids' tag). The writing is quite juvenile and comes across as something I'd expect to find in a kid's book. That's not a criticism, it's simply because this book looks like it's intended for a much older reader.
This collection of mythological stories with a feminist spin is presented like something for adults, but it's written to be very child-friendly (hence the 'kids' tag). The writing is quite juvenile and comes across as something I'd expect to find in a kid's book. That's not a criticism, it's simply because this book looks like it's intended for a much older reader.
February 4, 2025
A birthday gift from a friend. Bestowed with thoughtful intent, but I simply could not resonate with the authorial voice here or Kerven's writerly choices to modernize (and, some might argue, trivialize) these international tales. Does anachronism equate to accessibility? Methinks not.
Lovely illustrations throughout. This collection did leave me thinking about talking hummingbirds, "everlasting" loaves of bread, and shunning male suitors in order to travel to the moon. Inspiring.
This read would perhaps be better suited for a younger audience as it felt excessively simplified.
Lovely illustrations throughout. This collection did leave me thinking about talking hummingbirds, "everlasting" loaves of bread, and shunning male suitors in order to travel to the moon. Inspiring.
This read would perhaps be better suited for a younger audience as it felt excessively simplified.
June 3, 2023
I loved this collection of fairytales. They were empowering and so different in comparison to the traditional damsel in distress Fairytales. I loved how each tale came from a different culture, it was good to be able to get a range of stories. I really loved the information on each tale at the end of the book as well, gives me an opportunity to read more on each tale and learn about its origins. Definitely one of the better fairytale collections I have read.
August 21, 2023
A friend got this for me as a gift. It's a nice collection of folk tales. I had heard some before, but there were new-to-me ones as well. I enjoyed the different displays of strength and intelligence by the women across cultures and continents. I also really appreciated the section at the back where the author discussed some additional history of the folk tales and what choices and changes they had to make in the versions in the book.
October 18, 2022
I really enjoyed this collection of stories from all over the globe. They were short and concise, which I really appreciated. It's great to see some stories about strong women overcoming what seem to be impossible tasks/odds/etc. told via fairy tales from all over. This is a pretty quick read - I'd recommend.
January 9, 2023
Kerven has researched and retold dark folk tales in true storytelling style. I read Grimm’s Fairytales and Russian Folk Tales when I was a child and enjoyed the restoring of tales into canny and strong women’s voices.
In true storyteller way, Kerven brings language up to date, which didn’t always work for me.
Cracking present from my mum at any rate.
In true storyteller way, Kerven brings language up to date, which didn’t always work for me.
Cracking present from my mum at any rate.
July 25, 2024
I don't this this book was ment for me. This was definitely a book written to be read to children. It was a bit too tame for me, and I am not really sure this would have been something childhood me would have liked either. The illustrations were very pretty but it felt like the "dark" part of these fairy tales was completely forgotten. Very tame and much lighter than the title suggests.
March 20, 2022
Wonderfully curated collection of stories with female protagonists. Very nice short read. Would have loved the stories to be a bit longer, get to know the characters more since the source material, at least for some of them, is quite generous.
October 21, 2022
While interesting, the book wasn't what I expected based on the title. I didn't find the tales particularly dark, and had assumed Kerven was an editor for authors indigenous to the cultures included.
May 17, 2023
It was okay. I expected more, I guess. They seemed like dry stories with often similar and simple plots (i.e. man does dumb thing, but a woman is so clever they effortlessly out-smart the antagonist). They were also not very dark. It was good for reading a few stories before bed.
April 22, 2022
It’s alright. You can tell the story’s are from a while ago purely based on the. “She gets the guy” narrative but some are really good.
June 18, 2022
I didn’t like the book as much I thoughti would. Some of the stories were nice, but those were very similar to each other.
June 27, 2022
Interesting stories, but more beautiful illustrations than writing.
December 11, 2022
These were very fun! Enjoyable for all ages.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews