Experience six of the world’s most beloved stories in a whole new light! From historical to futuristic, these retellings will take you to an enchanted forest, a cursed castle, and far beyond. Uncover secrets of a forbidden basement, a hypnotic gift, and a mysterious doll. Fall in love with a lifelong friend or brand-new crush. Venture to unknown lands on a quest to save a prince, a kingdom, or … maybe even a planet. With moments of humor, suspense, romance, and adventure, Encircled has something to offer every fan of fairy tales, both classic and reimagined.
This anthology features stories from S.E. Clancy, Jebraun Clifford, J.M. Hackman, E.J. Kitchens, Laurie Lucking, and Tori V. Rainn.
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Encircled is a wonderful anthology that brings together six authors’ fairytale retellings. Believe me, it’s been masterfully done. Upon opening this book you’ll find this quote in the Introduction: “You hold in your hands [the authors’] finished product. Encircled is the culmination of nearly two years of writing, editing, dreaming, and hard work.”, to which my only thought was “I’m honored, people!”. Thus, I hope the following review (more like, my thoughts on each story) does it justice.
Edged in Silver (Snow white) – this story starts the anthology with a bang! #ConfessionTime Snow White is not particularly one of my favorite fairytales, yet this retelling hooked me in halfway through its first chapter. The first meeting with Garrick, the Prince of the dryads of the Southern realm, was soooo cute, and it left me with the biggest grin on my face (as well as there might have been a bit of swooning *sigh*).
This story has everything: from romance to (a bit of) mystery, Ms. Lucking has crafted quite the interesting retelling of this classic fairytale that will have you running into your nearest forest, looking for a hidden entrance to Bradaigh 😉
A Heart’s Desire (Beauty and the Beast) – The writing was superb, but what I especially loved and enjoyed was being able to read Beast’s POV. He’s funny! And oh, wow with all the plot twists! It’s amazing how the author gets to pull at your heartstrings time and again (especially upon the Beast’s reflections of his past, and what the curse + meeting Desiree have made him realize). Loved it! 🙂
The Songbird’s Citadel (The Nightingale) – Loved the world-building! I wasn’t so familiar with the fairytale, or couldn’t remember many details, but the story worked out so well! I certainly fell for West and his deep brown eyes, but I also enjoyed the fact that music and singing is such a central piece to this tale.
PS: Lol, I want the interactive mirror with how to apply makeup instructions.
The Last Mrs. Bluebeard (Bluebeard) – All I can say is “chilly”, and “haunting”. I’m not a fan of horror stories (not that this one is a horror one per se), but I’ll say that I’m glad I got to read the classic fairytale when I was younger and, thus, knew what was coming. A tasteful retelling. I especially liked getting to know how he got his blue beard.
A Spell’s End (The Nutcracker and the Mouse King) – I loved it! So cute, so sweet and so full of adventures! A magical retelling that will transport you to different worlds, but which will also give you the sweetest and satisfying ending *romantic sigh* The Nutcracker Prince and Marie are the best!
Beyond the Stars, Past the Moons (East of the Sun and West of the Moon) – I loved it! Having read E. Pattou’s East a while ago, I certainly enjoyed Ms. Clifford’s retelling of this fairytale, which, despite being short, still packs all the necessary elements: both swoony and action scenes, quirky, loyal side characters, intriguing challenges, and the setting? Isn’t it just awesome for this story to be set in space? Yup. As Ms. Lucking once said, Milo’s and Astrid’s story is the perfect conclusion to this anthology (though, seriously, their ending is too just perfect *le happy sigh*).
Rating: all the stars in the universe 😉
I received a complimentary ARC of this book. This review is my own independent and fair evaluation.