Where the Veil is Thin: An Anthology of Faerie Tales edited by Cerece Rennie Murphy & Alana Joli Abbot

I'll admit upfront it was the cover that grabbed me when I chose Where the Veil is Thin: An Anthology of Faerie Tales edited by Cerece Rennie Murphy & Alana Joli Abbot. And it's been a while since I've reviewed an anthology of SFF stories, especially modern-day fairy tales, so why the hell not. As can be expected, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me, with some stories not quite hitting the mark for me, but overall a pleasing collection of tales.

"The Tooth Fairies: Quest for Tear Haven" by Glenn Parris is a somewhat grisly tale about why tooth fairies are so enamoured with collecting teeth. The story strives for a slightly gritty telling but left me feeling as a little let down. There were some quirky little characters with a somewhat sticky ending.

In "Glamour" by Grey Yuen, hardened cop Jack investigates what he initially sees as a celebrity murder, but with a twist, and leaves more mysteries than answers.

Seanan McGuire's "See a Fine Lady" is easily one of my favourite stories. And who among us who've ever been trapped in untenable work situations haven't fantasised about the weird spilling over and upending our everyday boredom. Here Frankie, who works in Target, has a day that rapidly turns strange when a woman rides a unicorn into her place of work – a unicorn only Frankie can see. Oh, did I mention the unicorn's name is Kevin?

"Or Perhaps Up" by CSE Cooney was another of my favourites – it has an entirely dream-like quality, dealing with concepts of loss, found family, and the spirits of the dead who reside in a sort of magical fae place. Cooney's prose is beautifully descriptive, and the story made me sad for all the right reasons.

"Don't Let Go" by Alana Joli Abbott had a bit more of an urban fantasy feel to it, about a student and her friends who have an extended stay in the Isle of Man, complete with an entanglement with the local fair folk and a clearly defined romance element. I did wonder how the human protagonists accepted the supernatural events so easily, but it was still a fun read.

We meet Rhenna, a fairy who gets by by stealing bodies in "The Loophole: A Story of Elsewhere" by L Penelope. The writing is gritty and tactile, and unashamedly grim in places, and follows the premise of a fairy's struggle to hold onto a stolen body. It feels more like a glimpse into an alternate reality rather than a finished story with a satisfying resolution.

"The Last Home of Master Tranquil Cloud" by Minsoo Kang is told in a standard fairy tale format, but it didn't really blow my hair back. I found myself skimming more often than not, so it's possibly just not for me.

"Your Two Better Halves" by Carlos Hernandez is a choose your own adventure, but as I was reviewing this in ebook format and there weren't any active links to skip pages, I passed on this story, mainly because I also really wasn't in the mood for the format. The writing also didn't engage me enough to put up with the endless paging backwards and forwards. I'm sure in print format this would not have annoyed me as much.

"Take Only Photos" by Shanna Swendson was quite fun, even if it peters out near the end. Our somewhat misanthropic narrator discovers that they have elves in their home, and a colleague helps them get to the bottom of the infestation.

"Old Twelvey Night" by Gwendolyn N Nix is lovely – a relationship between fae of opposing natures that takes a dark turn near the end. This story is strong, crisp and brings forth poetic imagery. Quite possibly one of the strongest in the anthology.

I admit I'm a sucker for selkie stories, but while "The Seal-Woman's Tale" by Aletha Kontis had some nice touches, it didn't quite hit the mark for me. Perhaps some of it lay in the trolls taking on an almost Tolkienesque orcish role, which felt a bit on the nose for me.

"The Storyteller" by David Bowles is filled with wonder and magical realism, and at its heart it's about the interleaving of family myth and the archetypical role of the storyteller. So much to love about this one.

Maybe it's because I used to suffer a chronic skin condition, but "Summer Skin" by Zin E Rocklyn wasn't really my cuppa Joe. Creepy and nasty, and not for the faint of heart.

"Colt's Tooth" by Linda Robertson offers us a creepy riff on the tooth fairy myth, in this American West-themed tale that offers us a run-in with a barber of dubious nature. Also, if tooth violence isn't your jam, stay away from this story.

I do suspect that with this anthology, your mileage will vary, and the stories that I didn't like may well be more to your taste. Well, that's the whole point with anthologies – there's generally a little something of everything, and the editors have put together a fine selection.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

With the likes of Ursula K Le Guin and Robin Hobb blurbing this book, I should have taken notice of Uprooted by Naomi Novik a lot sooner. And with the greatest confidence I'll say that if you love the writing of both these authors, Uprooted will scratch the itch you didn't know that you had until you stepped past the pages and into the world of the Agnieszka.

I really don't want to spoil anything for you except to say that Uprooted draws on all the classic Eastern European fairytales about ominous, dark woods, wizards in tall towers, magic and implacable enemies. The Wood threatens to engulf Agnieszka's village, and every decade their wizard, the Dragon, takes one young woman from their valley, to go serve in his tower. When the women return, they're forever changed.

Agnieszka is convinced her friend Kasia will be chosen... but obviously the story takes an unexpected turn. And I'm rather going to leave you to find out what happens next, because you'll be in for an adventure that will make it almost impossible to put this book down. Yes, I'm gushing, and this book SO deserves it.

I have fallen horribly and irrevocably in love with Novik's writing. She balances lush, evocative description with twisty, tricksy plotting. Wonderful observations of characters and a narrative that advances in ways that you cannot predict. The well from which she draws the waters for this novel lies deep within our shared storytelling troves, often with deft touches of familiarity. She fully engages your senses with her telling, and weaves a magical world of wonder that subverts and transcends expectations. Naomi is now on my insta-buy list, and she's a master of fantasy whose contribution to the genre will be considered on par with the likes of Hobb and Le Guin in years to come.

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen #review

Title: Beastkeeper
Author: Cat Hellisen
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co, 2015

One thing that Cat Hellisen does in her stories is immediately sweep readers away into her worlds that feel so tangible they might just exist on the very edge of our own, and this is the case with Beastkeeper. Though the story is aimed at children, and at a glance it’s a re-envisioning of "Beauty and the Beast", it’s very much appropriate for those of us who’re young of heart, and there was much here that spoke to me as an adult.

Sarah’s parents have never set down roots, and she’s spent all the years of her short life constantly moving to new towns and new schools. Consequently, she’s a lonely child and doesn’t have any friends. Her parents are everything to her, so when her mother leaves the family one night, she is devastated. To add to her burden, her father falls apart at the seams too, and it’s up to Sarah to keep things together – going to school and ensuring that the household limps along.

She finds refuge in her “Not-a-Forest”, a small vacant lot where she meets a strange boy, who may or may not become a friend – only he knows more than he’s letting on. She doesn’t have time to find out, however, as her father packs their life up and takes Sarah to go stay with her grandparents, who live in a run-down castle in the middle of a menacing forest. Here she discovers how her family has existed under a curse for years, and that she and her father are also trapped within the cycle of maleficent magic.

We follow Sarah as she tries to unravel the knots of hatred and obsession that have poisoned her grandparents and destroyed the lives of her parents, but in order to do so, she needs to be brave and travel through some truly dark places.

As always, Hellisen seems to effortlessly touch on the universality of fairy tales to delve even deeper and bring up underlying themes. One one level, this is a children’s quest to break a curse. On another, it’s a parable of how twisted love has soured to hate and indifference, and how one young person can find it in herself to step outside the trap of a destructive cycle. This is a dark, painful and elegant tale, made all the more beautiful, because Hellisen weaves with mystery and doesn’t hand over all the answers on a plate.