Review: Two and Twenty Dark Tales: Dark Retellings of Mother Goose Rhymes - Anthology

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

Visit the Month9Books website for more information about the anthology

I thought I'd include a list of the short stories included in the anthology and the author they were written by for your information:

1. As Blue as the Sky and Just as Old - Nina Berry
2. Sing a Song of Six-Pence - Sarwat Chadda
3. Clockwork - Leah Cypress
4. Blue - Sayantani DasGupta
5. Pieces of Eight - Shannon Delaney with Max Scialdone
6. Wee Willie Winkie - Leigh Fallon
7. Boy and Girls Come Out to Play - Angie Frazier
8. I Come Bearing Souls - Jessie Harrell
9. The Lion and the Unicorn - Nancy Holder
10. Life in a Shoe - Heidi Kling
11. Candlelight - Suzanne Lazear
12. One for Sorrow - Karen Mahoney
13. Those Who Whisper - Lisa Mantchev
14. Little Miss Muffet - Georgia McBride
15. Sea of Dew - C. Lee McKenzie
16. Tick Tock - Gretchen McNeil
17. A Pocket Full of Posy - Pamela van Hyckama Vlieg
18. The Well - K.M. Walton
19. The Wish - Suzanne Young
20. A Ribbon of Blue - Michelle Zink

Review:
I think everyone must be familiar with at least one Mother Goose nursery rhyme, children have been reciting these rhymes in the playground for hundreds of years so even if you don't realise it I'm sure you'll recognise some of them. In the Two and Twenty Dark Tales anthology some of today's most popular YA authors have come together to look at the dark side of these nursery rhymes and give us their own take on them in the form of short stories. These short stories cover a whole range of genres ranging from historical to futuristic dystopian, from modern settings to fantasy lands and everything in between. The stories also range from fairly light hearted with a hint of romance through to downright creepy and with a touch of horror thrown in for good measure.

Personally I enjoy reading anthologies as a way to try out new to me authors. I was particularly interested in this anthology for Karen Mahoney's story called One for Sorrow though and I enjoyed it as much as I was expecting to, I love Karen's writing style and the story had a fab twist at the end. As with any anthology, particularly one with twenty different stories in it, there were some tales I really loved and others that I wasn't so keen on. What did surprise me was how many of the Mother Goose rhymes that I didn't actually recognise - thankfully each story starts with the rhyme it was based on because I have to admit that there were some stories I wouldn't have had a clue about otherwise. I think my main problem with the anthology was how short each story was, I know I should probably have expected that considering how many different stories are included but every time I started to really get into a story I'd reach the end. There were a couple of stores that I didn't enjoy because the author didn't have enough time to complete the world building needed to tell the tale, these stories had a lot of potential though and could have been wonderful as a full length novel or even a longer novella.

In spite of my problem with the length of some of the stories there were still some that really stood out as memorable and didn't get lost amongst the crowd. I'm not going to talk about each individual story in this review (although you can see my opinion about them all in my status updates on Goodreads) but I will mention that my favourites (along with Karen Mahoney's One for Sorrow) were Sing a Song of Six-Pence by Sarwat Chadda, Boys and Girls Come out to Play by Angie Frazier, I Come Bearing Souls by Jessie Harrell, Tick Tock by Gretchen McNeil and A Ribbon of Blue by Michelle Zink.

The good thing about having so many different authors and writing styles is that there is sure to be something that catches the imagination of everyone who picks up the book. I'm sure everyone will have different favourites but I don't doubt there being something that you like in here. One thing I was very happy to discover is that this is a charity anthology and the proceeds from the sale of the first 5,000 copies will be donated to www.yalitchat.org an organisation that works to increase awareness of YA literature. This is a fun anthology full of dark little stories that are quick and easy to read and include the occasional shock ending. You'll never be able to look at your favourite nursery rhymes in quite the same way again!

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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Review: Innocent Darkness - Suzanne Lazear

A steampunk faerie tale with romance, danger, and a strong-willed heroine

When spirited sixteen-year-old Noli Braddock and her best friend Steven "V" Darrow take a flying car out for a joyride, neither expects Noli to be sent to reform school to mend her hoyden ways. While at the dreadful school, Noli's innocent mid-summer's eve wish summons Kevighn, a mysterious man who takes Noli with him to the Realm of Faerie. At first Noli believes she has been rescued. But the sinister reason behind the handsome huntsman's appearance quickly become clear-he wants to use Noli as a blood sacrifice to restore his dying world. V, who has secrets of his own, shows up to help Noli escape and return to the mortal realm-but first, they must navigate the dangerous intrigues of the Otherworld.

If they are successful, Noli will live. But if Noli lives, the entire Otherworld civilization will die.

The Aether Chronicles:
Innocent Darkness
Charmed Vengeance (2013)

Visit Suzanne Lazear's website for more information.

Review:
The thing that drew me to Innocent Darkness was the amazing cover - I think any steampunk fan would see that image and immediately want to read the book. While the story starts off well and has a nice steampunk feel to it with airships and flying cars unfortunately that disappears towards the middle of the book and left me feeling disappointed. Once Noli travels to the Otherworld (the land of the faeries) the only hint at steampunk is in the outfits worn by the inhabitants of faerie queen's court, I found it quite amusing that Noli was so shocked by the idea of women wearing corsets over their clothes or wearing bloomers - that is such a major part of steampunk style but for some reason wasn't something that was part of the human world.

Noli is described as strong-willed and intelligent, in fact when we first meet her she has just finished rebuilding her father's flying car and along with her best friend and neighbour V she takes it on an illegal flight across her neighbourhood. So we have a mischievous character who isn't afraid to break the rules - great news! Noli is sent to a reform school for being a "wilful hoyden" after the incident with the flying car gets her in trouble with the air police and this is where the story takes a turn towards the very dark and Gothic. The torture and abuse that goes on at the school is shocking and the fact that I'm sure this kind of thing did happen in the past just makes it all the more horrifying. Noli manages to remain strong in spite of everything she goes through and even makes plans to escape with her friend which I had to admire her for. Unfortunately as the story progresses Noli seems to lose both her independence and her intelligence, once she travels to the Otherworld she becomes completely dependent on Kevighn for everything. I couldn't understand why she continued to accept whatever he told her and even after she knew for sure that he had lied to her she was still drawn to him.

I had high hopes for the romance between Noli and V but I just couldn't understand what it was that drew her to Kevighn. We were repeatedly told that he cared for her but I just didn't see it and at no point did I believe there was any kind of connection between them. I think the whole love triangle trope is very overdone in YA fiction, very rarely an author manages to make it work but most of the time I'm finding myself rolling my eyes and feeling like it's just been thrown in there to tick a box on a form somewhere.

After a very promising first half I was disappointed with the second half of the story. In some ways it felt as if several different books had been cut in half and stitched together without any real connection between them. The fun and light hearted steampunk gave way to dark, Gothic historical fiction which then turned into a faerie story that could have been aimed at a much younger audience. The later part of the story was much slower paced and more predictable and I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as the beginning. I'm only relieved that the story didn't end with a major cliffhanger, there are still unanswered questions but nothing major enough that I feel compelled to pick up the sequel.

Source: Received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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