A Bit of Magic: A Collection of Fairy Tale Retellings

by Heather Hayden, Kristy Perkins, Rebecca Mikkelson

Pride interferes with a proud princess is tested and tests the prince in return; a young thief is caught red-handed and must make amends; and a vain queen struggles to save her stepdaughter. Finding love is not a simple a hero searches for the ideal magical bride; an innocent librarian is charmed by a man with a menacing secret; a queen takes a spoiled prince as her sole deckhand; and a well-intentioned princess seeks to make things right with her father. Change causes chaos, for better or a scheming cat seeks to better the lot of his daydreaming master; a cursed pirate captain is given a second chance when he finds a young stowaway; a spoiled teenager suffers the consequences of turning her best friend into a toad; and a thief and a rebel hiding secrets meet at a ball. Follow these characters on their journeys as eleven magical tales are turned on their heads and seen from new perspectives.

Genres: Fantasy

402 pages, Paperback

Published May 7, 2018

About the author

Heather Hayden is a writer, gamer, reader, editor, and computer geek, though not in any specific order.

She can’t remember when she first started tapping away at a keyboard but she’s grateful that those early attempts at writing are lost in the ancient format of floppy disc. She does miss that racing MS-DOS game she used to play, but has found other games to spend free time on, such as Final Fantasy XXIV and Magic the Gathering, when she has spare free time. A lot of her free time is spent reading her latest haul from the local library.

Heather wrote her first novel (which will never see the light of day) when she was fourteen, and published her first book, a YA science novella titled Augment, when she was twenty-one. She is now hard at work on her next publication, a YA fantasy novel.

When she’s not working on her current project, she can be found deep within the pages of a good book or questing somewhere in Eorzea.

At times, Heather ventures outside to hike with friends, go biking, or go swimming. She prefers ocean water over lake water, has a fear of heights, and is currently in search of a new bike (her old one, Cliffjumper, can no longer shift gears, which makes steep hills impossible.)

She also loves anime, listening to music, and chocolate, and finds writing about herself in the third person quite odd.

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars overall for this anthology, which, like the previous one from the same publishers I read, is also consistently good throughout, although in this one I found fewer stories to love. Yet, in compensation, those that I did like were much, much, much more loved. The four stories, three favourites and one honourable mention, would be:

Vanity by Kristy Perkins
Just when I thought I'd read every possible sympathetic portrayal of the Evil Queen from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," this one appears to teach me I've seen and known nothin'! It's a wonderful twist on the old tale from Snow White's stepmother's point of view, and believe me you'll never guess who and what she really is. I'd have bought the anthology merely for this one, if there weren't more just as good.

Reed Girl, Fire Girl, Cloud Girl by Lynden Wade
You ever read "The Reed Girl"? Me neither. But reading the source fairy tale isn't necessary to enjoy this story, which could pass for an original Fantasy tale if nobody told you it's a retelling of an existing one. Oh, and this story also has a Russian-like setting, for all those of you who (like me) are interested in Slavic settings for a change of scenery, and there's a heroine that's so badass and so good in caring for her disabled brother that you sort of feel the hero is too lucky for his shoes.

The Veiled Queen by B. C. Marine
A gender-bent take on "King Thrushbeard" that also has a badass heroine, and a hero who starts off as Prince Brat of Bratsville but that learns to be a worthy person, redeeming himself as the story unfolds. Quite original, and it has all the elements I love in a retelling: originality and respect to the source's motifs and themes.

The Thief and the Spy by Katelyn Barbee
A retelling of "Cinderella" without a Fairy Godmother, but that keeps the rest of the elements. The title gives away the plot's basic gist, but doesn't necessarily spoil the reader because it still leaves to their imagination who's the thief and who's the spy and what's going to be stolen or spied on. It's one of the most original retellings of this tale I've seen, and comes not long after I found the one that's to date my favourite reworking of this tale, but in this version by Katelyn Barbee, i thought that the story would use being worked into a full novel instead of being left as a short story. Why? Because of the hints at the world it's set in, a world that's begging to be expanded on. Besides, it hints at a larger plot going on in the background, that's easy to glimpse through this short story.

All the above stories get 5 stars from me, and the rest of them are also worth the purchase.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were plenty of really good stories in this collection. Some of the re-told fairy tales have a more traditional feel, some are more modern takes on classic stories. Not all of them have a happy ending, but all the stories were well laid-out. I also really liked the illustrations that appear before each story. I'm specifically mentioning the stories I especially enjoyed.

Reed Girl, Fire Girl, Cloud Girl, by Lynden Wade
This was such a great story! Yanek was sympathetic and sincere, but sometimes frustrating. I really like what the author did with Anton, who knows a whole lot more than most people give him credit for, and Nika, who was one of the most likeable characters in this whole anthology. I don't believe I had ever heard of the fairy tale this is based on, but it was very easy to become involved in the story. I really enjoyed it and would be very interested in reading other stories by this author.

The Veiled Queen, by B.C. Marine
A very well-told story. It would have been so easy for Barbenia to have felt cruel or smug, but she never did. She was smart and kind, but still human. I also liked that Elio was more than just vain and empty-headed. I thought the way the various abilities were introduced was good, and liked that they could be seen as either strengths or weaknesses. The conclusion had a nice sense of closure, but I can imagine more stories being told about these characters.

The Scarred Shepherdess, by Kelsie Engen
This was one of my favorite stories in the anthology. Clara is smart, resourceful, and kind. The author did a great job of explaining what had taken place before the story began without allowing that explanation to bog things down. I enjoyed this story every step of the way and especially liked the satisfying conclusion.

The Thief and the Spy, by Katelyn Barbee
This was a really unique version of Cinderella. I really did not see the substitute for the shoe that the author came up with coming. I found myself more drawn to Theo and Asha's sister Dove than Asha herself. Though this story had a satisfying ending, it really feels like part of a much larger series. I wonder if I'll be the only one who thinks that a story co-written by Katelyn Barbee and B.C. Marine would be fantastic? Something about the feel of their two stories makes me think they would do really great together...

Bluebeard's Wives, by Mae Baum
This was unexpected. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on, which was nice. I didn't so much make a connection with the main character as become invested in how the story was going to be resolved. This didn't exactly leave me feeling very happy, but the ending did feel right.

Monsieur Puss, by Heather Hayden
So much attitude for such a little cat. Puss is clever, loyal, resourceful, and oh so smug. I didn't know what his plan was any more than Pip did for awhile, but it was fun watching him put everything into motion. The conclusion was sweet and fun.

Vanity, by Kristy Perkins
This story grew on me as it progressed. The stepmother was interesting, not entirely likeable but not pure evil either. The ending was a particularly nice touch.

Rapunzel and the Toad, by Renee Harvey
I really did not think this mash-up would work, but it did. I did not like Rapunzel very much for most of the story, even though I understood the feelings that were motivating her behavior, but I did want to know how things would be resolved. It turned out to be a very good story. The ending was more more touching than I expected.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

[Harini Krishna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful twists of our favorite fairy tales

I generally prefer to read novels rather than anthologies because it takes really talented authors to weave a tale complete with an interesting plot, characters and a satisfying ending within a few thousand words. But the stories in this anthology are really well-written with interesting characters and twists to the old fairy tales. Of course, there were a couple that wasn't to my taste mostly because of my obsession with HEAs, but even they were really well-written and would appeal to readers who don't have my quirk :-)

My favorites from this collection are:

1. The Thief and the Spy by Katelyn Barbee - This was a unique twist on Cinderella with really well-developed characters, intriguing plot and very interesting backstory. Add in the magical talents that certain people of the society have and I was really sucked into the world. I ended up wishing that the author develops this story into a novel so that I could read more about them.

2. Vanity by Kristy Perkins - This was a hilarious take on Snow White where the Queen actually did not plot to kill Snow but had to face the suspicion of her people because of a 'corset incident'. She actually tries to find Snow White and bring her back, but all her plans are foiled. The ending of the story really blew me away, I never saw that coming :-)

I also loved the other stories especially The Scarred Shepherdess, The Veiled Queen, and Monsieur Puss. If you are a fan of fairytale retellings, I highly recommend that you give this a try.

[Jayne Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable set of variations on fairy tales (as the subtitle says!). I enjoyed all of the stories-some more than others, but this was partly due to the fact I wasn't familiar with some of the tales being retold, not to the quality of the writing. Part of the fun of retellings like this is spotting how the author has adapted the original, and some of these were very entertaining indeed (I particularly liked the new slant on the Cinerella story!).
I received an Advance Review Copy of the book, and am happy to leave this honest review.

[Mererid Evanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine collection of stories based on fairy tales, both familiar and unusual, some taking an unexpected perspective. Of course, fairy tales are not novels or even proto-novels; treating the characters too much as individuals or throwing doubt on the happy-ever-after tends to miss the point. So modern retellings and variants should never be considered substitutes, but they are interesting and fun in their own right.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun retelling of some familiar and some not so familiar folk tales.

This is a mix of both dark and light-hearted stories, and since the authors are from all over the world, so are the stories. There is a handy cross reference in the back so you can find the original names of the stories on which these re-tellings are based.

I would be selective about reading some of these to young children. A couple have mild sexual references, and some are downright scary, while others are sweet and just plain fun.

I look forward to more from this group.

[JS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall rating: 3.5­­ stars

My very favorite: “The Thief and the Spy,” by Katelyn Barbee.

Clean rating: PG mostly, but some PG-13 stories, largely for fairy tale-ish violence or for thematic elements (you just can’t get away from Bluebeard, remember). “Bluebeard’s Wives” and “Goodbye, Gigi” had the most, as I recall.

I received an ARC from the publisher, but my opinions were not influenced in any way.

For the rest of my review, see my blog post below.

http://calloohcallaycallay.blogspot.c...