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Actual rating of 2.5

The Girl who became a Goddess is a collection of folktales from Singapore, Malaysia and China, this collection has been brought together by Theresa Fuller, with three of the tales being written as retellings and a couple of the others just having brief explanations about them as well as a simple telling that the author remembers hearing as a child. Fuller wanted to collate some of her favourite childhood stories, so she collected her favourites and the most memorable ones, from the first story which is about the mousedeer and his escape through the rainforest, to a boy who wants to help his father anyway that he can in hard times, to the final story which is the longest of the bunch, which is a story following Chang E who is betrothed to Hou Yi, however the day before their wedding, the land is scorched by unknown means. Chang E runs away on a quest to speak to the Gods about what is happening to their home, Hou Yi soon joins her to travel on her quest and hopefully keep her safe.

I found the stories interesting, even the ones that weren't retold as such, the three main stories that were retold by Fuller are mentioned above, the other stories in this collection were more of an explanation of the story that Fuller had heard as a child and just the way that she remembered hearing them. I did enjoy that after the final story, there was a big explanation as to the changes that Fuller made as well as the differences between the many versions of the story itself. This was also the case for the two retold stories about the Mousedeer and The Cricket Boy. It was interesting reading about the basis of the stories included in this collection as well as the fondness that Fuller had when she wrote about them, it really came through when I was reading through the book.

I did enjoy the stories, but I also didn't LOVE them. It's one of those hard ones where I enjoyed it enough, but I wouldn't re-read it. The book is very short, it comes in at around 115 pages long, so it didn't take long for me to get through it at all. If it had've been any longer, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm honestly not sure why that is though. I just can't put my finger on what bugged me. I think part of it was, while Fuller retold three of the stories, it still came across as though they had been translated from their native tongue by someone who doesn't speak that language. In a retelling I would expect that the author would take artistic licence and write the story so that there was a lovely flow to the words. This wasn't exactly the case here. Especially in the final story about Chang E, there were many time when I was annoyed at the words used, or the lack of flow through the story itself. Even if Fuller isn't a native speaker of all the languages where the stories originated from (I know that her mother was from..Singapore? Please correct me if I'm wrong) I still feel that she could have injected the stories with more emotions and in turn enabled her voice to flow a lot better.

I'm a sucker for anything that is steeped in Asian or South East Asian legend, so when I saw this book on netgalley I got so excited. I was just a bit disappointed with the execution. I feel like it needed another round or two of editing to iron out the kinks and flow problems. And I also got the feeling that it was very thrown together, there didn't seem to be any structure as such to the book which was a little disappointing.

All in all, I did enjoy the stories and reading about where they originated and such as well as the many different versions of them, I just wish that this was a bit more polished.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I saw this book on NetGalley and what really drew me in was the cover. Then I saw the title and my mind was blown. I thought that this book could be everything that I fancied in an Asian fantasy novel. But then I read the description and I realised that it was a collection of Asian short stories or retellings done by Theresa Fuller. That really intrigued me so I requested the book and then I started to read it.

I think the best story was The Girl Who Became A Goddess. It did take up like at least 50% of the book. I wanted the story to go in a completely different way then it did. In regards to the other short stories, I feel like I knew them from either the short stories that I grew up with or from the TV show Supernatural.

Overall, I didn’t mind reading the stories but I don’t think I’ll particularly remember any one apart from The Girl Who Became A Goddess, but I didn’t love them yet I didn’t hate the short stories either. I felt very indifferent to this book, hence my average rating.

I don’t think I would recommend this book just because it was such an average collection of folk tales. I feel like I learnt a bit about the cultures that the short stories are from, but overall, it was just an average read that won’t leave me with any profound impressions.

I was scrolling through Netgalley when this cover caught my eye. (Hello, gorgeous cover!) Then I saw the tagline “Folktales from Singapore, Malaysia, and China” and couldn’t click “request” fast enough. I love retellings of mythology and folklore especially when they are tales I don’t know as much about. And I’m still hungering for more of The Night Tiger, so the bit about Malaysian folktales definitely piqued my interest.

The Girl Who Became a Goddess is a collection of folktales that the author grew up hearing in Malaysia and Singapore. In-between the stories are reflections on Fuller’s memories of her childhood. The stories themselves range greatly in length and quality. The title story was by far the best. It also happens to be the story that is the most fleshed out. The other stories have good bones, but they didn’t have enough meat to them. And unfortunately, the writing style was rough and inconsistent. Even the shortest stories jump around in confusing ways. One randomly switches between third and second person narrative within the same story. And some of the stories skip around or end so abruptly that they weren’t very satisfying.

I really, truly wish I could give this book a better rating, but it’s so rough around the edges. I’m used to ARCs being in various stages of editing, but The Girl Who Became a Goddess really felt like a rough draft. I hope it goes through some thorough editing prior to publication because this book has the potential to be so much more.

Theresa Fuller ha avuto una vita d'altri tempi: nata a Singapore da una matrimonio combinato, ha assorbito durante l'infanzia le fiabe raccontate a Singapore, e quindi in Malesia e Cina, dove ha vissuto: racconti che ha poi voluto trasmettere ai suoi figli, nell'assolata Australia dove vive adesso.

Sono storie, premette, che ha fuso, modificato, adattato, o che ricorda in maniera imperfetta dall'infanzia, ma che comunque rappresentano una novità rispetto ai patrimoni folkloristici che ci sono più vicini.

Peccato che lo stile sia povero e che l'autrice, consapevole della lontananza culturale e geografica dei propri lettori dai luoghi in cui le fiabe sono ambientate, si perda in fastidiose sessioni informative all'interno del racconto stesso.

Resta comunque un patrimonio di leggende, miti e fiabe da scoprire, magari recuperando raccolte insieme più complete e più... asettiche nella narrazione.

I am a huge fan of Asia and Asian culture - I have travelled throughout Asia and currently live in Hong Kong myself, so i feel a major connection to the culture. I could not pass up the chance to read a book about Asian and Chinese fables when it is so close to my heart!

This book is more than just a collection a short stories; it is a love story to Asian culture. It offers a unique insight into Asian stories with a slight twist. I really loved this book and would recommend this to anyone wanting to see more about Asian children's stories. A great collection.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am so glad I pushed through the first set of stories to read the rest of the book! I found the first story to be somewhat dry, but continued on to the rest of the tales, some of which were long and some of which were extremely short.

Theresa did a great job in translating and writing these stories for us to read. I found myself really enjoying the last story, and couldn’t get enough — once I figured out what it was about it was an ahah moment. I don’t want to spoil any of the stories, but I would really suggest picking this one up if you’re into folklore at all!

I am not overly familiar with Asian folklore, so I adored discovering these stories and hearing some of the tales from that part of the world. The Girl Who Became a Goddess is a pleasing collection as far as the stories chosen are concerned. The slight problem I had with it was the prose. There were grammatical and punctuation errors, and it often felt stilted. I think a little more editing would have made the text flow better and improved my enjoyment. As it is, I am giving it three stars for the great content, but it would have been four if I hadn't struggled to get past the problems in the prose. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of folklore and fairytales.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

SPECS
Author: Theresa Fuller
Release Date: May 26, 2019

SUMMARY
The Girl Who Became a Goddess is a tribute to the childhood stories of Theresa Fuller who has experienced multiple cultures and learned to love them all. These are tales passed on from generation to generation, some to delight, some to terrify, all to enlighten.

A FOOLISH ANIMAL DISCOVERS THAT THE RAINFOREST IS A DANGEROUS PLACE.

As a girl, a mother, and a teacher, Theresa retells her favorite folktales through the lens of her own life experiences in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, putting a unique spin on ageless classics.

A YOUNG BOY IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE EVERYTHING FOR HIS FAMILY.

The Girl Who Became a Goddess is a love letter to a young girl from the adult she has become.

REVIEW
I don't typically read folktales - not out of dislike, just because they aren't really on my radar a lot. So when I saw a collection of Southeast Asian folktales available for request on NetGalley, I was intrigued; I thought it might be an interesting expansion on my typical reading habits. I was absolutely right.
I knew almost nothing about Singaporean culture and folktales (most of the stories in this collection originated in Singapore), so I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. Essentially, the book is broken into two major sections: one half that contains several shorter folktales, and another half that is all one story - the titular legend. Though I enjoyed all of them, "The Mousedeer Who Danced on the Backs of Crocodiles" had to be my favorite. I love stories about animals AND stories that praise brains over brawn, and this one was both - and unlike anything I'd ever seen in the European folktales/fairy tales I grew up with. But, though that one was my favorite, there weren't any that I really disliked.
Really, this was a great case study in why it's a good idea to expand your reading horizons. I would probably not have picked this up if it hadn't been on NetGalley but I'm very glad I did. This was a fascinating look at a culture I didn't know much about, and after reading it I'm interested in learning more.
RATING:
This one is a little unusual because it's an anthology rather than a story, so I'm going to give it a flat rating rather than an averaged one. Since I enjoyed it so much, I'm going to go ahead and give it a 5/5.

This book was okay. None of the short stories really stood out as being exceptionally fantastic, but neither were they terrible. I’ve read every single one of the folk tales tales written by The Brothers Grimm, and this collection of stories was unique from those in that these originated from Malaysia, Singapore, and China. From my rather limited knowledge of these cultures, they seemed to be authentic. What brought down the rating was the lack of excitement. There was plenty of action in all of the short stories, but I didn’t care about the characters and it didn’t seem realistic enough for them to be in any real danger. Some of them were also a little disjointed. The first story, “The Mousedeer Who Danced on the Backs of Crocodiles”, was told from the perspective of a mousedeer, a tiger, and a farmer. It is probably only ten or eleven pages long, so for the point of view to switch that much was pointless and rather clunky. I didn’t love any of the stories either. I liked that they bring awareness to some of the world’s least known cultures, but other than that they didn’t do much for me.

A retelling of selected Asian folktales, along with author's notes explaining some of the history and why these particular stories were chosen. It's an interesting read; I knew a couple of them under other titles, but the others are new and this retelling adds a lot of details that were missing from my knowledge.This is a great read for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of folktales to more unusual ones. I love reading folktales and I'll be recommending this to others.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

Wonderful book , full of different stories from different parts of the world. A great way to experience different cultures, learn something new and experience a brand new tale. Wonderful, well written and highly recommended