I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This had an eclectic group of short stories all themed with dark undercurrents. Some of those unfortunately didn't resonate with me, be it due to storyline or writing style.

But if I had to pick a stand out, for me it was See A Fine Lady by Seanan McGuire. It was funny, unexpected and relatable.

Fans of quirky, kooky and spooky short stories may find a hidden gem or two amongst this collection. From tooth fairies, to ghosts to unicorns, there is a story for everyone.

Short stories, fairy tales, whatever....this collection delves into the world of the fae (fairies). As with so many compilations, there are good and bad stories.

"Colt's Tooth' was probably the standout for me. The others are good but this is the one I remember the most.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

A solid and fairly enjoyable collection. I picked up this one thanks to recognizing a few familiar names, like Seanan McGuire and L. Penelope, and enjoyed them. The weakest link was the Hernandez story, which makes reading it in e-format completely useless, because flipping back and forth and navigating is much harder. However, I did like the wide variety of fae stories covered by the group of authors as a whole.

You can't ask for a better compilation of authors and stories. The cover art is also intriguing! It gave me insight into authors I wouldn't otherwise read.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for a honest review!

Where the Veil is Thin has a bunch of novellas within the category of fairies. I did enjoy some of them, especially; Don't Let Go by Alana Joli Abbott, The Loophole by L. Penelope and The Seal Woman's Tale by Alethea Kontis. But for the other ones I found them a bit hard to get in to and sometimes very confused over what really happened. Some of the novellas just went straight over my head and I was like a question mark once I finished it. But the three I mentioned were so good and I can't wait to see what books the authors have out so I can dive in to their books.

Would recommend for you who like dark fairytales and storys, and do enjoy anthologies.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Outland Entertainment and the authors in this anthology, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Where The Thin Veil Is in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such beautifully done cover artwork really draws the eye. Very mystical.
The stories themselves were really good and entertaining. 3.5 stars.
Worth a read.

Love love love thus book! This is definitely a one for the library and one for me type of book. The stories are full of magic and I wish to reread them over and over. The cover is magical and has an air of mystery.

So, here I am again, having read an entire anthology just because there’s a contribution from Seanan McGuire. I always think this is a brilliant idea when I first stumble across the book but my excitement generally turns to dread when I remember that short stories and I have a love-hate relationship. I love some and I hate some. Sometimes the love outweighs the hate but more times than I can count it’s the other way around.

Taking on faeries (“Yes, but we don’t like to use that word.”) are fourteen authors. Included in the mix are stories of love and betrayal, a unicorn named Kevin, changelings and a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure that knows when you’re cheating.

The Tooth Fairies: Quest for Tear Haven by Glenn Parris

“Night always invited wayward blood thirst in one form or another.”

Glamour by Grey Yuen

“The door! We saw the door. I swear it! It had a mouth and it screamed!”

See a Fine Lady by Seanan McGuire

“It’s always so much easier to do our shopping when someone can see us.”

Or Perhaps Up by C.S.E. Cooney

“Family does not pull family under. We pull each other out.”

Don’t Let Go by Alana Joli Abbott

“You shouldn’t have seen that.”

The Loophole by L. Penelope

“Seems like my last meal isn’t agreeing with me.”

The Last Home of Master Tranquil Cloud by Minsoo Kang

“Even as we speak, the fate of the man who has done me wrong is being sealed.”

Your Two Better Halves by Carlos Hernandez

“Your choices are your opportunities.”

Take Only Photos by Shanna Swendson

“What else that’s supposed to be imaginary is actually real?”

Old Twelvey Night by Gwendolyn N. Nix

“It happened the same way every time.”

The Seal-Woman’s Tale by Alethea Kontis

“Ah, humans. My guilty pleasure, my fatal flaw. They were always just so … fun.”

The Storyteller by David Bowles

“Would you like to hear a story?”

Summer Skin by Zin E. Rocklyn

“It would be nice to be noticed.”

Colt’s Tooth by Linda Robertson

“You’re not going anywhere ‘til I get those teeth!”

All of the anthologies that came before this one are now collectively pointing at me and sneering, ‘Have we taught you nothing about yourself?’ While this book already boasts multiple five star reviews, I wandered through it underwhelmed. I’d encourage you to read some of these five star reviews before deciding whether or not this is the book for you.

I loved Anna Dittmann’s cover illustration but unfortunately I didn’t come away with any favourite stories.

Content warnings include mention of assault, murder, self harm, sexual assault and torture.

Thank you to NetGalley and Outland Entertainment for the opportunity to read this anthology.

An anthology of faerie stories featuring authors like Gwendolyn N. Nix, Seanan Mcguire, and Cerece Rennie Murphy, "Where the Veil is Thin" is not your average children’s fairytales. 

Exploring everything from unicorns in Target, to the more-sinister-than-you-think motivations of tooth faeries, to forbidden fae love stories, and more, this collection has a little bit of something for everyone with a lot of genre diversity to offer.

But, like any anthology, it has its strengths and weaknesses, the latter of which mostly fall at the beginning of the collection. As is often the concern, especially with short fantasy works, not all the stories felt like they had the necessary time they needed to grow, while others, although they can be applauded for their attempts at originality, tried and fell-short of new and experimental concepts and formats. 

That being said, "Where the Veil is Thin" is worth picking up if only to experience the few truly immersive and interesting stories; “Old Twelvey Night” by Gwendolyn N. Nix, and “Or Perhaps” by C.S.E. Cooney being by far the best. But "Loophole" by L. Penelope, "Summer Skin" by Zin E. Rocklyn, and "The Seal Woman's Tale" by Alethea Kontis were also very good.

A great way to explore a handful of little-known (except Seanan Mcguire, of course), but obviously quite talented fantasy authors, Where the Veil is Thin is a must-read for any fae or faerie fan. My average rating for "Where the Veil is Thin" is 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Outland Entertainment and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

This anthology was full of a variety of sometimes spooky, sometimes chilly, but sometimes dreary tales. Mixed feelings about this one-I really liked some of the stories though. 3.5 stars.

“𝐈’𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞. 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞?” - See a Fine Lady by Seanan Mcguire.

This anthology of short stories was so perfectly whimsical. Each story, grounded in legends of fae brought something entirely unique.

My favourites: 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 - Mischievous vampiric tooth fairies. 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 - a woman wearing blackberry crown casually riding a unicorn in Target, and 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 - 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 - a wacky ‘choose your own adventure’ story that literally laughs at itself.

As always with anthologies, story quality can be hit or miss, and there were some that weren’t as well written as others. However, if you’re looking for unique stories about fae, this is perfect and really enjoyable!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Where the Veil is thin comes out on July 7th (which also happens to be my birthday!!

TW for self-harm, talk of suicide, general gore and violence.

Where the Veil is Thin 

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The book is an anthology, a collection of 14 short stories about the fairy creatures living in the dark.
Like most anthologies, there will be better stories than others, and it is hard to love or even like it all.
It was interesting, but it also took me a while to really get in the mood to read all of it.
Each story is very unique and offers something different. I feel like a lot of them should have been longer, for the real effect or message to shine through.

The Tooth Fairies - Quest for Tear Heaven by Glenn Parris:
This story tells a very different tale about the tooth fairies, It turns out they are not cute, innocent creatures. They are actually bloodthirsty hunters trying to get blood from small children's mouths... Yes, that was a bit of a shock for me too! The coins they leave behind is actually what they use to keep children's mouths open so they can reach.
Anyway, this story was a bit hard for me to get invested in, I think I, in general, have that problem with short stories. But by the end of it, I did enjoy it. It was unique and definitely had a new take on a classic tale, it had action and vicious creatures.

Glamour by Grey Yuen: 
This story follows a crime scene where two inspectors investigate the murder of a famous young singer. Except the murder scene is nothing like usual.
To be honest, this one was a bit confusing to me, In the end, I still didn't really know what was going on. It did have a way of pulling me in, but it was just too confusing.

See a Fine Lady by Seanan McGuire: 
This one takes place in Target (the store) where Frankie works. One day is different from the rest, that is the day where a dreamy looking girl rides in on Kevin the unicorn.
Frankly, this story wasn't much more than short and cute. It had a unique plot, I guess, but it was just so short that barely anything happened.

Or Perhaps up by S. E. Cooney 
This is a sad story, it follows a young woman and what happens to her after an accident. It includes souls in a river, which I assume is a kind of fairies. It covers some pretty emotional subjects about life and deaths and dealing with grief. It was pretty good, a bit weird, but had used a very colorful language to explain the themes.

Don't let go by Alana Jolie Abbott: 
This was probably one of my favorites. It follows the woman Rain, as she is doing an independent study on the island of Manx. Here she meets the mysterious but handsome Fin. She soon realizes that there is more to the island - and to Fin, than she thought.
This was one of the longer stories that allowed going into a little more debt and details, which was the right choice.

The Loophole - a Story of Elsewhere by L. Penelope: 
In this story, we learn about a bar, a very peculiar bar. It is explicitly made for creatures who'd traveled to the human world. This was a very interesting story, it offered something very unique and I kind of wish it had been longer, I would have loved to hear more about this world and these creatures. It would have made a pretty cool episode of Super Natural or something like that.

The Last Home - of Master Tranquil Cloud by Minsoo Kang: 
I was very confused in the first two pages of this story, but it all started to make more sense, ending up being a pretty great one. Tranquil Cloud has written a book about the injustice done to women, it is found, but he is gone. We then learn the story of what had happened to him, it is pretty brutal but also pretty satisfying.

Your two Better Halves - a Dream, with Fairies, in Spanglish by Carlos Hernandez:
This book is one of those ''make your own storyline'' kind of books; you know the type where you have options and then have to skip forward etc. 
I have never read a book like that, and honestly probably never would have. It was a bizarre experience. I decided to try it with my husband, and it gave some funny options. 
It is definitely a different way of reading. 

Take Only Photos by Shanna Swendson: 
Things are being moved around at night, messes are cleaned up, and the Christmas lights turned on - but who is doing this?
Okay, I didn't hate this one, but it just wasn't much either. For some reason, it felt a bit too familiar? And maybe a bit too simple?

Old Twelvey Night by Gwendolyn N. Nix: 
The apple spirit, Datura, is doomed to spend spring, summer, and autumn under the ground with the roots of her apple tree - but doing winter, she comes out of the ground to protect the tree, but she has other dreams.
It had that sad feeling most nature books/stories have, a bit dreamy like a better future might come but also a bit like everything is over. If that makes sense?

The Seal Woman's Tale - a Tale of Arriland by Aletha Kontis: 
A witch with a seals body can take the shape of humans' skin, which she uses to give the humans what they think they want - until it goes wrong...
Okay, this one was peculiar. I kind of like it, but it was pretty twisted and the whole seal/skin exchange was so odd.

The Storyteller by David Bowles: 
This is probably the shortest in the book, but it left an impression. It was heartwarming and sad - it told the story of an old lady who always told her family's stories to the younger generations, so they could live on in the family. It was very sweet - but very short.

Summer Skin by Zin E. Rocklyn: 
Damn... This was something else.
A woman is telling her story of her life and her skin... It is honestly horrible disgusting, to say it mildly. I actually felt a bit like throwing up while reading this.
But this was the only story that sucked me in from the beginning, where I lost track of everything else but the story. I need to know more about this woman and what the hell was going on with her skin!

Colt's Tooth by Linda Robertson: 
So, a young boy has a loose tooth, he is taken to the barber (who is for some reason also the town dentist, yet referred to as the barber - because that seems legit) but the barber/dentist isn't what he appears to be.
Okay, so it is very short, and it sort of has that ''scary stories to tell in the dark'' feeling, that makes me feel like this is a story for children, kind of creepy but still.
I didn't love it, it was pretty plain, and since it was so short, I felt like so much went on unexplained.




So all in all, it was a pretty good book. It was interesting to hear some different myths and learn more about fays. I will give the book a total of 3 out of 5 stars.

It’s yesterday’s news that I am obsessed with Fae and that I blindly jump to every opportunity to read something new on the topic. This time it was an ARC of a fairy anthology with barely any authors familiar to me and a gorgeous cover. Of course I hit that request button.

It’s a known thing that each anthology is filled with stories which range from a hit to a miss. This is partly because editors use this method to promote up and coming authors, among the already famous, hardened ones. I don’t have anything against this, on the contrary, I think it’s an amazing thing, because I discovered some really great authors this way, but it doesn’t erase the fact that the day when I’ll rate an anthology with 5 stars is in a galaxy far, far away. This is mostly because of my rating process, where I rate each story separately, and then calculate the end results. The bad eggs bring the others down. The point I’m making here is that four stars is a pretty high score for an anthology, and that this one is worth your attention. On to the stories:

The Tooth Fairies by Glenn Parris

This one is obviously about tooth fairies, who are something like The Borrowers, except pretty bloodthirsty. On their mission to retrieve a molar, they encounter the one thing they fear most – a witch’s familiar. 4/5 stars

Glamour by Grey Yuen

I didn’t like this story much, even though it was well written. A murder happens, and the detectives discover the victim, a famous singer, was Fae, but there’s more to the crime scene than meets the eye. 3/5 stars

See a Fine Lady by Seanan McGuire

This one was interesting because it starts like a joke. A lady rides into a Target store on a unicorn. The lady is of course Fae, and only one worker can see the unusual beings and she’s curious to know more. 4/5 stars

Or Perhaps Up by C.S.E. Cooney

A truly lovely and imaginative story, it felt like a dream. A girl drowns in a river and becomes a water fairy. Beautifully written. 5/5 stars

Don’t Let Go by Alana Joli Abbott

This story was cute but not too interesting. It’s set on the Isle of Man, which is a setting I never encountered before. It’ about a girl who likes a boy with a secret. 4/5 stars

The Loophole by L. Penelope

I loved how this was written, but unfortunately it felt incomplete. It’s probably because this story is accompanying a larger work and didn’t do well on its own. I did like the characters though and that one of them was a breath witch, so I may look into the series this story fits into. 3.5/5 stars

The Last Home of Master Tranquil Cloud by Minsoo Kang

This was a lovely, sweet story about a Chinese scholar who stands up for women in a patriarchal society bent on destroying women without an obvious use. Bonus points for fox spirits. 4/5 stars

Your Two Better Halves: A Dream, with Fairies in Spanglish by Carlos Hernandez

Wow, this was wild. It’s a choose your own adventure story so that part was quite interesting, but it lacks quality in writing and characters, and the writer tried to compensate with throwing in random Spanish words. I had fun hopping around, like in a game, so that upped my rating. 3.5/5 stars

Take Only Photos by Shanna Swendson

One of the better stories in this collection. It’s a heartwarming tale of a woman who has mysterious nightly intruders, and then recruits a coworker to investigate what’s going on. 5/5 stars

Old Twelvey Night by Gwendolyn N. Nix

This story was excellent! It’s about an apple tree guardian spirit who dreams of becoming more and spreading its roots. It is also a story about friendship and betrayal, giving a new level to the natural order of things like seasons. 5/5 stars

The Seal-Woman’s Tale by Alethea Kontis

In this story, a selkie is tricked and captured by a troll king who senselessly tortures her every day. I love selkies and it was well written, but something was missing. 4/5 stars

The Storyteller by David Bowles

This story was short and weird and again something more was missing. It’s beautifully written though, and the main character is a Mexican storyteller grandma, I loved that. 3.5/5 stars

Summer Skin by Zin E. Rocklyn

Oh you know how I like weird and sometimes gory things? Well this story has that. It’s about an Indian girl with a weird skin condition who kidnaps an auntie because she has something the girl desperately needs. 4/5 stars

Colt’s Tooth by Linda Robertson

A funny, refreshing story about a boy who experiences a living nightmare after his mother takes him to a barber for a tooth extraction. It’s set in the 1800’s, so I guess barbers did that then. 4.5/5

After calculations, the final rating comes to something like 4.07, and that makes Where the Veil Is Thin one of the better anthologies I’ve read. If you love Fae like I do, go ahead and read this collections, and you’ll find all kinds of faeries and other wicked creatures.

“When you finish reading these stories, you return to our world with new eyes. Every new-budded flower, every firefly, every raven watching you from its perch, becomes more.”

Wow, this is the adult level, fae oriented collection I’d been waiting for. Really dark tales that not only pull out the best of these authors but show significant scholarship in Celtic myths and legends. I normally shy away from compilations but this was uniformly excellent throughout. Very enjoyable.

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review*

I really tried pushing through this book, /really/ tried, but unfortunately I ended up dropping it after four stories. The star rating is an average of the ones I did read.

I honestly requested this book because I love Seanan McGuire but even her short story left me unimpressed. I couldn't help but feel the prose was a little clumsy in most of what I read and the whole anthology came across more like a university writing society magazine than a work by professional authors.

Perhaps the stories I didn't get around to would have been more to my taste, but the first four felt like such a chore that I lost any desire to read the rest.

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.

I've always been obsessed with the fae as a child, so I was excited when I heard about this book and decided to request it. While I didn't love all of the stories, I appreciate that we have different lore from different parts of the world and new reinterpratations to the roles that the faes occupy in stories. My favourite short stories from this collection were "Or perhaps up" by C.S.E. Cooney and "The Loophole-A story of elsewhere" by L.Penelope.

When I read the first story in this anthology I wasn't sure if I would enjoy the rest of the book but after that one story I loved it! This book is comprised of numerous tales about faeries and other mythical creatures. Each story was written in a very poetic style and I really enjoyed them. There was even one story that was in a "choose your own story" format which was fun to read but slightly more difficult when reading from an ebook format. Some of the stories were a little bit confusing because of the language and writing style but I enjoyed them nonetheless. The stories in this anthology were a bit darker than the usual fairytales you read but that's one thing I liked about them. I really enjoyed 'See a Fine Lady' and 'Colt's Tooth'.

I requested this ARC because one of the contributing authors is Seanan McGuire (long live the queen), and of course, I enjoyed her contribution. But there were also a number of other authors whose contribution I liked so well that I'll now seek out their other works. I mean, vampire tooth fairies and drowning in a swan boat? Yes, please.

3.68 Stars

With a wide variety of contributors, this anthology of short stories about the realm of the fey has great selection of tales.

Of the 14 stories including within this book, none of them were lower than a 3 Star read for me with 6 of the stories rating as a 4 or 5 Star read.

Some of the stories felt really rushed or had unsatisfying conclusions but overall a really fun read!