I enjoyed this book of queer retellings! The writing style is good, and my favorite story was From Stars They Fell.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This was just what I needed- an almost wholesome retelling of some old favorite fairy tales but with an LGBTQ+ twist. The stories were short and sweet, and although it seems some have found it to have a slow pace, I actually felt like the pace suited the stories. I also really enjoyed the connections between the different stories. I would definitely recommend this for some light reading!

Thanks to NetGalley for my ebook of this collection of 6 short stories - all of them are retelling/reimaginings of classic fairy stories, with a queer twist.

We’re all familiar with the old fairy stories - usually involving a damsel in distress and a dashing prince, who live happily ever after. And as much as I love them, it’s all a bit… samey. Retellings can also be a bit hit and miss.

So I was very pleased to find these stories felt very fresh. You could tell which classic story had been the inspiration but H R Harrison did an amazing job at bringing each of them bang into the 21st century. Whilst the stories are separate, they feel intertwined and are tonally very similar. The pacing of each is good and I couldn’t wait to pick the book back up again!

A strong 4 ⭐️ book for me - highly recommend for all lovers of fairy tales!

I absolutely loved this MM romance.

Such a great book with a solid storyline and great characters.

I eagerly look forward to reading more from this author.

A definite recommend!

I was interested in this book as I wanted to see how traditionally heteronormative fairytales can be retold as queer. It was refreshing and a good read. My only complaint is that there were not many stories about women, and some stories seemed a little too long and could have been cut down.

This was already published so I don't know what to say? I only read 60% of it, but I enjoyed the anthology, some stories were better than others but that''s the typical fashion for fantasy anthologies.

Fairy tales given an LGBTQAI twist. Good for when you don’t want to start a whole book. Enjoyable but not very taxing. Bedtime reading.

This was quite a departure from my normal book reading diet and I really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure what to expect as I'd seen some reviews with low ratings. It seems to be that the complaints of other reviewers are not particularly fair, so my review is going to tackle them head on.

Some people have expressed disappointment that the queer nature of the book (as advertised in the title) is primarily focused on the gay male experience, with some nods to gender identity. It irks me that writers who explore LGBTQ+ narratives are criticised for not representing the entire rainbow in their work. We don't do this with heteronormative books so why is the expectation that LGBTQ+ books will be all things to all people all of the time? I can only assume it's because readers approached the book with their own understanding of and hopes for the term "queer."

A second complaint relates to the pace of the book - that it's too slow. I agree it's slow but didn't see this as a terrible quality. It seems mellow and comfortable in its own skin. The pace matches the nature of the stories as they feel like character explorations rather than action-focused plots.

A final complaint I saw was that the pitch is confusing because it's like a child's book but with decidedly more mature themes and descriptions. I think this is a narrow, Disney-esque critique. The fairy tales of old were mature in nature and often pretty grim. Depicting magic, creatures, love and fantastical elements doesn't inherently mean a narrative is childish or aimed at children.

In addition to these points, I particularly enjoyed the tales which were interconnected but not always in obvious ways - it adds a richness to the story telling. Also, the blending of fairy tale and SciFi elements ("From stars they fell") feels like an homage to the titular queerness: a little unexpected and different but brilliant because of it. Finally, and I suppose it's related to the aforementioned slowness, I was pleased the short stories aren't too short. It means there is ample time to get to know the characters and to invest in their experiences.

The idea of fairy tales with a LGBTQ+ twist was very exciting for me. I couldn’t wait to start reading it but in the end I had to bring myself to continue it to the end.

The stories included in this book were really interesting and some of them filled me with nostalgia as it was like the fairy tales I cherished so much as a child. But the book struggles with pacing since it’s a really slow read, and I found myself getting bored and checking how many pages I had left constantly. Some scenes made me question who the audience was supposed to be since it felt like it was for younger audiences but some scenes raised the maturity.

Overall, I wanted to enjoy this book but I feel like the stories inside could have been executed better.

Thank you NetGalley for the free arc!

This book was outstanding and a lot of fun to read. Most people who are familiar with childhood fairy tales will recognize elements of these stories. They have been rendered visibile to Queer folks in ways that most early traditional literature and fairy tales were not. I appreciated the structure of the book, the accessibility of the language, and the ways that it kept me turning the pages.

This book will be helpful in educating my students on quality tale writing and short stories. There was vivid imagery that will help them learn how to figuratively illustrate stories for the readers.

Thank you netgalley for the e-arc

I love fairytales with my whole heart, and because of that I’m always wary of retellings. Harrison did an amazing job of this book and I can not recommend it enough.

While the representation is mostly mlm, there is one lovely sleeping beauty retelling featuring a mtf character that I really liked. All of the stories are pretty easily connected to the tales they’re based on without being overt or obnoxious about it.

My favorite was probably the Cinderella retelling, because it had the classic premise of the 3 balls & poor/rich love but other than that was completely original. The Jewish representation in the Cinderella one is so good, there are Hebrew prayers in the story and explanations of the laws of the Torah and so much more.

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys fairytales, and doesn’t mind long winded books.

3.5 stars!

Overall, a lovely read. The writing style really gripped me and balanced the visual imagery and poetry of classical fairytales with the modernity of LGBT+ and diversity inclusivity. Although, I would've personally liked to see more queer women, as it felt majorly focused on gay men.

Individual story breakdown/rating:

The White Cat - 4/5 stars. A great first story for the collection! Sort of Beauty and the Beast meets Ghibli; a prince is sent off on three tasks and befriends a mysterious cat in an abandoned castle. Their relationship was definitely one of my favourites and I loved the three tales aspect, it felt very old school fairytale.

A Step Apart and a World Away - 4/5 stars. My joint-favourite story. This one felt like Peter Pan at times; it followed Naomhan, a heartbroken man fleeing the kingdom after being disliked by his first love, prince Fachtna. Naomhan stumbles into magic and wishes granted to him when he uncurses a snake, who is actually a fairy, Tairis. Naomhan's story is about finding true happiness and accepting himself, and the slow-burn relationship between the fairy and the runaway man is bittersweet and hopeful all at once.

In the Shade of the Tree of Life - 3/5 stars. This one was a quieter but sweet story and had a nice focus on religion and books. It followed a tailor's apprentice, Innes, who falls for the awkward prince, Kenneth. This felt like it had inspirations from a few tales, such as Bluebeard (e.g. the locked room) and later on, Cinderella. I liked the long time span in this story, it felt more complete than the others, but I wasn't as personally drawn to it.

From Stars They Fell - 3/5 stars. This one was...strange. Interesting but I wasn't very hooked. It had sci-fi and religious vibes, with a focus on Snow White. It was about an angel who falls in an accident and falls for a deaf man. I loved the focus on sign language and translations but the way the plot unfolded was too confusing for me. I think it needed a longer length to properly build the world and mythology behind it. Cool concept, not so fully executed.

Echoes of the Dead - 3.5/5 stars. This one follows on straight after From Stars They Fell, as the angel's place in the deaf lover's life leaves his interpreter without work (a very nice little add-on). This story is about Oswin who finds himself in the ruins of an elf's home, an elf cursed to be a swan during the day time and mourning his late family. This was very bittersweet but heartfelt and although I didn't feel anything special towards Oswin himself, the relationship tugged at my heart.
(SPOILER)........I felt the reunion with the wife was a bit underwhelming and wrapped up way too quickly, so I took a star off for that too.

The Fairy's Gift - 3/5 stars. This final tale had elements from Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel, following a transgender princess who fights against her family's disapproval of her 'cursed' body. This was really cool but I found the romance super rushed and uninteresting sadly. Would've preferred the focus to be about a quest or Wynn's friendships or family dynamics etc.

A Queer Little Book of Tales by H.R. Harrison puts a new spin on some old favourites and features a range of Queer characters. The writing style mimics the rhythms of the fairytales and fables so many of us are familiar with from our childhood, but the themes are decidedly more mature. I enjoyed the way the author linked the stories together, it gave the book cohesion while still ensuring that each story felt complete in and of itself. I also liked that the stories were long enough to give the characters some real development, too often in short story collections it feels like we are just getting to know a character and then you turn the page and it is someone else's story.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I likes the idea of these stories, but I think it could have been done a bit better. My biggest complaint was how slow and long it was. There were many sections I ended up skimming over that could have just been cut out. Also, I was expecting a larger range of identities since its a queer fairy tale book, but the large majority of these stories were mlm.

Oh, this one was hard. I loved the story for what it was trying to do and what it (technically) achieved, but... it didn't quite check all the boxes for me.
As other reviewers have mentioned, it is very slow. Painfully so at points. But the stories are well written and mostly inclusive. There's still a distinct lack of diversity but that's difficult to do with only a few tales that have been included. The book is tagged as "coming of age" and "romance" which makes me think more teenage/YA readers, but the writing itself is more "new adult." Because of that, it's a little hard to place and orient in my head who would be reading this and how to rate it.
The good stuff, however, is that they are great takes on the classic tropes of fairy tales and twists on the typical storyline. You know what to expect with fairy tales and when the author changes things, even slightly, it's a good change (even if those changes are still predictable, as many fairy tales are).
Overall, 2/5. I just wasn't thrilled, a little bored, and somewhat confused. However, I know someone will love this story and it will change their world.
Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of #AQueerLittleBookofTales in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the story premise just it was not for me. Because it was slow and steady. I thought there was not enough happening to draw me into the story

3 stars

Charming, queer, enchanting original fairy tales. The stories are great. My rating is lower because the prose style is not always to my taste.

[What I liked:]

•I love the classic fairy tale tropes that harken back to the stories of the Brothers Grimm & the folktales I grew up on! Like three brothers sent on quests, talking animals, enchanted princes, the power of true names, and fickle fae; yet the stories are a bit more complex than Grimms’, & not too predictable or formulaic which is nice.

•To my knowledge, a lot of the stories are inspired by European folktales & fae lore, but there are POC characters/some diversity which I appreciate.

•I’m glad to see queer representation!

•Ooh! The stories are interconnected! How fun :)


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Some of the stories have a very straightforward narration style (basically straight up telling not showing), which might be an intentional stylistic choice to be like children’s fairy tales, but I prefer a more sophisticated prose style. The prose isn’t bad, though. It’s still pretty readable. (And the fourth story, “From The Stars They Fell”, had a style I quite liked.)

•Not really a complaint or criticism, since the writer is of course entitled to write whatever characters they please, and I’m always glad for any queer characters! This is more of an opinion: the queer identities of the MC’s portrayed are all beautiful, young, gay men (well, men/male fairies?), with the exception of one genderless alien & one trans woman character. It would have been cool to see more diversity, such as older characters or more women characters.

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

A Queer Little Book of Tales is a collection of 6 well written fairy tales/fables with an inclusive twist (mostly gay or nonbinary characters) written by H. R. Harrison. Due out 15th March 2021 from NineStar Press, it's 419 pages and will be available in ebook format. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

These stories are classic fable retellings with a more inclusive cast of characters and range the gamut from a sweetly reimagined "The Three Brothers" to a "Cinderella/Brave Little Tailor" mash-up. They are beautifully and respectfully written and I enjoyed them all thoroughly. The author is adept and the stories are evocative and the prose reminds me very much of classic Grimm's Fairy Tales. There are no illustrations, but all 6 stories are well told. The book is also beautifully and smoothly edited; all of the stories are quite polished and feel finished.

I would recommend this collection to adult fans of fairy tales/fables, as well as fans of writers such as Natasha Pulley, Cat Rambo, Catherynne Valente, and similar. The book's emphasis is on non-binary, non-cis characters, and there is some mildly graphic content, so it's definitely not a children's book.

Four and a half stars. Classic stories, well told.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This was a very eclectic collection of stories, both in style and substance. I thought some of them were uneven in pacing and tone but others poignant and beautiful.
a solid 3 stars