This was such a delightful collection of strange and darkly sweet stories. I could see the same imaginative source behind them but each had such a different execution, I can't wait to see what the author can do with a full length novel. I think my favourite story was about the grade school coven. So creepy and darling all at once.

If you like monstrous things and poetry and cool phrases you wish you had come up with yourself, this book would be perfect for you. It sure was perfect for me.

My favorite story is the one the collection is named after; I thought the story told through bestiary entries was so clever! The only story I had a problem with was A Haunted Calendar; I didn’t understand the point it was trying to get across. But this short story is redeemed by all the others that made me go “what the f$&@ am I reading!”

Will be recommending to my friends who have a poetic flair!

Nethercott's collection of fanciful tales are probably NOT for readers who prefer conventional short stories. Her dark fairy stories are both dreamy and nightmarish, filled with lovely imagery and creepy vibes. My favorite story was the last - "The Plums at the End of the World". It featured the goat-headed gal from the cover, and though ultimately quite sad, it was mesmerizing.

The title tale is told in an unusual format reminiscent of "The Book of Imaginary Beings" by Jorge Luis Borges, and featuring awesome illustrations by Bobby DiTrani.

Though I preferred the author's novel to her short fiction, this was an enchanting read, and I enjoyed it.

Gennarose Nethercott creates fairy tales that are spellbinding and immersive. The magic feels palpably close, like I could turn a corner and discover myself in any of the stories or scenes in Fifty Beasts. From sinister roadside attractions to shape shifting foxes to beast-seeking florists, this entire collection is pure enchantment.

I had loved Nethercott's novel Thistlefoot so much that I worried that my expectations were getting too high for Fifty Beasts. Happily, though, my expectations were exceeded. Nethercott is now officially one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she publishes!

If you enjoy horror fantasy at all, then Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is well worth your time.

Will you love every story? Unlikely. But isn't that how it always is with a collection of shorts?

All I know is, I'm writing this weeks after finishing the book, and some of the stories—most especially "The Thread Boy" and "The War of Fog"—won't stop tapping at my frontal lobe, begging me to revisit them, to spend more time with them, to take them apart and see if I can piece them back together again.

This is not a book to read in one sitting. Strictly speaking, there is no ending to rush towards, so there is nothing to stop you from stretching these fourteen tales across just as many reading sessions.

A clever, though uneven, collection of magical-realist tales about lost love and the primacy of illusion over reality. Nethercott's "Thistlefoot" is one of my favorite novels, so it may be unfair to hold a book to that standard. Nevertheless I felt that the premises -- all of them fantastic in both senses of the word -- sometimes ran away with the stories. They sometimes seemed like illustrations of a metaphor rather than depictions of specific people that you could care about. "The Plums at the End of the World" and "Dear Henrietta" were my favorites because they broke this pattern, creating vivid physical settings and high emotional stakes.

4.25/5

I'm not usually one to read short story anthologies but now I'm wondering why I don't because I loved this! Weird yet familiar, haunting yet beautiful, this book is filled with the types of tales that aren't soon forgotten. Of course, some resonated more than others but I enjoyed each one and the threads of magical realism and what it means to be a monster (what it means to be human) woven throughout these tales. The writing is lyrical and inventive while remaining accessible. Hopefully we get more masterpieces from GennaRose Nethercott soon!

This book was weird and unsettling and I loved it so much I feel it deep in my bones.
Deeply unsettling, every story is up for interpretation. Some creepier than others. So freaking good.

I loved the premise and was excited to read the book. I found parts of it to be a bit confusing, especially towards the end. The pacing was a bit slow at times and felt like the book could have used a bit more editing. Overall, I enjoyed the story and writing.

This collection of 14 stories examines different types of love, but they are not romantic and you shouldn’t expect happy endings. Nethercott writes magical realist stories, often in a stream of consciousness style, where fantastic elements merge with everyday life. Many of the stories are sad and spooky, but there are moments of beauty and sweetness. A few didn’t work for me, but I was happy to have read the collection. This is not an easy read, but I enjoyed the creativity and surprises.

I highly recommend this book for fans of magical realism, experimental fiction, and metaphorical short stories. If you prefer straightforward linear narratives, this is not the book for you.

I received an ARC through NetGalley, and I volunteered to provide an honest review.

The stories in Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart are utterly relatable and fantastical simultaneously. The author is a master storyteller, her fables paying tribute to those that came before while breathing new life into them with a completely delightful mix of styles, genres and narratives.

fellow lovers of weird queer short stories, I have another addition to the canon for you; FIFTY BEASTS TO BREAK YOUR HEART is strange and surreal and stunning, and absolutely full of weird little guys. it was my favorite read of December 2023, and it is out in the world now for all to peruse!

I loved a lot of things about this collection, but my favorite thing was the diversity of style and structure within these tales; some read like magical realist literary fiction, some read like weird, dreamy fairytales, and some were told in wonderfully creative formats: the title story nestled itself within a set of encyclopedia entries about strange creatures, and another one was told in small vignettes. each story felt wonderfully well-suited to the way it was told, and the range of styles and formats really shows off the author’s talent.

as with many short stories collections, I found that some stories resonated more for me than others, and there were a few which didn’t quite hit for me (though there weren’t any that I totally disliked, which is always a mark of a good collection). my favorites were “The Eternal Staircase,” “Drowning Lessons,” and the titular “Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart,” which is also charmingly illustrated.

in summary: the fifty beasts did, in fact, break my heart! if you’re up for it, come let them break yours, too; it was very much worth it. thank you so much to Netgalley and Vintage for the ARC!

This is not my typical type of read but I truly loved it. Each short story offered something different and I really enjoyed it.

I adored Thistlefoot when I read it last year, and I actively adore GennaRose Nethercott, so this short story collection may have been one of my most anticipated reads of the season. Not every story knocked it out of the park, but I cannot stop thinking about a few of them in particular:

- The titular story (Fifty Beasts) was just as weird and wonderful as I was hoping—a narrative within a narrative is always one of my favorite devices.
- The imagery in The Thread Boy was honestly *gorgeous*, and offered such a resonant message that I almost want to go back and reread it already.
- The Diviner’s Abecedarian was such a creepy take on the high school mean girl thing that it reminded me a bit of Mona Awad's Bunny for a pre-teen scene.

I also think this would be a good fit for readers who like Bora Chung or Ling Ma, but would like a little less dystopia and a little more cottage-y feeling creepiness (maybe Neil Gaiman would be a better reference?). Whatever it is, GRN has a style all her own and I can't wait for more.

Thank you to Vintage Anchor for the opportunity to read and review!

In this, the author makes up her own fairy tales. Some are modern, like the first where the girls are working at a roadside attraction. Others are told like they are ancient stories. In one, a group of characters are writing a compendium of beasts and their group interactions bleed through the text. It is all very clever. I appreciate this type of story collection, though I often finish while still wanting more.

Recommended to anyone that likes unusual fairy tales or fantasy short story collections.

If you enjoy short stories, especially ones that are: a little twisted, a little dark, quite beautiful and might make you question your own beliefs, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart may just be the perfect addition to your shelf.

Full of little snippets of beautiful horror, not a single story was out of place. Each one twisted and poetic, many with a lesson in their own dark way.

The Thread Boy has tugged at my soul in a most unusual way. The Diviner’s Abecedarian has me second guessing all my social interactions. The collection of creatures in Fifty Beasts has me reminiscing to my youth of devouring Shel Silverstein…but make it darker.
The War Of Fog was deep and dark and sad, it made me long for happy days full of sunshine and adventure. And don’t even get me started on Homebody and all the THINGS it made me want to shout.

I adore GennaRose Nethercott and her unique way of telling a tale. Thistlefoot is one of my most prized books and Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart will soon take its place on the shelf next to it.

I don't read a ton of horror fantasy, which is strange, because every time I do, I love it. Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart is an exciting collection of horror/fantasy short stories. While there were a couple I didn't love, most of them were really engaging. As much as I love a good, weird setting and classic horror tropes, my favourite short stories in the collection were the ones that were more grounded, and served as metaphors and/or parables, such as A Diviner's Abecedarian and The Thread Boy.

The description of this book, in my opinion, is not a good description of what I actually read. It starts out with stories that don’t make sense, then a whole section of weirdly named beasts and what they look like and a whole description of them, then back to stories. The stories are beyond weird and when they end if left me with an open mouth and the thought of “what?” I tried to make some sense of the nonsense I read. I really liked her first book, Thistlefoot and was excited to read this by what the description was. I am disappointed in both a sad and sorry way.

A big thanks to Netgalley and Vintage Anchor for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart by GennaRose Nethercott is a fantasy collection of dark fairy tale short stories. The stories in Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart are about the abomination that resides within us all. That churning, clawing, ravenous yearning: the hunger to be held, and seen, and known. And the terror, too: to be loved too well, or not enough, or for long enough. To be laid bare before your sweetheart, to their horror. To be recognized as the monstrous thing you are. Two teenage girls working at a sinister roadside attraction called the Eternal Staircase explore its secrets—and their own doomed summer love. A zombie rooster plays detective in a missing persons case. A woman moves into a new house with her acclaimed artist boyfriend—and finds her body slowly shifting into something specially constructed to accommodate his needs and whims. A pack of middle schoolers turn to the occult to rid themselves of a hated new classmate. And a pair of outcasts, a vampire and a goat woman, find solace in each other, even as the world's lack of understanding might bring about its own end. In these lush, strange, beautifully written stories, GennaRose Nethercott explores human longing in all its diamond-dark facets to create a collection that will redefine what you see as a beast, and make you beg to have your heart broken.

I feel like I'm never the biggest fan of short story collections, mainly due to how incongruous they can read from leaping story to story. But I felt like this was one of the better ones I've read to date. Though some of the stories were a bit too abstract for my taste.

Each and every one of these stories captures the absolutely intangible weirdness that is a fairy tale - does anything make sense? No. Is the story beautiful? A resounding yes. Several of these I will want to read again and again while others I will gladly never lay eyes on, as should be the case with a collection of weird tales meant to make you feel more than understand. I have a feeling each time I read this I'll get some new insight into the story or the characters. This is a true masterclass in writing fables!

**Thank you NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for the eARC**