For the most part, I found the stories to be enjoyable. They are the kind of creepy/unnerving that I like reading. The short stories are unsettling in a way that makes for good reading (for instance- it doesn’t feel like these things would ever actually happen, but it would be really weird if they did. They allow for the right amount of “but what if….”). My favorite was “A Lily is a Lily” because the underlying theme was a little sad, but also carried a message of loving what is real and not what is a fantasy. My least favorite was “Homebody” because it was just so awkward - the telling of a woman turning into a house and the man she loves (or did she really love him?) drifting away from her.

I liked Fifty Beasts to Break your Heart. Stories that are strange, gruesome and just plain weird. I liked most of them but some were hard to understand. All and all an interesting read.

These short stories were abstract fairytales, so reading it within that context, I had a good time. If you expect to have these be happy, traditional, Disney-style fairytales, you picked the wrong book.

What a whimsical, heartbreakingly beautiful collection of stories.

Nethercott's brain is so full of wonder I have no idea how one person could have this many worlds and creatures inside.

Even though several quotes left me clutching at my heart, none of the stories really stuck with me in the end.

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy of this in exchange for my thoughts!

This is the first time I've read a short story collection and it was definitely a very interesting experience. These are very creative and strange stories, which is also something that I don't read often. This combination did make it difficult for me to rate because I do feel a bit out of my depth and I have very little to compare it to. However, I did have a good time overall and I will do my best to explain some of my thoughts!

Truthfully, there were a lot of stories that I didn't understand. In fact, I would say that I probably didn't understand about 75% of the collection overall! However, I think I can divide some of them into ones that were intentionally unclear versus ones where the storytelling didn't click for me. Some stories, like The Fox Jaw, completely lost me and I have no idea what I was supposed to take from it. However, even in the stories that I did rate lower, I was constantly astonished by the author's creativity.

And then, of course, there were some stories that I loved. A Haunted Calendar and the The Plums at the End of the World were really unique and had bits that stood out to me. Dear Henrietta was one of the most intriguing and twisty so I had a lot of fun with it. Drowning Lesson was definitely the most emotionally impactful and it really stuck with me.

My absolute favorite story was none other than Fifty Beasts. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the description of the beasts, and probably would have given that alone a 5 star rating, but the additional story weaving through each entry of the creatures definitely added something special to it and I was completely engrossed in it.

This author's writing is absolutely incredibly. The creativity she exhibits in this collection is like nothing I've read before and I am very eager to look into more of her work.

My average rating for all the stories in this collection came out to 3.5 stars

<i>I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I absolutely loved this weird and wonderful collection of stories!

These definitely won't be for everyone, but I think I'm the target audience. GennaRose Nethercott's fantastical yet dark tales gripped me and didn't let me go.

I loved how each of these stories felt slightly spooky and extremely whimsical. I loved how poetic they were and how varied the styles were. I loved the air of magic they all had while still being rooted in realism. I just loved them so much.

Personal favorites were: The Thread Boy, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart, Dear Henrietta, and Homebody

I had very mixed feelings about this book. Some stories I just felt like I needed to get through to the next one. Other stories I really enjoyed. So individual stories ranged from 1 star to 4 stars. Overall, the book was okay.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart and Other Stories is a collection of dark fantasy tales like strange and unsettling urban legends and folklore for modern times. Two favorites of mine were the story about the Eternal Staircase--like one of those roadside attractions one might have found while driving on Route 66, and the story of preteens using the occult to get rid of a hated classmate.

If you are looking for something dark and unsettling, a mix of the weird and fantastical, Nethercott has brought a collection of prose that might just be the fairy tales that reflect our modern times.

"What is a monster if not someone, some thing, caught between?”

GennaRose Nethercott has proven to be a master of dark fairytales. I loved Thistlefoot so I jumped on the chance to read her new collection of short stories.

These are all unique and horror filled twists on the fairytales we all know. The one that really stuck out to me and still lingers is Homebody but they were all good.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys dark fairytales.

Thank you Vintage Anchor for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A while back, I read, and loved, Gennarose Nethercott's Thistlefoot, about a brother and sister who inherit the chicken-footed house of Baba Yaga lore. It isn't often I've liked one book enough to immediately add the author's next work to my list, but that was the case with her new release, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart, a collection of short stories.

From pre-teens navigating adolescence with obscure magic to a boy whose sister has drowned thirty-seven times to a trans-Atlantic love so strong that a ghost is accidentally born from the longing, the fourteen stories in this slim volume run the gamut. Nethercott's miniature worlds are strange, sometimes eerie things, and many are wrapped in a kind of haze like you just woke up and can't quite remember what's real and what was a dream. The familiar and the fantastic are knotted so tightly it's hard to tell where one stops and the other begins, but this doesn't feel like urban fantasy or your typical magical realism; somehow, these stories feel organic, like they were already growing in the odd cracks in everyday life and were simply scraped out for the purpose of this collection.

Story collections are fascinating tours of a writer's toolbox. In two stories, Nethercott uses encyclopedia entry-like forms to tell a story; in another, a calendar is repurposed as a narrative tool. Tenses and points of view are played with, skewed. Though many of the stories verge on the dark or twisty side of things, there really is a strong sense of playfulness throughout. It's like watching shadow children frolic, or sprites dance, things that are having fun but can also devour you whole. At turns, Nethercott's stories reminded me of one of my favorite story collections, Rafael Bob-Waksberg's Someone Who Will Love You In All Of Your Damaged Glory. I was reminded, too, of Brian Evenson's also-excellent Song For the Unraveling of the World. I think this collection, like those other two, will be one I return to time and time again.

In her acknowledgements, Nethercott writes that she wrote the stories in this collection while on tour for her first book, The Lumberjack's Dove. Over those eight months, she traveled the country, met loads of new people, crashed on couches, and slept in her car next to dive bars. I'd imagine the experience was thrilling yet displacing at the same time, and it does seem like a lot of the stories in Fifty Beasts do feel untethered. But they also feel thoughtful and open, arms open in an embrace that carries with it as many roses as thorns.

I love bizarre queer fiction!!! Nethercott beautifully weaves stories of grief, loss, obsession, love and self-love.

It’s not usual for me to love every single story in a collection, but this is the exception. Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves dark fairytales, house books, abstract metaphor-like stories, and queer stories.

Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for the ARC!

"Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart" by GennaRose Nethercott is a mesmerizing collection that delves deep into the shadowy crevices of love, revealing its power to both heal and harm. Nethercott masterfully crafts a series of dark fairytales and fractured folklore that not only captivate with their eerie beauty but also probe the complexities of human desires and fears. This anthology is a testament to the author's ability to transform the grotesque and the fantastical into profound reflections on love's many forms and follies. Highly recommended for those who are drawn to the beautifully bizarre and the unsettlingly romantic.

I enjoyed a good handful of these stories but some of them were a little too odd for my tastes. However I know that there are going to be people out here who can read these and appreciate them much more because this is their specific genre they really enjoy. This was my introduction to Gennarose's writing and I have to say she has me hooked. I really loved her prose and thought her writing was beautiful. The stories that I liked, the symbolism was easy for me to see but others I personally just didn't get. Now the stories range from eerie and morose to just plain odd. I'll definitely be picking up her other works to get more acquainted with her style.

This short story collection, “Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart and Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott is thoughtful and provocative, the beauty and darkness of the stories will wind their way around your heart and make you long for heartbreaking love. 

All of the stories within the collection explore love in various permutations. Most delve into the darker aspects of love although there is one, The Thread Boy, that beautifully explores the connections that we make in life and how we would be lost without them. In some of the stories, it explores the monstrous and the power of the female voice. Dear Henrietta has a chilling pace, dark yet intriguing. And the Bestiary is a story that is told within little snippets, a unique way to create a narrative. But in each story what compelled me to read more was the way love and relationships, both positive and toxic, were depicted and shared. It was a lush and fantastic ride. 

If you like short story collections, you might try this one. It has an unusual format in many of the tales. Plus if you don’t have time to read a full book, the short stories herein can be read one at a time and savored, like the jewels they are. Each is exquisitely crafted with complex characters and emotional stories. I loved every thoughtful and contemplative story within this collection and I think you will too.

I was very intrigued by the concept of this anthology.

This collection of short stories by GennaRose Nethercott has wonderfully macabre and varied tales that give you a surreal vision of the limits of fantasy in our everyday lives.

I think, in the end, I did enjoy reading this collection. There were certainly a few different stories that definitely flew over my head because of their surrealism, but for the most part there were really fantastic stories that had great social commentary. I believe that due to its nature as an anthology, it makes sense that I did not fully enjoy each and every one of the stories, and definitely won’t hold it against itself because it didnt fully wow me.

Some of the stories were amazing: I certainly recommend the eponymous “Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart” as well as “The Plums at the End of the World”. They have such spooky elements that are coordinated with amazing prose and themes.

This is for the horror reader that is looking for something a little bit more bizarre.

There was much I enjoyed with GennaRose’s first release, Thistlefoot. One standout factor which has carried over to this short story collection is the originality of the myth and magic.

I haven’t had the greatest luck with short story collections recently but this one surprised me. Hooked into me with the right amount of “weirdness,” creatively and intricately woven. The writing was lyrical and the stories border on literary fantasy I’d say. I was left thinking on them upon finishing and trying to unravel deeper meanings. GennaRose also knows how to write a lead, the first few sentences have a way to pull you in.

This did hurt a few of the stories though. A lot of this book is very surrealist that, deeper analysis and figuring out what was going on can be challenging. Some stories suffered from this vagueness and open ended nature for interpretation.

My favorite stories were “sundown at the Eternal Staircase” which really showcases the author’s world building capability- painting a clear setting in a shorter format and quickly engaging; “Drowning Lessons” which pulled relatable feelings of loneliness and wanting; the title story, “Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart,” set up with creative creatures as a bestiary with cute illustrations and a narrative within the narrative; “A Lily is a Lily” really pulling on those relating a relationship to a haunting and exploring how damaging idealization can be, and “Dear Henrietta,” which left me in for a twist!

Overall I would recommend this collection, especially if seeking something a bit more haunting and strange for the Fall!

This was both whimsical in a good way and whimsical in a bad way for me. Some of the stories I really loved, especially homebody (which was so amazing and groundbreaking and I am still thinking about it!!). But some of the stories were too disconnected and difficult to follow. I most disliked the fifty beasts sections because it felt the most disconnected. Overall, I think would be a good fit for readers who favor the whimsy and don’t need something concrete to have a good time.

Thank you to NetGalley and vintage anchor for an advanced reader copy of this book

4 stars-- What an absolutely abstract ride this short story collection is. This is a mixture of magical realism, twisted folklore, and folk myths that lean towards something horror-adjacent that I overall enjoyed.

Each story is unique in the sense I don't think I've read anything quite like them. Imagine a modern Grimm's fairytale compendium but they skew towards something contemporary. My favorite story of this was probably The Thread Boy, because it was vivid and yet the ending felt like it was a new fairytale. A close second was The Eternal Staircase due to the sarcastic and self-aware nature of the prose and narrator, as well as its sly humor. These are all really fractured fables if you will; Nethercott takes a deep dive into what dark fairytales are and why they capture our imagination! (Outside of the stories, I really loved the illustrations in the Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart story!)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced readers copy. This did not affect my reviews in any way.

I love little fantasy short stories and these are so whimsical. Some I was not as engaged in and others I was just left wanting a bit more out of. But alas, that is the world of short stories!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for providing an eARC.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

I first read GennaRose Nethercott with her incredible novel about Baba Yaga, Thistlefoot. I enjoyed her writing and the story. Some of these stories were up to par with how I felt about Thistlefoot, while others confused me immensely.

To get the title story out of the way, it was more a list of fictional fauna used in bouquets for various anticipated results. I found the drawings cute and the stories that went along with the animals interesting.

Hands down my favorite story in this book was "The War of Fog" which was borderline genius and mesmerizing. I also enjoyed "Sundown at the Eternal Staircase" and "A Haunted Calendar," which I enjoyed immensely in its uniqueness.

Some of the stories that didn't quite make me scream with glee were "A Diviner's Abecedarian," which I found both creepy and juvenile, and "The Thread Boy."

Oh yeah, I also enjoyed "Drowning Lessons."

Overall, an incredible collection of haunting and unique tales.