Magic Casements

I love short stories when they are done well and I felt like this book was beautifully written. The author does such a fantastical job of building the story and world in such a short span of time that you never feel like there is not enough to keep your interest or that anything is lacking. If anything, this was a sweet taste of each story that left me wanting so much more of the world and characters involved.

The first part "After Ever After" was fun! I really loved how it brought together multiple fairytales and is just overall a great opening to the rest of the book.

"The Faun and the Fae" was adorable. I desperately need more of Lilac and Silvanus in my life. Not just more of the two of them and their blooming connection, but I would love to see more of their individual stories. To see their adventures when it comes to being a godmother and a guardian.

"The Midnight Hour" was a cute play on Cinderella. This one is significantly shorter than the story before it, but it was concise and flowed well.

"Confessions of a Magic Stove" The title and initial feeling made me think of all the anime coming out that are like, "this thing happened and now I'm reincarnated as this random object in this crazy world" which made me hesitant at first. Overall, it was a unique take at seeing different fairytales unfold from the point of view of the stove and I loved this stove by the end.

"Catspaw" was equally cute as the first story and it was interesting to find out it was inspired by a tumblr challenge!

I could keep going about all of the stories and how well they were written, but to put it simply, I loved many moments of this book that I do highly recommend it. The only reason I would not give it 5 stars is that there were 2 or 3 stories that I either didn't understand or felt like they were missing something.

A shy young faerie befriends a faun in spite of prejudices against him. A fairy godmother contends with an imp over the fate of Cinderella. A stove recounts its life, from being purchased by the witch that tried to eat Hansel and Gretel, all the way through to ending up in the palace of a king whose daughter-in-law turned out to be The Goose Girl. A young princess charges her far too numerous suitors with befriending her favorite cat and getting from it a key to her study in order to be judged worthy of her hand in marriage.

These are a few examples of the delightful tales that Pamela Sherwood has assembled in this, her second collection of short tales. The stories have obvious links to fairy tales of yore (with the possible exception of the first tale) but Ms. Sherwood turns them on their head, or adds a twist nearly every time. I enjoyed immensely her take on popular tales like Cinderella, as well as her inventive responses to certain other tales. The only fault I have to find is that a few tales do contain feminist ideals and they can be applied with a slightly heavy hand, but I nevertheless found something to enjoy even in those tales, and this is really just a small nitpick in the overall collection. The author even includes a very interesting section at the end that details where she got the idea for each tale, and I enjoyed perusing this as well.

This is a book I could easily recommend to any adult or older teen lover of fairy tales or short stories. I think that they will find that Ms. Sherwood has done an excellent and entertaining job. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Blue Castle Publishing for the advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Magic is just the right description for this collection of short stories and poems Lovers of fairy tales and magic are sure to recognize some characters but they've definitely left their old stories behind. This collection is delightful, entertaining, and definitely worth your time. Can't wait for the next book in the series.