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Some Ways to Retell a Fairy Tale

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Delicately balancing between poetry and prose, award-winning author and illustrator Kathleen Jennings deconstructs the beloved tropes, characters, horrors and wonders found in fairy tales...

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

4 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2022

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About the author

Kathleen Jennings

64 books150 followers
Kathleen Jennings is an illustrator and writer based in Brisbane, Australia. As an illustrator, she has been shortlisted three times for the World Fantasy Awards, once for the Hugos, and once for the Locus Awards, as well as winning a number of Ditmars. As a writer, she has won two Ditmars and been shortlisted for the Eugie Foster Memorial Award and for several Aurealis Awards.

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5 stars
8 (9%)
4 stars
21 (25%)
3 stars
23 (28%)
2 stars
22 (26%)
1 star
8 (9%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Tracy.
671 reviews31 followers
January 13, 2024
Interesting to read, more poetry than prose. I’ve always loved reading re-told fairy tales. But this wasn’t that, more a grocery list of how to re-tell a fairy tale.
Profile Image for Rebecca Crunden.
Author 26 books658 followers
Read
January 1, 2024
or drop a particular person into a role, or toss the story into another genre, or take all the
ornaments from it and hang them on something quite different, ennoble it, humble it, pull
its teeth, give it claws, send it to find its own fortune, to rescue its brothers,


This is such a whimsical little essay (or poem?) about why and how writers tell fairy tales.

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Profile Image for Orla.
220 reviews74 followers
February 27, 2024
short but this was so beautiful to read and so colorful
Profile Image for rebekka .
53 reviews1 follower
December 9, 2023
It has some good lines but it's not there yet. It is not good enough because it counts so many elements, here a process, however it doesn't reach to a point, a conclusion.
The title says all about it. I consider it a contemporary poem which talks about how a story can extend to various elements and realms.
It also sounds alike child nursery rhymes.
Profile Image for Nicole.
3,027 reviews14 followers
September 8, 2024
This was...weird. It was fine for what it was...literally a list of ways you could retell a fairytale and not a story itself...but I can't think of a single person I would recommend this to. Maybe someone in need of inspiration on how to write a fairytale realling?
Profile Image for Zaichek.
12 reviews
December 30, 2023
While reading I had this amazing feeling, but there was something missing because it all felt like numbering things...

My favorite quotes are:
"(...)open the door you were not meant to open, ask the one question you
must never ask(...)"
"(...)will spring up from beside the fire exclaiming “Then I am the king of the cats!” and vanish up the chimney"
Profile Image for Ghost.
11 reviews
January 1, 2024
this was whimsical. this was poetry. no, i mean that literally, this was a poem.

here's how i see it: this should be given to anyone that has ever complained about a retelling or fanfiction. the existance of a retelling or a fanfic. the fact that they go against canon when that's the point.

you take a piece of art and you turn into something you want or need to see.
Profile Image for Daniella.
192 reviews9 followers
December 4, 2023
Short story advent utilising tordotcom free fiction 1/24

or make the story itself a space, a sanctuary, a refuge outside of time to think and breathe
before returning to the world, an interlude to recover, rediscover, be wounded, be lost,
take heart, have it cut out,
Profile Image for Sanaa Hyder.
Author 3 books21 followers
December 30, 2023
Brilliant!

Jennings probably covered every way it would be possible to do a retelling — literally, metaphorically, poetically, haphazardly, and thoughtfully.

I read this poetry-prose piece on Tor’s website.
Profile Image for olive.
64 reviews
February 24, 2024
ngl kept thinking about how the writing style of this piece reminded me of the tone lady gaga used when she was saying "amazing, showstopping, spectacular..." in that one meme.

nevertheless i did enjoy this!!
Profile Image for Katherine.
1,247 reviews17 followers
November 16, 2023
I thought this was a nice little poem about fairy tales and how they change and morph throughout the years and through the authors lens.
Profile Image for Anagha S Setlur.
226 reviews9 followers
January 9, 2024
Some sentences were good. Some weren't. Overall, it shows some ways to retell fairy tales and the poetry/prose write up did ok. Not great.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
199 reviews21 followers
January 14, 2024
I fully agree with the reviewers who say this very short piece is much better if you read it aloud - spoken word poetry style.
Profile Image for Beth N.
180 reviews
May 17, 2024
Does what it says on the tin. More a poem than a short story, with evocative, creative use of language. I liked it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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