3.5 stars
Melissa Marr’s writing is one of the main reasons I decided to read this book. I always love the way she builds the world in her books. So vivid, enchanting, and beautiful. Even though the story is too dark for my taste, her way of creating details in her story never fails to enchant me. There are twelve dark yet beautiful short stories in this book.
My favorite story in this book is Winter’s Kiss. The moment I read the story, I’m completely hooked up. It’s a story about a princess who has frost breath. When she laughs too freely, she will freeze her surroundings. She is lonely because no one enjoys her gift, and she decides to take a journey to find a place where her gift can be useful. Then she meets an ice-bear and they instantly become friend.
Winter’s Kiss is such a lovely story. It’s romantic and very fairytale-like. I really like ice-bear, they seem so cute, warm, and fluffy so it’s no question that this short story is my favorite. Other stories don’t captivate me as much as Winter’s Kiss, but there is one story that made me cringe in horror. Its title is Transition and it is a vampire story. The story is inspired by a party which Melissa Marr attended when she was in a dead-end town. This is really dark and full of gory details. While Winter’s Kiss is like the representation of fairytale in this book, for me Transition is what you’re going to call a nightmare. The story is absolutely awesome, but the darkness in the story is too much for me.
I think you’re going to enjoy this book even if you’re no fan of Wicked Lovely. Like I said before, Melissa Marr has a gift of telling stories. This is fairly recommended for fans of Wicked Lovely series, but I guess this book is really one for people who seek enchanting and eerie tales.
Well over half of these pages are taken up by Wicked Lovely world stories; the rest of the pages are reserved for other worlds. These are stories pulled from lore and nightmares, set in places I’ve visited and places I’ve imagined. I hope you enjoy them.
–taken from the introduction page in the book–
Four cups of tea. Amazing! Love the book, it’s simply
awesome. I love the tea flavor! A strong
recommendation.
I started reading Wicked Lovely but didn't end up finishing it. Not because I didn't like it but because the library wanted it back! I don't usually read short stories because it's hard to get into them as they're so short but these ones seem so cute. A princess with ice breath? Cool.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the idea is super amazing too! I think Melissa Marr is really creative. It's too bad that you haven't finished reading it yet, Lan! I'd love to hear your thought on the book. :)
Delete"Melissa Marr has a gift of telling stories." <-- She really does! <3 I absolutely ADORED her Wicked Lovely series, and one of my favourite things about it was how much it felt like a dark faery tale, so I'm so ecstatic that she decided to write this book! And Winter’s Kiss sounds AMAZING. From the way you describe it, I already know I'm going to love it too!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful review, Hilda! <3 Somehow you managed to highlight all of the parts of this book that would appeal to me most! Now I'm even more excited to read this sweet book by MM!!! :)
It's great that you love Wicked Lovely series, Mimi! I think you'll fall in love with the book. My idea of fairy tale is more disney-like, maybe that's why I'm not really a big fan of her LOL. But if you love dark fairy tale, you really should grab this book, Mimi!
DeleteThank you, Mimi! I'm so glad that you like my review! <3
It's been so long since I last read somehting by Melissa Marr! I wasn't the biggest fan of the Wicked Lovely books but I agree that she is a good writer! :) Awesome review, Hilda! I'm glad you mostly enjoyed this.
ReplyDeleteI'm not her biggest fan either, but I love her writing! It's too bad that she doesn't write enough sparkly, sweet kind of things LOL. Thanks you, Sam! I'm glad that I can give great stars for this book too! :)
DeleteLike you, I don't enjoy things that are too dark or nightmarish, but even though I know I wouldn't like this, you still make it sound so good! Another great review Hilda =)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amanda! It's so lovely of you! <3 Nightmarish book tend to give me... well, nightmare. :P
DeleteWow it sounds like a book I'll really enjoy! Even though they're a bit creepy, I really like the Wicked Lovely series. It's been some time since I've read anything by her, and now I'm really craving some Melissa Marr written stories! The fact that they are short stories is great. More worlds or stories to discover!
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing it up to my attention, I'll be adding it to my TBR list :)
If you're fan of Wicked Lovely series, I'm pretty sure you're going to love this book, Sophie! There are six stories from Wicked Lovely world in this series. I like what you said, anthology does has a power of bringing more awesome worlds from the author's imagination! <3
DeleteI can't wait to hear your thought on this book! :)
Oh, this sounds lovely. I haven't read Melissa Marr's books before but she sounds like a very talented writer!! And I love the sound of most of the short stories, especially Winter's Kiss <3
ReplyDeleteOh, I recommend you to read Wicked Lovely first before reading this book, because some events in the stories happened after the second book or third book and you might want to avoid spoiler. But if you don't mind spoiler, then you can start reading this book now! :)
DeleteShort stories rarely work for me, but since you describe these as dark, I have to admit I'm very interested. I haven't read her Wicked Lovely series, maybe because I picked up Graveminder first, and was less than thrilled, and maybe because I'm terrified of faeries (true story). Either way, maybe I should give it a go. Is it better to read the series before reading this?
ReplyDeleteSince you love dark things, then I think you'd like this book, Maja! I think it's better if you read the series first since half of the book is set on Wicked Lovely world. But I guess you can skip the stories and jump to the short stories set in different universe. Maybe you'll like Transition! It's kind of horror for me LOL! :D
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