"The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures" by Sebastian Gregory

Title: The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures

Author: Sebastian Gregory

Publisher: Carina

Publication date: June 27th, 2014

My rating: 5 of 5

(Read on September 14th, from the review copy received from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange of an honest review.)

Summary:

Once upon a nightmare…
 
Long ago, in a land where imagination meets the darkest nightmares, they built the asylum. Surrounded by a forest of thorns, it holds the most twisted minds in the fairy tale kingdom: a terrible collection of evil creatures and forgotten souls. Imprisoned within its walls, they are doomed to spend forever after telling their tales… and serving as a warning to others.
 
Now, you are invited to accompany Blood Red Riding Hood into the depths of this strange place – where you will meet its even stranger inhabitants. But be warned: walls this thick were built to withstand the darkest magic… so once you’re inside, you might just find yourself living horribly ever after… and wishing you were indeed in a land far, far away.  

 

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures is a different kind of fairy tale retelling. Just like the original Grimm fairy tales, it's actually quite dark, yet also quite logical when you think about it, because an asylum for most of the fairy tale creatures & everything they've been through - that would be definitely necessary.

So, I loved the idea. I think it was quite imaginative. Also, I loved the writing style. There's something about Sebastian Gregory's writing that was beautiful & fairy-tale-like, yet also quite eerie, and I loved it. That being said, I have to admit that at first I wasn't sure about the story. It starts with Red Riding Hood, and even though it was interesting, I needed time to warm up to the story, but slowly I started to enjoy it more & more, until I got sucked in & I didn't want it to end.

In this book, we follow 3 fairy tale characters & their stories of how they end up in the Asylum: Blood Red Riding Hood, The Thread Bear & Thumbeana. Their stories were interesting, heartbreaking, gory, and so dark & twisted, and I pretty much loved every second of it. To be honest, I don't know if I would give this book to a child to read, but an adult - yes! I also loved seeing & learning about the Asylum, I loved the twist with the brothers Grimm ;) and I loved that the stories of Rapunzel, Cinderella & Beauty were included, too. And the ending was full of awesomeness, as well as the story itself.

The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures is a book I recommend to every fan of the dark & twisted side of the fairy tales & their retellings, because it was brilliant & amazing, and you wouldn't want to miss it.

 

 

 

Challenges: 

2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge