I have a lot of favorite books and they're favorites for different reasons. Like many people, I grew up with faerytales. Some of them, I have no doubt, scared me. Whether it was the story itself or the illustrations. Some struck notes that have carried on for reasons I could probably analyze and no doubt do in my own writing as faerytale themes, along with myth and religion, crop up constantly. I don't remember if I read The Armless Maiden as a child. I do know I read a lot of stories that went

These are not the fairy tales we heard as children. These explore the darker side of life and deal with abuse in some way, shape or form.

Not doing my usual breakout, because unless I do it as I go for short story collections, it's a blurry whole.There are some great stories in here, some brutal but amazing ones, and some...why was this even included? ones. About par for the course for collections. Still, there's a lot to be said for a collection that tries to bring awareness and a relieving whimsy to such a serious topic as child abuse.

I'm a big fan of Terri Windling, and make an effort to seek out her anthologies. Thus, I got this one. I'd heard rave reviews of it - people saying "This is the one that made a difference in my life!"I was a bit quizzical about that, because for me, that was 'Bordertown.' And for me, it remains Bordertown, although I can see why other people might need this book more. I was lucky enough to always be wanting to run 'to' - not having to run 'from.'This book is on the theme of child abuse. It's kin...

Some of these short stories are a reinterpretation of traditional fairy tales and the others have a similar quality. Most deal with the issue of childhood abuse and deprivation. They are well written and many are thought provoking as well as enjoyable.

So What’s It About?This is an anthology edited by Terri Winding, the theme of which is child abuse. Most of the stories are fairy tale retellings.CW for all kinds of child abuse. What I ThoughtThere are too many stories to do them all justice with a review, so I thought I’d give my overall impressions of the collection and mention my favorites. The most interesting thing about this book besides its overall focus on abuse is how tonally varied it is, with stories that range from comical to incred...

This anthology needs to get an epub release! All of the Ellen Datlow/Terri Windling faery tale anthologies have made it to epub -- this solo-editor outing from Windling, long out of print, is the remaining exception. The stories were tragic & haunting (my copy was "misplaced" during a move; whoever ended up with it, I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did) -- I remember one Newford story from Charles deLint, with Jilly taking in a pregnant runaway. Other tales included retakes on classic fairy t...

Sometimes you have to read someone else's story in order to face your own. This book was that for me.

Diverse collection of stories (plus a few poems and personal recollections) by authors who understand that hell is for children and that you can never escape your childhood, only survive it. Many retellings of fairy tales. I read this over a long period of time, so I don't remember details on all the entries, but there was only one piece that I disliked. Most of the stories were of girls but there were enough of boys that I didn't feel like they were being ignored, as they tend to be when dealin...

Love it in concept. In practice, as with many anthologies, it's kind of a mixed bag. A few standout stories, but most aren't particularly memorable.

Borrowed this book from a friend and was reminded that the fairy tales we recited and remembered as children weren't always happy...they were dark. A mature collection of fairy tales that was grim but gripping at every turn of the page. Some of the stories were so dark that it would be a couple of days before I picked the book up again. Don't read the book if you are looking for something uplifting, sweet and light.

A good book for those who have survived childhood sexual abuse- I love this book for one of the stories. I actually found out about this book when I wrote to the author regarding a story she had in another collection & she suggested this book to me. This is not a book for everyone, one of the book sellers I contacted to get this out of print book refused to sell it to me because she had decided that it was too "uplifting". She did not like the idea presented that abuse of this sort was something...

All in all, I found this collection really captivating. I love fairytales - particularly in their darker, original forms. And this anthology presents several versions of original tales from around the world, all focused on heroines that have had to overcome brutality, loss, subjugation, etc. Even some of the modern spins of classic tales were really good (women recovering from child abuse, etc). As happens with an anthology, there were several stories that easily lost my interest (so I skimmed),...

Through the process of transcribing oral fairy tales to the page, author interpretation, the 17th century appropriation of tales for the teaching and socialization of children, and finally Disney's animation and sentimentalization, fairy tales have been cleaned, lightened, beautified, and made "safe". Much of what I've read on fairy tales this semester has focused on peeling back the layers of this process to find the true nature of these stories: which in their original forms could be gory, baw...

In 46 stories, poems, memoirs, and essays, this a collection of childhood suffering and survival as explored in and through fairy tales, from wicked stepmothers and licentious kings to magical girls and wolf-hearted boys. The Armless Maiden is desperately well-intended, and succeeds and fails on account. Its subject is already prevalent in fairy tales and their retellings, and it well deserves to be collected and fully explored—but this collection pushes thematic into the realm of didactic. Suc

Disappointing. This rating is only based on the subject matter was a little to dark for me. Very graphic sexual abuse depicted in a lot of the stories. Child molestation to me is a creepy subject so I found my self cringing through a lot of the "grittier" stories and skipping the parts that made my flesh crawl. There are a few stories that do not have sexual abuse in them but they do have extreme bloody violence. I thought that the whole book was going to be more like "Princess in Puce" which is...

The stories are all fairy tales or pieces based on fairy tales that explore the themes of child abuse and the lasting effects not just on the abusees but the witnesses and occasionally the abusers. It was a very powerful work, and I recommend it for anyone with a love of fairy tales and a love for all children.

I remember reading this in an Adirondack chair under a big shade tree over the Memorial Day weekend while on a retreat at the Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg, CA. I read each story slowly, listening to the distinctive voices of each author, absorbing their take on such a dark topic, yet finding hope and redemption in many of the stories. Terry Windling and Ellen Datlow are among my all-time favorite editors, I appreciate the many wonderful thematic anthologies they have put together down through th...

The stories were hit or miss for me, and two of them I skipped. I still give this book five stars. It is a collection of validation and hope. The afterword by Terri Windling fills a need with clarity and honesty. The Dirty Little Girl by Joanna Russ brought me to tears while I was reading in public. You might not want to read this book where you can't cry in peace.

I really liked this book- It made me think of all the stories I read when I was little and how I really htought everything had a happy ending. Well, thats just not life is it. I liked how these ancient fairy tales really spun a new life into some of the new concerns I have about society. Its a good read.