Review: Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran

Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran was published October 2, 2013 by Prime Books. It's a fantastic collection of 18 stories. "Contributions could be new interpretations of old fairy tales or an original story inspired by earlier fairy tales." Among the authors gathered within the pages are Caitlin R. Kiernan, A.C. Wise, Tanith Lee, and Jane Yolen.

Generally speaking, I do enjoy fairy tales, and these were no exception. Of course I did end up with a few favorites though. A few are listed here:
"The Coin of Heart's Desire" by Yoon Ha Lee - The description is so lush I swear you can feel the water.
"Blanchefleur" by Theodora Goss - I really enjoyed watching the Idiot begin to learn that he might be capable of more than he thought.
And what collection would be complete without a story by Jane Yolen "The Spinning Wheel's Tale" - I loved the change of point of view in this retake on a familiar tale and the language. "The story begins with spinning, spinning the wheel,  spinning the curse,  spinning the lies that lie at the heart of a mouth, a castle, a hedge. And of course it all begins with a witch."

If you enjoy fairy tales and retellings at all, you will enjoy this book. It's definitely worth the time to take a look at it. The stories are all well written and interesting. I give this collection 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.