Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems by Theodora Goss
3.75 stars
This anthology collection focuses on retellings through short stories and poetry (which I thought was a nice blended-medium form of storytelling and it was cohesive). Goss has a good mix of darker concepts, but tends to sway toward the more enchanting, whimsical, and fun side of retellings. I prefer dark retellings because I’m a glutton for punishment and like to cry, but these were so much fun. Goss is a fantastic poet who weaves fantasy, reality, and humanity into her poems. Her stories are fun and full of talking cats. She offers a different, but enjoyable take to the stories we are familiar with as well as ones that we aren’t.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4
Since this is a collection, here are my thoughts and ratings on each story / poem:
Snow White Learns Witchcraft (poem)- 3 stars I liked this one well enough, but I wasn’t captured by it. I’ll be honest, at first, I thought I would not like this collection because of my lukewarm feelings towards its opening selection.
The Ogress Queen (poem)- 3 stars This is a darker take on Sleeping Beauty with the ogre being the wife of the king who rapes her as she sleeps. The Ogre Queen wants to eat her. It’s weird and definitely dark.
The Rose in Twelve Petals (short story)- 3.5 stars I really liked this one. The story is told through different points of view (it’s a Sleeping Beauty retelling) and one of my favorites was the Spinning Wheel. I liked how different of a story this one was, but I didn’t love it as I hoped to. Goss’s humor and social commentary really peaks out in this one.
Thorns and Briars (poem)- 4 stars This poem was wonderful. I thought it was an excellent representation of how women will let themselves become hardened but present themselves as doing the right thing to appease and impress people.
Rose Child (poem)- 2 stars I was not a fan of this one.
Thumbelina (poem)- 3 stars I liked this one, especially the ending lines.
“I would like to be small enough to hear the dawn breaking, the tulip opening, the sand as it shifts under each tide, the long dream of rocks.”
Blanchefleur (short story)- 3.5 stars This was a cute story about a boy who experiences great loss after his mother dies and how the town sees him as the village idiot. His aunt petitions for him to come on a quest and help those she knows in need in the magical realm. Blanchefleur is a talking cat who is his cousin and they go on many quests together.
Mr. Fox (poem)- 4 stars “How does on fall out of love with a thief who has already stolen one’s heart?” I really liked this poem.
What Her Mother Said (poem)- 3 stars I was so letdown because I loved the concept of this one so much that I wanted it to be longer as well as an actual story instead of a poem.
Snow, Blood, Fur (short story)- 4.5 stars I got my desire. This story follows the theme of the above poem and it was fantastic. It was a fantastic story steeped in darkness and cruelty.
The Red Shoes (poem)- 2.5 stars This was not a bad poem, but I wanted more from it. This is a common feeling towards most of the poems in this collection.
Girl, Wolf, Woods (poem)- 2 stars This one wasn’t bad, but I was not gripped by it.
Red as Blood and White as Bone (short story)- 5 stars This story was amazing. We follow a young girl who works in the kitchens of the palace as a lowly cook and her love of fairy tales. A woman comes to castle and the girl thinks she is a princess. A revenge story steeped with magic. I cried, I gasped, I loved it.
The Gold Spinner (poem)- 3 stars This was a decent poem, but after how good the last story was, I wasn’t feeling it.
Rumpelstiltskin (poem)- 4.25 stars This poem was fantastic. It follows two different halves who live different lives.
Goldilocks and the Bear (poem)- 5 stars I loved the concept of Goldilocks being a thief who is hidden by the young bear and they become friends. It was a beautiful form of storytelling for this story and it worked so well.
Sleeping with Bears (short story)- 3.5 stars This story was ridiculous, but funny. It follows a girl who is confused by the fact that her sister is marrying a bear.
The Stepsister’s Tale (poem)- 4 stars This poem is interesting because it talks about feet in the context of the stepsister being a foot doctor and how the stepsister did what she did to her own feet for her mother’s love.
The Clever Serving-Maid (poem)- 3 stars I would’ve liked more from this story because it felt like a rushed poem and I didn’t think the format helped the story.
Seven Shoes(poem)- 4 stars The witch says that you will get your desire when you have worn through seven pairs of shoes. Is this that story and I really liked the concept of it.
The Other Thea (short story)- 3.25 stars This one follows a witch who has it find her shadow in a different realm or else she will disappear. This one was a bit darker, but had a lot of whimsy infused into it. I loved the shadow concept, but I was very underwhelmed by it.
The Sensitive Woman (poem)- 3.25 stars I liked how raw and vulnerable this one felt.
The Bear’s Wife (poem)- 2 stars I was not a fan of this one.
The Bear’s Daughter (poem)- 3.5 stars I love the lyrical pattern of this one.
A Country Called Winter (short story)- 4.5 stars This one follows a grad student who is an immigrant from a foreign country. It is full of human drama and then it takes royal turn. It felt like a magic Princess Diaries and I loved that.
How to Make It Snow (poem)- 4 stars I liked this poem and the concept. It felt like it connected to the previous story.
Diamonds and Toads (poem)- 3.5 stars This follows a twist on why it’s not so bad to have toads coming out of your mouth, but how having diamonds coming can also be good.
The Princess and the Frog (poem)- 4 stars This one has a great twist and I loved that.
Conversations with the Sea Witch (short story)- 5 stars We follow The Little Mermaid as an old woman in her wheel chair. When she gave her song to the sea witch, she lost her legs and she could speak, but she didn’t know the language of humans. She and her husband (the prince) successfully built an empire and in her old age she feels death coming. Everyday she talks to the sea witch, but this conversation is different from the others. This conversation shows us what the sea witch’s biggest regret with her dead love is. This one got dark surprisingly quick.
The Nightingale and the Rose (poem)- 5 stars In this poem, we follow a nightingale who is a hopeless romantic and she wants to help a boy get a red rose for the professor’s daughter. This is a tale about sacrifice for the sake of love and the tragedy of when that sacrifice is not appreciated by anyone but the earth and its creator. I cried and I fell in love. This is the type of story that I love.
Mirror, Mirror (poem)- 3.5 stars I liked this one, but it wasn’t a favorite.
Overall, this is an excellent collection with a lot of fantastic stories and poems. I highly recommend it if you are looking for some more fairy tale retellings.
Plotastic Scale: 4
Cover Thoughts: I adore this cover. It’s one of my absolute favorites. I have an adoring heart for it.
Thank you, Netgalley and Mythic Delirium Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
3.75 stars
This anthology collection focuses on retellings through short stories and poetry (which I thought was a nice blended-medium form of storytelling and it was cohesive). Goss has a good mix of darker concepts, but tends to sway toward the more enchanting, whimsical, and fun side of retellings. I prefer dark retellings because I’m a glutton for punishment and like to cry, but these were so much fun. Goss is a fantastic poet who weaves fantasy, reality, and humanity into her poems. Her stories are fun and full of talking cats. She offers a different, but enjoyable take to the stories we are familiar with as well as ones that we aren’t.
Whimsical Writing Scale: 4
Since this is a collection, here are my thoughts and ratings on each story / poem:
Snow White Learns Witchcraft (poem)- 3 stars I liked this one well enough, but I wasn’t captured by it. I’ll be honest, at first, I thought I would not like this collection because of my lukewarm feelings towards its opening selection.
The Ogress Queen (poem)- 3 stars This is a darker take on Sleeping Beauty with the ogre being the wife of the king who rapes her as she sleeps. The Ogre Queen wants to eat her. It’s weird and definitely dark.
The Rose in Twelve Petals (short story)- 3.5 stars I really liked this one. The story is told through different points of view (it’s a Sleeping Beauty retelling) and one of my favorites was the Spinning Wheel. I liked how different of a story this one was, but I didn’t love it as I hoped to. Goss’s humor and social commentary really peaks out in this one.
Thorns and Briars (poem)- 4 stars This poem was wonderful. I thought it was an excellent representation of how women will let themselves become hardened but present themselves as doing the right thing to appease and impress people.
Rose Child (poem)- 2 stars I was not a fan of this one.
Thumbelina (poem)- 3 stars I liked this one, especially the ending lines.
“I would like to be small enough to hear the dawn breaking, the tulip opening, the sand as it shifts under each tide, the long dream of rocks.”
Blanchefleur (short story)- 3.5 stars This was a cute story about a boy who experiences great loss after his mother dies and how the town sees him as the village idiot. His aunt petitions for him to come on a quest and help those she knows in need in the magical realm. Blanchefleur is a talking cat who is his cousin and they go on many quests together.
Mr. Fox (poem)- 4 stars “How does on fall out of love with a thief who has already stolen one’s heart?” I really liked this poem.
What Her Mother Said (poem)- 3 stars I was so letdown because I loved the concept of this one so much that I wanted it to be longer as well as an actual story instead of a poem.
Snow, Blood, Fur (short story)- 4.5 stars I got my desire. This story follows the theme of the above poem and it was fantastic. It was a fantastic story steeped in darkness and cruelty.
The Red Shoes (poem)- 2.5 stars This was not a bad poem, but I wanted more from it. This is a common feeling towards most of the poems in this collection.
Girl, Wolf, Woods (poem)- 2 stars This one wasn’t bad, but I was not gripped by it.
Red as Blood and White as Bone (short story)- 5 stars This story was amazing. We follow a young girl who works in the kitchens of the palace as a lowly cook and her love of fairy tales. A woman comes to castle and the girl thinks she is a princess. A revenge story steeped with magic. I cried, I gasped, I loved it.
The Gold Spinner (poem)- 3 stars This was a decent poem, but after how good the last story was, I wasn’t feeling it.
Rumpelstiltskin (poem)- 4.25 stars This poem was fantastic. It follows two different halves who live different lives.
Goldilocks and the Bear (poem)- 5 stars I loved the concept of Goldilocks being a thief who is hidden by the young bear and they become friends. It was a beautiful form of storytelling for this story and it worked so well.
Sleeping with Bears (short story)- 3.5 stars This story was ridiculous, but funny. It follows a girl who is confused by the fact that her sister is marrying a bear.
The Stepsister’s Tale (poem)- 4 stars This poem is interesting because it talks about feet in the context of the stepsister being a foot doctor and how the stepsister did what she did to her own feet for her mother’s love.
The Clever Serving-Maid (poem)- 3 stars I would’ve liked more from this story because it felt like a rushed poem and I didn’t think the format helped the story.
Seven Shoes(poem)- 4 stars The witch says that you will get your desire when you have worn through seven pairs of shoes. Is this that story and I really liked the concept of it.
The Other Thea (short story)- 3.25 stars This one follows a witch who has it find her shadow in a different realm or else she will disappear. This one was a bit darker, but had a lot of whimsy infused into it. I loved the shadow concept, but I was very underwhelmed by it.
The Sensitive Woman (poem)- 3.25 stars I liked how raw and vulnerable this one felt.
The Bear’s Wife (poem)- 2 stars I was not a fan of this one.
The Bear’s Daughter (poem)- 3.5 stars I love the lyrical pattern of this one.
A Country Called Winter (short story)- 4.5 stars This one follows a grad student who is an immigrant from a foreign country. It is full of human drama and then it takes royal turn. It felt like a magic Princess Diaries and I loved that.
How to Make It Snow (poem)- 4 stars I liked this poem and the concept. It felt like it connected to the previous story.
Diamonds and Toads (poem)- 3.5 stars This follows a twist on why it’s not so bad to have toads coming out of your mouth, but how having diamonds coming can also be good.
The Princess and the Frog (poem)- 4 stars This one has a great twist and I loved that.
Conversations with the Sea Witch (short story)- 5 stars We follow The Little Mermaid as an old woman in her wheel chair. When she gave her song to the sea witch, she lost her legs and she could speak, but she didn’t know the language of humans. She and her husband (the prince) successfully built an empire and in her old age she feels death coming. Everyday she talks to the sea witch, but this conversation is different from the others. This conversation shows us what the sea witch’s biggest regret with her dead love is. This one got dark surprisingly quick.
The Nightingale and the Rose (poem)- 5 stars In this poem, we follow a nightingale who is a hopeless romantic and she wants to help a boy get a red rose for the professor’s daughter. This is a tale about sacrifice for the sake of love and the tragedy of when that sacrifice is not appreciated by anyone but the earth and its creator. I cried and I fell in love. This is the type of story that I love.
Mirror, Mirror (poem)- 3.5 stars I liked this one, but it wasn’t a favorite.
Overall, this is an excellent collection with a lot of fantastic stories and poems. I highly recommend it if you are looking for some more fairy tale retellings.
Plotastic Scale: 4
Cover Thoughts: I adore this cover. It’s one of my absolute favorites. I have an adoring heart for it.
Thank you, Netgalley and Mythic Delirium Books, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Snow White Learns Witchcraft? Are you a fan of retellings? What is your favorite fairy tale? Let me know down below in the comments!
That's cool that this anthology mixes stories and poetry! It does seem like all the ones you liked best were the darker ones lol, but I feel you. I also like dark! Although fun is nice too. Some of these stories/poems sound interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt was an incredibly unique medium for the anthology. Yes, I am that kind of person. LOL That's just how I like my fairy tales. There were a couple of fun ones like the princess one that I enjoyed because it wasn't whimsical to the point of being ridiculous. Hope you consider giving this collection a shot, Kristen! I think you may like it!
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