Welcome to Litsy!

^^Miller tells his daughter to work with what you‘ve got, whether that‘s generational wealth or a pretty face. Go spin that reality TV gold!

P188 “You‘re supposed to bear witness, not enjoy it,” says Bernice “It‘s not supposed to be entertainment.”

200 “Tragedy isn‘t capital,” says Gretel. “It doesn‘t buy you anything. It doesn‘t automatically make you a better person. And it certainly doesn‘t make people fall in love with you.”

Exploitation of women‘s trauma stories, cultural obsession with true crime. When does witnessing become gawking? Reality TV, tabloids, social media. Meta in that novel also sensationalizes stories. Fairy tale heroines (Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard‘s wife, Gretel, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin‘s spinner) join a trauma group. Language and characters clip along, addictive reading if sometimes gruesome. Fairytale aspect cartoonish on tough subject? 2022

Maybe I wasn‘t an ottoman, but I had transformed in that basement too. It was like there had been an earthquake inside of me, like I had been hollowed by it, and now I was left to live in the ruins. Who could ever really understand but them? Tonight I will go back home, and they will be there, talking, telling me over and over about how they lived and how they died. Mostly how they died. I will never get to tell them my story, because it‘s ⬇️

AI‘s creepy rendition of the misogynist murderer from Bernice‘s story, Ashton/Bluebeard.

I knew I should be grateful—for the sky, for the sun, for days at all—but I wanted to escape, to shoot out of the atmosphere into the blackness of outer space, or else I wanted to fold into myself, like origami, so that I could see only the darkness of my own inner edges. But even then—or especially then—I knew the dead women from my dreams would be waiting, stretching their bony, decaying hands out to me, begging me to give them faces, to give⬇️

If you‘re looking for a modern “fairytale “ twist this book is for you!

I loved sinking my teeth into each character‘s individual story. What makes this book great is that each character has their own flaws that make them relatable to people in the real world. Each story is different but you can see why certain characters made the decisions they did. I would definitely read a part two.

Started this book yesterday 😇

Adelmann gave me not just re-imagines, but well written characters, diverse in looks and tone, modern world building that has it's own personality and such an interesting story that intersects and weaves — letting each character have her moment and say her side of the story before the surprise of a reveal that I never could have seen coming.

#popsugarreadingchallenge

When I picked this up at the library, I couldn't remember why it put it on hold (podcast rec, possibly?). The librarian mentioned that she had tried it and put it down after 20 pages, so I was worried. I didn't need to be.

If you like a darkly humorous fairy tale retelling set in modern times (and don't have too many triggers), this one might be for you too.

Plus it was my #bookspin pick this month!

@TheAromaofBooks

I really like retellings. And I did like this one. It was a cool concept. But, I feel like if you're going to make some super obvious and to their story, you shouldn't go completely off the rails with other ones. Some stories were magical where others were not at all like the author couldn't decide if they wanted it to be magical or realism. 3.5/5

This was my book club‘s read for September. The premise is fantastic: group therapy sessions for women who‘ve survived—well—the cover gives you a good idea of where this is going. I was wary going in, since the person who chose it gave a caveat that there was some “body horror," which did not sound like my jam, but it turned out to not be extreme. I could have done without some of the gross descriptions, in the first couple tales especially. ⤵️

Short but impactful, well worth the library waitlist!
Super interesting concept, felt surreal but also so so relatable and current. If you‘re into feminism, fairy tales/folklore, and modern fiction, this is it!

Did a little shopping after lunch, including a stop at the local indie bookstore #bookhaul

April decided my new t-shirt was a pretty comfortable bed #catsoflitsy

TFW you slide in at the very last minute of the eleventh hour. 😅 Made it to my branch library 3 minutes before closing time and managed to return my loans and check out the tagged book, a hold pickup. Whew! Feeling lucky. 🍀

“Personal trauma, public figure.” Five women meet for weekly group therapy sessions in modern NYC. Each has a traumatic story that hit the news—and which also happens to correspond with a traditional fairytale—yet is very much about women‘s lives today, as well as our fascination with watching the suffering of other people. Dark, funny & feminist. The audiobook is brilliant.

Pounded some ecoprints onto a bandanna today while listening to a fairytale mashup. #audiocrafting #Litsycrafters

This was a very unique fairytale retelling. A support group of women meets once a week to tell their stories of survival. They've been labeled by society as liars, gold-diggers, and whores, and all they want is for the truth to be told so they can move on from their trauma.

How to be Eaten is a dark look into how women are often treated by men and by society. I love that the author used fairy tales as the background stories for each woman.

Final Girl Support Group meets Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Horror and empowerment, bit more gore than I expected.
Exposes the flaws in generations of women being raised to seek a heteronormative happily ever after as the only way to be fulfilled, or for their life to have value, and, if they sought or were coerced into something else, they no longer deserve the fairy tale ending. Hints at a lot of unlearning/feminist reframing society need to do. 1/?

Incredibly creative use of fairy tales to create a whole new modern story. Wonderful writing. Such a quirky, unique read. Loved it.

Today was my last day of work until January!

Also I fished this last week and it was really interesting, I think I liked this one, premise was good and I am a sucker for heavy character driven books.

Sadly, Ashlee E, I quite resemble that remark. Or whatever.

Dark riffs on fairy tales have always been my thing. They're *meant* to be dark.

Super fast read and one of the few books to where I wasn't sure how exactly it was going to end. Which was hella nice! I liked the twists the author did with fairytales. Definitely a 5 out of a 5 for me.

This was an okay read, I liked the telling of the fairytales through the lens of traumatic experience. It was an interesting take though the ending left something to be desired. 4 stars.
#Scarathlon #TeamMomistermash 15pts + 1pt participation

Interesting use of modern storylines to retain fairytales, but overall the story was trite and far fetched

This is horror. Sort of. It's modern retellings of fairy tales set in NYC told as a mix between Group and a reality show. And one of them is Bluebeard. And that's my fav. So there you go.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks 😘

How to be Eaten is an intriguing premise; it's a modern-day support group of the women that needed rescuing from classic fables, like Red Riding Hood and Gretel. Each chapter is one character's telling of their story, some more gripping than others. I was disappointed; the characters weren't dynamic and the twist is obvious. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Why do people do this?!

Writing in a library book is so obnoxious!

Next up!
This one reimagines classic fairtytale characters that are in a support group for trauma. Should be interesting!

4☆A dark and edgy reimagining of fairytale heroines and trauma narratives. Adelmann's flowing prose kept me from putting this book down! It's a unique form of the trauma narrative and there were some great lines throughout! If you enjoyed Nightbitch or Carmen Maria Machado writing you may enjoy this one! #bookreview #bookblogger

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m surprised I haven‘t heard more buzz about this addictive and brilliant feminist retelling! I was hooked from the premise - reimagined classic (and modern) fairytale protagonists process their traumas together in a support group - and it delivered! It‘s wickedly smart with a strong voice and sharp teeth; a dark and dazzling novel I wanted to devour.