#BookReview (4 Stars) – The Forgotten and Fantastical 3 @MothersMilkBks #Fairytales

Thank you to Teika Bellamy at Mother’s Milk Books for kindly sending me this beautiful review copy of The Forgotten and the Fantastical 3 🙂

The Forgotten Betony Featured Image2

Blurb:

In this, the third in the series of The Forgotten and the Fantastical, an annual collection of fairy tales for an adult audience, transformation, both physical and psychological, is a recurring theme. Tea is served and stories are told. A stiletto is lost and strange babies are born. And bears, trees and flowers are never quite what they seem…

Features new writing from:

Sarah Armstrong, Carys Crossen, Moira Garland, Marie Gethins, Sarah Hindmarsh, Angi Holden, Elizabeth Hopkinson, Dan Micklethwaite, Poppy O’Neill, Ness Owen, NJ Ramsden, Ronne Randall, Rachel Rivett, Sophie Sellars, Claire Stephenson, Lynden Wade, Clair Wright.

My Review:

The Forgotten and Fantastical 3 is a collection of short fairy tales for adults. As a lifetime lover of fairy tales I had to read this book. As this is a mix of modern fables and ancient tales there is something for everyone.

My top three stories were:

Melissa’s Bearskin, by Ronne Randall – Wow! This is definitely my absolute favourite story within this collection. I was completely immersed in this tale. It’s about a girl who finds a bearskin and the consequences of the decisions she makes from that point onwards. Oh my goodness, this made me really tearful and the ending made my heart sink!

The Web and the Wildwood, by Lynden Wade – I loved the idea of weaving the tapestry, and the historical and magical feel to this story. Plus, I love unicorns.

The Narclops, by Sophie Sellars – This story focusses on our modern day obsession with social media. I’m someone who loves social media to keep in touch with far away friends and family, as well as sharing my love of books. However, I think I have quite a balanced relationship with it and recognise that some people go too far with their obsession. I definitely found this thought provoking.

Other stories well worth a mention are:

Midnight Riders, by Dan Micklethwaite – A hint of Cinderella in this one.

Spawned, by Clair Wright – An alternative slant to The Frog Prince that was cute and made me laugh.

Bearskin and Bare-skin, by Carys Crossen – About a bond between a human and a bear. Touching and a little dark.

The Salt Child, by Rachel Rivett – A short but sweet tale about fitting in and the need to belong.

This book would make a wonderful gift for someone who loves fairy tales. The cover is beautiful. The book is of very high quality with sharp black wording and thick bright white paper. The ‘Notes on Stories’ section is a great touch. It was fascinating to read about what inspired each short story. There is also a section at the very end with a paragraph about each author featured in this collection.