F is for Fairy by Rhonda Parrish

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the sixth Alphabet Anthology book, where each story is titled with a word starting with each subsequent letter of the alphabet. I wouldn’t mind finding the first few (though they have different themes, so I don’t feel like I missed anything). Overall this was a fun read, and I truly enjoyed trying to figure out what word each story was representing. Most of the time I was wrong 😉

The stories span genres–you’ll find traditional fairy tales reminiscent of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, urban fantasy, light horror, even a fae story taking place on a spaceship. Stories that stood out for me: a tale of Nordic fae by C.S. MacCath; Stephanie A. Cain’s story of unusual ancestry; Rachel M. Thompson’s royal romance; Megan Engelhardt’s World War I tale; Michael M Jones’ story of a club where love can be lost, and found; the reveal of a most unexpected facet of an ogre by Michael Fosburg; and the completely unexpected juxtaposition of hockey and imminent apocalypse by Beth Cato (the author who informed me of this anthology’s existence).

Not a problem, just an observation: some of the stories are very short. It was a surprise when I tapped through the book on my iPad and suddenly a story was done. More power to authors who can tell a complete story in few words. As with any anthology, be prepared for swings in author style, which can be jarring.

If you like short stories with fantastical bents, this anthology is for you.

I received this book as a complimentary e-ARC from Booksprout in exchange for an honest review.