Item: Tangleweed and Brine: YA Book of the Year, Irish Book Awards
Rating: 4.00
Author: wyvernfriend

by Deirdre Sullivan

Bewitched retellings of classic fairy-tales with brave and resilient heroines.

WINNER: Book of the Year 2018 (CBI Awards)
WINNER: YA Book of the Year 2017 (Irish Book Awards)
WINNER: Reader's Choice Award for YA Fiction 2017 (Irish Times Ticket Awards)

A multi-award winning collection of twelve dark, feminist retellings of traditional fairytales from one of Ireland’s leading writers for young people. In the tradition of Angela Carter, stories such as Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin are given a witchy makeover. Intricately illustrated with black and white line drawings.

‘Exquisitely written and powerful – I’m enchanted by it.’ — Marian Keyes

‘Deirdre Sullivan’s writing is beguiling, bewitching and poetic. Her prose is almost dreamlike, reminiscent of Angela Carter.’ – Juno Dawson, author of The Gender Games

‘Sullivan’s prose is delicate and masterful.’ – Dave Rudden, author of Knights of the Borrowed Dark

‘Witchy, eerie and beautiful. These thirteen fairytale retellings already feel like feminist classics.’ – Claire Hennessy, author of Like Other Girls

Dark, feminist retellings of traditional fairytales for a teen audience – not for the faint-hearted

Dark Dark tales Oh this is dark dark stuff, I found it enthralling, but it's a book to have something happy and light lined up afterwards. This is not your light, easy read, this stuff is grim and it takes a twist on the Grimm tales and amps up the agency for the female characters.

The illustrations by Karen Vaughan reminded me of Aubrey Bearsley or Harry Clarke with a modern more sparse twist and I was very impressed by them.

These are not your average fairy tale but they're damned good.

I had a different book lined up for A Grimm Tale in the Bingo but this is just too perfect for this.

Tangleweed and Brine: YA Book of the Year, Irish Book Awards

by Deirdre Sullivan

Reviewed by wyvernfriend on Oct 13, 2018

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