'Other Ever Afters' - a collection of original, unconventional fairy tales by Melanie Gillman. All of them are LBGTQ+; most are ostensibly so. Some of the stories are clever, and charming, and ambiguous, and melancholic and harrowing; some are a combination of two or three of these traits. A few are longish and epic. But none are as soft as Gillman's artwork makes them appear. They're pretty brutal.
All end in twists that are different from any happily ever after you've heard before.Regardless of what you take away from these strange yet beautiful tales, for me the two greatest elements of every one of them are: they are clearly anti-gender conformity (plus pro-genderfluidity in heroes), anti-cishet normality, and anti-conservative; and, in degrees of subtlety throughout but bluntly stated at the end:
Spoiler:
It is anti-monarchy.
'We all know (for we are told it so often) that girls who linger in the woods meet terrible fates [...] They do not marry; they do not rule. What truly goes hungry when it is denied girls to devour -- is the castle.
May we live to see it starve.'
Having no love for the British royal family these days, nor for any royalty, I appreciate this message enormously.
'We all know (for we are told it so often) that girls who linger in the woods meet terrible fates [...] They do not marry; they do not rule. What truly goes hungry when it is denied girls to devour -- is the castle.
May we live to see it starve.'
Having no love for the British royal family these days, nor for any royalty, I appreciate this message enormously.
Spoiler end.
My favourite stories, the ones I adore the most, are: 'The King's Forest' (that ending, wow: powerful, startling, cryptic, profound stuff), 'The Goose Girl' (the only unoriginal tale, a retelling, but it's a great, effective, lesbian and POC twist), 'Sweet Rock' (with a giantess! who safeguards girls and women!), and 'Hsthete' (with a plus size heroine, who falls in love with a Pan-like goddess of mishaps).
'Other Ever Afters' - even when it's confusing, it stays with you all the same. These stories are needed for modern times.
They're gorgeous.
Love and respect for queer people, people of colour, trans people, fat people, older people, and nonbinary, gender nonspecific people.
I heard Gillman made more fairy tales. I wonder if those'll be collected in a sequel book. I also wonder if they'll have disability rep to go with everything else.
'Happily Ever After... For All of Us'
Final Score: 3.5/5
'Other Ever Afters' - even when it's confusing, it stays with you all the same. These stories are needed for modern times.
They're gorgeous.
Love and respect for queer people, people of colour, trans people, fat people, older people, and nonbinary, gender nonspecific people.
I heard Gillman made more fairy tales. I wonder if those'll be collected in a sequel book. I also wonder if they'll have disability rep to go with everything else.
'Happily Ever After... For All of Us'
Final Score: 3.5/5
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