Synopsis:
Once upon a nightmare…
Long ago, in a land where imagination meets the darkest nightmares, they built the asylum. Surrounded by a forest of thorns, it holds the most twisted minds in the fairy tale kingdom: a terrible collection of evil creatures and forgotten souls. Imprisoned within its walls, they are doomed to spend forever after telling their tales… and serving as a warning to others.
Now, you are invited to accompany Blood Red Riding Hood into the depths of this strange place – where you will meet its even stranger inhabitants. But be warned: walls this thick were built to withstand the darkest magic… so once you’re inside, you might just find yourself living horribly ever after… and wishing you were indeed in a land far, far away.
(Synopsis from Goodreads).
My Thoughts:
I love fairy tale re-tellings. The genre is one of my favorite things to read. Therefore, when I saw The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures, I knew I had to read it. The title drew me in right away, and made me want to know more about it. The book also has an absolutely stunning cover. Unfortunately, I ended up not enjoying the book. It was extremely disappointing.
The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures had a great premise, but the book itself failed to deliver. I think my main problem with this book was that it needed an editor so badly. The way it was formatted had the story out of order. It would skip back and forth between scenes, and I had no idea what the heck was going on. When I was reading it, I could tell it wasn't done on purpose. It just wasn't edited. It was almost like someone copied and pasted parts of the story in the wrong place on purpose. It made everything so confusing. Just when I thought I was starting to understand the story, it would happen again, and I'd be more confused than ever. Sentences would cut off in the middle, without ever being finished. The book was also full of punctuation mistakes, and run on sentences that never seem to end.
There were a couple things I did enjoy about the book, even though it was so confusing. I loved how dark and twisted the storylines were. It created a completely different take on the fairy tales everyone knows and loves, along with some that I had never heard of. I will never look at teddy bears the same way again, or allow them into my house. They kind of creep me out now. I loved the fresh take on the classics. It got me interested in the characters. I also liked how quirky the characters were. I loved the mini stories about Snow White, and Cinderella.
I was sad that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. However, I think in the hands of a different, more through editor, this could have easily been a four or five-star read. I'm hoping that one day the book does get another editor. If it does, I would gladly be willing to give it another try. I'm also hoping that one day the author write a book about the side characters, whose backstory was only covered in a couple sentences. I would love to learn what happened to them after all of the things that happened at the end of the book. I will definitely be trying some of the author's other books to see if they are edited better because I did enjoy his writing style.
I give The Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures: 2.5/5.
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I received this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
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