Elna Holst

The latest edition of Ninestar Press's Once Upon a Rainbow series is thoroughly charming. The premise is simple: queer retellings of classic fairy tales, but the execution is, for lack of a better word, magical. I haven't read the first two volumes, but bought them immediately upon finishing this review copy. As with their Into the Mystic anthologies, Ninestar's editorial chops are on full display here - none of the stories stand out as "filler." Yes, there are a few that worked better for me than others, but most of that is personal preference, not objective quality issues.

There's something immeasurably satisfying about reading the stories I grew up with, turned into queer happily-ever-afters. Why shouldn't Cinderella be trans? Is that not the perfect story for a trans man? Why shouldn't Pinocchio be a lovingly-crafted sculpture come to life as a lover? And why must the Big Bad Wolf always be a man? Retelling fairy tales from a queer perspective brings something fresh to each of these stories, so much so that I didn't realize there were two Cinderella retellings until I was writing this review.

If you want a bit more on each of the stories, I've written the tiniest of reviews for each of the seven below. TL;DR: If you're looking for a palate cleanser, some delightfully queer fluff, or a story that makes you cry because you feel seen? This is an excellent volume.



Baile de la Marioneta, by W.M. Fawkes

Jose is an art student studying sculpture, and one day he crafts a man out of wood. This is a surprising Pinocchio retelling - when the wooden man lies, it's not his nose that grows. This little detail could have tipped the story from sweet to crass, but it doesn't. I think this was the most emotionally charged of the anthology, with an exploration of consent, ownership, and the power of love to transform.



Loose in the Heel, Tight in the Toe, by Valentine Wheeler

This is the first of two Cinderella retellings, this time with a lesbian Cinderella who wants to go to the ball but really doesn't want to marry the prince. Turns out... he's asexual and more than happy to make an arrangement with his bride-to-be. The author also works in a cast of secondary characters and story elements that make the whole thing come together very well. One of the best in the anthology.



Green Things Grow from Cinders, by A.E. Ross

I adored this story. The hero is a trans man who owns a florist shop and isn't out to his roommates. He has a huge crush on the man hosting a friend's wedding (that he's doing the flowers for) but doesn't want to go in the bridesmaid dress he ordered months ago. Cue the fairy godmother, who steps in to send this Cinderfella off to the ball in style.



The Scent of Magic, by N.J. Romaine

The wolf in this story is a soldier/hunter who's exiled herself to the woods after the kingdom she protected is cursed to go to sleep. A girl with a red cloak is walking through the forest and the wolf offers to escort her. But nothing is quite what it seems...



The Rescue, by Sam Burns

This one has a few twists, so I'll just say that it's the story of a gay knight who really doesn't want to marry the princess he's set off to rescue from the dragon. There's definitely an HEA, though!



The Bremen Town Musicians, by Mark Lesney

The classic folktale, but twisted to be about a ragtag group of teens who've been called by names like "Donkey" and "Hound" all their lives. I had issues with the use of the word g*psy and also with the fact that a band of said Romani were brutally killed by the robbers in the story. Not great to have a persecuted minority group in your book to provide an emotional arc for the main characters, and to refer to them by an ethnic slur... The folk tale itself has always been messed up, right? I knew this was going to be a dark story, with scaring off robbers and so on, but I think the slaughter of 10 innocent Roma could have been left out.

The queer pairing is m/m, in case you're curious.


Gretel on Her Own, by Elna Holst

As you can probably predict from the title, this is a Hansel and Gretel retelling that focuses on Gretel. The story is an f/f romance that explores themes mental illness, magic, and temptation. It was confusing in a wonderful sort of way.… (mais)

If you've followed my reviews, you know I'm a sucker for a fairy tale retelling. This was an absolutely brilliant one! (Although I suppose it's more of a sequel - Gretel is in fact all grown up and the original fairy tale is alluded to). The way Holst updated and molded a classic tale absolutely captivated me. I dove in one night and didn't come up for air until morning. The prose was more captivating than a house of gingerbread is to two hungry children. My heart went out to Gretel, her life hadn't been easy, but she's strong yet relatable. A great read for anyone who wants to know what happened after Gretel grew up.… (mais)

Anthology of works that took an LGBT twist on some fairy tales. There were gay men, lesbians, asexual, and trans stories included, and it was a nice collection overall.

Baile de la Marioneta by W.M. Fawkes
This was super awkward at times (with Tecun being wooden-lol), but a very interesting concept and twist on Pinocchio. It worked itself out in the end, and it was cool how it did. 3 stars me

Loose in the Heel, Tight in the Toe by Valentine Wheeler
I liked this take on Cinderella; one character was an asexual prince, the other a lesbian. There wasn’t really romance as this was mainly about friendship and asexuality, but I liked the relationship agreement between the Prince and Catherine. I do wish the story had a little more in the way of the Prince and Catherine developing a friendship and working together. It was more of a Catherine on her own story, and it could have had more depth with their friendship. It was a nice take on the Cinderella theme, though. 4 stars

Green Things Grow from Cinders by A.E. Ross
Another spin off of a Cinderella type story, but this was different. Ash is trans, but not out to his friends yet, and he meets the prince at a party. I liked how Ash being trans wasn’t a big deal in the romance, but I would’ve loved seeing more of the relationship between Ash and his friends develop as his own authentic self. There were a lot of comments about how close they were, but he didn’t share this important piece with them. They they made his roommates (or at least one) a bit nutty. She didn’t start out that way, but it went down that road. I would have liked to see the reaction when Ash got the prince instead of her. 4 stars

The Scent of Magic by N.J. Romaine
This was a really cool take on Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (both females). I liked the story, and wish we had gotten to see the main event (it ended just as the quest began). 4 stars

The Rescue by Sam Burns
I loved this story-my favorite of the bunch. It was such a sweet story about an adorable knight who was sweet, caring, and honorable who set out to rescue a princess from a dragon. Brice and Aidan were great together, and it was nice to see them connect. I’d love a story about Princess Rose reconnecting with the boys for adventures! Rocinante was a fun horse friend. 5 stars

Bremen Town Musicians by Mark Lesney
4 outcasts come together to survive. There were some interesting moments, but mostly it wasn’t my favorite. There was a lot going on while not a lot went on. I liked watching the 4 become each other’s family, but it was a bit dry for me. 2.5 stars

Gretel on Her Own by Elna Holst
While this was an interesting story overall, I thought there were some parts that weren’t solid and cohesive. The story seemed to bounce around a bit without telling us what was really going on, and a bit confusing at times. Were they the real Hansel and Gretel, or was it all a dream/delusion? I didn’t really feel a connection between Gretel and Dorothea, especially since they were apart for most of the book, and when they did get together I was a bit over it. Not a bad story, but it didn’t captivate me like some of the others. 2.5 stars

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by IndiGo Marketing & Design… (mais)

And Then They Were Four by Elna Holst
Tinsel and Spruce Needles #4

Short but sweet this had four short Christmas clips from the lives of several people and all of the people in the clips knew or were related to one another.

What I liked:
* That I had a feel for the characters even though I had not read previous stories in the series
* That all four Advent stories overlapped and came together connecting the stories with one another
* The variety
* That there was hope and potential for happiness for all of them
* The love and friendship felt
* A baby born on Christmas Eve
* That no matter what age you are…there is potential for romance
* All of it really except…

What I didn’t like:
* The only thing I didn’t like is not really knowing what will happen in the lives of those I met in this collection.

Did I enjoy this novella? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (mais)