Book: Fierce Fairy Tales & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul
Author: Nikita Gill
Genre: Poetry, Short Stories, Re-telling’s
Synopsis: Step into this world of empowering reimagined fairytales where the stereotypes of obliging lovers, violent men and girls that need rescuing are transformed into brave princesses, blurred lines between heroes and villains, and a courageous Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.
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If anyone knows me, they know that I love fairy tales and retellings. I’d seen this being advertised on Twitter and Instagram and it instantly intrigued me. I must admit that the first thing that drew me in was the cover because it is beautiful! It definitely adds to the authentic feel of the fairy tales, as though you’d be able to find it amongst the classics of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.
What I didn’t realise was that it was poetry collection mixed with short stories. I have nothing against poetry it’s just not something I usually read, but I was pleasantly surprised reading this! The layout is interesting, but it works. I think that if it had been just prose, then it would have lost some of the magic and the power the stories have because even the short stories are lyrical and poetic. The two formats flow so well into one another that I didn’t really notice them changing!
The subjects of the stories are easily recognisable, and whilst some of them are based on the Disney films through the use of character names not included in the original fairy tales, each one still had the essence and the magic of its original counterpart. The original fairy tales were created to teach children to behave by showing them what would happen if they didn’t, delivering a moral and message to the children to condition them into behaving. And whilst some of the original ones can be taken as not being feminist, Gill subverts this and brings the beloved tales into the 21st century by telling girls they don’t have to wait, they can save themselves.
“Sleeping Beauty kisses her own forehead and awakens herself,
smiling at what she has won. After all, the deepest love you can ever
have is the love you have for yourself.”
The whole collection makes you think about the way you treat others and even treat yourself. It is very relatable in this day and age and has a lot of quotes that relate heavily to today's society. It talks about loving yourself, even what you consider to be the ‘bad bits’ because you don’t get a second life. You control your own destiny, no one else can tell you what you can and cannot do.
A monster is only a monster
If we allow it to live in our minds and swell
But she doesn’t only tackle empowering women to take hold of their own destiny. There is a poem titled Hansel’s Letter to his Son and a story called Man Up, Hercules. I read these the day the new Gillette advert came out; We Believe: The Best Men Can Be and they connected so well. The first one talks about teaching men to be better than their predecessors, rather than just allowing sons to become the same as you, push them to be better, push them to do things you never got to.
This is how we will teach our sons to be more,
to ensure a strength of lineage, to enable them to be
the very best they can be.
By telling them, ‘Be a better man than me.’
Man Up, Hercules talks about toxic masculinity and the culture where men are encouraged to hide their feelings, that it’s not masculine to cry and to just shove it all down and bottle it up until it burst out and anger is the only answer men know. It’s handled so well, teaching men and boys that it’s not feminine to talk about your feelings, it’s a necessity to live a healthy life.
This is such an important topic because we need to normalise men crying. We need to normalise asking for help before it’s too late. We need to normalise men being able to talk to other men about this stuff, not just their wives or girlfriends. In today's world, especially with the #MeToo movement still ongoing, we need to make it clear that men need to come forward too and talk about their experiences.
Every single story and poem in this book are a social commentary on today’s society and it hits the nail straight on the head with how so many people around the world are feeling. I know that I saw some of myself in these stories and there are some stories that I’ll read again when I feel like a need a little pick me up or if I’m having a hard time.
You are not alone. With this endless universe above you that has given you the gift of existence. You are not alone.
Rating: 5 out of 5
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