Irish Fairy and Folk Tales

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

This is a small compilation of short stories and poems of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales, arranged by Fall River Press.

Throughout the book there's a religious undertone, it's not exactly what I expected, though in retrospect, it makes sense.

I guess I was hoping for something more along the lines of fairies making mischief, however, most - if not all - folk tales, that have survived the test of time, have a moral to the story; so all things considered, it's to be expected that their cautionary tales will have a God fearing vibe to them. 

I also think I should give this book a trigger warning. 

It didn’t bother me, but it might some of the younger people, there's one story that I found to be particularly disturbing, the one with the witch (described as pagan woman), it was a bit graphic.

I gave this book 3 stars because I really liked a couple of stories, but most of them were ok, just that, ok.
This could have had a better, more balanced selection, and I would've tweaked the order as well, for better pacing, but since they're short stories and poems, you can just skip the ones you don't feel like reading at the moment and come back to them later.

One thing I'd like to point out though, is that these were written a very long time ago, the feminist movement wasn't a thing back then, there's a quote in the book that goes as follows:

"…; and thus also is it proved that the women, if they bring us into many an unpleasant scrape, can sometimes succeed in getting us out of others that are as bad."

Lol, bless him, he tried.

It's my first time owning a Barnes & Noble flexibound edition, it's my first time owning a Barnes & Noble book. We don't have those in Portugal.

It's quite beautiful, look at it shine!

However, I'm not sure if they're all that durable, having read it only once:

The top of the spine is already scuffed, I have no idea how it happened, I was very careful, as I always am with pretty editions, so maybe they scuff easily? 

I don't mind it all that much (it's tiny anyway), but figured I should point it out to those who do.

In conclusion, 

stories can be a hit or miss,

pretty book is pretty.

Love, Mariana