The Doomsday Book of Fairy Tales - Review

Author: Emily Brewes

Genre: Dystopian 

Format: e-book

Pages: 296

I received an early e-book copy of this through Netgalley for my honest opinion.

The Doomsday Book of Fairy Tales is another book where the cover was the first thing that caught my eye, and the synopsis pulled me. I was interested to see how the fairy tales were going to weave into the stories, and what this new world was going to look like. Mostly because not a lot of information was given in the synopsis, and I don't mind going into books blind. It adds to the excitement at the start of any book.

This was a weird one, and not just because in order to outrun the destruction of Earth people basically turned into mole people. It was weird because I never really got a sense of this who Jesse was, or if he really actually felt anything. When we first meet Jesse I assumed they were a teenager, but then you found out the character in his thirties. Okay, but then he'll say things, or act, like he's still just a kid despite the fact living in this Underground, and losing his mother, aged him. Then there's the lack of any real emotion when he finds Doggo, a talking dog. I mean, it's a talking dog. A talking dog?!

Then as Jesse and Doggo start their adventure on the topside we start to get a look at the Underground and the way people are living. This is where it got kind of cool seeing how people have adapted, and seems ways regressed back to old traditions, like a barber as a doctor. I really liked the fact they'd found a way to break down the human body into the mushroom patches to help feed those still alive. But, this is where more confusion hits because apparently there are trolls, or ogres, or some sort of creatures also leaving in the Underground.

What?! Full stop now I have questions, but there are no answers.

However, I did like the fairy tale part of this book. They are woven in very cleverly as a way to pass the time as Jesse and Doggo are walking.

I think the thing that annoyed me the most about this book is how it just sort of ends. Jesse goes on this weird adventure with no food or water, hearing the voices, and probably having seizures. They just walk toward the mountains and they have a moment and the book is just over. Meanwhile, I'm just sitting here like so what was the point of this entire journey.

So why three stars? Because despite the fact I'm not even a little sure what I read, the fairy tales were masterfully written, and there were some really amazing parts of this book. But, I'm just not really sure if what I read was the story of a man dying in a mushroom patch or the last adventure of a dying man. I honestly am not for sure. It is wonderfully written, and the fairy tales were my favorite part of this story. I also felt like this story had more potential if the book had been longer just under three hundred pages.

HAPPY READING!!