"Few can resist the sight of a pretty girl crying."

2) The Too-Clever Fox is I suppose a conglomeration of all the foxes in the stories we were read. The clever fox who always finds a way is a popular trope, and here the fox is just too clever for its ow good. Koja is an ugly fox with a patchy coat that barely survived his birth -there he sweet-talked his mother out of eating him. He used his smarts to survive, to steal chicken, get out of traps and form alliances. But when a terrible hunter Jurek comes to their forest and animals start disappearing, he is summoned by the others to save them. He befriends the hunter's sister Sofiya and tries to get her to betray her brother... never even doubting his cleverness, never thinking that the worst of monsters hide under the nicest of smiles.

"She had given herself to a monster, in the hope of saving just one girl."

3) The Witch of Duva is a take on Hansel & Gretel, but with quite a few differences. The girls near the Duva forest used to disappear a long time ago, but when a terrible winter came, the wood became hungry again and soon it was happening again... Amidst the chaos, Nadya's mother dies and her father falls into despair over not having enough work and therefore money. Soon, though, he remarries and his new wife, Karina, starts to interfere in their life. She won't led Nadya and her father be alone, she sends the girl away from home and tries to make her miserable... One night, after going out to hunt something for dinner, Nadya stumbles upon a little house in the woods and there finds a witch... The witch takes her under her wing, starts teaching her things and soon, time flies by and she's been there for quite a while... When an enchantment helps her get home she witnesses something she never imagined, not in her wildest dreams... Nothing is as it seems.

"Remember that to use a thing is not to own it."

4) Little Knife tells the story of a cursed village where travelers dare not go. A long time ago, a beautiful daughter, Yeva, was born to a rich duke. She was such an astonishing beauty that the midwife tried to steal her when she was born... Later on, her father hired a blind nursemaid to care for her, and she was prohibited from leaving the house as a riot would break out every time she'd step foot outside and the men saw her... Her father decided he could use her to his advantage and created little contests for men who wanted her hand in marriage. (All the tasks benefited him.) Among the suitors was a Tidemaker, Semyon, who could speak to the river in town, whom he named Little Knife... The river helped him achieve all the tasks... but he kept asking for more, feeling suddenly entitled to her help and to Yeva's hand in marriage... The story does not lead to a happy ending for him, however, though Yeva did live out her days a s a free woman, happy at last.

"He'd fought bravely, and yet somehow, he always ended up here ,alone in the dark."

5) The Soldier Prince is the penultimate story, and is the Grishaverse version of The Nutcracker. Droessen is a doll maker who is famous for his inventions, as they all seem to possess a bit of magic. He is invited to all the social gatherings but still people look at him with suspicion because his power makes them wary. Alas, all he wants is a wife and knowing that he cannot just marry one of the women who are richer than him, he decides to groom one. He makes a nutcracker and gives it to Claire, telling her to confess all her secret, her wants and desires to it... Over time, the nutcracker becomes a confidante of Claire's, and even as she grows into a young woman, she still takes the soldier up to the attic where he is her price who takes her to an enchanted land far away from home... But the nutcracker has no recollection of who he is, he just knows that he is hers.. and that the Rat King who is giving him such kind advice is supposed to be an enemy. But when the soldier decides that he wants to be real, to be more than just Claire's toy, can he fulfill his goal or stay a playmate forever?

"I was not made to please princes."

6) When Water Sang Fire is the last story, a version of The Little Mermaid that makes who you thought was a hero into the villain, and makes to villain sympathetic, giving the backstory people never think a villain would have. Ulla is a Sildroher (mermaid) who is very powerful, her songs are the best in her class and her talent is innate. But she has dark hair and pale skin, her classmates teasing her that she was conceived when her mother was on land, that she was a halfling... One day she makes a friend, Signy, who was forced to sing with her - and when they made powerful magic together they simply clicked. Years later, they are invited to sing at the palace where they meet Roffe, a lazy but ambitious youngest prince who charms them into coming to the land with him. There he is supposed to find a gift for his father that would be the best of all his brothers in order to win the throne. He makes Ulla and Signy perform magic that creates a fire that can be sustained underwater, injuring Ulla in the process and stranding her on land. He and Signy leave, becoming king a queen, and Ulla hides in a a cave, waiting for desperate people who are willing to strike bargains, willing to give up what is most dear to them, waiting for one of the princesses to inevitably visit her...

And that is all. I hope you pick up the book because it is a beautiful collection of both words and illustrations. And sometimes fairytales are for adults, too.