Name: Aleena Korell's review of A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Elsie Chapman
Item: A Thousand Beginnings and Endings
Rating: 4
Author: Aleena Korell

Elsie Chapman

Ellen Oh

Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings: these are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. Compiled by We Need Diverse Books’s Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman, the authors included in this exquisite collection are: Renée Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Roshani Chokshi, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Rahul Kanakia, Lori M. Lee, E. C. Myers, Cindy Pon, Aisha Saeed, Shveta Thakrar, and Alyssa Wong. A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish. For fans of Neil Gaiman’s Unnatural Creatures and Ameriie’s New York Times–bestselling Because You Love to Hate Me.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings

Aleena Korell

Aliette de Bodard

Renée Ahdieh

Julie Kagawa

Alyssa Wong

Shveta Thakrar

Aisha Saeed

Sona Charaipotra

Roshani Chokshi

Cindy Pon

E. C. Myers

Melissa de la Cruz

Lori M. Lee

Rahul Kanakia

Preeti Chhibber

Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings: these are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries. This young adult novel is an excellent choice for accelerated tween readers in grades 7 to 8, especially during homeschooling. It’s a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom. Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. Compiled by We Need Diverse Books’s Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman, the authors included in this exquisite collection are: Renée Ahdieh, Sona Charaipotra, Preeti Chhibber, Roshani Chokshi, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa de la Cruz, Julie Kagawa, Rahul Kanakia, Lori M. Lee, E. C. Myers, Cindy Pon, Aisha Saeed, Shveta Thakrar, and Alyssa Wong. A mountain loses her heart. Two sisters transform into birds to escape captivity. A young man learns the true meaning of sacrifice. A young woman takes up her mother’s mantle and leads the dead to their final resting place. From fantasy to science fiction to contemporary, from romance to tales of revenge, these stories will beguile readers from start to finish. For fans of Neil Gaiman’s Unnatural Creatures and Ameriie’s New York Times–bestselling Because You Love to Hate Me.

yousr abu sboulah

some of the stories were great and really well written, but some are just forgettable.


Some of my favorites:

olivia’s table by alyssa wong.

spear carrier by rahul kanakia.

code of honor by melissa de la cruz.

bullet, butterfly by elise chapman.

and finally the crimson cloake by cindy pon.

Marz 

This was a wonderful short story collection, with so many myths and folklore that we don't often hear about. My heart swelled at all the South Asian stories, which I wished I could have accessed as a child especially. I really appreciated the author's notes on each story at the end of end of chapter, it allowed readers to understand not only why the author chose to rewrite that myth but also the themes within it. The only reason I can't give this 5 stars, is because as is a problem with many short story collections the quality of writing varied a bit from chapter to chapter. However, the overall quality of writing in this book was excellent, with really innovative spins on classical myths. I hope modern asian literature can continue to flourish in this way.

Dee B. 

These were particularly interesting stories to experience, most of which I'd never been exposed to before, which all lent to an enjoyable time. However, I didn't love any one more than the others which is unusual because I usually find at least one that I connect with overall. Not this time. The one that came closest was Julie Kagawa's story about the Kitsune (because I'm still not over her Shadow of the Fox series and this is the closest I'll get to it without actually rereading it). 

Despite my neutral feelings, this isn't a terrible anthology and you should pick it up, if just for a little variety in your life. It introduced me to some new authors so I appreciate that too

Flavia Louise

3.3 stars
fav stories:
Olivia's Tale and The Land of the Morning Calm

Arden Kowalski

A collection of Asian-inspired mythology retellings, which were largely hit or miss in terms of quality. I loved some of them, was pretty neutral on some, and flat-out disliked others. However, I recognize that this is a really important collection of stories, and I would recommend reading it regardless of the flaws. I didn't really enjoy The Counting of Vermillion Beads, for instance, but loved the original story when I looked it up. On the whole, it was a really interesting book to add to my mental shelf of short story collections.

Individual Story Ratings:
- Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi: 4 stars
- Olivia’s Table by Alyssa Wong: 4 stars
- Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee: 3 stars (Look up the original story!)
- Still Star-Crossed by Sona Charaipotra: 2 stars
- The Counting of Vermillion Beads by Aliette De Bodard: 3 stars (Look up the original story!)
- The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Myers: 5 stars (My favourite of the collection.)
- The Smile by Aisha Saeed - 4 stars
- Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by Preeti Chhibber - 2 stars
- Nothing into All by Renée Ahdieh - 4 stars
- Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia - 1 star
- Code of Honor by Melissa de la Cruz - 2 stars
- Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman - 4 stars (An absolute highlight.)
- Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakrar: 3 stars
- The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon - 5 stars (Second favourite, and I love the reasoning behind it.)
- Eyes like Candlelight by Julie Kagawa - 3 stars

Sahi K

There are very few books that tug at your heartstrings and touch your soul and all you want to do is bask in their glory, laugh and cry and do so much more. This is one such book. An own voices anthology of retellings of Asian myths and folktales, this is something a younger me would have devoured; but the older me definitely appreciates it more for what it represents – Asian kids finding their childhood tales in mainstream YA. I am amazed at how well the authors retold the stories that we know so well, but still managed to make them feel fresh and fascinating. And every author mentioning the original story which inspired them was just icing on the cake.

These are stories of love, loss, joy, grief and heartbreak and so much more, and I promise you will find something that you can connect to. And I may be biased, but all the stories here that were based on Indian myths were my absolute favorites and I know that I’m going to be reading them many more times. I recommend this book to all Asian readers and anyone else who is interested in reading diverse stories.

Please find the stories, their origin myths and my individual reviews below:

Forbidden Fruit by Roshani Chokshi

  Maria Makiling – A Filipino Folktale

I’ve always had some trouble following Chokshi’s writing style and I had initial hiccups too, but it turned out well. It’s a story of Dayang, the spirit of the mountain, who just wants to be loved and is so high on emotions when she does, she doesn’t really think of the consequences. It’s a tale of loneliness, love, greed and heartbreak which left me feeling unsatisfied due to the unfairness of it all.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Olivia’s Table by Alyssa Wong

  The Hungry Ghost Festival – A Chinese Tradition

A beautiful story about the importance of food, keeping traditions alive and working hard to provide some solace to poor, lonely souls; while also dealing with the utter grief of losing a parent, while being bullied at school for being non-white and navigating the heartbreak of losing your love.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee

  The Woman and the Tiger – A Hmong Folktale

This is a sci-fi tale about a young girl who is grieving her mother’s death and also the death of her relationship with her father since then. She starts doubting that he might be an android, replaced during the android rebellion that also killed her mother; but when the truth is revealed, it rocks her world and she is devastated. This story is beautiful, full of love and loss and the importance of found family.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Still Star-Crossed by Sona Charaipotra

  Mirza and Sahiba – A Punjabi Folktale

A story about an Indian American girl, growing up with some form of restrictions in her conservative family but also a mischievous mother, all the talk about eating Chole Bhature and drinking Limca and bhang on Holi, dancing to punjabi song remixes, a boy who seems to instantly recognize her but she is ony intrigued by – all of this was just wonderful and so familiar. A story of a love that outlives death, reincarnation and a connection that is so powerful – this was pure Hindi movie territory that I absolutely loved reading. Wish it were a full novel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Counting of Vermillion Beads by Aliet Te De Bodard

  Tấ’m Cám – A Vietnamese Folktale

This is the story of two sisters who have been separated from their family and now live in a Palace with other girls as per the decree of the Everlasting Emperor, surrounded by an impenetrable wall. Tam and Cam are always together and their love for each other and the grief they feel when separated is wonderfully written. But this story is magical realism, which is not my genre at all, so I couldn’t totally understand the themes in the story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The Land of the Morning Calm by E. C. Myers

  The Chasa Bonpuli – A Korean Epic

Sunny is a Korean-American girl who is still dealing with the loss of her mom while her grandfather keeps insisting that she is still present as a gwisin (or ghost). When it’s announced that LMC, her mom’s most favorite online video game is being shutdown, she logs in one last time to feel connected to her again. The story incorporates Korean myths about ghosts and creatures and the underworld into a game so seamlessly, it’s absolutely thrilling to read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Smile by Aisha Saeed

  The Story of Anarkali – A South Asian Legend

Any Hindi movie lover will tell you that Mughal-e-Azam is a masterpiece and I am no exception. So, actually reading a retelling of the love story of Salim and Anarkali which questions the power imbalance in a relationship between a courtesan and her prince felt glorious. The premise is basically about choice – when you literally belong to someone, do you really love them of your own free will? This story made me very nostalgic and happy and I coouldn’t love it any less.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Girls who Twirl and Other Dangers by Preeti Chhibber

  Navratri – A Hindu Festival

This is definitely my favorite story of the book. The joy of celebrating Navratri, the garba, the puja, the sense of community, everything is described so perfectly, I was overjoyed. The original tale of Maa Durga and Mahishasur is also interspersed within the story which I thought was an excellent touch. I also loved the theme of girls standing up for themselves and demanding an apology when wronged – it goes so well with the festival celebrating the power of the female divinity.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nothing into All by Renée Ahdieh

  The Goblin Treasure – A Korean Fairy Tale

A tale about a brother and sister; the brother who can’t forgive her for her childhood mistake and a sister who undermines herself in front of him because she still feels guilty. This is a story about family and forgiveness – how you must give your loved ones a chance to turn around when they have made bad choices.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia

  The Mahabharata – A South Asian Epic

A young American high school boy who has always wondered what it would feel like to be a hero, the meaning of heroism and what happens to those who die trying – is suddenly transported into a battlefield and asked to fight. He struggles with his loneliness, searches for his purpose and questions the ones in charge but never gets the answers he wants. This is basically a story of the Kurukshetra war told from the POV of one of the soldiers, making us wonder whether they really understood what they were fighting for. Mahabharata is my most favorite story (or epic) in the world and the Gita is too complex to understand, especially in condensed versions; that’s why the various philosophical musings throughout the story felt too dense and anyone who doesn’t have any idea about this epic will find it hard to follow.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Code of Honor by Melissa de la Cruz

  Aswangs – A Filipino Folktale

The author takes a young aswang girl from the Philippines and connects her story to the Blue Bloods series set in Manhattan and I thought it was seamlessly done. Aida has been a nomad her whole life, traveling from country to country, always feeling restless, until a whispered conversation makes her heart go wild and she feels the need to come to NYC. This is the story of a girl who tries to live by a code because she is a monster living among humans, and just wants to find a family like her because she is tired of being alone.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman

  The Butterfly Lovers – A Chinese Folktale

In a Civil war torn China, boys are the fighters, girls make the arms and marriage alliances are akin to trading goods. In this cruel situation, Liang dresses up as a girl to sneak into the armory but his whole life changes when he meets Zhu. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking story of star-crossed lovers whom even death couldn’t keep apart.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakrar

  The Mahabharata – A South Asian Epic

The mashup of the story of Savitri/Satyavan with that of Shantanu and Ganga – this is the beautiful tale of a young girl who has been raised secluded and yearns for companionship. When she finds the moon to her sun, she defies curses and gods and death, ultimately getting back the love of her life with single minded devotion. The setting of the estate, the lake and the swans, the writing – everything was just pure magic.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon

  The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl – A Chinese Legend

Another beautiful love story, this one of a goddess falling in love with a mortal man. She tries to leave him, so that he can marry and have his own children, but he follows her into the skies, declaring his eternal love and promises to keep her happy. It broke my heart to read about the goddess having to keep living even after the death of her beloved, trying to keep their memories alive.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eyes like Candlelight by Julie Kagawa

  Kitsune – A Japanese Myth

A little booy saves a fox knowing that it might be a Kitsune. Years later, when Takeo is trying to pray to the god Inari to provide rice for his village, he finds himself enchanted by a girl Yuki, who feels almost ethereal, until she reveals herself to be the same little fox. She agrees to help his village and he promises to come back to her, but fate has other plans. Another heartbreaking tale which was wonderfully written.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Alexia

Wow! 
This is one of the best and most consistent short story collections I’ve ever read! Definitely my favorite YA one. 
Amazing work by all the authors as far as writing and creativity, and great editing by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman, who made sure this was a widely diverse compilation.

Here’s my rating, by story: 

5 stars
The Land of the Morning Calm

4.5 stars
Eyes Like Candlelight 
Forbidden Fruit 
Olivia’s Table 

4 stars
The Counting of Vermilion Beads 
The Crimson Cloak 
Still Star-Crossed 
Steel Skin 

3.5 stars
Code of Honor 
Spear Carrier 
Bullet, Butterfly 

3 stars
Daughter of the Sun 
The Smile 

2.5 stars
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers
Nothing into All

Overall a great anthology, and I learned some fascinating mythology and traditional legends from Asia.
Stories that stood out to me are:
The Land of the Morning Calm by E.C. Myers
Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakrar
The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon

ARPITA ♡

anthologies are my new favorite things and dinesh owns me ♡ 


Michelle Xu

Solid 3 stars overall.

There were about 7 stories I enjoyed, 4 that were average, and 4 I actively disliked. It was definitely a mixed bag.

This is the first short story collection that I've read recently. I honestly can barely remember the last time I read an anthology. Now that I've been getting back into reading, I can see how reading these collections are difficult. Because each chapter is a self-contained story, I was never truly motivated to continue reading. If there was a story I didn't like, I didn't want to keep picking the book up. If there was a story I liked, I would be scared to continue in case the next one was worse. So it really just took me a long time to go through it. 

My favorite stories in order are:
1. The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon
2. Eyes Like Candlelight by Julie Kagawa
3. Bullet, Butterfly by Elsie Chapman
4. Nothing to All by Renee Ahdieh
5. The Smile by Aisha Saeed
6. The Land of the Morning Calm by E.C. Myers
7. Daughter of the Sun by Shveta Thakrar

For me, the best stories were emotional in some way. I think I teared up for the top three stories listed above. In all those cases, the authors were able to elicit an emotional response and attachment to characters from me which can be so hard to do in a short story setting. I also tended to like the stories that still sounded like legends or fairy tales. The ones I had a harder time connecting to were the modern retellings. It was hard to imagine an all-powerful god or folklore being told in our current times. I found that surprising because I like normally like urban fantasy or modern-world fantasy, but most of the short stories that did that fell flat. 

At its best, the stories were wonderful ways to explore retellings of age-old tales, many with a feminist or modern spin. I loved how most of the stories had strong female protagonists that were often left out of the equation or an afterthought in many legends and tales.

At its worst, the stories were flat and made me apathetic. In those stories, I found myself more looking forward to the 1-2 page explanation from the author regarding the real folktale they took inspiration from.

If I were to recommend this to a friend, I would probably only recommend certain ones depending on their tastes rather than to read the entire thing.

Overall, I learned a lot and found myself Googling old tales I had not known and looking up foods and cultural practices that I was ignorant of from other Asian cultures than mine. I also now have a list of Asian authors I can look into for their full-length novels!

Lauren

A higher rating because about 6 of these stories were four to five star material and they were fantastic.

Laura Springall

4.5★

Read for O.W.L.s Magical Readathon - Divination: use a random number generator on your TBR (see my O.W.L.s  TBR video here)

What a beautiful collection! I really enjoyed this, I'm so glad I finally got the chance to read it! Like all short story collections, there were of course a few that I liked less than others. But amazingly there wasn't a single one that I outright disliked. Even when the stories weren't that interesting to me, the writing was still so beautiful that I didn't mind reading it. 

My favourites in this collection were Olivia's Table by Alyssa Wong, Spear Carrier by Rahul Kanakia, and The Crimson Cloak by Cindy Pon. These stories really stood out to me, The Crimson Cloak even made me tear up a bit.

My least favourites were Steel Skin by Lori M. Lee, and The Counting of Vermillion Beads by Aliette de Bodard. And with that said, as mentioned above, the writing was still so stunning that I still enjoyed reading them, even though the actually stories didn't quite capture me.

Just a really fantastic collection, there really isn't anything else that I could say about it. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a lover of fairytales

Aleena Korell &
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Elsie Chapman

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Aleena Korell &A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Elsie Chapman

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Aleena Korell &
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Elsie Chapman