Fierce Fairytales Indeed

Fierce Fairytales

By: Nikita Gill

Grade: A

I read Wild Embers by Nikita Gill earlier this year and immediately ordered Fierce Fairytales. The book is made up of poems, stories and illustrations “to stir your soul,” as the cover says! I seriously connected with the work so I guess you could say my soul was indeed stirred.

There are so many fairy tale characters throughout this book I particularly loved ‘Why Tinkerbell Quit Anger Management,’ as a title. But you can pretty much find anything or any character you want. There’s even a poem about Gaston and toxic masculinity that I enjoyed called ‘How a Hero Becomes a Villain.’

Perhaps its the fairy tale element that calls to me? Gill deals with a great deal of issues I see cropping up in a lot of poetry these days but there’s something very life-affirmining about all of her work. It’s as much about survival and connection as anything else and by using the fairy tales to help us do both it makes a strong argument for the power of story-telling.

Hell, there’s even a piece about computer trolls and hatred!

There are also important lessons and things to remember in the work. Some of my favorite bits-

“The world is not allowed to make a meal of you girl.”

 

“But recuperation means different things 

to unalike people.

It means survival to some.

It means healing to others.

And to others still it just means alive.”

 

“Which is to say that the energy that makes us

is as ancient as the beginning of time itself.

Which is to say that our bones could have been

fragmented together from the ashes of the library of

Alexandria.”

Which yes! I’m going with that on bad days we’re all made up of energy, stardust and the ashes of the library of Alexandria!

Recommend: Yes.