The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers: And Other Gruesome Tales by Jen Campbell – A Book Recommendation

The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers: And Other Gruesome Tales by Jen Campbell

Do you have an affinity for the darkness of a Grimms’ fairy tale? Are you ever so slightly annoyed by the sugarcoated retellings by Disney? If so, look no further than The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers, a collection of folk tales from around the world that don’t indulge in happy endings.

Author Jen Campbell (who is amazing!) takes these classic tales back to their original, grisly versions and adds a modern twist with queer and disabled characters and positive representation of disfigurement.

I admit, I was drawn to this book because of the title! I’m the only sister to two brothers so it tickled the dark side of my sense of humor. The title is the namesake of one of the stories in the collection, a Korean tale of a carnivorous child.

This collection features fourteen short stories from countries like China, India, and Ireland, making it a truly international and diverse experience.

The illustrations by Adam de Souza are a unique blend of nineteenth-century Gothic engravings and moody film noir graphic novels, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the tales.

Guaranteed to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

Neil Gaiman

If you’re giving The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers as a gift, here are a few things to consider:

The vibes are dark, mysterious, and reflective with a quick pace. You can breeze through this book in under an hour.

The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is the perfect book for anyone who collects short stories and is passionate about equality and inclusion in literature.

Permission to judge a book by its cover!

This is the perfect book to bring out with the spooky-choo Halloween decor! I’m smitten with this styling by @axghoststory.

*The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers fulfilled my POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompt for the shortest book on my TBR.