Her cursed tears.
His ticking clock.
And one a stolen child.
When the Weeper cries, men die, and that is the way it's been for years. However, Maera knows better, and she's determined to venture deep into the Weeper's territory and reclaim what is hers.
Ember's dreams of bringing her metal man, Julian, to life have never come true until one unexpected night. Now Julian must find a way to become human before his time runs out.
Raselle's wish of returning home to her parents is nothing more than a child's dream. With her captor's spell heavy on her, she's nearly given up hope of ever leaving her tower. However, when a mysterious man appears, Raselle's world turns upside down and her dream doesn't seem so out of reach.
(Blurb taken from the back of the book.
All rights to the authors, J. M. Ivie and Grace Ruri)
I received an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for an honest review. I give The Weeper and Other Stories a 4/5 stars.
I was a beta reader for this book back at the start of this year and let me tell you, I loved seeing the changes while reading the ARC. Ivie and Ruri turned this spark of a story into a brilliant flame. You should be very proud, ladies. : )
I love how the fairytales evolve into each other with little breadcrumb trails and yet they can each stand on their own. The world is richly imaginative and the retellings were done in ways I never could have predicted. I like how Midnight and A Crown of Gold and Tears each blend two fairytales, and how it's done so seamlessly that they could be original stories.
The only reason I didn't give the book a 5/5 is because I'm not a big short story reader. I always feel like the action is rushed, but I very much enjoyed the book and I can't wait to see what both of these authors do next.
And if I had to pick a favourite of the three stories, I'd probably say story number 3.