Twelve tales, twelve dangerous tales of mystery, magic, and rebellious hearts. Each twists like a spindle to reveal truths full of warning and triumph, truths that free hearts long kept tame, truths that explore life... and death.
The tales consist of:
- Red Riding Hood
- Snow White
- Sleeping Beauty
- Rapunzel
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Hansel and Gretel
- Beauty and the Beast
- Bluebeard
- Cinderella
- The Little Mermaid
- Rumpelstiltskin
- Peter Pan
This book includes examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Jack's mother in "Jack and the Beanstalk" frequently belittles him and thrashes him when he brings home the magic beans instead of silver pieces.
- Mathilde's father purposely puts his daughter's life in danger by lying to the king that she can spin straw into gold, simply to teach her a lesson for refusing the king's nephew.
- The Bluebeard: Except instead of killing his wives, he kills his adopted sons.
- Bookends: The ending segment of "Snow White" is a near-exact copy of the opening with Snow White's mother: Snow White marries the prince, but the people shun her for her dark skin color, and the prince, upon ascending the throne, falls out of love with her. Snow White gives birth to a child who is the spitting image of her, and loves her dearly despite the king and the kingdom viewing her as a curse. Then, Snow White falls ill. Where it differs is the conclusion: instead of dying from her illness, Snow White is taken by the dwarfs, who nurse her back to health, and she returns to the kingdom stronger than ever, ready to raise and protect her child.
- Forced Transformation: In "Cinderella", Magdalena is transformed into a mouse by the witch Princess Inez to keep her from getting in the way of Inez marrying Prince Dante.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: The wicked queen in "Snow White" is just as bad as any of her prior incarnations.
- Ironic Name: Snow White has black skin in this version.
- I Want Grandkids: The king demands this of his son in "Sleeping Beauty", despite him being in love with the Ravenna boy.
- Love at First Sight: Discussed in "The Little Mermaid". The sea witch points out how foolish the little mermaid is for being willing to give up her entire life for a man she doesn't even know the name of, pointing out that what she feels for him is desire, and desires pass. The mermaid initially insists otherwise, but by the end, the sea witch has shattered her resolve.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: In "Cinderella", Princess Inez turns Magdalena into a mouse when she poses a threat to her wooing Prince Dante.
- Our Ogres Are Hungrier: The ogress in "Jack in the Beanstalk" is a ten-foot-tall beast who devours humans and animals alike.
- Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: Magdalena and Lourdes in "Cinderella". They initially both seek Prince Dante, but both fall out of love with him and eventually explore the world together. They each start their own families, but maintain a close relationship well into old age.
- Race Lift: Snow Queen is depicted with dark skin here, as opposed to her usual pale skin.
- Satan: Rumpelstiltskin is none other than the Devil in the eponymous tale.
- Savage Wolves: Appear as the antagonists in "Red Riding Hood", capable of shape-shifting between boys and wolves at will.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: In "Beauty and the Beast", Mei breaks the Beasts' curse and restores him to normal....only to mistake him for one of her fathers' men and stab him to death, realizing her fatal error too late.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: The wolves in "Red Riding Hood" force the town to give up the prettiest girl for them to eat each year at the start of spring.
- Wicked Stepmother:
- The wicked queen in "Snow White" turns her stepdaughter Snow White into a scullery maid and then tries to have her killed when the mirror declares her more fair than her.
- Divya Simla in "Hansel and Gretel" attempts to abandon her stepchildren, Rishi and Laxmi, into the woods to fend for themselves, and only briefly hesitates to try and bake them upon being prodded by Shakuntala.
- Wicked Witch: Princess Inez and her grandmother Svetlana in "Cinderella" are witches who transform any maiden who stands between the former and Prince Dante into animals.
- Villainous Princess: Princess Inez is a Wicked Witch who transforms Magdalena into a mouse when she poses a threat to her wooing Prince Dante.
