Re-imaginings or re-workings of familiar, much-loved favourites, in several art forms including TV, film and books has become increasingly popular and more widely seen in the last few years and the new book from Soman Chainani, ‘Beasts And Beauty: Dangerous Tales’, is the latest in what will surely be an ever-growing list of such works.

We all grew up with fairy tales; we’re told them in school, we’re read them and read them to our children at night, but Chainani has put a rather unique twist on some of the best-known tales in the world, adding new emphasis on the characters and their endings. What really works with this collection is just how diverse it is; not just through ‘Hansel & Gretel, here a tale focussing on the power of familial bonds, becoming two Middle Eastern/Asian kids, but more centrally, through how all the stories within the collection explore the at times considerable differences between heroes and villains.

It also does a great job of framing each in a different light, giving new perspectives to characters we might have thought we knew as well as we know ourselves. I for one was particularly drawn to what, certainly in the past, some might have thought was a “passive” kind of princess, who in this book, uses her beauty, femininity and, it has to be said, much of her own wit and smarts, as a weapon in order to get what she wants. The classic ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, in very much the same way, is transformed into story of empowerment, and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ – one of my favourite ever Disney films – becomes a story that brilliantly captures and explores the many facets of appearance and societal views of and on male and female expectations.

It must be noted that not every story, as typical fairy tales tend to, end happily in this book, and Chainani should, in my opinion at least, be commended for allowing this to be the case. Happy endings don’t happen to and for everyone, and the fact Chainani highlights this makes the book even more real in some way; it doesn’t shy away from the reality of our lives. Some stories end in tragedy, some with an unexpected twist, but all of them still pack some kind of punch.

The book also features some beautiful artwork and illustrations courtesy of Julia Iredale. Such work is very much reminiscent of the fairy-tale artwork of old, but she puts a modern twist to each piece, that not only celebrates their history, or heritage, but also somewhat modernises them for the modern-day reader.

‘Beasts and Beauty’ has been promoted as a book for young adults, but due to some of the dark themes and twists to certain stories, I would be wary of allowing the younger end of that group, anyone below maybe twelve or thirteen, to read or be read this. With that said, the dark edge to these stories is one of the highlights of the collection and it’s a book likely to be ‘devoured’ by those who decide to check it out.