The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror

I thought it was just me. I read these stories and thought, is this too clever for me? Am I not getting it? Perhaps. Or perhaps the things that left a bad taste in my mouth such as flip-flopping gender pronouns (which is NOT the same as having gender fluid characters), abusive dialogue as character development, and vague endings bothered other readers too. I am not alone.
I appreciated Ortberg's fresh takes on some tales, but I have read a great many retellings over the years and many have been more clever than this. I found the writing to be unnecessarily repetitive. My favorite story was The Rabbit, which was horrifically wonderful (if only because I have always disliked The Velveteen Rabbit). I would hold The Six-Boy Coffins up as a fun feminist read, but the rest....meh.
By far, my favorite thing about this collection was the cover. The cover is gorgeous.