Thank you to the publisher/NetGalley for allowing me to review this book!

Now I will say that I wanted to read this book because of the title and cover. I had no idea what it was about or anything. I feel bad for not looking more into the book. I don't like self-help books at all. After I realized what it was, I still persevered to give this book an honest review.

I think the entire concept is intriguing. I would have loved this a lot more if I had enjoyed self help books. There is so much detail in here. I think the concept of using fairytales to help yourself was amazing. The amount of research this book had was great. I really wish this had been a book about dissecting fairytales because the author did an amazing job of that. I think the tips and exercises were okay. They seemed a bit basic to me and overdone just stated in a different way.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys self help books and fantasy books.

This is a creative and interesting book, packed with exercises to transform your life with the magic and wisdom of fairy tales and storytelling. The book is part self-help, part celebration of the fairy tale, and I haven't seen anything like this before. I would have loved if it flowed between chapters a little better, as it jumped around a lot. Some more stories from the author's own life – perhaps with more of a memoir angle – would've also been great. That said, for real fairy tale fans I imagine there would be a lot to enjoy in this book.

I found this to be an easily accessible and even fun read. While at times the message is a broad, the way the author ties together the activities and featured fairytales of each chapter together is nice. Davies accomplished her goal of using fairytale to inspire my creativity.

Fairy Tales Can Change Your Life: Unlock your future with creative exercises inspired by storytelling A handbook for using the heroes, symbolism, themes and magic of fairy tales to enhance your life, tackle problems and build an enchanting future. Fairy tales are embedded into our minds and hearts during childhood and they stay with us throughout our lives. The book presents exercises, activities and problem solving tips to enable you to tap into the power and magic of fairy tales, Many of the exercises are creative and include storyboarding, writing and other imaginative methods. The idea of the book is excellent but I did find it quite high level, and the examples and assumptions were a little basic. I was surprised to find no reference to Joseph Campbell and The Heroes Journey, but perhaps this would make the book more complicated than it is meant to be. Overall a very good book excellent for reaching people of all levels and walks of life and a brilliant and fun idea..

Fairy Tales Can Change Your Life is a book that presents folklore and fairy tales as solutions to life’s problems. Alison Davies explores the characters, symbols, and plots of well-known stories, uncovers deep narrative meanings, and offers practical and creative exercises to help readers enchant their lives.

The book covers the power of storytelling, the hero’s adventure, love and relationships, fears and desires, and transformations. The first chapter provides an overview of fairy tale origins, making connections between the tales we know and ancient myths and legends. Each subsequent chapter focuses on a few well-known stories before providing the reader with questions, activities, and writing prompts that help them apply the story’s lessons to their own lives. Davies believes that there is power in using fairy tales as a springboard for creative writing and storytelling and she encourages all readers to find their voice.

This book was a fun, accessible, and easy read. At times, Davies lacks an understanding of cultural context in relaying the tales and uses sweeping generalizations about “universal” fairy tale themes. For example, she spends time discussing the jealous anger of Queens who worry their beauty is fading without ever exploring the complexities of intimate family relationships in fairy tales like "Snow White", but her passion for using fairy tale symbols and images to better her readers’ lives shine through these types of generalizations. She introduces new fairy tale scholars to characters such as the trickster and encourages readers to find the heartbeat of each tale.

The book is a fun introduction to how fairy tales can relate to contemporary human life and presents easy ways to deepen creative thinking. While many of the suggested activities deal with writing or telling stories, others offer ways to improve daily life by transforming thinking and behavior. Fairy Tales Can Change Your Life is a blueprint for taking simple fairy tale inspired actions that will bring enchantment to the every day world.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

This self-help book has an engaging narrative voice and is an excellent tool for developing both storytelling and presentation skills, imbuing the reader with confidence. It seems niche initially, but is applicable and it’s easy to see how the exercises can be used to tell compelling stories and reframe events for different perspectives through well explained narrative literary concepts. Thought provoking exercises with a good structure builds incrementally, and this is a great tool.