Elizabeth and Simon's story is retold in a range of short stories, borrowing from different lyrical traditions. They are all different but hold fragments of one another to create the most captivating book. From the fantastical to the mundane, it is beautifully written and emotionally poignant.

*Marked as 4 stars but more like 4.5 that had to be rounded down for the sake of NetGalley's rating system

A collection of short stories featuring different versions of the same characters, who spill over from the mundane to the fantastical. This book was a joy to read and reads like a book that would be called a modern classic. There's an intermingling of genres that makes it hard to pin down. There's elements of horror, if not only for the dancing shadow whose origins are unknown, and elements of the fantastical that grow and grow until the very last story, where you feel as if you have been pulled right into a fairy tale. Starting this book you think it is something more of a literary fiction and that the 'wives tales' are just going to be things that inspire the plot, but the further you read, the deeper you delve into a world quite removed from the ordinary.

Character wise, I really enjoyed that each chapter felt entirely separate but were so connected through both Elizabeth and Simon. It was like getting to see the many different lives that versions of them live and gave me a very alternate reality type feel. I will say it did confuse me at first and I thought I had missed something when I moved onto a new chapter and realised Elizabeth and Simon's story had totally changed, I scrolled back to check I hadn't been hasty in reading and then realised what was happening.

The writing itself, I felt, was very lyical and the prose were beautiful. There were lines and lines that made me feel like I was reading a new favourite of mine — which is also where I felt I was reading a modern classic, it felt like something that everyone could find appreciation in.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and am very excited to see what comes next from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this free uncorrected digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Verve for allowing me to read this advance copy of Old Wives' Tales by Julie Zhou.

I enjoyed the stories so much, and it was a definite five-star read for me.

The stories are all intertwined and are all about the lives of Simon and Elizabeth; they are based on folk tales, some of which I caught a glimpse of, some I was unaware of.

Each story is different, set in a different time or a different place, but there are always threads running through each story that link you to the others. The stories start in quite a benign way, with only a hint of the strangeness and the unsettling themes that increased as I progressed through the book.

The couple have loving families and are very much in love with each other. As I watched them live out their “lives”, I wanted everything to go well for them, but the further I went into the book, the more I worried for them, and the stranger the events became. The couple went through every single emotion that I could think of on their journey, and I went with them.

I felt that this book was more of a parallel lives story than sliding doors, but that is just my feeling. I could visualise the couple living each life at the same time, just in another realm.

I do have to mention the beauty of the writing by Julie Zhou! She linked the stories by various means. Her descriptions of the colours of garments, fruits, wood and many other things were lovely. Also, the inclusion of so much nature - birds, trees, and the luscious fruits was a pleasure to read. I felt that I could have eaten the fresh, clean, sweet-smelling fruit that she spoke of.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who likes a little bit of strangeness and unsettling feelings in their books. It is not frightening, but very thought-provoking.