I can't help but give this five stars. I love this series very much. It's funny. I can be stingy when it comes for Fairest or Cinderella, but I have trouble doing that with Fables, except Fables, Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover lost me because it was too smug I think and also because Jack gets on my ever-loving nerves and he was in that book too much for my tastes. However, we are back on our five star streak with Fables here.

Rose Red finally gets her head together after the very painful and personal loss she and the Fables community suffers. In other to do that, she has to revisit the willful mistakes of her past. We go back to Rose Red and Snow White's childhood as the innocent children of a forest-dwelling mother who meet a friendly bear seeking a place by the fire, and what ensues from that point. I recently reread this fairy tale, and so it was fun to see Willingham retell it here, but add some nuances that point to why Rose Red was such an all-fired brat and the origins of her vendetta against her sister Snow White. She's been in the process of growing up, and it's nice to see that she's matured so much. It comes at a painful cost.

I have to say I'm sick of the Dark Man story arc. I know they needed a big bad after dealing with the Adversary, and the Dark Man is definitely quite an adversary. The battle scenes were pretty epic, and it was fun to see Frau Totenkinder in a different light. I'm just tired of evil bullies getting away with murder, literally. Plus, I am holding my breath because I accidentally got spoiled and I'm afraid that I will encounter an event that I know will break my heart. I love this series too darn much, and there is always a battle inside me as to whether I should keep taking a big break on this series or keep reading. We shall see. This series is awful good to walk away from for very long without getting withdrawal pains.

I think that this volume more than others in the series conveys such a powerful sense of loss and risk. In fact, it feels very melancholy. No doubt that was Willingham's intention. A character dies and it feels like an enormous hole is left in the Fable community. This volume touches on how someone can be such a part of your life and you take them for granted, until they are gone. I don't know if I will get over the loss of this person, and in that I feel I identify with the characters. The same has happened to me in my life outside of the pages of books.

Right now, theme of loss and death is hitting me hard, after having lost people and my beloved pets so recently. I feel that this is probably therapeutic for me, but it hurts, much like when a doctor debrides an infected wound.

Along with the harbinger of loss, there is a harbinger of a cloud of doom over the heads of the Fables. They have rejoiced in conquering the Adversary, but someone has awakened a sleeping giant who makes the Adversary look like a schoolyard bully. I really hope the Fables can band together and deal with this thread without losing more beloved members in the process.

I think this is another five star read. I find myself scared to pick up the next volume, honestly!

I started reading the Fables series last year, though I haven't picked up a book for a while *goes to library webpage to request next few volumes*

Peter & Max is a side story about Peter Piper and Max Piper, his older brother. You don't need to know anything about the series to read it, but it does discuss some of the major plot points for the first eight volumes of the graphic novel collections of the series.

The story had some interesting parts but I prefer the general series to this storyline. The idea of Bo Peep as a badass thief was interesting.

Wil Wheaton was the narrator and while he did a decent job, I never liked his voices for the female characters. In particular, I hated his Frau Tokenkinder voice, who is one of my favorite fables.