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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Ms. Shurtliff does such a wonderful job of weaving the details of the stories we all know and love into a delightful tale that is fun for all ages! We started off reading Red: The (Fairly) True Tale of Little Red Riding Hood (which was excellent!) and quickly moved onto Grump because Grump was one of the characters in Red.
I love the way the author manages to create an entire fairy-tale world, where all the beloved characters are connected, but it is not necessary for one to begin at one story or another. They are each stand-alone stories that give readers the chance to say "Oh my goodness! This character is connected to this other one!" in endearing ways.
Here, Grump is Borlen, a dwarf who never quite fits in in his dwarf community, and needs to find his way amongst his peers. We eventually meet the whole dwarf crew, and my son and I had a bunch of fun trying to match them up with all the dwarves we know from the movie: Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Doc, Grumpy and Sleepy. (We had to write it down to keep it straight.) From there, you learn how he meets the E.V.I.L. queen, Snow White and helps to save the day.
It's a sweet story about friendship, learning where we belong, and believing in ourselves. I loved the part of the book where Snow White tells Borlen she loves him *because* he's Grumpy. The whole novel, he has trouble fitting in, finding his place and accepting himself for who he is, but Snow White loves him for who he is, and that's just lovely. I recommend this book for all of us who've felt "grumpy" in our own lives.
I love the way the author manages to create an entire fairy-tale world, where all the beloved characters are connected, but it is not necessary for one to begin at one story or another. They are each stand-alone stories that give readers the chance to say "Oh my goodness! This character is connected to this other one!" in endearing ways.
Here, Grump is Borlen, a dwarf who never quite fits in in his dwarf community, and needs to find his way amongst his peers. We eventually meet the whole dwarf crew, and my son and I had a bunch of fun trying to match them up with all the dwarves we know from the movie: Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Doc, Grumpy and Sleepy. (We had to write it down to keep it straight.) From there, you learn how he meets the E.V.I.L. queen, Snow White and helps to save the day.
It's a sweet story about friendship, learning where we belong, and believing in ourselves. I loved the part of the book where Snow White tells Borlen she loves him *because* he's Grumpy. The whole novel, he has trouble fitting in, finding his place and accepting himself for who he is, but Snow White loves him for who he is, and that's just lovely. I recommend this book for all of us who've felt "grumpy" in our own lives.
I loved this book so much that I read it in a matter of HOURS!
It was such a clever retelling and I love how creative the author got with it! I had so much fun reading the book and would be tempted to run to the store and buy her others (if the store was open... it's 2AM as I write this review....)
Point is, I really like that the book was told from Grump(y)'s point of view! I like the world she built for the dwarves and touched based on their powers. I like that it was about making mistakes and then trying to correct the mistake you made!
I highly reccomend!
It was such a clever retelling and I love how creative the author got with it! I had so much fun reading the book and would be tempted to run to the store and buy her others (if the store was open... it's 2AM as I write this review....)
Point is, I really like that the book was told from Grump(y)'s point of view! I like the world she built for the dwarves and touched based on their powers. I like that it was about making mistakes and then trying to correct the mistake you made!
I highly reccomend!
Fun, clever take on the Snow White story. One scene that imitates drunkenness, but I’m sure it went over my younger kids’ heads. Occasional fart humor.
This was better than Red, maybe because I was able to identify with the protagonist better — an outcast with a problem. I tend toward those stories more than quests because it allows better complexity of character. Plus it’s always about embracing your weird. And this was especially fun to read after finishing my own dwarf story.
Unlike mine, the dwarves live underground, eat rocks, and never interact with the surface world. Except for Grump who feels unquestionably drawn to it. When he finally breaks ground, he accidentally falls in with the evil queen and becomes her magic mirror. Grump is a better character than Red was. At first it might be hard to tell the difference–both are rather grumpy and acerbic. But something about Grump feels more earnest. It’s better to be grumpy than mean.
There are some stretches to fit the story of Snow White, and that always bothers me — reaching too far to make one story fit into another. The same thing happened with The Dark Knight Rises, which was the reason for its downfall. Both Snow White and Evil Queen get about equivalent screen time in this. The ending is satisfying, and I didn’t feel cheated, not like Red’s quest story (where you can skip all the middle and still find the ending, which is basically the answer to a riddle). And I was suprised at how well it weaves in both the folk tale and the Disney version of Snow White.
It does get a little sludgy in the lead-in to the third act, but the plot is surprisingly tight for a YA novel. There are some deus ex machina movements, but overall, I had a satisfying reader experience. It’s probably the best thing I read in the last two months.
Unlike mine, the dwarves live underground, eat rocks, and never interact with the surface world. Except for Grump who feels unquestionably drawn to it. When he finally breaks ground, he accidentally falls in with the evil queen and becomes her magic mirror. Grump is a better character than Red was. At first it might be hard to tell the difference–both are rather grumpy and acerbic. But something about Grump feels more earnest. It’s better to be grumpy than mean.
There are some stretches to fit the story of Snow White, and that always bothers me — reaching too far to make one story fit into another. The same thing happened with The Dark Knight Rises, which was the reason for its downfall. Both Snow White and Evil Queen get about equivalent screen time in this. The ending is satisfying, and I didn’t feel cheated, not like Red’s quest story (where you can skip all the middle and still find the ending, which is basically the answer to a riddle). And I was suprised at how well it weaves in both the folk tale and the Disney version of Snow White.
It does get a little sludgy in the lead-in to the third act, but the plot is surprisingly tight for a YA novel. There are some deus ex machina movements, but overall, I had a satisfying reader experience. It’s probably the best thing I read in the last two months.
Cute snow white retelling from the dwarves perspective. A fun little adventure.
Hands down my favorite of the series! I love Borlan and he slightly grumpy tendencies- he’s quite relatable! I love how his insatiable curiosity about something different drives so much of the story and the character development. I love what he learns about friendship and forgiveness and about change. I love how each character is given more dimension while the story remains consistent with the original tale, too!
Also the audiobook narration is fabulous!
Also the audiobook narration is fabulous!
I absolutely love a fairy tale retelling, and one from Liesl Shurtliff makes me love them even more! I have adored every book she has written. Liesl writes her characters perfectly and every one is unique and fun. Grump was especially fun. It was written on "Grumpy's" point of view. I loved everything about Borlen AKA Grump. Borlen is a unique dwarf, he doesn't enjoy being underground and is fascinated by The Surface. All the dwarfs think he is strange, but his parents never give up their dream of him being on a digging team. Borlen is assigned to a team as the Seventh, and ends up on an adventure that has him entangled with the "E.V.I.L" Queen and Snow White herself. I loved Borlen's and Snow White's interactions. As always, Liesl adds her own wonderfully clever and entertaining twists to a classic tale and gives it a fanciful magic of its own.
Perfect for fans of Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted books. Grump is a fun twist on the Snow White story you think you know, told from the point of view of "Grump," a misfit dwarf who was born too close to the surface and it made him a little odd. (He actually reminds me a bit of Ariel from The Little Mermaid, always dreaming about the surface and collecting surface dweller things…) I love the way the dwarves are portrayed, both the individual characters in the book and as a culture. The world buliding is just so complex and spot-on. Also, the way this book explains the Evil Queen's magic mirror and the whole "fairest" in the land thing is just awesome and explains so much that I never really understood from the original tale.
This book has so many little hidden gems. (See what I did there? That's a dwarf joke.) I LOVE the little Rapunzel shout-out bit when the Queen orders her servants to take a beautiful baby from her mother, and then assigns a servant woman named Gothel to lock the baby up and look after her… DUN DUN DUNNNN! There are so many other little tidbits too, I'm sure some of which I didn’t catch. I spent a goodly chunk of the first half of the book trying to match Grump's dwarf friends up with their Disney counterparts, and was pleased when EVENTS happen later in the book that cause a few quirks to arise that made it clear who at least some of them are. And I knew they would probably align with the Disney movie when Snow White is running around with her best buddy Florian, as that's the official Disney name of her Prince (even though his name is never actually mentioned in the movie).
Grump is written in a way that's accessible to a middle-grade audience, but this book was fun for this 32-year-old Disney and fairy tale nerd as well. Grump would be an excellent book to read aloud to your child, to read along with your early reader, or to read alone for those ready to start some more complex chapter books.
This book has so many little hidden gems. (See what I did there? That's a dwarf joke.) I LOVE the little Rapunzel shout-out bit when the Queen orders her servants to take a beautiful baby from her mother, and then assigns a servant woman named Gothel to lock the baby up and look after her… DUN DUN DUNNNN! There are so many other little tidbits too, I'm sure some of which I didn’t catch. I spent a goodly chunk of the first half of the book trying to match Grump's dwarf friends up with their Disney counterparts, and was pleased when EVENTS happen later in the book that cause a few quirks to arise that made it clear who at least some of them are. And I knew they would probably align with the Disney movie when Snow White is running around with her best buddy Florian, as that's the official Disney name of her Prince (even though his name is never actually mentioned in the movie).
Grump is written in a way that's accessible to a middle-grade audience, but this book was fun for this 32-year-old Disney and fairy tale nerd as well. Grump would be an excellent book to read aloud to your child, to read along with your early reader, or to read alone for those ready to start some more complex chapter books.
A fairy tale retelling of Snow White from the point of view of one of the dwarfs, Grump.