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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Some of the stories in Grim were kind of weird and disturbing but others were good and I wish were longer.
My favorite stories were The Twelfth Girl by [a:Malinda Lo|2884780|Malinda Lo|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1241172048p2/2884780.jpg], The Raven Princess by [a:Jon Skovron|2828923|Jon Skovron|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1339610057p2/2828923.jpg], Better by [a:Shaun David Hutchinson|3130410|Shaun David Hutchinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1387295428p2/3130410.jpg], and A Real Boy by [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg].
A Real Boy was my absolute favorite and reminded me of [b:Defy the Stars|31423196|Defy the Stars (Constellation, #1)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484967166s/31423196.jpg|47841519] and [b:Defy the Worlds|34942737|Defy the Worlds (Constellation, #2)|Claudia Gray|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513817502s/34942737.jpg|56211536] which are also written by Claudia.
I bought the hardcover copy of Grim and it's pink and black and beautiful. It even comes with one of those attached ribbon bookmarks. ššš
The Key by Rachel Hawkins - The psychic story is a good start but it was cut too short and ended vaguely. [3.5/5 stars]
Figment by Jeri Smith- Ready - A sweet friendship between Eli and Fig. I really like it. [4/5 stars]
The Twelfth Girl by Malinda Lo - I fell asleep on some parts. So boring. [1/5 stars]
The Raven Princess by Jon Skovron - I like this. [3/5 stars]
Thinner than Water by Saundra Mitchell -The darkness of the story shook me. The king married his daughter but the author's writing style is compelling which is a win for me. Out of the retellings, this one stood out for me. [4.5/5 stars]
Before the Rose Bloomed by Ellen Hopkins - This Snow Queen retelling fell flat. [1/5 stars]
Beast / Beast by Tessa Gratton - A great retelling of Beauty and the Beast [4/5 stars]
The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa - This is an okay story. Kinda weird. [2/5 stars]
Untethered by Sonia Gensler - [3/5 stars] - Good writing style but not a fan of the story.
Better by Shaun David Hutchinson - Better than I expected. Wonderful story indeed! [4/5 stars]
Light It Up by Kimberly Derting - [2 /5 stars] - A "meh" retelling of Hansel and Gretel.
Sharper Than a Serpent's Tongue by Christine Johnson - It's okay and kinda miss. [2/5 stars]
A Real Boy by Claudia Gray - [3/5 stars] - I'm not familiar of this retelling but it's good.
Beauty and the Chad Sarah Rees Brennan - Why are Beauty and the Beast retellings are good? It's so adorable [4/5 stars]
The Pink by Amanda Hocking - Another retelling I'm not familiar with. It's good but the ending was a bit boring. [3/5 stars]
Sell Out by Jackson Pearce - This can be good but the ending just... [3.5/5 stars]
This book was really interesting and is a collection of short stories inspired by fairy tales. I really enjoyed some of the stories and some of them I thought were really weird and just weren't my cup of tea. I'm going to select my top 3 favorites in no specific order and go through them.
The Raven Princess- I found this story highly entertaining.It is inspired by the story "The Raven". In fact it's almost similar to the story. It's about this princess who got accidentally turned into a raven by her mother when she was a baby. Years later she meets a man who is an awful hunter and tells him about the curse. He is instructed to visit this old lady's cottage and to not fall asleep. He fails but he still finds another way to break the curse. The characters in this story were fun and the dialogue was great to read. I also enjoyed the twist at the end.
The Brothers Piggett- This here is sort of inspired by the three little pigs. There are three brothers that work in a bakery named Percival, Peter, and Pedro. The story centers around the youngest brother, Percival, who is extremely shy. He falls in love with this girl one day who's grandmother is suspected as a witch. The two spend time together and one day Percival is going to confess his love to her but he sees her with another guy and gets upset. He tells his brothers and they don't react well and cause trouble that ultimately brings their downfall. I found the characters very interesting and even though I had a strong feeling about who the monster was, it was still a great reveal and it teaches you not to judge others quickly and not to act rashly.
Light It Up - Fantastic 21st century adaptation of Hansel and Gretel! It is basically the same story except it's about two teenagers named Hansen and Greta who were abandoned on a camping trip by there step mother and there is no candy house and no old creepy lady. Hansen is the younger brother who is a lot nicer than his bigger sister Greta who is a lot more jaded but deeply cares for her younger brother. Well they basically end up going to this cabin in the middle of the woods and if you know the story of Hansel and Gretel, you probably know what's going to happen next.
Overall this book was enjoyable to read and I recommend it to people that love fantasy, fairy tales, science fiction even though there's only two sci-fi tales. Basically the recommendation list is quite broad because there are so many different kind of stories that all sorts of people would enjoy.
The Key by Rachel Hawkins: Iām a big fan of Rachel Hawkins, and this story did not disappoint. I didnāt see the ending coming, and I love when that happens. The Key was a great way to start this anthology, and added in the right amount of creepy.
Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready: I loved this story. Itās kind of bittersweet. I like that there is an epilogue included at the end. We get closure from this tale, and it definitely gave me the warm fuzzies.
The Twelfth-Girl by Malinda Lo: This needs to be a full length novel. I loved it, and I have to know more about the lives of the girls at the private school, and the āotherā world. The ending totally creeped me out, and I think it could be elaborated on so much more.
The Raven Princess by Jon Skovron: This is another story that left me with warm fuzzies. Thereās definitely a moral, and I kind of figured out where this was going early on. That didnāt stop me from enjoying it though.
Thinner Than Water by Saundra Mitchell: First, a disclaimer about this short story, it deals with incest. There isnāt anything graphically explained, but you know itās going on. I will say after having a hard time reading about the incest, I did end up enjoying this story. The princess takes some great strides in setting things right.
Before the Rose Bloomed by Ellen Hopkins: This just wasnāt for me. I have no problems with writing in prose, but the way the story flowed didnāt work for me.
Beast/Beast by Tessa Gratton: I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, and this one was great. It was eery, and the writing was beautiful.
The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa: When I found out Julie Kagawa was doing a Three Little Pigs retelling I was anxious to know how she was going to do it. I freaking loved this short story. It was a bit predictable, but very enjoyable.
Untethered by Sonia Gensler: Untethered was an okay read for me. I knew what was going to happen from the beginning. I do like Genslerās writing style, though.
Better by Shaun David Hutchinson: Loved this one. We get a sci-fi feel, and a crazy turn of events at the end. I donāt want to ruin the story, but this is definitely one of my favorites in the anthology.
Light It Up by Kimberly Derting: I didnāt finish this story. It just didnāt keep my attention.
Sharper than a Serpentās Tongue by Christine Johnson: This one was just odd. I didnāt really see a point to it, and that could be because I donāt know the original tale it was based on.
A Real Boy by Claudia Gray: Probably one of my favorites in the anthology. I love the sci-fi element, and seeing things through new eyes again. Thereās something about innocence that gives me the warm fuzzies.
Skin-Trade by Myra McEntire: Creepy, but great. Love Myra McEntireās writing. This was a great short story!
Beauty and the Chad by Sarah Rees Brennan: I love how Brennanās writing is always fun and draws you in. The story read like a mix between the Disney movie, and just pure fun.
The Pink by Amanda Hocking: Another in the middle short story for me. I donāt have feelings for it either way.
Sell Out by Jackson Pearce: My first time reading anything by Jackson Pearce, and I wish this was longer! I loved it. I will definitely be reading more of this author.
The Key by Rachel Hawkins 8/10 Nice plot twist, very dark. Me likey.
Figment by Jeni Smith-Ready 10/10 This one gave me a lot of feelings. I really felt for Figment,and this story was definitely one of my favorites!
The Twelfth Girl by Malinda Lo 6/10 I didn't really have much of an attachment to this one and I didn't get the ending. Eh.
The Raven Princess by Jon Skovron 8.5/10
Thinner than Water Saundra Mitchell 4/10 I did not like this one. Very disturbing.
Before the Rose Bloomed Ellen Hopkins 8/10 Loved the writing style!
Beast/Beast Tessa Gratton 7.5/10
The Brothers Pigett Julie Kagawa 9/10
Untethered Sonia Gensler 8.5/10 Beautifully done plot twist!
Better by Shaun David Hutchinson 8.5/10 Levi and Pip <3
Light it Up by Kimberly Derting 7/10 Totally called the human steaks.
Sharper than a Serpent's Tongue by Christine Johnson 7.5/10
A Real Boy by Claudia Gray 9.5/10 Awwwwww!
Skin Trade by Myra McEntire 7/10 CREEPY
Beauty and the Chad by Sarah Ress Brennan 9/10 SO FUNNY! I loved seeing a modern beast and Belle talk. DUDE
The Pink Amanda Hocking 8.5/10
Sell Out by Jackson Pearce 7/10 This was too short for me to get attached, so I didn't really care about this one all that much.
Overall, this was a really great story collection! I recommend to anyone who loves a good fairy tale... with a twist.
It's a good book, different stories by different authors. But this book would be rated higher if all the stories were not that similar to one another.