Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales

This is a great collection of Grimm's fairytales and the full cast narration is excellent.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more variety in the chosen stories in this edition. There are plenty of classics and the versions they chose of these classics are excellent, but some of the lesser known tales with more unique characters might have improved this to make it a five star audiobook. The inclusion of both The Twelve Brothers and The Six Swans as well as several of the "king's daughter up for marriage to a man who can solve a problem/riddle/challenge" stories just made me wish for the inclusion of something else like The Bremen Musicians or Godfather Death, just to vary the story structures, characters and morals a bit.

Generally this is a solid way to introduce Grimm's fairytales to readers and I did enjoy it, I would have just liked a bit more variation.

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apalershadeofwhite's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This collection as a whole was pretty middle-of-the-road. There were some tales I really enjoyed, some I didn't like at all, and some that weren't bad but were pretty forgettable. It was especially a bit difficult to want to read in the middle, where a lot of the tales were pretty repetitive, but it did pick up a little towards the end.

So many of the tales in this collection were basically the same story but wrapped in a different package! There was an insane amount of repetition with the content within the tales and most often had the same ending, just with differently named characters and a different locale. It made the reading process a bit monotonous.

Don't get me wrong, though, there was still some good writing in here! They just felt a bit like finding a pearl in the sea haha. I specifically liked the focus on symbolism and metaphors as I'm a sucker for these in any narrative I read. Although, there were a lot of grim (ha) inclusions in the tales that sometimes were a bit odd. There was, on the other hand, quite a few really funny bits within this collection. I'm unsure if they were all intentional, but they made me laugh either way so it's a plus.

There were, however, massive racist undertones. The tales often talked of women being "black and ugly as sin" but other being "white and beautiful" which was awful to read, to be honest. And I felt like all of the messages to girls in these tales were to just sit and be pretty.

I found that the overarching morals throughout the tales were: honesty versus deceit, selfishness versus compassion, jealously, and equality and equity.

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Jacob and Wilhelm certainly loved their tales of horror. I was rather relieved to be done, honestly, because even though I enjoyed it, it felt very repetitive with many similar plots and tropes. But the sinister and at times evil nature of the tales is spooky and tantalizing. Classic and familiar, this was quite enjoyable, but often so in small doses as one might grow tired of similar tales. But it is a cultural staple, and it gives so much more significance to these stories’ successors. It’s something everyone should read.

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Dark and lovely, like the sinister forests in which so many of these stories take place. These are classic tales, though so many of them in a row felt kind of repetitive. There are a lot of castles, forests, witches, princes, kings, queens, princesses, and a lot of deals with the Devil. Usually though, they come to a more or less peaceful (if not happy) end, though often by grim means. It can’t be reviewed so much because it’s a collection, and the stories were written to be read separately. It’s only repetitive because they’re all compiled. However, some stories deviate entirely from these norms, which is quite refreshing. Prepare yourself for curses, blood, and beautiful wickedness.

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thirdtimesacharm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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