In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz

I loved A Tale Dark & Grimm so much that I had to get this second book right away to read.  And everything I loved about the first book is present in this one! Funny asides to the reader, gruesome action, familiar faces and bits from various fairy tales, and so on. In general, I just really like the style this author has going on.

This story is all about Jack & Jill. And yes, Jack does go tumbling down and break his crown, and Jill goes tumbling after.  But who Jack & Jill are and how they end up on a quest is really nicely imagined and put together.  Their story is quite an epic adventure and includes goblins, scary mermaids, a beanstalk, and all sorts of things. There’s a talking frog from a well in this story, which would be the second time in just a few weeks I’ve read about that (first-Enchanted.) This was a wonderful adventure and I hope that we’ll be seeing more of these.

On an unrelated note, I’m not doing so great with my Hub Reading Challenge and am very concerned I won’t finish it.

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

I’m not sure where I recently heard about this book-a magazine? a library list? Whatever, it’s GREAT! I loved this so much and am dying to recommend it to someone, but who? I think all the kids I know are a wee bit too young for it. I imagine it would be wonderful to listen to, too, but it’s certainly too much for my five year old to be listening to in the car.

What particularly delighted me about this book were the frequent interjections by the author to the reader. Especially when he warns you that it’s about to get gross or sad or scary so young people should leave the room. All very funny. The story is the story of Hansel and Gretel, but not as you know it. Some of it you recognize, such as the candy house, but did you know they ran away from home because their parents cut their heads off? Sure, they came back to life, but it’s hard to feel safe at home when that has happened.

This is a great fairy tale with all kinds of ups and downs, frightening bits, gory bits (true to true Grimm fashion body parts get hacked off and people get boiled alive), and a wonderful ending. I really loved this and I believe he has another book that I will be getting as soon as I can.

 

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

(Reading Challenge: BFYA)

I was completely enchanted by this book. hahaha. But seriously, I loved this. Sunday Woodcutter is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, so she is bound to be magical. They live in a world where fey abound and magical things happen. Basically they live in a fairy tale! There are fairy godmothers and enchanted nameday gifts and Sunday’s sisters are all named after the other days of the week. In the wood by an old well one day Sunday meets and enchanted frog. She and the frog fall in love and though she kisses him it does not turn him into a man. But of course he actually does and then must set about meeting Sunday in human form and having her fall in love with him that way. But alas, their families are all mixed up with bad history and curses.  What I loved so very much about this lovely story was that it was not a retelling of just one fairy tale. Instead there were bits of everything woven together-old woman and the shoe, princess and frog, Cinderella, Jack and the beanstalk, Rapunzel, and so on.

I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings and this was a very original take on it. I loved it!

I can tell from Goodreads that this is Woodcutter #1, letting me know that the author intends to make this a series or trilogy. You know I normally hate that, but in this case it’s ok. The story ended completely, was fully satisfying, but there are so many other characters (6 other sisters who’ve all clearly got their own stories) that it would be very easy and natural to tell each of their stories.  Sort of like how Marian Keyes’ books are about all these sisters in the same family. Except when they came out people didn’t announce ahead of time first book of a big named series. It was just she wrote a book. Then the next book you were reading you were like “hey! She just referred to a sister who seems to be the person I read a last book about.” and it was all very low key and cool. That would never happen nowadays.

Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale

After reading Rapunzel’s Revenge I picked up Calamity Jack, which smoothly picked up where that had left off. This one adds to the Old West-fairy tale mashup with a bit a steampunky attitude (or, at least, a few contraptions that seem to fit that, if not the vibe). Sidekick Jack is the main focus of this story, as he returns to the town from which he was soundly booted.  The bad guys seem to be taking over in the guise of “protecting” everyone from the giant ants that are wreaking havoc on the city.  Jack and Rapunzel think it all seems a bit suspicious. Here we get more elements of the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk tale-a beanstalk, a giant, the goose and her golden eggs. The same elements of adventure and fun and witty repartee are here as they were in Rapunzel’s Revenge.  These two were a nice change of pace from my usual novels and I really enjoyed them.  Hoping the fact that they are numbered #1 and #2 means there will be a #3!

Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale, illustrated by Dean Hale

I just happened to see this at the library, hadn’t even heard of it, but I love Shannon Hale‘s novels and was excited to see this somewhat oversized graphic novel. Her ability to fracture a fairy tale, create a new backstory, and bring life and spunk to her heroines is equally present in this rollicking funny book as it is in her more “literary” novels. There was an Old West vibe to this, which was very interesting, and thus a bit tall tale-y, too. I loved the fun she had with Rapunzel’s quest for revenge and her companion, Jack (of soon to be beanstalk fame.) Besides Jack there are a few other familiar fairy tale references, such as the goose who lays the golden egg. This was a quick read and I was happy to have Calamity Jack on hand to keep reading.

The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

[Caveat: I'm trying to make good on my New Year's Resolution and get caught up to speed on this blog. That means I'm writing about books I read months ago, my memory might be spotty, and I'm just going to jot down a few sentences.]

Oh man, I can’t believe I read this last April (for real!).  Rereading the summary of the book I remember that I loved it.  Shannon Hale never disappoints me with her incredibly realistic, yet made up worlds that are at home in fairy tales.  In this one a woman and her maid are shut up in a tower for years. They nearly starve to death and of course nearly go mad (I think?).  A beastly horrible man with a crazy secret and crazy power wants her for his own.  A  tale with an amazing heroine-great for teens and adults.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

This is the second in a new series of fairy tale related stories that one of my very favorite romance authors, Eloisa James, is doing.  I thought this was wonderful and just loved it. The fairy tale connection is quite slim-basically a lovely young woman gets sent by her father to this cantankerous Duke’s castle. He has a reputation as a difficult beastly man, but due to some hilariously convoluted circumstances involving a gown that made her look enceinte, he is the only choice she has for marriage.  Then of course they fall in love, despite their own protestations.  The whole novel has James’s signature wit-the opening is particularly clever, frank, and funny.  It was a bit steamier than I recall her other novels being–not for the prudish (but always in good taste.)  The Duke is an interesting character-he’s a doctor and surgeon and has turned his castle into a hospital.  He has no bedside manner whatsoever.  I was reading and thought, “good grief, he’s just like House” and then when I read the afterward I saw that, in fact, the author had deliberately modeled him after House! Witty and beautiful Linnet is the perfect foil for him.

Delightful historical romance

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

[Caveat: I'm trying to make good on my New Year's Resolution and get caught up to speed on this blog. That means I'm writing about books I read months ago, my memory might be spotty, and I'm just going to jot down a few sentences.]

I’m a sucker for fairy tale retellings so when I found out that Alex Flinn (a YA author I like and am amazed she can go between emotional reality and these retellings) had written more than just Beastly in that category, I had to give this a try.  In this one a teenage boy(who, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t crazy about) comes across Sleeping Beauty’s hidden castle and awakens her.  When she (and her whole castleful of people) awake they are in now in modern times.  She is at odds with him, no one believes anyone about the fairy’s curse or what happened, and there is much bickering.  I liked this approach to the fairy tale-what does happen when she wakes up 200 years later? And all the other people who had to fall asleep as well just because she pricked her finger? It has a great ending too-a nice way to wrap it all up.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I know I’m out of touch because this book came out last year and had I known about it I absolutely would have picked it up right away. As it is I read about it on this blog, and promptly got it from the library.  I really enjoy fairy tale retellings, both modern and old fashioned.  This is a modern take on (obviously) Beauty and the Beast. [OK, I just looked on amazon and apparently this spring Flinn put out another retelling of a fairy tale. I must get it. I really think Alex Flinn is a super writer and I'm intrigued by this new type of story she is telling.  If I think about it though, the main character in Beastly very much seems like a character she would write--she's quite good at angry teenage boy stuff.]

The vain boy/Beast in this version is the very wealthy, arrogant, vain son of a television newscaster. He has no family life to speak of and is used to getting his own way.  He also looks down on anyone who is not conventionally attractive.  A strange girl at school places a curse on him and he transforms into a beast.  There are many elements familiar from the original story-the Beast’s love of roses (this version provides a fuller backstory of why he grows them), the isolated house (in Manhattan in this tale), the unwilling girl whom he grows to love, the library that opens his mind.

I found it all quite charming and especially enjoyed the way contemporary things were incorporated.  For example, the main characters are teenagers, what about school? Using the internet to stay connected to the outside world. Which reminds me that the story opens with the Beast visiting a chat room for other fairy tale afflicted beings.  This was a device which I liked very much, but it was not continued throughout and as you can see I forgot all about it when I thought of the book.

Definitely recommended to fans of fairy tale retellings.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce

This lovely fairy tale retelling was the first ever recipient of YALSA’s William C. Morris Award (for a first time young adult author.)  I happen to really enjoy fairy tale retellings, but I think this stands on its own as just a wonderful novel and, as you might expect from an award winner, it is absolutely beautifully written. When I finished it I wished it had been my book club book because there are so many things to talk about in this novel:  comparison to the original Rumpelstiltskin story, the time period-on the verge of the Industrial Revolution, the mill as an actual character itself