Title: The Grimm Conclusion

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Series: A Tale Dark & Grimm, #3

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read on June 3rd, 2014.) 

Summary:

The third sinister story in the Grimm series delves even further into the dark heart of the fairy tales you thought you knew and loved. 

A brother and sister must venture through kingdoms and forests haunted by demons and ogres, all the while seeking their way home. And they must face the most frightening monster of all: death. Enter, if you dare, a world filled with cruel stepsisters, ghastly suppers and a terrifying little man called Rumpelstiltskin.

 
Widely praised and beloved by children, adults, and critics alike, Adam Gidwitz delivers a third serving of eerie new landscapes and fear-inducing creatures in a story sure to delight and frighten fans old and new. 

In the final book in the series, Adam's brilliantly irreverent narrator leads readers through a fresh world of Grimm-inspired fairy tales, based on such classics as The Juniper Tree, the real story of Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin.

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

I loved the previous two books in the series A Tale Dark & Grimm & In A Glass Grimmly, but the third & final book The Grimm Conclusion was definitely the icing on the cake. Adam Gidwitz definitely delivered a satisfying & amazing conclusion to the series, and for me - the best book in the series.

The Grimm Conclusion is a brilliant mix of different fairy tale retellings. It's humorous, adventurous, with lovable main characters, and it's also quite dark & grimm, even gory, and definitely more dark than the previous two books. 

Probably that's why I loved this book so much, though I admit I might have been biased because the author used the names for the main characters from one of my favorite fairy tales - Jorinda & Joringel. The fairy tale Jorinda & Joringel isn't actually retold, only the names & the love they feel for each other is used, and I actually adored that, so from the beginning I might have been biased while reading.

Also, when compared to the previous two books, in The Grimm Conclusion I connected & cared for the main characters right away, and I loved them as characters, even when they were silly or bad.

 

I won't go into details about this story, but it was awesome, and I loved almost every second of it. It was just hilarious (I laughed out loud so many times), yet it was also really heartbreaking, and it was so dark & gritty & grimm, and full of evil. I don't think any reader will be able to stop themselves, but cheer both Jorinda & Joringel, and wish they come up victorious in the end, despite their imperfections.

I loved the fairy tales Adam Gidwitz chose to use, and the way he retold them & made them seem like chapters of one story, and I loved the ending.

I can't recommend enough The Grimm Conclusion, as well as the complete trilogy. I must admit that I am a little bit sad that there won't be any more Grimm stories, yet at the same time I'm happy that it ended on such a high point, so if you're a fan of fairy tale retellings, or just the original fairy tales, The Grimm Conclusion is a must-read!

 

 

Challenges:

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

2014 Series Enders Reading Challenge 

2014 Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

Title: In A Glass Grimmly

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Series: A companion to A Tale Dark & Grimm

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book read from March 15th to March 16th, 2013)

Summary:

More Grimm tales await in the harrowing, hilarious companion to a beloved new classic

Take caution ahead —

Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound.

Lest you enter with dread.

Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true.

Step lively, dear reader . . .
Happily ever after isn’t cutting it anymore.

In this companion novel to Adam Gidwitz’s widely acclaimed, award-winning debut, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Jack and Jill explore a new set of tales from the Brothers Grimm and others, including Jack and the Beanstalk and The Frog Prince.

My Thoughts on the Book:

I loved A Tale Dark & Grimm. It was one of the most entertaining fairy tale re-telling books that combined lots of different fairy tales in an almost perfect whole, so of course when I found out the author decided to write this companion, I was excited to read it!  

And what did I think about it? I loved it of course. Although I think A Tale Dark & Grimmly was a little bit better, if you enjoyed it, you won't be disappointed with In A Glass Grimmly. In this one we follow Jack, Jill & Frog on an adventure.   

I liked the way the author incorporated the different fairy tales, and some of these re-tellings I liked, some of them I loved, and although it took me a while to warm up to the characters, as the story progressed, I did & I started to like them & cheer them on on their adventure, and the stories kept getting better & better as the story developed, and in the end it all wrapped up in the perfect & quite satisfying ending.

As always, I won't go into details, because they will definitely spoil the story, but In A Glass Grimmly is another read that every fairy tale lover wouldn't want to miss! It was fun, interesting, cute, sometimes dark, witty, humorous, magical, entertaining & mostly adventurous, and I highly recommend it!

Challenges:

Don't Let It End Reading Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge March 2013