Book in Review: Grim

10:56 PM


 
Title: Grim
Author: Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees-Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith Ready, Shaun David Hutchinson, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton, Jon Skrovan
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: February 25, 2014
Kindle Edition: 480 pages
Rating: 4/5 

I don't know most of the authors here so I don't have anything to base this anthology on. I also rarely read anthologies but I believe that this is one of the best I've read. Even though the book was written by multiple authors, the tone of the book didn't change. I think that this is quite hard to achieve so I applaud the authors for being able to do that.

I liked all of the stories although I did like some more than the others. The stories were based on other classic tales such as Beauty and The Beast. Not all the stories were as excellent as others though. I wouldn't give any of them a 1-star rating but there was one or two that I rated as 2-star books. Some of my personal favorites in this anthology were: The Twelfth Girl, Figment, and The Brothers Piggett. I'll be writing a short review of all the stories in this anthology to fully review the whole book. I don't really know what most of the stories were based on so I wouldn't really know how to compare the two stories but I'll try my best.

The Key by Rachel Hawkins (retell of Bluebeard)
This book was interesting and was a unique retelling but I think that I needed a little more detail. I would love to read this story as a full-length novel. I think that it would be much better told if it were written as a whole book instead of just a short story.

Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready (retell of Puss in Boots)
I said above that this is one of my personal favorites and that is completely true. I don't really remember the story of Puss in Boots which makes me totally useless in this situation. I do know that I really like this story. It was written well and I was hooked on the story from the very start. The story didn't actually remind me of Puss in Boots until I read on Goodreads that it was based on that.  

The Twelfth Girl by Malinda Lo (retell of Twelve Dancing Princesses)
Another one of my favorites. Again, I don't know the story that this one was based on so again, I can't compare. Even through that, I was gripped by the story. If I didn't know that this was based on another story, I would say that this book was super unique. Since I did know that this was based on another story, I focused on the fact that even if I didn't know the story it was based on, I was still sucked into the twelve girls' world. I could fell what they were feeling and I understood why the girls did what they did.

The Raven Princess by Jon Skovron (retell of The Raven) 
When I finished reading this book, I still had a couple of questions. Even if the story did end with an actual and final conclusion, I was still confused by the actual motives of the mother of the princess. I did think that the ending was perfect though with (SPOILERS!) the princess staying in her raven form and the hunter turning into a raven to be with her. (END OF SPOILERS.) I don't know of this is how the actual story ended but I still like this one.

Thinner Than Water by Saundra Mitchell (retell of Donkeyskin)
This was the story that disturbed me most. I was disgusted and horrified by what happened here but I also felt admiration for the main character since she was very smart and did things rationally. The ending wasn't very final though. There were things that I wanted to be resolved instead of left hanging. I don't think that I can handle a full-length novel of this story but I believe that it could have been ended with a little more detail than what we were given.

Before The Rose Bloomed by Ellen Hopkins (retell of The Snow Queen)
This was a nice story though not very satisfying. I actually do know The Snow Queen (finally, something I know) so I can compare. I don't think that this is the best that Ellen Hopkins could write. I think that she could tell this story a little bit better. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it, I did. It kept my interest and was enjoyable.

Beast/Beast by Tessa Gratton (retell of Beauty and The Beast)
There are two retellings of Beauty and The Beast and to be perfectly honest, I like the other one better. This story was nice and I really liked it when I read it but when I read the second retelling of Beauty and The Beast, this paled in comparison. I don't really remember the story much but I remember liking it and finishing it faster than the other stories.

The Brothers Piggett by Julie Kagawa (retell of The Three Little Pigs)
I have read Kagawa's books before and I have to say, she is a great writer. This is one of the stories that stood out for me in this anthology. I liked it and it was very different from The Three Little Pigs even though as soon as I read it, I knew that it was based on that story.

Untethered by Sonia Gensler (retell of The Shroud)
At first, I was quite confused by what was happening in the story but as the plot progressed and I learned more about what was actually happening, I started to really like it. I thought that it was very sweet in a slightly creepy way. The story was written well and I believe that the length of the story was just right. If it was longer, it might become less sweet and if this was shorter, the story might not show the bond of the family as well as it did in the story.

Better by Shaun David Hutchinson (retell of The Pied Piper)
This one is one of my favorites. It didn't remind me of The Pied Piper but when I saw that it was actually based on that, it all made sense. I liked the romance, the main character, and the love interest. It had a sci-fi theme so I was hoping that the story could have described the setting more but I'm not too disappointed that it didn't. 

Light It Up by Kimberly Berting (retell of Hansel and Gretel)
I've always been fascinated by stories with cannibals in them. That's probably because we rarely see them in stories. I would love to forget about this book's flaws just because of the risk the author took to write about something that isn't that common but I can't. There were some parts of the book that seemed a bit unreal. Not in a supernatural or fairy tale kind of unreal but in a is-this-really-possible kind of way.

Sharper Than A Serpent's Toungue (retell of Diamonds and Toads)
When I read this, I knew what it was based on but I didn't know the name of it. I remember loving the story it was based on so this story had a lot to live up to for me. It wasn't that great but I did enjoy reading it. There were a couple of things that were unexplained and I do wish that it was lengthened. 

A Real Boy by Claudia Gray (retell of Pinocchio)
This is another sci-fi story but I liked it better than the former story. The romance was great and the two were very cute together. Rowan was exactly like what I imagine future humanoid robots would be like. Blue + Rowan? I SHIP IT!

Skin Trade by Myra MacEntire (retell of The Robber Bridegroom)
This story was quite confusing but not too much that I couldn't make sense of the story. The romance felt a bit pushed, like the two weren't really the perfect pairing for each other. It wasn't spectacular but it wasn't terrible either.

Beauty and The Chad by Sarah Rees Brennan (retell of Beauty and The Beast)
This is the second retelling of Beauty and The Beast, the one that I like more. It really stood out among the other stories in this anthology. When I think of Grim this is part of the first stories that pop into my mind. No words needed. Just read it.

The Pink by Amanda Hocking (retell of The Pink)
 I had to think really hard to remember what this story was about. It just didn't stand out. It wasn't like The Twelfth Girl or Beauty and The Chad. It wasn't terrible though. The love story was cute and it had a happy ending but it wasn't that spectacular. It was average. Mediocre.

Sell Out by Jackson Pearce (retell of Snow White/Sleeping Beauty)
I didn't see it at first but then I realized that it really was based on Snow White (or Sleeping Beauty I'm not sure). I liked it but I found Emmett's sudden change of heart about Emily kinda weird. It happened so fast, I think I got whiplash. But other than that, the story was great and I think that it was a good way to end an anthology.

All in all, Grim was a great anthology. I read it at the perfect time too since I felt like reading retellings of classic fairy tales. It would be perfect for anyone who would want to read retellings. It would also be perfect for those who just want to read a good anthology.

Have you read Grim? What do you think about it? Leave a comment!
 
  







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1 comments

  1. I've read it! Heh heh.

    I had mixed feelings about it. Some of the stories really stood out and shone.. whereas others were just plain.

    Overall, I felt like the book was confused as to who its target readership was. Some stories were much much darker than others.

    I LOVED 'Thinner Than Water'.

    Great review! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it very much :D

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