REVIEW: In a Glass Grimmly

By Denise @ Life With No Plot on July 18, 2024 • ( 1 )

About the Book

Title: In a Glass Grimmly

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Series: Grimm #2

Genre: Middle Grade Fairy Tale Retelling

Pages: 192

Edition Read: eBook

Dates Read: June 20-22, 2024

Blurb: 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.

Review

This series is so much fun! One thing I do like about it is that while the three Grimm books are technically a series, they are also standalone books in their own right. You get brief mentions of characters from a previous book, but they are not integral to the current story. Which means I didn’t really need to reread A Tale Dark & Grimm to read this one, especially since I already reviewed it years ago, but it was still nice to revisit.

I will say that I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first, although I did still enjoy it quite a lot. As the blurb mentions, this book crosses “Jack and Jill” with “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The “Frog Prince” is mentioned a bit, but only because the frog in question does go with them on their journey (despite his absolute terror – I love Frog). We also have mermaids, goblins, a gruesome underground monster, a trio of wisecracking ravens, and a whole lot more.

As in the first book, the “narrator” breaks in from time to time to warn us how scary and bloody the stories are going to be, since the original fairy tales were nothing like the Disney-esque versions we are used to. The way he says it is funny, almost as if he is goading us to keep going, despite the warnings. It’s a clever way to draw the reader in, especially since this is targeted for a younger audience. But don’t get me wrong – older readers will enjoy these books, too.

Goodreads rating: 3 stars