Review: A Grimm Legacy

A Grimm Legacy by Janna Jennings | website

Publisher/Year: Patchwork Press | October 26,2014

Pages: 337

Series: Book One in the Grimm Tales

Genre: YA Fantasy | Fairy Tale Retelling

Format: eBook ARC

Source: Patchwork Press through Netgalley (Thanks!)

Amazon | Goodreads

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  That did not sway my opinion in the least. 

Summary (From Goodreads)

Enchanted castles and charming princes thought to exist only in stories come to life in this classically twisted fairy tale that combines the timeless quality of folktales with the challenges of the modern world.

The woods of Elorium appear ordinary to Andi… until the birds start to talk and elves answer doors. Whisked out of her world along with three strangers, Andi finds herself the reluctant guest of Mr. Jackson, a perplexing millionaire who claims to be able to help them get home. The secrets he harbors, however, make it difficult to know just who to trust.

When the group of teenagers discover that in this new world, fiction is anything but, and that they all have unexpected family ties to this fairy tale land, they must learn to rely on each other. The only way to survive evil fairies and giants intent on keeping them in Elorium is to rely on each other.

Faced with characters short on whimsy and bent toward treachery, Andi, Quinn, Fredrick, and Dylan are forced to play their parts in unfinished fairy tales. But in Elorium, happily ever after is never guaranteed.

Shannan’s Summary

Four ordinary kids are suddenly removed from their life and dropped in the middle of an unknown location.  They evenutally discover they’re in a new world called Elorium, and this is where Fairy Tales come from.  Not only that, but their history is tied to this land, and their future may be too, because a mysterious force expects them to take there place among the stories, whether they want to or not.

First Off…

I love fairy tale retellings, so when I saw this story on  netgalley, I thought it would  be right up my alley.

Thoughts:

I’m so split on this book.  I was looking forward to a  fairy tale retelling,  and this is a great concept: four kids that are mysteriously taken in the land where fairy tales came from..    I just felt like the story fell flat for me.    The characters didn’t feel like they  were really developed until  halfway through   Most of the book was jumping from one story spin-off to the next.  Instead of making a story that  references fairy tales, it seemed to rely on them, which made for a choppy story. And  while I  enjoy a good vocabulary, when everything is labeled a cacophony it eventually loses it’s intended emphasis.

 I did really start getting into the story around the halfway point when it started to develop into it’s own story and the characters started becoming more unique individuals.  But  by the  last couple chapters, I just wanted to be done with the book.  It has a cliff hanger with a sequel scheduled, but  the reasoning for the sequel is not one that has me interested enough to want to read the next book.    And honestly, if I hadn’t written down that I needed to review this book, I probably would have forgotten that I read it.  It wasn’t that it was bad,  it was that I just didn’t have any overwhelming connection to the story that made it memorable.

10 Second Summery:

1. The story was interesting enough:  The basic story was decent and unique.  There were definitely points where I wanted to keep reading.
2. The execution wasn’t always the best:  It felt more like short stories that were kind of connected rather than one whole book.  It made for some confusing moments .
3. There’s a squeal you may or may not want to read:  At the end of this book,   even though there was a definite set up for a second book, I didn’t really feel invested enough to  put the second one on my TBR list.

I would say borrow it.  It’s not something I feel compelled to own but I didn’t regret reading it.  If you have nothing else you want to read or are looking for something different, this one could be a reasonable diversion.