Grim Anthology by Christine Johnson

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 454

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Released: 25th of February 2014

Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today.

What I Have To Say

I think most people who read these posts know how much I like fairytale retellings, so obviously Grim was a book I’ve been really looking forward to. Anthologies like this are ones I find hard to review. I mean there are so many very different stories. Reviewing each one would take forever. So I’m going to talk about my favourites, the two that really stuck out for me. 

The first one I’m going to talk about is my absolute favourite, Beauty and the Chad  by Sarah Reese Brennan. I wasn’t sure about the concept at first, it felt a little silly. But I really should have taken into account the comedic skills that Sarah Reese Brennan always shows in her writing, because Chad’s portrayal was perfect, a stereotype, but just on the right side of ridiculous. And the way he fit into the medieval society was hilarious.  

The fact that the heroine was disguised as a boy and the very insistent cutlery, the best part in my opinion, made this story a brilliant, light-hearted reworking of Beauty and the Beast. 

The other story I want to talk about is Figment by Jeri Smith-Ready. With references to Puss in Boots, the story is told from the point of view of a creature inhabiting a toy cat, a sort of guide, helping a musician find his potential. 

This story broke my heart. I fell in love very quickly with the figment and his feelings of rejection, being unappreciated and abandonment really touched me. 

There are so many stories from this book that I could write full reviews of and though, naturally, as with any book like this there were others that weren’t so good, most of them were ones I really enjoyed.