I received this book for free from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Grimm Curse by Janna JenningsSeries: Grimm Tales #3
Published by Patchwork Press on November 20, 2015
Genres: Fairy Tales & Folklore, Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 185
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley
“In this form you shall remain until a princess shows no disdain.”
Long before Andi woke up in a world that was not her own, her grandmother, Cynthia was entangled in the palace’s circle of glitter and privilege. Explore the dramatic history of Elorium in this standalone prequel to the Grimm Tales series.
Lady Wellington’s obsessive quest to thrust a crown on one of her daughters’ head at any cost has ensnared Cynthia in a scheme that has her sidestepping the arrogant Prince Wilhelm who is determined to make her his bride. With a twist that could only transpire in a fairy tale, Cynthia rescues her own prince, Remington Landry III—cursed by a spiteful witch into the form of a frog.
In the search for a willing princess to lift Remi’s curse, things do not go as planned. The frog-prince disappears, leaving Cynthia wondering at the state of their friendship. Without Remi, Cynthia finds herself a pawn of the ruler of Elorium and imprisoned by his henchman, Prince Wilhelm, who won’t take no for an answer. Cynthia’s life in Elorium is upended as revelations of who she is and the truth about their world comes to light in this stunningly reimagined fairy tale.
Ok, I’m all for reimagined fairy tales. After all, just look at the reviews I’ve done for three of the Disney Twisted Tales books. I love a good reimagined fairy tale. Please note I said a good reimagined fairy tale.
A Grimm Curse is not a good reimagined fairy tale. As a prequel, I honestly feel this book raises far more questions than it actually answers. It is all over the place and makes absolutely no sense.
There are elements of Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, and even Jack and the Beanstalk in this book. Just in case you wondered, as a general rule, fairy tales don’t crossover. Yes, I know… they do in Into the Woods and Shrek, among others. And it works in those places. But it didn’t work here.
There was so little of Jack in the Beanstalk it seemed like that addition was pure afterthought – kind of like the author said “Hmm, I should add yet another fairy tale, but which one?? Oh! I know! I’ll stick Jack in the Beanstalk at the end and hope no one notices.” There wasn’t much of Rapunzel either and you have no idea how Cynthia and Rapunzel became friends in the first place, they just were.
The story was just too disjointed and wonky for me to be able to enjoy it. I made it through because it’s a relatively quick read – about 4 and half hours, but honestly, I won’t read it again, nor would I consider reading the previous books in the series.