ARC Review: In a Glass Grimmly

In a Glass Grimmly (A Tale Dark & Grimm, 2) by Adam Gidwitz, September 22, 2012. 336 pages. Published by Dutten Juvenile. Source: ARCycling.

More Grimm tales await in the harrowing, hilarious companion to a beloved new classic

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.

First Sentence:

Once upon a time, fairy tales were horrible.

If more fairy tale books were like Adam Gidwitz’s In a Glass Grimmly I think that they would see a resurgence in popularity. Why, because the author did one excellent job of blending the gruesomeness of the 

Brothers Grimm (and other amazing writers of original fairy tale stories) with a tale about finding your own self-worth.   While the tales and their original version are quite familiar to me, I was definitely enchanted with the way Adam Gidwitz used the various tales to help Jack and Jill see what they were truly looking for.    

For me, there are only two types of fairy tale inspired books that will amuse me: the ones that take their cues from authors, like, the Brothers Grimm; and the ones that can make me crack out in uncontrollable laughter.

   One of the things that made this book so interesting, for me, would have to be that the author did a great job of creating a book that had the creepy, bone-chilling feel of a classic fairy tale while still having an underlying message of learning to be your own person. Truthfully, when I started In a Glass Grimmly I was expecting a creepy read, not a story that would have you looking deep within the characters souls and hoping that they would see that they were just fine the way they are.

Oddly enough, what I enjoyed the most about In a Glass Grimmly would have to be the little passages by the author himself as narrator. I thought they were a nice touch and that they added to the story because just as things got all dark and dangerous he would pipe in. Now, usually I could care less for things like that in the books I read, but I found that it was quite enjoyable in this case because it was interesting and voice of it made me chuckle as the narrator would give warning to the squeamish of things to come.

While I really enjoyed In a Glass Grimmly, I do wish that the story had delved a little deeper into some of the different tales that were mentioned. Although, I did love the way that while you could see which ones each of the chapters were from, you could also see the originality that the author brought to each of them. He definitely made the different tales unique and wholly his own.

Final Verdict: In a Glass Grimmly- A disturbingly good time.

In a Glass Grimmly earns 4 out of 5 pineapples.