This is a sweet and fun book that will be loved by anyone who loves witches, has quirky friends, or feels like they don’t fit in. The story is geared toward youth, but can easily be enjoyed by adults.

What I liked: I loved the relationship between Grace and the schoolchildren and how that changed over the course of the story. Rum’s grumpiness made him my favorite character, especially when his desire for an escape from his regular life kept him coming back to Grace.

What I didn’t like: The book ended abruptly and some things weren’t resolved. Why was the brother the only magic that reversed? It needed another chapter or epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I do not agree with calling this a magical retelling of Anne of Green Gables. This was a good book but it isn't Anne, which is one of my favorite series of all time. The characters are capable of standing on their own without leaning on the legacy of Anne.

Delightful! Grace knows she is magical and so leaves the orphanage for the witch's cottage in the woods in hopes of becoming an apprentice. The witch is not inclined to help, but strikes a deal with Grace. If she can complete the 100 1/2 spells in her grimoire before a cherry tree blooms, she can stay. If not, Grace must sacrifice her magic. What follows is a story about a magical pact, but also one about friendship, community, and finding a home.
This book is inspired by Anne of Green Gables, and in the very best way. It's not a slavish re-write but a wonderful re-imagination of Anne's story. Grace is like Anne in many ways: a fanciful, poetry-loving, lonely, kindhearted creature. There are characters and situations that harken back to Montgomery's original, but there are important differences too. It captures the spirit of Anne while delivering a magical story with a charm all its own. I loved it.

An imaginative and entertaining retelling of a classic story! Those already fans of Anne of Green Gables will enjoy the nods to the original while those who have never visited Anne’s world will be equally enchanted with Grace’s. Hoping that there may be more adventures of Grace and her friends to come!

Grace is a young orphaned witch alone in the world. So she seeks out an reclusive witch to teach her to use her magic. Unfortunately, the witch she finds wants nothing to do with her. She eats children, she doesn't teach them. But Grace is a very persistent girl, and she makes a bargain with the witch that allows her to stay in her house if she can complete the task the witch has assigned.
A magical retelling of Anne of Green Gables, there are versions of all the beloved characters. But unlike many other reinterpretations, this book has created a different world where there are enough changes to keep the reader interested in what will happen next.

The Grace of Wild Things is a fast paced adventure following a young witch named Grace who travels to another witch's cottage to try and become her apprentice. When she gets there, things do not go quite according to plan, and the witch does not want anything to do with Grace, or having an apprentice. Finally, it is agreed that if Grace can cast all 100 and a half spells in the witch's grimoire, she will take her under her wing; if not, Grace will give up all of her magical essence to the witch. With a task at hand, Grace sets out to do the impossible, and well, makes it possible. I found Grace incredibly engaging and spunky, and indeed all the characters likeable and fun/funny. I connected with the grumpy witch the most, though that's probably the grandmotherly side of me. I give this tale a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

This was utterly delightful. It was so whimsical and honestly more emotional than I was expecting. While this is following children I think this is suitable for all ages; the writing is lyrical enough to be reaching a higher level middle grade of reading. The only potential is in chapter 20 Grace refers to Mrs. Crumley criticizing her cooking in the past when I think she might have been referring to the old headmistress? Of the orphanage. Other than that the pacing was perfect the characters were lovable and I cannot wait to get this as a physical copy.

I'm pretty much a sucker for anything related to Anne of Green Gables so when I saw that this book was a retelling, I was all in. I'll be the first to admit that fantasy is not always my favorite genre but the idea of the story including a young girl learning about being a witch and tying into a retelling of one of my favorite series piqued my interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this book. Grace was a delight with so many throwbacks to Anne. Her love poetry, her fanciful stories and her string desire to find a place to belong. The witch was so much fun right from the start and the evolution of her character over the course of the book was lovely. I also loved the inclusion of Rum, the fairy, as our male main character and Sareena as the best friend Grace always wanted/needed. While the book could be read by anyone including those who have never read Anne of Green Gables, I really enjoyed the connections to the original storyline that the author embedded throughout the book.

There was just the right amount of fantasy and magic in this story to keep it moving and fresh. I wasn't sure what to expect at the ending but I enjoyed where the story took me. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a magical fantasy.

There are books I read as an adult that I wish had been around earlier for my younger self to read and The Grace of Wild Things is absolutely on that list. What a magical and beautiful story! I didn’t even realize it was an interpretation of the world of Anne of Green Gables until about midway through. The similarities are there, but not so heavy handed that I felt like I knew where the story was going. Grace was so funny and imaginative and resilient. I absolutely loved her. Honestly, all the characters were so well written. I especially loved Sareena and the witch. There were times I was laughing while reading this (the backwards hiccups killed me) and times where I was crying. It will definitely tug at your heartstrings. This is a book for the daydreamers, the ones full of imagination and curiosity, the ones who feel like they don’t quite fit in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Balzar & Bray and Harper Teen for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was interesting ...a character who thinks she is wicked (because she is a witch) discovering that she can actually be good and kind.

"Maybe you are a wicked witch, but I don't see any reason why you can't also be a kind one. Who says you can only be one thing?"

We all have both light and dark inside of us, and so I think a story like this would be so good for a child who struggles with the hypocrisy that is inherent in every human heart.

There was souch I enjoyed about this book....but the obvious links to Anne of Green Gables (think Anne Shirley meets Hansel and Gretel) were a bit overdone. It almost felt as though those items were just stuck into the book to make the comparison to A of GG more obvious. I would have preferred a few subtler references rather than the sense of overly-contrived parallels.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Balzer + Bray for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review. (Publish Date: February 14, 2023)

“The Grace of Wild Things” by Heather Fawcett is an inventive Sci Fi and fantasy retelling of the 1908 classic “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery.

To properly prepare myself for reviewing this book, I read “Anne of Green Gables” for the first time and loved it so much that I was appalled at myself for not reading it sooner! What an incredible coming of age story that has captured hearts over generations of readers!

As you can imagine, I had high expectations going into this book. I was promised “Anne of Green Gables” but with magic and witches - and I was not let down!

The story follows Grace, an orphan with magical powers who runs away to become a witch’s apprentice. The problems start when the witch turns out to be bad - like the witch in “Hansel and Gretel” bad. However, Grace is determined to learn how to properly use her magic and cast spells, so she makes a deal the witch can’t refuse: If Grace can learn all 100 ½ spells in the witch’s grimoire (her personal book of magic spells and invocations), she gets to be the witch’s apprentice. If she fails, the witch gets to take all of Grace’s magic for herself and Grace will return to the orphanage. The witch agrees thinking there's no possible way a novice child witch could complete all the spells.

As time goes by, Grace slowly disarms the bad witch with her curiosity, kind nature, and expansive imagination. Grace loves having a room and place to call home in the witch’s cottage, and she even begins making unexpected friends as she races to complete the nearly impossible spells.

I was pleasantly surprised by how similar Grace was to Anne from the original novel, and I greatly appreciated the author sprinkling highlights from Green Gables throughout this modern retelling with impressive ease. However, I did lower my review to 4 stars instead of 5 for this book, because Grace’s alluring spark and the magic of the story in general started to dim in the last quarter of the book, and the ending felt a bit rushed and abrupt with too many loose ends for my liking.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the magical twists from the original story. It was a fun read that would appeal to children, middle grade, and even teens who enjoy a good fantasy and coming of age story.

Anne of Green Gables meets classic fairytale by way of Hansel and Gretl in this middle grade. Wholesome and sweet with a few dark shadows, this book has witchy cottage-core woven around relationships which feel remarkably real between Grace, an orphaned witch seeking apprenticeship and nurturing of her own magic. It has its own twists and turns.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked how Grace was based off of Anne from Anne of Green Gables and how her personality was carried over. I really enjoyed this book!

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

An enjoyable reimagining of Anne of Green Gables as a fantasy complete with magic and witches. Fans of Anne will appreciate some of the nods to the original book in The Grace of Wild Things and fans of fantasy will enjoy the magic, witches and spells of Grace's story. With just one friend, a crow, Grace sets off from the orphanage determined to find the witch and convince her to take her in. But things don't go quite the way Grace planned.

I loved this book. The writing was absolutely beautiful. It even made me tear up at the end. I will definitely read more by this author. I loved seeing this author’s fantasy twists on events that happened in Anne of Green Gables. It was such an interesting take on it. It was Anne meets Brother’s Grimm. I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Balzer + Bray for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

5 stars. I didn’t know if I would connect well with a middle grade novel, but I saw a magical Anne of Green Gables and had to read it. I’m so glad I did.
This book was whimsical and melodic. Definitely a cozy fantasy. I love the author’s descriptions. She really painted a picture within my mind. All the characters were unique and they all had depth.
I most of all loved Grace’s character development.
This book can be enjoyed by all. Middle grade, teenagers, adults.
By the end of this book I shed some tears.
I will be buying this book as I can see my 11 year old loving this story.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing an ebook arc for my honest review.

The Grace of Wild Things was incredibly wholesome and sweet without being saccharine. This magical reimagining of Anne of Green Gables had a whimsical cottagecore feel. The themes of friendship and determination were incorporated in a really down-to-earth way and resonated with me. I have never read or watched Anne of Green Gables, so I can’t speak to the comparison or the retelling aspect, but this book stands on its own merits.

I really like the friendships in this book and how they evolved over time. Many started out with conflict and grew into strong bonds. Grace and her best friend Sareena had a dynamic relationship that felt grounded in mutual appreciation and need. Her friendship with the popular girl Priscilla was interesting to me. It would have been easy to make Priscilla a one-note character – a mean, shallow girl – but the author allowed Priscilla to be much more complex and nuanced than that. The same goes for a bully-like side character as well as the others we meet.

To me, the heart of this book was Grace’s relationship with the witch. Grace’s persistent kindness and efforts to bond and learn from the cantankerous old witch were incredibly charming. The witch’s slow, reluctant acceptance and eventual love of Grace melted my heart.

This book is being marketed to a middle grade audience which isn’t a genre that I usually read. That audience would indeed love this, but I think any fantasy reader would enjoy it. If a sweet cottagecore witch tale sounds good to you, put this on your TBR!

4.5/5 stars

I really wanted to like this book, but I didn't connect with the characters, especially Grace.

I found the story lacking as well.

This book was so good! I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns. I wasn’t expecting certain things that happened and I love that. I can’t wait to read more from the author!

The book follow Grace, a young witch in training. She runs away from the orphanage and decided to live with another witch and be her apprentice. After some twists and turns, friends and enemies, Grace becomes a full fledged witch, and has a newfound family!

I one thousand percent think Grace is Anne from Green Gables with magic! It’s a beautiful story.

Anne of Green Gables is my favorite book of all time, and I love Heather Fawcett’s writing, so of course I loved this one. My only qualm is that the pacing felt off: it seemed to wrap up too quickly. Maybe I just didn’t want it to end.