I wanted to like this one so bad. But it just doesn't work for me on multiple levels. Maybe it is because it's an ARC, but this book is in serious need of editing. The pacing is all over, the PoV shifts are choppy and the dialogue sometimes reads like a y/n story on Wattpad. The romance drove me up the wall. They literally JUST met and it's all a case of "oh she's different" and "I can't stop thinking about him, his hair, his face." abd in all honesty I have no patience for that. It genuinely pains me to rate a book so low but this is the second time since I got the e-ARC that I'm trying to get through it- the first time was years ago- and I still can't seem to finish it.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

5 star review!

"This is the story of four sisters Grimm - daughters born to different mothers on the same day, each born out of bright-white wishing and black-edged desire"

I really enjoyed this rich and imaginative fantasy book, which had me captivated from the start. Full of vivid imaginations and an entirely beguiling book which highlights folklore, female empowerment and the struggles women have being controlled by the system.

I look forward to reading the second book in this duology.

Unfortunately I did not manage to read this book at the time; and it is no longer a book I'd be interested in reading. Many thanks to the publisher for approving my request, and my apologies for being unable to provide a full review.

Sadly, this book did not gel with me. Neither the writing nor the character managed to draw me in which is quite a shame as I was very much excited to read it.

I really wanted to like this book, but it's so slow. I genuinely felt like I was dragging my feet through mud trying to read through this book.

There are 5 main PoVs, one of which is told in first-person (Goldie). And if Goldie is a part of another's PoV story, then it's also told from Goldie's first-person PoV, which got really confusing. Throw in the mix that there are 5 PoVs for the present day and 5 PoVs from their childhoods, with the occasional random PoV from Wilheim Grimm, an aunt, or just a description of Evermore, it's just too much to keep up with.

My head hurts and I'm bored. I'd suggest giving this book a hard pass.

Actual rating 4.5/5 stars.

Goldie, Liyana, Scarlet, and Bea. Four girls who knew each other once, but no longer. Four sisters who once shared a magical place and an unbreakable bond, but have now forgotten all of it along with the powers they possess. Their time for remembering is soon approaching but their deaths will swiftly follow if they fail to harness all of it in time.

I was only a handful of pages into this book before I had my first hesitancies about it. The quickly shifting perspectives initially left me with no time to get to know each character or acquaint myself in their surroundings. I thought I would form no bond with any who featured inside these pages and only get a surface level understanding for what was occurring. I was wrong.

I'm not sure exactly why this this style worked so well for me, when it is not one I would usually appreciate. There was something enchanting about experiencing snippets of these girls' lives, both based in reality and elsewhere, both when they were young and when they were fully grown. Nothing was chronologically-sequenced and no event followed directly on from the preceding one. Instead, this was a broken jigsaw puzzle of a book that only the final quarter could reveal the true picture of.

This storytelling style enchanted me and the magical focus intrigued me. These two facets, along with the characters I soon adored reading about, all worked to make this novel an unforgettable one. It was tragically beautiful and I long lamented over the losses I experienced inside its pages. The sequel will hopefully have more happiness for me but I highly doubt that. I remain excited to continue on, all the same.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

This is what I expect in a great middle-grade novel. This book was well-written, had wonderful characters, great adventure, lots of humor and just an overall good time. I have no clue why I have never heard of this book, but I'm sure glad I stumbled past it in my library and it caught my eye.

I had such high hopes for this book based on its premise, and have seen so many great reviews, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me.
The first time I tried to read it, I only got about 5% of the way through, and had to come back to it at a later date because I feel I owe it to NetGalley books to give them a fighting chance. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it any more the second time around, and I've had to accept that it's just not the style of book for me.
I felt the writing was good, which was a saving grace as I wouldn't have been able to finish it otherwise, but there was so much left unexplained or under-explained that I kept having to backtrack thinking I had missed vital information. There were so many elements I wanted explained further in order to fully understand and enjoy the story, but the lack of information was a deal breaker for me, and because I spent so much of the story confused, I didn't make any real connection with the characters.

This is a great book. It is not my usual genre but I was really engaged with the story.
A great read for fans of fantasy or people new to the genre

A gorgeous fantasy that portrayed a fantastic blend of magic and realistic fiction. There was something unique and fresh in the way this story has been crafted in such an overarching and detailed way. At times, this complexity and detail made the story feel quite dense and erring this book away from a possible young adult audience. The expansive amount of POVs within this story only adds to this.

Despite the complexity and detail, there was an overall sense of lacking explanation at times. This took away from a smooth reading experience for the reader.

But for readers looking for an intense and captivating fairytale-esque story, this is a fantastic read with countless elements to applaude.

This was OK, I found the pacing to be a bit off. Plus only having little snippets of the girls lives didn't really allow me to bond with any of the that much. I found that the sisters were quite annoying in places and do some really daft things just to keep the story going. Most of the book was quite hard to get through as nothing really happened that wasn't obvious. It just felt like nothing exciting or different happened which would grip a reader. I can see what this book was meant to show, the power of the female but this was done it a quite clunky way. There were some great bits to do with the fantastical elements of the book but they weren't done in a way that i enjoyed. This is not to say that other people won't enjoy the book, it just wasn't for me.

The Sisters Grimm had an interesting premise - four sisters with elemental powers born on the same day to different mothers, and connected by a dream world called Everywhere that can only be accessed at 3:33am. The writing was lovely. However I found the non-linear narrative and jumping between perspectives quite confusing. So much so, that I wasn't entirely sure what the story was about until quite late in the game. For the most part, it follows the four young women and their ordinary lives. I expected more of the book would be devoted to the fantasy elements, which were the parts I enjoyed the most. Ultimately it is a story of female empowerment and sisterhood.

A cool premise, and I loved reading this book. It was a bit confusing at first, but once I got into the story, I was so glad I persisted.

I found the narrative for this book so confusing, if it had been told in a more linear way I might have found it easier to read. The constant switching between the sisters as children to almost 18yr olds didn't seem to make sense. I liked the idea of the Sisters and the Star soldiers but ended up disappointed.

Great premise and the promise for an interesting read, and The Sisters Grimm did have a lot of good moments. That said, there were moments where I was genuinely confused or was just drifting off.

The first few chapters interested me. Giving me high hopes for the rest of the book. But at some point, I'm unsure of when, I started to zone out.
At times the story felt a little repetitive and slow.
Despite each of the sisters having their own traumas I still struggled to really care about any of them. Goldie and Liyana felt the most developed, I wish more time was spent with Bea and Scarlet for more development.
At times I would get lost during Bea's parts. I'm not sure why.
Goldie and Leo relationship did nothing for me. If anything made me a little uncomfortable at times. So by the end when everything came to a head I didn't feel for any of them.
The world itself needed more explanations. The more I read the more lost and confused I became. I'm still unsure how anything works. Or even why it has to be the way it is.
I wish more time was spent on world building and less on boys.

TW: sexual abuse, suicide thoughts, incest, self harm.

So I'm equal parts happy and sad about reading this one. For the first 30% I was so damn confused if I'm going to be honest. There were no less than 5 regular points of view to keep up with (occasionally there were others too) all of which seemed to have nothing to do with each other, other than sharing a birthday.

The story skipped backwards and forwards through time, only letting the reader know by the girls infrequently making comments about being 8. But then suddenly they were 17 again and counting down to their birthday. Not until i connected that the 8 year old girls were only usually present in Everwhere could I finally work out when it went back to their childhood.

After I finally got a grip on the who, when and where, the tale started to become more enjoyable. The narrative overall was an enjoyable one with underlying discussions on race, female stereotypes, sexual representation and poverty. Once the girls started to discover each other, was when it really heated up and got going.

I found the character of Wilhelm a little overbearing and honestly more annoying than endearing. Leo on the other hand made me extremely happy as he bent over backwards to accommodate Goldie.

Each girl has their own strengths and weaknesses; I found myself more drawn to the character of Liyana than any other. While each girl is different to their 'sibling' as a group, they fit together pretty well.

Overall Sisters Grimm is definitely a tale I would recommend to those who love a good retelling. Its smart, well thought out and uncharacteristically deep for a novel of this genre

If the title doesn’t intrigue you, then the byline definitely should: daughters born to different mothers on the same day, each born out of bright-white wishing and black-edged desire. Ooh!

From this promising start, we get something… muddled. These four girls were separated at thirteen, and now they need to find each other again at eighteen, before they get caught up in a war between good and evil, life and death. In their dreams, they can travel to the Everwhere, a land where they can do magic beyond their wildest dreams, but in reality they are being hunted by soldiers who work for their father. It’s complicated.

And that’s the problem, really. There’s a lot of exposition, but as a result the story never really gets off the ground. There are a lot of missed encounters and skeptical characters, which saps pace from the book. By the end, you’ve got something soggy and heavy as an English breakfast. The girls are almost eighteen, but act like they’re about fifteen. Though they’re well fleshed out, this makes the generous amounts of sex in the book read oddly.

It’s a shame: there’s a lot of good stuff in here. If only it wasn’t so slow.