I loved this collection of stories! Zappia is an amazing author and has a way with words.

You are drawn into this collection of fairytales and become immersed in the world.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

A fairytale village, Greymist Fair, full of characters surrounded by an enchanted forest that is possessed by Death. The people of Greymist Fair dare not enter the woods for fear of Death and his wargs claiming their lives. A full story told in smaller fairytale narratives developing the character arcs. Some meet not so nice ends, but overall comes to a fair resolution.

I liked the retellings and overall creepy and dark story, though the author took great liberties to make the stories her own.

While I had no problem with Death being a non-binary person, I found I had a hard time reading the character in they/then pronouns. Would have preferred to have Death referred to as "it" which could easily have been done seeing as Death is simultaneously a person and a thing/concept.

Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable story with heros, villains, and casualties.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's and netgalley for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the town of Greymist Fair you will meet several characters from many of the lesser known fairy tales that author Francesca Zappa has been able to pull together nicely, creating a tightly woven, beautiful tale that will forever be here to teach readers the lessons we need to learn about life and the business of living it. The overall lesson that I took from the book, that is now here, in print, for the next generation of children to read, are many and, as follows, below. The book focuses largely on the concept of death and deals with many issues in it.

And, throughout the whole book, as the characters from the lesser fairy tales all have their tale, all in relation to death, who they will either submit to before the end or have to combat in the end, there are lesser known lessons that we find. Ones about magic, friendship, family, there are losses, very little in gains, until the end. Throughout the book we see death as a lonely, controlling creature who all the characters either hide or flee from. One of the major points of the tale, when people die they are turned into wargs. There is even a moment in the book where a character comments that wargs do not normally go after others, and are not the harbingers, servants of death. That the wargs are only this way because of how the villagers let death control them, through their fear of him.

The protector of the village is a witch, a nice change from most stories in which a witch is normally a sinister, nefarious character, here, our heroine. The fact that she needs to keep this hidden from the villagers for the protection of herself is however, still sad. Here thought, another lesson we must learn in life. While it is nice to always be able to tell the truth, we teach our children that the truth always prevails in life, that it is always best to tell it, that truth, in fact, is still something the world might not always accept, sometimes might be better off hidden or not spoken about. And, while I would love to be able to tell the world everything about myself, the sad fact is, I'd have to make them accept me, because most of the world wouldnt accept me willingly. But, as long as I am okay with myself and I have people I love and love me. That is all that matters and that is what the author conveys here, in the story. Because the witch is loved for who she is by the people who know and love her and that is all that matters to her.

The sad fact is that I believe that the world can sometimes not want to hear the truth of the whole matter. While the woman in the story was a witch and she protects the whole village of Greymist Fair from death, she hid that fact from the villagers for the protection of herself, from what they thought and especially later, when she had a daughter, for the protection of her child (who later goes on to be the witch who protects the village). And we learn this in life too. That sometimes the world cannot deal with the whole truth of a situation and that some facts need to be kept to oneself. The witch was not harming anyone, but was, in fact, protecting the village. And, just as in life, when we have a secret that society can’t deal with, sometimes it is better to keep that secret to oneself, or, within the group of people we love, however small that group is. The world is not a perfect place and the world is not always right. Like in Greymist Fair, the world is filled with imperfect creatures!

As much as this is a book for children and young adults, I love it when I, as a forty year old woman, can read a book and find something about myself, while reading it. And really, in reflecting while writing a book review, thinking back on all the thoughts and feelings I had while reading the book, the journey in reading it, I love when I really picked up so much from a book, that I can relate it to my life and myself, as I was able to do here. And as silly as it can be for an adult to find things out about themself in a children's book, you know it's a good book, because the best ones are when anyone can find out things about themself when reading it, as I was able to do in Greymist Fair.

I can remember when I thought about what I wanted to tell my son about God, death, when I thought about how I wanted him to view his life while still having to live with the fact that these concepts are something he will have to deal with, in living. And, I wish I would have had this book or a book about life like this, at the time. Because, I would have read him this story, told him about Greymist Fair and that all the villagers, in having to combat death, had to go on with life, had to live their life to the fullest to keep him away from the town. The story of Greymist Fair teaches children (and, I have found, adults too) that in living and in celebrating life, as the residents celebrated Yule despite the fact that the wargs, and death were coming for the village, only in the celebration of life can we combat death. And it is a beautiful lesson and great to be reminded of on the occasions when we, as adults, can sometimes forget this too! But, in learning this lesson, there is still more to be shared, more to this tale, the celebration is not over yet, still one member of the town, missing the festivities.

In the end, however, it is not the fear of death that you need to forget (some of the characters in the book realize) but the acceptance that death is a part of life. Death is making room for the new, an essential part of the cycle of life. Greymist Fair, after all, is the home of death, too. He had just never been welcomed or accepted there, always feared and discouraged from being a “part of”. And so, during the villagers' celebration of Yule death is welcomed and received as a member of the party and village. Because of this, the wargs are released as the gruesomes beasts they were and are now simply, as the old tales were told, helpers to the lost and wandering. Death further promises not to harm any in the village who still fear him because he has had forgiveness and the acceptance of some of the villagers. It is a beautiful, heartwarming tale, forgiving death (as an actualy being, much like a person) and the acceptance of him!!

I will always be the type of adult who likes to pick up fairy tales and young adult books (books such as this) to be reminded of the things I learned when I was young. When you go about the business of living and so many things are happening in life, sometimes you forget those simpler lessons and need to be reminded. And, sometimes there were things that we, growing into adults, missed along the way, too busy, too anxious, too scared to pick them up. Or, maybe there was no one there to teach them, or the book we happened to read, they weren't there or we didn't pick up on them.

I want to thank Francesca Zappia for Greymist Fair and a story where I could find all these lessons and more. I can't wait to see what she does next as this book was simply wonderful and I recommend it to anyone who can take a small window of time out of their day to engage in a story worth reading, remembering and sharing! I really loved this book and it's well worth the time it takes to read to have heard the story of Greymist Fair. It's a fast read, after all, if you dont think too much about it, as I did, lol! And, the last chapter, I don’t want to ruin it for readers but the whole story works out (the last chapter, great) and like in all fairy tales, there really is a happy ending!

DNF at 20%

I did DNF this, but I'm giving it a 3 star rating because it just wasn't for me, but I can see the appeal for others. The writing style just wasn't my cup of tea and I had a hard time reading and getting into the storyline. I will say the spooky atmosphere was lovely! And I wish it was something I could get into.

I hope if you have read other books by her, or want a good spooky read, give this one a try. It could be one of your favorites! :)

I try not to judge books by their cover but HOLY SMOKES, I was drawn to this book like any magic in the Grimm Fairy Tales. Gorgeous. Simply stunning.

I loved this book and how it was set up into a bunch of interweaving short stories which all come together at the end. Spooky and haunting, this is the perfect read on cooler evening. I finished my reading in one sitting because I needed to know what was going to happen. I will admit that the skipping around did take me a minute to get accustomed to, but it wasn't bad at all.

Anyone into fairytales of any kind, should pre-order this wonderful book.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*an e-ARC of this book was given to me via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review*

Greymist Fair by Francesca Zappia takes place in a cozy village hidden within a dark, magical forest that takes those who dare to venture in. There are six short stories interlaced together and inspired by lesser-known Grimm's fairy tales: The Girl Who Outran Death, The Prince's Riddle, Wolf Children, Katrina, The Secret of Grey Lake, Doctor Death, and The Wargs of Greymist.

When I first started this book, I thought that the short stories would be unrelated and I worried that that would prevent me from fully enjoying them. However, that was not the case at all! These stories, though unique in plot and point of view, follow the same overarching characters and events in the village of Greymist Fair. They are intricately woven together to form a larger picture.

Some of the stories, like The Prince's Riddle and Doctor Death, take place in the past and focus on characters that were introduced previously but left mysterious to the readers. I found this really fascinating as I was able to learn more about Greymist Fair and the characters' pasts. Others take place in the present and build upon the events from the first story, which I was glad to see as The Girl Who Outran Death is one of my favorites! With every story, I felt like a puzzle piece was added and I was able to pick up on details that connected back to previous stories.

This book was also extremely fast-paced. I think that the structure of the book really helped with that! The stories are split into 5-7 chapters, and each chapter is fairly short. Once I read one chapter I couldn't stop until I finished the entire story.

I also loved the characters in this book! They were each fully developed and had their unique personalities and experiences. The different stories helped shine light on some of the side characters, like Fritz and Liesel, as they followed their points of view. I grew attached to these characters and loved seeing them grow throughout the book.

Overall, this book has definitely become a new favorite. It was unlike anything I've ever read and I felt like I myself was in Greymist Fair. It was whimsical and cozy, and I really enjoyed it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I absolutely loved Greymist Fair! This was such a unique and well done retelling and I enjoyed every second of it! It flowed really nicely from each story to the next and connected all the characters in a detailed way. I loved the setting of Greymist Fair, the magic seeping within the little village and the descriptions of the blue ghost lights (lanterns) along the road. Heike and Hilda were forces in and of themselves and I enjoyed their stories the most. I also loved Doctor Death's story, I thought his was interesting too. I really enjoyed the folklore vibes that this book gives, it really takes you into a whole new world and the author does a wonderful job visualizing the story in the reader's head. This is my new favorite book cover as it captures Greymist Fair and its magic completely and it's so gorgeous! This book is not to be missed!

I really enjoyed the ambience of this book, the cover was one of the first things that drew me in! I found this to be a very enjoyable and quick read

1 Sentence Summary: A collection of short stories inspired by the lesser known Brothers Grimm fairytales that all take place in a village called Greymist Fair surrounded by a dangerous forest where no one ever leaves and nothing is as it seems.

My Thoughts: I loved this! I really liked the format and how the short stories all connected. There was also some cool art by Francesca Zappia included.

It wasn’t super plot heavy, but I thought that added to the fairytale quality of the stories. The writing style as well was very fairytale-esque. It was very atmospheric as well, with the eeriness and mysterious forest and hint of magic.

I also enjoyed the nonlinear timeline, and how we’re introduced to some characters and learn more about them later, or see what they were like when they were younger, or change our minds about them when we get a story from their perspective.

This was a perfect read for spooky season!

Recommend to: Fans of creepy and atmospheric fairytales.

(Warnings: violence, death)

Full review closer to publication date!

I'd like to thank the publisher, HarperCollins Children's Books, Greenwillow Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

As I was reading I had this feeling that it felt like a fairy tale and sure enough this is based off the Brother’s Grimm tales.

The writing was beautiful, I loved this story and couldn’t stop reading.

Wow! That was so beautiful and well-written! This is one of the best books I've read in a while and a new favorite.

I love stories with a fairy-tale feel to them, Death as a character, and wild magic, so this was perfect for me!

And the way all the stories were woven together—especially with a nonlinear timeline—was masterful! I wanted to read the book again as soon as I'd finished it! Not only because I wanted to watch for all the threads, but because it was just that enjoyable to read.

I highly recommend this book and will be preordering it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

First of all, this cover and the illustrations were absolutely beautiful. They really helped with the vibe of the book. I liked the characters well enough and the secluded and woodsy little town was interesting. The book did skip around on time and it confused me, but it was still a nice read.

I really think this book has a great structure. Its' point of view was very unique and will help it stand out in the YA genre. The plot line is told in a collection of short stories, each of which are based off of a lesser-known Grimm fairytale. In each story we follow a different character to build the storyline. Unfortunately, the storyline was not very strong. A plot/book needs to have a clear beginning, middle, and end. I had no idea where those parts were. The stories skipped around the timeline of the book a lot, which confused me as to what the climax was supposed to be. In the first story, the witch's daughter finds a dead body by the side of the road, which is the catalyst for the novel. In the end though, that mystery was solved rather quickly. So, what was the true point of this novel? What was the end goal? The stories never come together in a cumulative way. Even though it was delightful, by the end I was extremely frustrated by the lack of direction.

(Review will be posted to goodreads, but also reshared closer to release date)

I loved this book. I thought it was interesting, unique, and fun to read. The story revolves around Greymist Fair, a secluded village surrounded by a mysterious and magical forest, rumored to be the home of witches and supernatural creatures. The story starts off with a young girl, Heike, finds the remnants of one of the children from the village alongside the road. Fearing he'd been murdered, this leads to a variety of other deaths and supernatural occurrences throughout the town. The story is told in chunks, with each being told from a different pov (though Heike returns as a pov character in the end) and detailing a strange incident. Each story adds to the whole, creating a multi-faceted mystery that was fascinating to read about and satisfying to see the conclusion of. I did not know going in that this book was based on Grimm fairy tales, but looking back it makes sense and explains why the book was broken up like it was. This book has an eerie fairy tale vibe, with interesting characters and a fun take on how to use and repurpose well known stories.

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fairytales, fantasy, short stories, multiple POVs, dark fairytales, spooky season

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 10/15 and will be posted to Instagram as of 10/17 and my review blog as of 10/18.

I'm so glad I got this ARC, it's the perfect read for spooky season/Halloween. The book features seven stories that are retellings of lesser known Grimm's fairytales. The stories tell a nonlinear narrative about the inhabitants of the strange town of Greymist Fair. Now, this narrative style won't be for everyone, but I absolutely loved it!

This book is very atmospheric, with the town of Greymist Fair being set in a magical wood with creatures, wargs, that hunt down those who wander from the road. At the same time, the road that leads to Greymist Fair isn't always a straight line, it has a nasty habit of making the journey to the town longer or shorter, sometimes preventing travelers from reaching it entirely. Each of the stories has their own element of spooky to them but manage to maintain that level without getting too scary.

The first story, The Girl Who Outran Death, has Heike, the tailor's daughter, as the main character. Heike's mother has been dead for four years, and so she is the new tailor, though her mother's association with the witch of the woods (however beneficial for the town) means Heike sees few of her neighbors as clients. In this tale, the body of a Greymist Fair villager shows up on the west road, a road that is supposed to be safe from the monsters, sending the town into a frenzy. Heike proves her smarts and her bravery in dealing with the situation, and I enjoyed reading things from her POV.

The Prince's Riddle takes us back in time, to when Heike was a child, and is told from the POV of a prince who can grant wishes. This prince makes people answer riddles before granting a wish, giving hard riddles to the people at court and easy ones to peasants and townsfolk, and refuses to grant wishes to children. The prince ends up in Greymist Fair after joining a traveling caravan/troupe/market, only to be disappointed by their disinterest in his wish granting. I actually didn't find the prince to be that bad, though he certainly has some negative qualities (including being more annoyed that a child is crying after being beaten than by the person doing the abuse). While the prince seems to be a random character/story, his presence serves to provide some background on some of the characters of Greymist Fair, including Wenzel, the innkeeper and Heike's best friend.

Wolf Children answers a mystery you don't even know is a mystery. In it, Liesel, one of the townspeople about Heike's age and the sister of the murder victim from the first story, gets visits from her brother's ghost, who tells her something is afoot in Greymist Fair. Liesel comes across as fairly unfriendly, but in a way that I think is understandable. While she isn't the most likeable character, she has a lot of mettle and does the right thing without a second thought.

Katrina goes back in time again to when Heike's mother was still alive. In this one, the daughter of Lord and Lady Greymist, Katrina, is alive (as are they) and is eager to go into town by herself to hang out with the kids her age. Unfortunately, she gets caught up with Hans, who over all the previous stories has been shown to be bad news, and Fritz, Hans' seemingly not-so-bright friend. Katrina and Hans make a deal to ask the witch of the woods for magic, but as everyone knows, the woods around Greymist Fair are full of things more terrible than a witch. I definitely felt for Katrina since she was both smart enough to know Hans was bad news and to recognize that something wasn't right at the witch's house, she just came to the wrong conclusion(s).

The Secret of Grey Lake was definitely my least favorite, largely because Hans gets something he wants. This story takes place in the 'present' and is really Fritz's story, not Hans'. Fritz finds a wish-granting fish in Grey Lake and Hans begins demanding wishes. Poor Fritz, who wants a friend but also kind of knows Hans is a little shit, does what Hans asks to the detriment of literally everyone but Hans (and maybe the fish, the fish seems fine, lol). On one side, this story goes to show what happens when you give heartless, arrogant people too much power, but on the plus side we also get to see Fritz come into his own and the consequences for the people who abuse their power. Despite his mistakes, I do actually like Fritz as a character.

Doctor Death again takes place in the past, largely prior to Heike's birth, and focuses on Doctor Death, aka the traveling doctor that sometimes visits the town, as well as Heike's mother, Hilda. Doctor Death actually has a pretty interesting life story and I enjoyed learning about him and his practice and companion.

The Wargs of Greymist is the last story in the collection and takes place pretty much immediately after the end of The Secret of Greymist Lake. In it, the village is being sieged by the monsters of the woods, with fear driving them toward their targets. This last story features Wenzel as the main character, and we really get to see him in his element of taking care of Heike and making people happy at the inn. I thought this story had a nice holiday feel and was a nice note to end on. The ending felt appropriate too.

My favorite two characters were definitely Heike and Wenzel. Heike has so much life in her, and she seems both friendly and responsible. She's protective over the people she cares about, but she's also willing to do what's right by the town, even if the 'witch' association gets her some side eyes. Wenzel is someone who has had hardships but has turned around and decided to put the love and kindness in the world that he wishes he'd gotten as a young child. One of the things I liked about him was that he was genuinely happy to run his parents' inn and liked having guests there. I liked getting to see things from Fritz's POV since it made him a more likeable character. I also wouldn't have minded seeing more of Liesel, even if she wasn't the most likeable, especially at first.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was the prefect October read. I really liked the format of nonlinear short stories as well.

Wow—how do I even begin to describe how beautiful this book was! I loved Francesca Zappia from the first time I read Eliza and her Monsters. Her writing has this beautiful and solemn aesthetic to it: mind-provoking, thoughtful, haunting. Greymist Fair, her newest novel, is far from that of Eliza.

It follows the villagers of Greymist Fair, a village on the outskirts of a dark forest where death and an evil witch prays upon the villagers who stray off the path. Told through a series of stories and different perspectives, we follow the stories of a recently orphaned young girl, an innkeeper with an abusive past, a girl who recently lost her brother, a prince who can grant wishes to anyone who solves a riddle, and Death’s companion. The stories all mix together to solve a mystery and each one is equally disturbing and touching.

I think it’s a beautiful work of art and I’m thankful to have received an ARC from NetGalley. I highly recommend!

In a village in the woods... the people live in fear of Death that surrounds them. In this village everyone knows that the woods are dangerous and that if you enter them you’ll likely be killed by the witch who lives there. When a young tailor Heike discovers a body on the road she decides to figure who is responsible, and on her quest to find out who is responsible and what is happening to her town the more she’ll be embroiled in magic, mystery, and death. This was such a fun and great read, it is a magical story inspired by the lesser-known fairytales of the brothers Grimm and definitely is perfect for people who love to read fairytales, the story is told in such a unique way. The story is told in parts and through different characters perspective, both past and present, and it all connects, and there is an element of magic to all of them. This is the perfect read for fairytale lovers who enjoy a bit of mystery too!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Greenwillow Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

loved the blend of the murder-mystery and fairy tale genres in this story. It was what I was hoping for in the description. The characters were wonderfully done and worked in this story. I enjoyed the plot of what was going on and it worked with the cover. The cover is a good representation of the story inside, and I really enjoyed reading this.

"Hilda’s voice echoed through the branches, an incantation that dropped leaves from the trees and made Katrina’s legs go numb. She could no longer remember why she had come here, or where she was trying to go. She no longer had ethereal beauty she hadn’t asked for, no longer had coveted grace of movement. She was no longer friendless. She no longer had parents, a home, or a name."

Really enjoyed this. I read this in one sitting and was hooked from start to finish. I also really liked the atmosphere of the book and the woodsy setting.