“Tell me again, Grandmère, the story of how I die.”

Grimm's Hollow was cursed when someone made a wish for murder on the Sortes Fortunae (Book of Fortunes). Sixty-six people from the village have walked into The Forest Grimm and never returned, The Lost Ones. The first Lost One was Clara's mother and Clara's determined to be picked in this month's Devotion Day. Once a month the village holds The Lottery, once someone turns sixteen their name is written on a piece of paper and put into a goblet, which then is drawn from. If your name is picked, you're allowed to try and enter the Forest to search for the Lost Ones. For three years people have been missing and going missing but the Forest has yet to allow anyone from the lottery to enter. Clara decides to try and rig the system, adding more than one piece of paper of her name but her friend Axel is chosen instead but narrowly misses being killed when the Forest rejects him.

I’ve done the forbidden. Crossed the line without the sanction of the lottery. I don’t turn back.

The Forest Grimm was more story driven than character and the beginning really focuses more on giving you the story about what has been happening in Grimm's Hollow. Even though its all in first person pov from Clara, I still felt we didn't get a strong feeling for her character. We learn that her grandmère is a fortune teller and is scared for Clara as her cards delivered the message that she will die. Constantly thinking she is going to die, Clara kind of develops a personality of living for others and is why she is so willing to sacrifice herself to the Forest to try and save her mother. Eventually, Clara learns that a red cloak made by her mother, will protect her from the Forest and allow her to enter. Figuring out that its the red rampion plant that dyed the cloak red, she shares a scarf with her friend Axel as he joins her in the search.

“Because fate never lies.”

When Clara enters the woods, the story then becomes a mish-mash of altered fairy tales, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, and etc. As Clara, Axel, and her other friend Henni who joins in later, encounter village people that have gone missing, each then represents a fairy tale. It's not a bad concept but none of this ever seems to come together and gel. Clara entered the woods to mainly look for the Book of Fortunes because, even though she's already made her one wish you get, she plans on making a wish that will somehow save the village and her mom. The Book had disappeared and left a cryptic message for how to find it when the unknown person wished for a murder. While the Forest is constantly changing, disorienting them when they wake up, there still didn't seem to be much organized searching for the book, it's more of in sections surviving the fairy tale villagers, Clara constantly saying she has to save her mom, and then a friends-to-boyfriend/girlfriend.

This is the story of how I save my mother. And, as it has been from the beginning, this remains the story of how I die.

This is tagged as YA (Clara is 17 and Axel 19) and I definitely think it fits it, the romance consisted of Clara ogling Axel's looks/chest and longing looks from Axel towards Clara. They have some kisses but it's definitely more in the sweet blush of kid's first romance. There was a decent amount of focus on their relationship, as Axel was engaged to be married but his fiancee became one of the Lost Ones. He's in the woods to search for her but it's obvious that there is more to the story of why he feels the need to search for her and Clara needing to open her eyes.

“Sortes Fortunae, hear my voice,” I say. “Understand my heart and its deepest desire. My name is Clara Thurn, and this is my one wish.”

Eventually, Clara finds the book and her mom and we get a mini little battle scene where suddenly there was shapeshifters and vampires (a ghost is also in the story). Like I said, the concept was there but the elements were jumbled together and the story lacked some cohesiveness. With this being more story driven and the plot needing some more working out, the lack of fully connecting to the characters hurt my enjoyment. The ending does have a continuing the story thread cliffhanger, as the curse on Grimm's Hollow hasn't fully been lifted yet and Clara needs to venture back into the woods. If you won't mind lack of cohesiveness and just want to read some new spins on old classic fairy tales, this would give you that this Fall season.

Set I a world where fairytales come to life in a magical fantasy. Clara embarks on a dark journey through the Midnight Forest, where nightmare live. She’s set to find the magical book that grants fortunes, to help her fellow villagers. She sets out with her best friend Axel to right all the wrongs.

I love retelling’s, especially fairytale ones, and this book definitely has the magic of that. What fell flat for me is the WoW factor. The book was jumbled with different tales to weave into one so at times I felt loss. But I did like the adventure and creepiness that was told.

dnf 21%

I really enjoyed the author's other series "Bone Crier's Moon", but I was very bored reading this book. I never picked up this book.

For such a short fantasy novel, I'm surprised that the plot hasn't really started yet. Not a lot is going on, so there was nothing compelling me to read it.

I wish I could have loved this book, but unfortunately I had to dnf it :( I have so many books to read and I don't want to be put in a reading slump

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Outside the town of Grimm’s Hollow is the Forest Grimm – a magical place twisted by a malevolent curse that draws bespelled people into its depths and is slowly killing the surrounding farmland.

And as you could probably guess by the name of the forest, “The Forest Grimm” by Kathryn Purdie wraps itself in a cloak of glittering fairy tales. But these aren’t the sanitized, Disneyfied stories you might know, where all you need to fix things is true love’s kiss. Instead, her elegant, winding fantasy tale delves into the dark, distorted versions of these familiar tales, with a seemingly doomed heroine as perhaps the only chance of breaking the curse.

For her entire life, the cards telling Clara’s fortune have said only one thing – she will die young, as a result of a “fanged creature.” Despite this dismal future, she is determined to enter the hostile Forest Grimm and find her beloved mother, who was the very first person to be lost there – and if she can’t find her mother directly, then she wants to find a missing magical book, the Sortes Fortunae, to end the curse once and for all.

Then she discovers something shocking: the forest will allow a person to enter it if they have red rampion. And before she vanished, Clara’s mother made her a hooded cloak dyed with rampion flowers – which she takes as a sign that she’s destined to enter the Forest Grimm and change the fate of everyone in the forest and the town. She’s accompanied in her quest by Axel, a strikingly handsome young man whose fiancee Ella vanished into the forest, and her best friend Henni, who also happens to be Ella’s sister.

Unfortunately, the Forest Grimm has bigger dangers than vicious trees and a constantly-shifting landscape. It doesn’t just take the people of Grimm’s Hollow – it changes and twists them, and its dark, malevolent magic is channeled through them. Also, a giant wolf is following Clara, and she’s pretty sure it’s the fanged creature destined to kill her. But fate may have something else in mind, if Clara can stay alive long enough.

“The Forest Grimm” is one of those fantasy stories that trips lightly on the edge of horror, especially the gruesome whimsy found in old-timey fairy tales. The fairy tale figures here are not sweet-natured princesses in pretty dresses – they are cruel, maddened and extremely dangerous, whether they are using a vast web of prehensile hair, tree roots or some well-timed magic mushrooms. And yes, it’s THAT kind of magic mushrooms.

And Kathryn Purdie weaves the entire tale together with elegance and skill. Her writing has a timeless quality reminiscent of the fairy tales she twines into her original tale, except for a few more modern-sounding descriptions of how attractive Axel is. And alongside her dark fairy-tale trappings, she also dips into some fairly heavy thematic material about whether a person can change their fate, and whether your fate is necessarily what you think it is.

It helps that Clara is one of the most likable and engaging heroines I’ve read about in years – she’s earnest and unselfish, resourceful and determined. Believing that she has no future, she tries to ensure a future for other people, even if it hurts her in the process. Axel is a thoroughly wholesome male lead alongside her, and their budding relationship is a tentative, sweet one… if they can get past issues with obligation, guilt and loneliness.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about “The Forest Grimm” is finishing it, and realizing that the story is not actually over – meaning that I now have to wait for Kathryn Purdie to publish the sequel before I can find out what’s next for Clara, Axel and Henni. In the meantime, it’s a richly-imagined, shadows-and-tatters homage to Grimm’s fairy tales.

The Forest Grimm
Book 1 in The Forest Grimm Series
Rating; 3 stars
Thank you to the publisher/author for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

The Forest Grimm was an okay read. It was entertaining enough for me to read until the end. I liked what the author did in re-telling some fairy tales and giving them her own twist.
It started a little confusing for me because of the lore behind this forbidden forest. It had lots of action and some angsty romance between two people who have known each other since they were little.

In the end this story is about never giving up hope and to always find a way to write your own story even when it's written in the cards differently.

I love a good fairytale mashup in the grandma and the wolf was great it was just the first half of the book that you had to get through to get to that. I love the whole thing with Claire and Axel… But there were things in the book that didn’t make sense to me and although I am not going to say with those were because I know some people love this book and as I enjoyed the second half of it I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I also don’t enjoy it when books end in cliff hangers and sometimes I am down to read the second book but don’t think I am in the case of the forest Grimm. It has every aspect of a great fairytale but I didn’t feel attached to the characters nor did I care how it ended. Having said that though I still do recommend it because if you love the fairytail mash ups then you definitely love this book! I want to thank Wednesday books and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

While I prefer my fairytales light of the Disney princess movie-esque variety, I will read any and all fairytale retellings, darker ones included. While this is a darker feel than I like my fairytales to have, I liked the concept of different fairytale characters all coming together in one book about a creepy forest called Forest Grimm. I think that was my favorite part of this book, seeing all of the fairytale characters I know and love, all together in one place. What I also liked about this book is that it really does have a similar feel to to the original Grimm’s fairytales. The writing is darkly poetic and lyrical, similar to how the original Grimm fairytales make you feel when you read them.

In this book, the Forest Grimm is magical and has the power to grant wishes. The power is bound up in The Book of Fortunes, which is a gift from the forest. The book can grant each person only one wish in their lifetime. Despite most of the villagers having already made their one wish on the Book of Fortunes, many still seek out Clara’s psychic Grandmere for insight. This is how 17 year old Clara knows that she will die an untimely death, and is desperate to find a way to change her fate. Unfortunately, she is unable to make her wish when she comes of age at age 16, because the Forest Grimm punished the village and made the book go missing because someone used their wish to commit murder. While the identity of the murderer is unknown, the book disappeared after. There is a lot more to this story, with the Lost Ones who went missing in the Forest Grimm (Clara’s mom included) and Clara’s desperation to be able to enter the forest to find her mom, despite the fact that the forest doesn’t allow anyone to enter anymore.

This book has a similar feel to The Thickety series by J.A. White, which is the upmost compliment, as that is one of the most memorable series I have ever read. Unfortunately, I much preferred The Thickety books to this. It was darker, a faster read, while I felt like I had to slog through a lot of this. This felt like a looooooong read, not one where the pages feel like they’re flying by. After about 50% through of diligent reading, I got so antsy to finish this that I started skimming. I started out so motivated, but it became kind of hard to hold my interest.

I also would have liked more world building, and some mentions of what the world is like outside of Grimm’s Hollow and Forest Grimm. Is it a fairytale land with different kingdoms and princesses and towering castles? We never know because the book never mentions anything outside of the immediate setting.

I was ready to give this 4/5 stars because of my bias towards fairytales, but honestly I got so bored reading this I started desperately skimming to be done. It wasn’t bad, and I liked the fairytale characters. But by the 50% mark it was such a chore to slog through this that I just started skimming because I stopped caring. The story was good and I liked the ideas a lot, so I’m not sure where it went wrong. Also, the ending with the whole what her deepest desire was thing made no sense and was a plot hole to me (I can’t go into more detail without spoilers).

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

i am a sucker for a dark retelling of already familiar stories. Unfortunately for me this novel tended to fall a bit short in a few places. There were a few places there the story seemed to bog down and then take off to the point where i would get lost. Some of the characters had a tendency to also be a bit confusing but over all i liked them and thought that their development was well done. Over all this was a really interesting retelling that i think a lot of people will enjoy.

I liked the magical forest and was intrigued by the twisted Grimm fairytales within, but ultimately the story fell flat for me.

The bulk of the book follows the main characters as they wander around the forest. Things happen but not because of anything the characters do — they just stumble into situations and then leave without learning anything or fixing anything. While the scenes themselves are striking, they don’t seem to have any bearing on how things play out in the end.

This is the first in a series, so there may be big plans to tie things together in the next book(s), but The Forest Grimm doesn’t feel like it has a satisfying story arc on its own.

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy for my honest review.

I really liked the concept of this book. This enchanted Forest has swallowed up local villagers and turned them into grotesque versions of fairy tale characters. It will be interesting to see where the sequel goes next.

The Forest Grimm is a must-read for anyone who loves fairy tales, adventure, and a sprinkle of darkness. Though the first 20% was a little slow, from that point on I was completely captivated. I wasn't able to anticipate any parts of the story, and every surprise was wonderful. Each character had rich backstory and development, and the world building was a good mix of mystery and well-paced explanations. I am very excited for the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a child, I was mesmerized by fairy tales, although I’m sure many adults reflect back upon those stories in a similar way. I always expect that they’ll have the same effect on me now. I chase every retelling and newly crafted fairytale, but I rarely find I’m able to recapture the magic of my youth.

The writing is lovely in The Forest Grimm and the story certainly begins in a compelling way. It just falls further and further into darkness as it moves along. Once readers enter the forest with the main characters, they will begin to see how the title suits the tale. I loved that the author knit a number of old fairy tales into this new one, but I despised what she did with those beloved characters.

I also felt great frustration with the character’s choices. One could argue that they were young and naive, and this is true, but every turn of the story hinged upon their poor choices. And it became quite clear near the end of the novel that even the oldest character in the book made terrible choices.

Honestly, everything within the last 20% of this story deeply annoyed me, dropping what had been a mediocre read down into a more hated territory.

I must admit that The Forest Grimm's cover was a big turn off for me. It suggested something cheesy with dramatized romance, rather than a haunting romantasy. I should have trusted my gut there, but I had hoped for the latter. I was led astray by the premise, as well as a strong desire to return to a time when every new fairytale let my imagination soar. There is now something unsettled inside of me, whispering that I should have liked this more. Perhaps this is just the child who desperately wants to believe again.

I am immensely grateful to Wednesday Books, NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for my copies. All opinions are my own.

Forest Grimm was the perfect combo of atmospheric storytelling and slow burn romance. I was totally here for the fairy tale nods with a twist.

The overarching plot line of a curse on their village was a great catalyst for this story! I loved that the forest was sentient and the almost mystery thriller element of trying to survive long enough to get to the bottom of what was happening and hopefully save everyone.

Each character has their own unique motivation for wanting to break the curse, and I really enjoyed the bonding moments between the characters.

I knew I was going to love this book, even before I started. First of all, it’s a book from Kathryn Purdie (I’m a huge fan of her books) and second I love fairytales. Especially darker fairytales. The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie is a perfect dark fairytale YA fantasy. Clara is so brave and she’s determined to help find the Lost of her village, including her mother. Axel is quite dreamy and I loved the progression of Clara and Axel’s story. Henni was also enjoyable. I absolutely loved how this book was written. I loved the darker aspect of the story, as I was creeped out many times by the sinister characters of the forest. I don’t want to say which fairytales were in the book but let’s just say, my favorite fairytale has a crazy spin!
Thank you to the publisher for the Netgalley approval.

Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: 5/5

Themes: Fantasy, Gothic, Fairytales

The Forest Grimm is about a cursed village and a girl trying to save her mother by changing her fate. I really liked the grimm fairytales troughout the story. They all had a fun and unique twist. If you have read or know of the grimm stories you will really enjoy this book. The characters were fun and I could see how they change and grow through the book. I really enoyed reading this and can’t wait to read more by this author.

I don't have a way to say this, but this was...extremely dull. I wasn't a huge fan of the characters, I didn't like the plot, and nothing really clicked at all.

I wish I had something I could talk about that excited me, and the idea of fairy tales and horror mixed together is exactly what I want, but this… wasn’t it. :/

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

I really enjoyed this book. I found the plot exciting and got so sucked in that I lost track of time.
The Forest Grimm follows the journey of Clara, Axel, and Henni as they venture into the Forest Grimm, an enchanted forest that has claimed their loved ones in the hopes of breaking the curse that has plagued their town.
Clara has known for years that she would die young; it was a fate read to her by her fortune-telling grandmother. Something that she also knows is that she is the changer of fate. In an attempt to bring her mother home, Clara, accompanied by her friends, finds themselves wrapped up in some very Grim situations…
With not-so-kind characters lurking in the Forest, the group must stick together if they are ever to find their Lost Ones and the wish-granting book, Sortes Fortunae that will free their town of the curse.

I loved how this book incorporated so many different Grimm’s fairy tales into it. The retelling of Rapunzel was particularly unsettling. The visual I got of her crawling around the Forest will not be one I forget. Hansel and Gretel also gave me the heebie jeebies.

This was just so good.

4/5 stars!

I was so honored to get a ARC in the mail from Wednesday books and since I started this book I have been completely hooked. I am a big fan of Bone Criers Moon Duology but this one has taken first place as enrapturing, fantastical and captivating for me. I LOVE these characters and the way in which it spins off of fairytales. The spin on the fairytales are so unique. I absolutely love the use and importance of Red Rampion and how it ties into the fairytale retellings. I also love the plot in this book, how it tells not only a journey of a group of friends but a growth of the friends and how they have to deal with truth, loss, pain and hardship. I already CANNOT wait to find out what happens next and how they will (hopefully) break the Curse of the Grimm Forest. I could go on and on about this book but mostly I'll just say, if you aren't planning on reading this you are missing out on the journey of a life time and the most unique retelling of the classic fairytales I have ever heard of.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this novel hooked me in with the description, but i fell out of engaging with it real quick, as the story was very repetitive, with each Grimms fairy tale basically repeating each time the characters encounter them. i wish i could enjoy this, but i didn't, as this was boring and repetitive.

I’m still trying to decide what I thought about this book. It took me by surprise, yet it felt totally right. I don’t think I’ve ever read a retelling that took such a unique approach. I would have never expected to run into Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel in one cohesive story. Yet, there they are, uncommonly and innovatively.

My weirdly favorite character is the forest. Yes, the forest is a character in its own right, being a living, breathing (in a sense) part of the story. And it’s very atmospheric in its being, which I just loved. It felt very Grimm - the brothers would approve, I think.

The other characters, even the main character, Clara, didn’t capture my attention as much as I would have hoped. I couldn’t relate or empathize with their personal stories, which sometimes confused me and bored me with others. And the romance, well, it confused me too. It’s a very out-there situation, and I guess I never achieved suspended disbelief and buy-in.

But, I have to admit, I am curious where book 2 of this duology will go.