The unputdownable second helping of the two book series that explains so much! Clara and Axel return, now as a couple, but their pasts continue to haunt them and a second adventure into the Grimm Forest to break the curse and find a sacred book might tear them appart. This second volume has bits of The Frog Prince, Snow White, Swan Lake, Rumplestiltskin, and more woven into a dark and mysterious retelling that rushes at you with lightning speed and eagerly envelopes you in beloved characters from the first book plush some new ones. You will be guessing right up until the end who the true villain is that brought the unspeakable curse down on the village Grimm by committing dark acts to gain unforetold magic. Can Axel and Clara maintain their love and withstand the fates that seem laid out for them? Beautiful artful storytelling.

Clara and Axel make it out of the forest and back into the village, but people are still lured there. The dangers they had faced were just a fraction of the true horrors within the forest. Now Clara and Axel must return to face an even greater danger, or there will be no village to return to.

This is the second half of the duology begun in the Forest Grimm, and you definitely must read that book first. Clara is haunted by the choices she made at the conclusion of that book, though it partially broke the curse over the town. The hard part is that the murder hasn't been solved yet, and the forest wants justice. This means Clara and Axel must return to the forest to find the other Lost Ones from the village if they can because one of them is the murderer and had stolen the page of the book they wished on. Though they resolve to trust only in each other, Lost Ones are dangerous, and Clara's visions of the past reveal some truths about that fateful night that neither really wants to face.

We have echoes of fairy tales here, including Jack the Beanstalk, the Frog Prince, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and even a sprinkle of Snow White. In the midst of this is a murder mystery, and it's a sharp departure from the first half of the duology. It makes sense that the story was split in half this way. Each dip into the past reveals a little bit more, and the wedge between Axel and Clara means that they don't figure out the truth until it's the end and almost too late. Horror elements heighten the tension for them because there are very real stakes if they lose. Ultimately, it's trust, community, and family love that sees us through, just as some of that drove characters to create the curse in the first place.

4.5/5 stars

I found this a satisfying conclusion to the duology starting with The Forest Grimm.

This series was intriguing to me because of its base in Grimm's Fairy Tales. There are different tales interwoven within the plot that feature unique twists and turns from the original stories. While I didn't feel that this outing featured as many tales as the first book, I enjoyed the more personal stories of the lead characters Clara and Axel. These two are fearless, devoted and lovable, and while it had been a while since I had read the first book, I fell back into their world and their personalities almost immediately. And the world-building for the Forest Grimm was excellent, creatively eerie.

My only caveat was with the denouement. While it was satisfying, I found it a bit convoluted going back and forth between the past and present and with different viewpoints to adjust to.

Overall, a great story with sympathetic characters and a fascinating world and premise. Well done.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books for providing the free early arc of The Deathly Grimm for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This was an okay sequel, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. I didn’t love the conflict between Clara and Axel and I wasn’t really a fan of what the author did with his character for a lot of the book. I liked that we got more of Clara’s magic, but some of the visions and different versions of events got confusing. I found myself kind of rushing through the ending and the big reveal and the ensuing conflict were just okay for me. I did enjoy getting more fairytale references and there were some cute moments at the end. Overall this is a still a good duology that I would recommend for fans of fairytale retellings.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Wednesday Books & NetGalley for the ARC. I am grateful I was able to find out the conclusion to this duology.

We are back in the forest with Clara and Axel to get to the bottom of all this chaos. There’s a lot going on here & the story can get a bit confusing at times.

If you like a unique spin on dark fairy tales please check out this series.

DNF at 26%. I’m really bummed about this one. I loved The Forest Grimm when I read it, and was excited to get back to Clara and Axel’s adventures in the forest. Unfortunately the narrative in this book fell flat for me. It felt kind of been-there-done-that, and I didn’t feel like the story was compelling this time around. I do really hope that this book finds its audience. But it was just not for me.

While I liked this series, I think the first book has the unfortunate luck of not being memorable. Inrepararion for reading this eARC, I re-read the first book. If I hadn't done that, then I would have ended up rating this book much lower. The characters are okay, but still lack depth. I enjoyed then stir burning also recognized that nice wasn't invested in it. I kept losing interest and waiting for more to happen. Like the first book, this book struggles with pacing. I like that this book introduced us to some other fairytale characters.

Thank you to Wednesday books for an e-ARC of this book.

I was a tad hesitant about returning to this series. I liked the first one, but honestly remembered so little of it that I had to skim the previous book before I read this one. It was a good thing I did, because had I started this book without that refresher I would have been totally lost. Again, kind of like the first book, I struggled through the first half. I felt that by the time we got to 40% nothing much had happened, and it was basically a rehash of the first book, just with different characters.

I honestly didn't find this book compelling, and between the pacing, my lack of interest in the characters it was a book that just ended up not being for me.

60/100 or 3.0 stars

I was looking forward to this sequel, as I really enjoyed the frist book, The Forest Grimm. The storyline in the second story was convoluted to the point where I almost gave up a few times. I wanted to find out how it ended, which is why I finished the book, but it was a little disappointing. I think the plot could have benefitted from having a little less going on. The first book was great, but the second book in the duology really missed the mark for me personally, and that is so unfortunate.

With their trip into the Forest, Clara and Axel have helped slow and partially reverse the curse of the Forest Grimm. However, evil still lurks and the Forest demands that the one who initiated the curse be brought to justice. With Clara’s grandmother ailing and the town council seeking to blame someone for their lingering problems, she and Axel must once again venture into the mysterious Forest Grimm to seek answers to save the ones they love.

This was a good conclusion to the duology. It picks up right where the previous ended and dives right into the need to complete the task of the Forest. Once again the author does a fair job of mixing classic fairytales with a new twist. There is a lot more personal growth seen in Clara this time too. At times the pacing did seem forced or a bit contrived, but ultimately a good read. 3 stars.

Based on a digital Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!
This is book 2 in the YA fantasy duology, The Forest Grimm.
In this book we meet new takes on more Grimm's fairy tale characters, such as, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Princess and the Frog, as we follow Clara and Axel as they try to locate the missing page of Sortes Fortunae and the person responsible for the curse.
This was a really fun read, I especially enjoyed the returning tarot cards and watching Clara learn to navigate her newly found magic. I found this book to be a great wrap up to this story.

"In this spellbinding sequel to Kathryn Purdie's bestselling dark fairy tale, Clara and Axel must return to the forest - and its monsters - if they have any hope of finally breaking the curse on their village.

Emerging from the shadows of the Forest Grimm, Clara and Axel return to their village, the one place they can be safe behind the forest's border. But when the woods begin luring villagers into the forest, it becomes clear that the darkness they battled was merely a whisper of the true horror lurking there.

Burdened by unsettling visions and bound by a love as perilous as the cursed woods that call to them, Clara and Axel must once again enter the forest to unearth the sinister secret at its heart. As they fight murderous woodsmen wielding riddles sharp as blades, spectral maidens who threaten to drag them into an eternal dance, and phantoms able to use the very essence of the forest against them, Clara and Axel realize the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't break the curse once and for all, they may not have a home to return to..."

Yeah, don't go back into the forest. Flee!

DNF at 32%. Would possibly have enjoyed this more if the first book was fresher in my mind. But even so, this was slow and unengaging, and became a chore to pick up.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a rare case where I enjoyed the sequel far more than the 1st book! I felt like Purdie had the foundation she needed from The Forest Grimm to really see a lot of payoff in The Deathly Grimm, and I am super impressed with how she pulled it together into a fantastic story. There was a lot of maturation in her writing and story telling as well, which was great to see.

As with the first book, I love the way she took well known (and some lesser known) stories and put interesting twists on them. It leans very heavily into the original versions by the Grimm Brothers (which makes sense based on the title) but still manages to find points of warmth and redemption. The thing I appreciated most, actually, was how deeply it goes into the dark and creepy of the Grimm Fairytales while still maintaining the integrity of the stories. What I find so often in dark retellings is they go way too far, or it's just underwhelming - Purdie strikes a good balance in both books.

I think the best parts of this book were the improvements in pacing and character development - both felt like they had come a long way from the choppiness in book 1. I never truly knew how this was going to end up but I left the story feeling satisfied, if a bit disturbed (which I believe was intended).

Definitely a YA duology worth checking out!

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

3.5 stars

while i actually enjoyed the second book more than the first, i do still feel that this duology was lacking something in the storytelling. the author included waaaay too many different fairytales/folklore characters, thus the plot felt too rushed and mashed together.

as for the narrator, she did a fantastic job!

i didn't get a chance to read the first book in the duology, but i still found this one pretty good! i loved the vibes and the magic concepts were pretty clear. the characters also had a good sense of identity. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Thank you Wednesday Books @wednesdaybooks and Kathryn Purdie @kathrynpurdie for this free book!
“The Deathly Grimm” (Forest Grimm #2) by Kathryn Purdie⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Genre: YA Dark Fantasy. Location: Where fairy tales come to life with deadly twists.
THE SERIES: Grimm Hollow villagers whisper desires to Sortes Fortunae (Book of Fortunes), and its magic reveals how to obtain them. But no one who goes into the Forest Grimm returns-they become the Lost. Clara’s mother entered the Forest Grimm to find her husband, and became the 1st of the Lost. Dark-haired, green-eyed Clara Thurn (17) and golden-haired, blue-eyed Axel Furst (19) must enter the deadly forest full of grim, twisted fairytale characters. Author Purdie twists Grimm’s fairy tales into her own enchanted stories: There’s Clara with her red rampion cape and Grandmère/Grimm Wolf, poisoner Cinderella, feral Rapunzel, cannabalistic Hansel and Gretel, vampiric Briar Rose, and more.

THIS BOOK: Clara and Axel return to the village from the Forest Grimm, bringing some of the Lost with them. Grandmère lies ill from injuries received when she was the Grimm Wolf. The villagers mistrust the returned and blame Clara and friends for the village curse. When 6 of the Sommers girls are lured into the forest, Clara and Axel realize they must reenter the forest to save the village. They meet a murderous, riddling Raggedy Man, moving trees, eternally dancing maidens, a frog boy, and others.

Book 1 was about adventuring through the Forest Grimm. This sequel is more about Clara’s visions. Author Purdie’s prose is still beautiful and evocative: (“He’s like a painting of a shipwrecked prince, beautiful and disheveled…”) (“I listen to the crunch of brittle autumn grass.”) Her story flows well, the characters are vivid, and tension escalates toward a dramatic fight to break or keep the curse. You’ll meet twisted versions of Rumplestiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, the Frog Prince, the 12 Dancing Princesses, and more. With a brave, determined heroine, an enchanted forest, life-changing choices, it’s a wonderful book for lovers of fairytales, and it’s 5 enchanted stars from me👩🏼‍🦳

I forgot that I read the first book and didn't care for it. I also overlooked the fact that this novel is part of a duology. And although I vaguely remembered events from the first book, it wasn't enough for me to grasp the events occurring in the second book.

Some parts of the novel were interesting. But there were a lot of missing pieces that made for a confusing read. That being said, you really need to read and enjoy the first book to truly appreciate the second. One star DNF for me.

I was invited to read a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

“The Deathly Grimm" by Kathryn Purdie is a spellbinding conclusion to “The Forest Grimm" duology. “The Forest Grimm" was one of my top books of 2024. The sequel exceeded the high expectations I already had going into this book. "The Deathly Grimm” is a continuation of the first book, so I highly recommend reading them in order. This book is a mashup of many fairy tales, with its own unique story that has a folktale/fairytale feel to it. Some of the fairy tales mentioned are “Jack and the Beanstalk,” “The Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Snow White.” There is a good summary and catch up from the first book in case you have forgotten some of what happened in “The Forest Grimm.” I love that the main character, Clara, deals with a disability (scoliosis) and chronic pain. The romance is so sweet, and I just love Clara and Axel. Some parts get a little weird and scary but did not cross the line into horror (in my opinion). If you are okay with the first book, I think you will be fine with this one. The author explores the question of fate and taking control of one’s own story. The book was hard to put down and things kept happening to surprise and shock me. I appreciate that the author kept the book closed door and portrayed the message of the couple wanting to respect one another by waiting. There is a great mystery that keeps the reader on their toes and my jaw dropped at a certain reveal. I did not see that coming! I love this series, and I am sad that it is over. I cannot wait to see what Ms. Purdie comes out with next!

Content: I give this book a PG-13 rating. Some examples of the content: a character is a seer and fortune teller and a character tries to channel missing people; mention of illegitimate children and a couple were lovers; a character was physically abused in his past; mention of a drunkard and alcohol; children were cannibals in the past; a character curses, but the words aren’t actually written; the words “da*n” and “hell” are used; a woman does something like a spell; there are some ghosts; a character possibly hallucinates.
TW: past physical abuse
Spice: There is one scene where a couple makes out and contemplates going all the way but decides not to because they want to respect each other.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me review this!

What a great finish to this duology!!!!! I was so amazed and enjoyed this so much!!!!