Review - A Tale Dark and Grimm

A Tale Dark and Grimm (A Tale Dark & Grimm #1)
by Adam Gidwitz
Date: 2010
Publisher: Puffin
Reading level: MG
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 256
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

While I do like a good fairytale retelling, and I appreciate what the author tried to do here, I just wasn't feeling this one.  Perhaps it was just too young for me... or perhaps the moral fell flat for me (because this book comes across as a little preachy at times).

The author took the story of Hansel and Gretel and wove it together with a number of other stories by the Brothers Grimm.  That was an interesting idea, and I'll give the author credit for that.  However, I do sort of question the appropriateness of Grimm stories as the basis for a middle-grade novel.  There is a lot of blood and gore.  Beheadings.  Amputations.  Boiling in oil.  Add to that the fact that the framing device is the story of two murderous children, and I'm kind of scratching my head as to why anyone would think this was a good idea.

It's not a long book, but it seemed to take forever to get through.  The writing is okay, but nothing special.  The author is a fan of said bookisms, while I'm most assuredly not.  The story is supposed to be like an old-fashioned fairytale, and yet there were numerous instances where very modern expressions popped up, which were distracting.  And, through it all, the author repeatedly interjects, usually to tell the reader to remove young children from the room because something gory is coming up.  I'm not sure whether I liked that or not.  On the one hand, it disrupted the flow of the narrative.  On the other hand, it provided some much-needed relief from the tiresome characters.

The characters are the book's biggest weakness.  You know how in fairytales you don't generally know much about a character, other than one or two personality traits and their basic physical appearance?  Well, that's what we got here.  In fact, I think my favourite character in the whole book is the Devil's grandmother, simply because she's unexpected and provides some comic relief.  The king and queen (Hansel and Gretel's parents) are awful people.  Murderers, in fact.  Hansel does little but make a mess of things and not listen to his sister.  Gretel is the voice of wisdom and reason, but she quickly becomes tiresome.

The moral of the story (that children's lives are more valuable because they are innocent and wise and adults' lives are expendable because they're evil and stupid) makes no sense, especially in light of how the story ended (psst, Mr. Gidwitz... children do eventually grow up).  I guess kids might like such a sentiment, but as an adult, I found it absurd -- and just a bit insulting.

When I was a child, my mom used to read to me and my sister all the time.  She never liked reading us the story of Hansel and Gretel, though.  She'd always say it was a story about a couple of thieves and murderers.  Adam Gidwitz has managed to take that to a whole new level with this book!

Quotable moment:

But before he left, the Devil announced that he could not find his glasses.  He was furious, for he could barely see without them.  "I hardly recognize you, Grandmother!" he shouted.  "Where in Hell did I put them?"

"Devil knows!" his grandmother said.

"No, he doesn't!" he shouted.  Eventually he stormed out of the house without his glasses, grumbling about telling one sinner from another and wasting a perfectly good day of damnation.

Recommended to: die-hard fairytale retelling fans

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.57 out of 5 ladybugs

In My Mailbox (53)

Bought from Amazon.ca:

Angelfall
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It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master—the husband who commissioned her—dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free—an unbreakable band of iron around his wrist binds him to the physical world.

Overwhelmed by the incessant longing and fears of the humans around her, the cautious and tentative Chava—imbued with extraordinary physical strength—fears losing control and inflicting harm. Baptized by the tinsmith who makes him his apprentice, the handsome and capricious Ahmad—an entity of inquisitive intelligence and carefree pleasure—chafes at monotony and human dullness. Like their immigrant neighbors, the Golem and the Jinni struggle to make their way in this strange new place while masking the supernatural origins that could destroy them.

Meeting by chance, Chava and Ahmad become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing nature—until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

The Good Braider
by Terry Farish

In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola’s strikingly original voice sings out the story of her family s journey from war-torn Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in the sometimes too close embrace of the local Southern Sudanese Community, she dreams of South Sudan while she tries to navigate the strange world of America a world where a girl can wear a short skirt, get a tattoo or even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the strands of a displaced life.

Terry Farish's haunting novel is not only a riveting story of escape and survival, but the universal tale of a young immigrant s struggle to build a life on the cusp of two cultures.

A Tale Dark and Grimm
by Adam Gidwitz

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?


In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.