Thank you for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a little too slow for me. I read a handful of chapters and every time I read I always feel sleepy. I'm not enjoying the narration. The premise is interesting but not enough to keep me going. Also kinda reminds me of the show Once Upon a Time.

I enjoy reading the new takes on old tales that have been coming out in recent years. They aren't are great, but it's still fun to read them! I'm a big fan of all fairy tales and this one was is a new one to add to my collection! It's a fun take on all the Grimm's ladies and Hansel, that I think many readers will enjoy. Fun story!

This was a fun, creative take on the fairy tales we all grew up with: Rapunzel, Snow White and Cinderella are all queens of different regions of a land called Grimm. Sleeping Beauty is set to wake up any day now, and there's an avenging witch - and a homicidal, wolf-faced madman - on the loose. Hansel and Gretel are on a mission to save the world, with the help of Little Red Cap, Rumpelstiltskin, and a magic-wielding chambermaid. This book had fun characters, lots of action, and some funny moments that made me chuckle. Sometimes the writing was a little juvenile and there were some inconsistencies in the story, but overall this was a fun read.

This book is based off the Grimm tales, with many of their classic characters make an appearance, but Hansel and Gretel are the two main characters. I enjoyed this story with all the fun twists and the author's take on these classics.

I love fairy tales and always have. It's never been about the happy ending, more the overcoming an obstacle.

Just Off The Path takes the familiar tales of Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Cinderella and more and mashes this into one magical land. Queens rule different parts of the land, there's a murderer on the loose and Hansel and Gretel are called upon to save everyone.

The idea behind this story and book is great! However, Hansel comes off like an a$$ and kind of a pushover in every instance. While he was the main character of the book, the women are the clear stars. They come together in a spectacular finish and Hansel sits back and somehow still comes off the hero. Still, the idea of all the 'magical kingdoms' mashed into one was great.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a very entertaining mash-up of lots of well known fairy tales, set in the Kingdom of Grimm (nice touch). A good read for all lovers of fairy tale stories and fans of the Once Upon a Time TV show.

I had just finished two deep emotionally involving books when I started Just Off the Path by Weston Sullivan. I had it waiting on my TBR list for quite some time, so I had completely forgotten what it was about or why I had chosen to read it.

As soon as I started reading the prologue about the looking glass on the wall, I realized it was a story based around the Grimm fairy tales. The prologue sets the scene with Rose pricking her finger and falling asleep, along with everyone in her castle.

Next we meet Hansel and Gretel as they are trying to prepare themselves for the long winter ahead with some hunting for food in the forest. They hear a scream and find a girl in the woods in a red cape. She is being chased by a large man, who turns out to be a wolf.

And so it begins. All of your favorite characters are here: Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Rumpelstiltskin to name a few. Hansel and Gretel are the main characters and the story is told through Hansel.

i enjoyed this book. It held my interest, there were even some twists and turns as Hansel found out that not all princesses are as they seem.

"Now, the mirror couldn't sleep. It was left alone, halved, and halved, and halved again by her jealousy. It sat awake for years, predicting nothing, repeating everything. It was broken, and it awaited the awakening, the reckoning, the punishment--the world is in pieces, the man is in pieces, and the mirror? She is in pieces."

Welcome to the world of Grimm, and the far-off realms of Camelot, and Neverland.

If you ever wanted a book that included all of your favorite fairy tale characters, this just may be the read for you!

There are sightings of: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Cap (or Riding Hood) AKA Ceara and The Wolf, (as disgusting as ever), Rapunzel, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and so many more! There's just one...hitch--not every character in this tale is how we have all come to know and love them.

The story starts out with an enticing backstory, rich in its imagery to set the stage for the rest of the tale.

We follow the story of Hansel and Gretel, who are a part of a world steeped in the "folkloric" history of their nation. While the rightful ruler of Grimm, sleeping beauty Briar Rose, has been cursed and asleep for one hundred years, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Cinderella have been designated as rulers of their own individual realms. When an enemy from the past reappears after being locked away, all havoc breaks loose; friends become traitors, truth-tellers become liars, selfless characters become swayed by their own personal agendas. In an attempt to fight against the evil force, the three queens attempt to join forces to vanquish Gothel, but without avail. The turmoils of their own relationships, nations, and scheming get in the way of building an alliance together.

"Grimm runs rampant with fairytales. But that's what makes Gothel evil--the fact that she is the only one out of all of us who is willing to tell the truth. She is a villain because she is honest. Isn't that ironic?"

The way that this book started out, I knew I was in for a dark retelling. After reading so many retellings from a female perspective, it was interesting to see it from the other side of the coin. However, Hansel's musing of a female counterpart were a bit graphic and, for lack of a better term, foreign. Other than that, he really didn't have much else to think or say. He was naked a lot and always had to make sure that the reader knew when he was naked.

Nearly all of the characters could have used more dimension. While some stayed true to their character, others tried to derail their stereotypical traits to change the tides of the story--and it didn't work out as planned. Had the characters had more substance to them, it would have added so much more to the plot and each person so that they wouldn't be so transparent in their plans.

I felt that the book itself was broken up into three sections that weren't able to come together. There is this haunting, lyrical backstory about the mirror, but it is never really given a chance to shine again. The body of the text is a mishmash of things happening which...kept happening...and the characters are still running around not figuring out who's behind the scheming...when it is downright obvious. Thanks, Hansel, for being a boy who thinks that a pretty girl cannot do something against her better judgement. Really?

The ending was rushed and definitely didn't flow as well as the previous "sections".

With all of that said, I thought that the premise itself was brilliant, it just needed better execution and more detail. I felt this book was scratching at the surface of a brilliant. plot beneath.

Vulgarity: None that I recall?
Sexual content: Moderate. This may be towards the New Adult spectrum.
Violence: Some.

2 stars.

This is a really clever retelling in a dystopian world where the famous curse on sleeping beauty has riven Grimm into a series of small squabbling states. Rapunzel, the Queen, is clearly out of her depth and I found her the most fascinating of all the characters. I enjoyed the way in which nothing is as it first seems. And the way Sullivan plays with established fairytale characters is both smart and intriguing.

However, for some reason while there was never any risk of not completing this book, I didn’t love it as much as I had expected. I didn’t bond with Hansel, finding his constant negativity a real problem. Neither did I like Gretel very much. And as these were the two main characters who were at risk throughout, I wasn’t as heavily invested in the story as the stakes were raised and they were increasingly at risk.

That said, I’m aware this is the personal preference and the other reviewers have loved this one. If I have found Hansel more appealing doubtless. I too would have been caught up in the story, which is accomplished and clever. Recommended for fans of fairytale retellings.

While I obtained the arc of Just Off the Path from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
7/10

A variety of fairy tale characters lived in an interconnected world. Their backgrounds were the classic fairy tales you know. Their personalities and current stations in life were not what you'd expect. The plot was okay but nothing riveting. This book did not hold my attention. I wouldn't have finished it if it weren't an ARC.

The writing style did not work for me. Some scenes did not flow smoothly. Too much information was given about the wrong things. A lot more could have been explored with the world building. A lot of time was spent on Hansel's rambling and incredibly boring thoughts.

All of the characters were one dimensional. I didn't particularly care for any of them. The main character was Hansel. He wasn't very proactive. The only thing particularly notable about him was his obsession with Rapunzel. She was so high handed and cold. I don't know what it was he saw in her. Gretel would have made a much better main character. She was a rule breaker who was willing to stand up for what was right. There were several other characters but they're not even worth mentioning.

So yes, it's a fairytale mashup. Having just read The Carver before I read this it took me a moment to get it straight in my head which fairytale was which. Difficult when everything is already so jumbled.

Let's look at world building. This is a fairly standard fairytale world, not a huge amount to report. There's a lot of talk about different kingdoms (e.g. Snow White's Kingdom is mentioned a lot) but I don't think it was quite clear how far away that kingdom was as the action of this book is certainly limited to about four locations. Not in itself a bad thing, but I have read more creative fairytale settings in my time.

Magic-wise there wasn't a great deal when all's said and done since much of the kingdom is under Rapunzel's magic ban. Suffice to say, it seems that magic is something to do with having hands...that's about as detailed as I can get.

So not bad world building just not exceptional world building, I've read a lot of books with phenomenally intricate worlds of late and in comparison this is a little bit meh.

Characters, now this was a lot better than the world building. I'm not going to spoil things, but the way Sullivan handled the Hansel and Gretel backstory was very cool. Any time you pull together multiple fairytales you're going to have a lot of characters to choose from, I personally thought this selection was pretty good. I enjoyed the addition of Little Red Riding Hood as well as Rumplestiltskin. There's a lot of characters none of whom struck me as badly written.

Plot. This is where things get a little muddled. I just think this book jumped from one thing to another too quickly and it's hard to keep a handle on the rudder (as it were) and actually steer yourself to a satisfactory conclusion. I had to keep skipping back and reading bits again (which is fine on a re-read but I want the first read to be smooth!). There's a decent plot underneath all the confusion though, with some nice twists that keep you on your toes. It's not a predictable fairytale plot as such.

Is this book a groundbreaking addition to a market already flooded with fairytale inspired stories? Not so much. Is it a perfectly good fairytale mashup in and of itself? I would say so. I don't know that there was enough in this for me to really love it, but it was a perfectly enjoyable read.

My rating: 3/5 stars

By the way, I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Weston Sullivan has an interesting approach to the world of fairy tales.  Unlike the well known series Fable, fairy tale characters reside in a fantasy world.  All of their stories overlap and merge.  With Briar Rose and the rightful rulers of Grimm asleep for 100 years, other kingdoms have emerged.  Rapunzel, Cinderella and Snow White (who we don't meet) are queens ruling various parts of Grimm.  The one unifying factor is fear of the Uninvited Thirteenth, the wicked witch who held Rapunzel captive, blinded her prince, and put Briar Rose under a curse.  Hansel and Gretel were also seen as her victims, though their story is not quite as history recorded.  Throughout Grimm, people are being murdered, their hands stolen for some nefarious purpose.  Brought to Rapunzel’s castle, ostensibly for their own protection, Hansel and Gretel discover that Gothel, the uninvited thirteenth, has escaped her prison and intends to get revenge.  Hansel and Gretel fear her wrath and the implications for Grimm - with Spring comes the end of Briar Rose’s enchanted sleep.  Unwittingly, Hansel and his sister are drawn into an adventure where they are forced to face the nature of their own story and that of Gothel in order to save Grimm.

Just Off the Path blends the fairy tales well, making the stories work together.  Although it's clear that Gothel has a softer side, she is still too one dimensional.  She never has a chance to be more than a wicked witch, despite Sullivan implying there is more to her.  I enjoyed the novel, but it is one I'm unlikely to pick up again.  It’s good, but not exceptional.  Still, it is a debut novel and Weston Sullivan shows promise as a writer.

3.5 rounded up 4 / 5

I received a copy of Just Off the Path from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Excellent retelling! I have always loved remakes of classics and fairytales and such! This book I'd a great addition to my collection

An interesting "remix" of Grimms' Fairy Tales considered as a real, but magical, landscape in which many of the well-known principals preside over their own areas. The tone rejects the modern revisionist light approach in favour of presenting a darker tale, more in keeping with the originals, in which Hansel and Gretel are involved in magical politics and fraud. Well-written, with a noir feeling to it, Just Off The Path is just the thing for those who prefer their fantasy with a moodier touch.

This started off okay but I quickly lost all interest in it. I think one of the reasons is that out of all the characters the author could have chosen to be the narrator he picks Hansel, who is just incredibly dull and never really does anything proactive and changes his mind about everything twenty times depending on the opinion of the last person he talked to.

Oh yeah, and he has a crush on like every single woman in this book and it's super annoying. I was ignoring it for the most part but then about a quarter of the way through he's staring longingly at a portrait of Rapunzel and comments on how it brings out her "feminine vulnerability". This was about the time that my eyes rolled clean out of my head and I started skimming the rest of the book.

Also I felt like the plot was convoluted and drawn out. Really the whole thing was convoluted. I do have some amount of respect that the author managed to take like every single fairy tale character and put them in the same kingdom at the same time and give them all familial ties and make it more or less make sense, but it just became too much for me after awhile. I'm sure this will be a selling point for some people but I felt like it was better in theory than in practice.

Add to that the fact that 90% of the women in this book seem to hate all the other women around for literally no reason other than the 'oh women are always jealous of each other' trope and I was just not a fan of this book.

Many thanks to Weston Sullivan, Fire Quill Publishing, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I admit it; I'm a Lost Boy. I've never really grown up. And I LOVE anything to do with fairy tales. But Sullivan's book did not settle well with me. It's a personal issue I'm having with the premise, not anything that is inherently wrong with the story, although the author does seem to have a raging case of comma-itis. The plot was just so mirthless, so sinister, and so malignant that I was depressed the entire time I read it. Nothing positive happens. I realize that true Grimm fairy tales were rather grim lessons, but come on, lighten up just a little. I was never so glad to finish a book in my whole life.

Objectively it's a very well constructed story. Character development is strong. Plot is easy to follow and isn't strung out. Resolution is acceptable and some may not see it coming. But I just finished the tale feeling quite unsatisfied. Sorry

How many lies can you tell to protect yourself before it's time to tell the truth? Who will you harm by keeping your secrets? In true Grimm style this fairytale mash up is magic mixed with darkness.

This book was ok. It held my interest well most of the way through and I enjoyed reading it, but there were a few annoying things that keep me from giving it a better rating.

Firstly, and this hopefully won't be a problem in the published edition (I was reading a NetGalley ARC), it was edited really poorly. Spelling mistakes all over the place, repetition, extra words, and more seriously the occasional line clearly referencing a scene that was no longer in the book. I had to keep flipping back to see if I was going crazy or I'd missed a spot. I'm sure these things will be cleared up in the final version, but it did make it difficult for me to get into the book, and so probably unfairly coloured my opinion.

The biggest issues I had with this were the characters and the plot.

The main character is Hansel, and he's an absolute moron. He just believes whatever the last person said to him, and he's really, really passive. I can't recall him ever taking the initiative at any point through the whole book. <spoiler>And yet, at the end he's given an important position and there's a hint he'll be made King?!?! There have been worse rulers, but he'd be terrible at it.</spoiler>

The other characters include Gretel, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood (called Ceara for some reason ... how do you even say that?), and a random character called Sabine who's not from any fairytale I've heard of. All of these characters are extremely flat. All the characters are flat, really. Possibly it's because we're looking through the eyes of Hansel The Extremely Dull (he literally spends his days staring out the window at the snow). We also have Cinderella, and Rapunzel, and Snow White on the fringes, and the classic Wicked Witch. They all suffered from similar bland characterisation, except perhaps Cinderella, who has maybe two scenes.

Still, they're familiar fairytale characters so it didn't disturb me too much. It was the plot that bothered me most. It's very, very soapy. The whole thing could be cleared up by people telling the truth right at the start ... or even just asking a couple of questions. Instead the characters stumble around scheming ineptly and internally freaking out and accusing others. At no point does anyone analyse any of the information in an intelligent way.

It's super annoying, because the basic plot is actually really good. The Wicked Witch has been released from her prison at the top of Rapunzel's tower, and they have to find out who let her out, where she is, and what her plan is. The unravelling of it all at the end make perfect sense, but I can't help but think they should've done it after like, 100 pages instead.

<spoiler>were obviously acting shady, dodging questions, and just behaved suspiciously all the time.

Anyway, if you really like fairytale retellings, this is on the surface quite interesting, even if it's not technically pulled off well. You might like it. It's a quick, fun read.

This was an interesting story linking characters from well known fairy tales. It acknowledges the fact that the stories we know today are not the originals. The author did a good job of capturing the sadness with Hansel, and touching on the darkness with Gothel from the original tales.
Twenty years ago, I took a class exploring the origins of these fairy tales, their evolutions, and their impact on society when written. I hope that this story encourages readers to consider reading the original tales.