This is a great alternative for kids struggling with the original Anne of Green Gables text. Would have liked to have seen some of the more childish impacts of Anne changed, but this is a kid's book so I can't be too choosy.

Perfect cozy fantasy! I found this book to be really engaging and I loved the premise. I'm a sucker for Anne of Green Gables so this story was right up my alley. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

As a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables, I was excited to read The Grace of Wild Things. It’s billed as a magically inspired version of Anne of Green Gables for middle grade readers, and definitely lived up to that expectation. While there were many similarities to the beloved classic, there were enough differences to make it uniquely it’s own. One thing I really appreciated was that the author really captured Anne Shirley’s whimsical, enchanting personality in Grace.

As an unwanted orphan whose only talent is magic, Grace runs away from the orphanage to visit the legendary wicked witch in the forest. The witch is every bit as wicked as you would imagine, easily comparable to Hansel and Gretel’s witch. After nearly getting eaten by the witch, Grace strikes a bargain with her to become her apprentice if she can learn all 100 1/2 spells in the witch’s grimoire before the cherry tree blooms.

As Grace works to learn the spells, her sunny disposition begins to affect the cold hearted witch. Little by little, the witch begins to grudgingly care for Grace, allowing her to go to school and providing her with the home she’s always dreamed of. However, learning all the spells is more difficult than Grace thought. With a little help from newfound friends and her familiar crow named Windweaver, Grace might just be able to meet the witch’s bargain.

While I absolutely adored all the nods and familiar scenes from Anne and the exceptional world building, I wasn’t sure how I felt about certain things. Reading Anne as an adult, I’ve come to really appreciate Marilla. While the witch in many ways embodies that gruff, tough yet lovable persona, it’s hard to reconcile the fact that she nearly ate Grace and did lots of other really wicked things. I ultimately liked the way things turned out between Grace and the witch, but their relationship is more complicated than Anne’s and Marilla’s.

At almost 370 pages, it’s quite a hefty read for a middle grader. There were some parts that lagged a bit and it took me awhile to get into the story. However, once Grace goes to school and meets new friends, it became really enjoyable for me. I enjoyed identifying characters in the story who matched those in Anne of Green Gables. There are quite a few familiar scenes like the slate scene, elderberry wine, nursing a sick child, and the antagonism with Marilla’s friend Rachel. The villain introduced in the last portion of the story kind of came out of nowhere, but it made for an interesting twist. I also liked the positive messages of friendship and loyalty.

Parents should be aware that there might be some potentially scary things for young readers. If nightmares, witches eating children, ghosts, and scary forests are upsetting, you may want to read it first before giving it to your child. There are also witchcraft elements like spells, and making potions. While there are a lot of similarities to Anne of Green Gables, you don’t necessarily have to be familiar with that story to enjoy this book. Fans of magical fantasy and Anne of Green Gables might enjoy this. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and voluntarily given. 3 1/2 stars

THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS – by Heather Fawcett

‘[T]he aroma drifting through the dark trees was from bread gone chocolaty brown on the outside and soft as a pillow within, full of gooey raisins that burst on your tongue. Most children would have turned around when they smelled something like that, for it meant the witch was near.’

THE GRACE OF WILD THINGS centers around Grace Greene, an orphan who flees Rose & Ivy Home for Unwarded Children –and in Gretel-esque fashion—finds herself at the mercy of an evil witch who lives in the woods.

To save herself from a culinary demise, Grace makes a deal with the witch—If Grace learns all 100 1/2 spells in the witch’s grimoire, the witch must make Grace her apprentice, but if she fails. . .

The witch takes her magic!

‘“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - —Emily Dickinson, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers”’

I Love the characters and the cover, and although the darkness of the storyline filled my horror heart with glee, it was Grace's heavy heart filled with hope and loneliness that broke it.

Recommend!

Reading Ages - 8-12 years

Grace is an orphan who has been rejected by every home that tried to take her in. She has such a strange aura that no one can stand. so she seeks out a well known witch to take her in and teach her magic. This retelling of Anne of Green Gables delightfully captures the nature of the main character while giving it a refreshing new setting and genre.

The Grace of Wild Things is a beautifully written retelling of Anne of Green Gables by Heather Fawcett. Released 14th Feb 2023 by HarperCollins on their Balzer + Bray imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Although marketed to a middle grade audience, this is truly an all-ages appropriate re-imagining of Anne of Green Gables with a young witch who runs away from her dreary existence at an orphanage and seeks out a dangerously curmudgeonly older witch to guide and teach her. After getting off to a rocky start, they come to an agreement and soon see their odd new found family facing deadly challenges from outside.

The author is both prolific and adept at characterization, setting, world building, and narrative and this is an engaging and entertaining story. Young Grace is an appealingly plucky heroine and readers will be cheering her along in her quest. The promotional materials suggest this book for readers in the middle school audience (8-12 years) and while there's no directly graphic violence, there are a number of scary situations. Given the nature of the (ridiculous) challenges and bannings in the USA currently, acquisitions staff might want to read the book before adding it to collections.

Four and a half stars. Well worth picking up, and not just for readers in the "target" audience. It's an enjoyable and worthy retelling of a classic story.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Utterly magical. Very far from a 1:1 adaptation, but that made it even better to see the echoes of the original. I think Anne would approve.

A fantastic piece of middle grade fantasy. Grace is an orphan, who also happens to be a witch. Because of her witchy gift and her intelligent and outgoing nature, she has always been passed up by prospective adopters. When she hears about the wicked witch who lives in the woods (a la Hansel and Gretel), she runs away from the orphanage to hopefully find a home there. Their introduction isn't a great one, as the witch tries to eat Grace... But Grace is determined to make this her home, so she strikes a deal with the witch: if she can successfully complete all 100 and a half spells from the witch's grimoire within a certain time frame, she will get to stay and become her apprentice. If she fails, however, the witch will take her magic and send her back to the orphanage. With the help of her crow familiar, a fairy prince, and the local children, she may just succeed.

I only vaguely know the story of Anne of Green Gables, but I thoroughly enjoyed this magical retelling. Grace is precocious, intelligent, and kind, a lovely protagonist. She finds true friendships throughout the story. The magical elements were well done, and it was fun to follow along with Grace as she made her own interpretations as to what the strange spell ingredients truly were. The bird-centric poems that start off each chapter are a great addition. A highly enjoyable story about friendships and found family.

What a unique and fun retelling of Anne of Green Gables! Grace is an orphan, and also a witch. She has known this nearly all her life, and it is one of the reasons she is still without a real home, her deepest desire. So she takes her destiny in her own hands and sets off to find a witch to teach her how to use her magic. Only she finds the most crotchety, mean witch there ever was, and if you think that will stop Grace, think again! With fantastic characters, an enticing setting, and plenty of subtle and not-so-subtle references to the original, this book can also be very much enjoyed even if you've never heard of Anne Shirley!

A fun to read, middle school age retelling of Anne of Green Gables. Wonderful characters and a touch of darkness. Some adventure. Some magic. The friendships of youth. I enjoyed this story and found it to be quite well written.

Not my favorite fantasy from Fawcett. While charming, I think the comparisons with Anne of Green Gables hurt rather than helped it--that is such a beloved story to me that every time there were similarities it made me wish I was just reading the original. I think if you think of this as "Inspired" rather then a "Fantasy Reimagining" of Anne and separate it from the source material you'll be able to enjoy it more than I did.

This book is an Anne of Green Gables retelling with a fairytale twist. This book was intresting because a character thought they where wicked because they have magic, and overtime they lern that they can be good and kind. I didnt enjoy this as much tough as a retelling because it is nearly identical in characterization and plot points, with magic added. I enjoy retellings but I like it more when they play with the story a bit. Ths may also me more of a me thing as I am not as big of a fan of Anne of green gables as most pepole are.

Unfortunately this one ended up being a DNF for me. I think it should have been pegged as very low young adult to a higher juvenile story. The writing felt very young vs. general young adult. The story felt very slow and it really didn't have much in common with Anne of Green Gables. So that was a big let down. Parts of the story felt unneeded and really didn't add anything to the story at large and the ending which I did look at was just meh.

I requested this ARC because I saw a TikTok from my fav cozy fantasy creator.

This did NOT disappoint! It’s billed as Anne of Greene Gables with witches and I whole heartedly agree. Grace is an orphan who has a crow friend that she talks to. Upon finding a witch, she makes a deal to hopefully become a witch’s apprentice and hone her magic.

This book is lighthearted, low stakes, and while we know there’s always a bit of heartache, Grace eventually finds the place she belongs. It’s lush, descriptive, and adventurous.

If you are a big fan of Anne of Green Gables and all things witchy, you will love this retelling! I liked the original and found myself liking this one, too. Retellings are always fun, but add in that it is witchy? You can count me in. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Wonderfully written. Such an enchanting, Anne of Green Gables retelling. You could tell where the author found her inspiration and turned it into a magical, wonderful, beautiful tale about a grumpy old witch, and a girl who warmed her heart.

5/5 ⭐️
“Being friends with you is like — it’s like having a place I can go where I can forget about all the bad things.”
That is one of the many lines I found myself highlighting in my kindle as I read this book. Honestly, I need to physically own all of Heather Fawcett’s books because they just cry out to be annotated.
This story was perfect. It is the most adorable cozy fantasy, perfect for any age. It obviously was most similar to Anne of Green Gables meets the witch from Hansel and Gretel. However, the main character also kind of reminded me of Greg from Over the Garden Wall. This story was cute and heart warming and had me laughing out loud and crying. It is a story of a girl who talks too much and has an over imagination and who loves all, even witches who try to put her in the oven. The friendships she made and trials she faced was great and uplifting. Also, I’m obsessed with the fairy boy and the crow who was her familiar.
This story truly was one of the best things I’ve read in a while. Literally, it felt like it wrapped me up in a blanket and handed me a cup of tea. I’m going to be telling everyone to read it, and make Heather Fawcett an Insta-buy author for me.
Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children for providing an advance reader copy for my honest review.

I have not read Anne of Green Gables since I was a child so the retelling aspect definitely wasn't as interesting to me. It took me quite a while to get into this book and I ended up listening to it on audio to help me get through it. It definitely picked up but was slow to start. It's a cute book but nothing spectacular.

Title: The Grace of Wild Things
By: Heather Fawcett

Genre:
Middle Grade, Fantasy, Magic

Recommended Ages:
7th grade – Adult

Red Flags:
Evil witches, Ghosts, Nightmares
Some scary parts for sensitive young readers

Summary/ Review:

Grace is tired of living in an orphanage, and dreams of living a life in the woods with the infamous witch. Why would she want to live with a witch the reader wonders? Grace knows she has magical powers, and desires to work under the witch as her apprentice. Quickly, Grace learns the witch is truly as bad as the locals say. Grace begins to wonder what is worse, living with the witch or living in the orphanage. The main character of Grace definitely reminds me of Anne Shirley and the author manages to weaves aspects of Anne’s story into Grace’s character. The plotline is magical with ghosts, and evil sprinkled throughout. I would have liked the ending to be a little stronger, and felt parts of the story were missing some depth. For this reason, I rated it four stars.

The Grace of Wild Things is a whimsical twist on “Anne of Green Gables mixed with pieces of “Hansel and Gretel.” This is a standalone novel, which doesn’t require you to know the “Anne of Green Gables” story, but if you do, it will bring a smile to your face as you reminisce over a childhood classic.


Thank you to Heather Fawcett, Harper’s Collins Children’s Books, and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#reluctantreaderreads
#Heatherfawcett
#Thegraceofwildthings
#Harperscollinschildrensbooks
#netgalley
#advancedreadereditions

Heather Fawcett pays homage to Anne of Green Gables in this delightfully magical tale. As a fan of Anne, I was skeptical about a fantastical rendition, but this story stands on its own as wonderful, creative, and heartwarming, all the while incorporating nods to the book that inspired it. Grace and her friends, and even the surly witch, all brought me joy. This is my first read of Ms. Fawcett's work and I am excited to delve further into her catalog.

If you are a fan of the original books, you must not sleep on this. You will love how Fawcett creates something new and wonderful from a tale you already hold dear. And if you never read Anne of Green Gables, no worries, since this book is lovely to read in its own right. It's aimed at middle school aged kids, but don't let that deter you as an adult - anyone of any age will appreciate the themes of found family, friendship, loyalty, adventurous spirit, embracing one's differences and finding one's path, and standing up for what - and whom - you love and believe in. If you are feeling blah and need a pick-me-up to brighten your day, this is an excellent choice.

I really appreciated how Grace stays true to Anne's personality and character. Her flowery speech and loquaciousness, whimsical and hopeful nature, and fierce and stubborn determination. I do wish the end had been fleshed out a bit more though. It does seem to end a bit ubruptly after many chapters of different adventures with Grace and her crew. But even so, it brought tears to my eyes.

Heartwarming, wholesome enchantment. Highly recommend for fans of cozy fantasy and/or L.M. Montgomery. Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Balzer + Bray, and Netgalley for my DRC in exchange for my honest review.