Oh, how I wanted to love this book! The concept is nostalgic and fun but unfortunately it felt like a slog by the end.

The enchanted forest troupe is one we have seen many a time in YA, perhaps it is for that reason that I had some hefty expectations going into this one. I felt like The Forest Grim read like a detailed outline of a book I might enjoy, sadly It just never delivered enough of any one thing to interest me. I felt no connection to the characters and the plot felt a bit disjointed and drawn out. My biggest complaint is that the atmosphere was lacking. When I read an enchanted forest book with GRIMM in the title I expect atmosphere for days and it juts didn't deliver.

This one might appeal to the younger readers of the YA genre but I didn't find it well suited for someone who is wanting some depth within their stories.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for approving my request for this arc in return for an honest review.

One of my favourite type of fantasy books is anything that delves into the dark side of the Grimm Brothers fairytales, and this delivered in every bit I did not expect. I love the twist of on the take of the fairytales, that instead a village lives near the Grimm Forest that holds ancient magic that blesses the town that lives near it. Through the people keeping peace and using their one granted wish for good, the Forest Grimm bestows them magic and fortune... Until someone uses their one wish for evil, making the Forest Grimm curse the village.
I love the slow build up friendship to love, and the different versions of fairytales we got to visit with a dark twist to them. Each encounter they faced in the forest was Grimm and haunting. The magic behind everything was intriguing and it kept me wanting to learn more. Honestly I have been in a reading slump and this book pulled me right out of it with my favourite kind of stories! I can't wait for it to be published.

I adore #KathrynPurdie! I have loved every single book that she has written and #TheForestGrimm is no exception. What a fun take on The Grimm stories, so many of them are woven in together in neat ways.
The main character Clara believes that she is destined to die in The Grimm Woods, her Grandmere's cards predicted it long ago, but she is determind that her cards will be redrawn and a different fate will be chosen for her.
The Grimm Woods used to be place of joy and magic where the villagers could depend on the forest and in turn the forest would depend on them. When the town first popped up the forest gifted them with a book, The Sortes Fortunae. Once of age anyone could wish for their hearts desire and write it in the book and that wish would be granted. But someone used the book to wish death upon another and the forest turned on them. The book disappeared back into the trees and a prophecy was made that someone would find it and a true sacrfice must be made. Then the forest began taking villagers including Clara's mother, her best friend Axel's betrothed and so many others.
Clara finds a cape dyed with Red Rampion that her mother made for her, she believes she has found the secret to entering the woods without being cruely ejected. She is going to tempt fate, find the book, rescue the lost and most of all find her mother even if it spells out her demise.

I want to thank #Netgalley and #St.Martin'sPublishingGrroup for letting me read #TheForestGrimm by #KathrynPurdie in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. I’ll be completely honest, I struggled through the first half of the book, and I almost gave up on it. The second half was a little better, but I was glad to finish it. It just wasn’t what I expected, and it felt like it failed at really using the fairy tale lore it tries to connect with in a way that get you interested.

I’m gonna keep it short, because it just wasn’t for me. I’m sure many readers will love it. For me, it just failed a creating a story that really flowed well and kept me hooked. It felt like it tried to connect too many fairy tales without really giving us any real connection to the stories. Because of that, it seemed like using the Grimm’s characters just worked against the story, and it would have been better without it.

The Forest Grimm is a thrilling and ferocious fairy-tale retelling from author Kathryn Purdie.

The author takes inspiration from many different fairytales and combines them in this story of Clara, who tries to fight against her fate to save her family. This is definitely a darker story, with violence, poison, and lots of injuries, but it will pull you in from the first chapter.

It took me awhile to warm up to Axel, but he grew on me throughout the book.

Overall a gripping fantasy with a small cliffhanger at the end.

This book is YA and feels closer to middle grade for me. the plot was amazing in the story but the character development suffered.

3.5 stars
The Forest Grimm drew me in with its compelling premise, putting a twist on the classic fairy tales, and it also happens to be a fun reading companion now that I’ve once again started watching Once Upon a Time, which is perhaps the closest thing to it narratively, in how it combines aspects of numerous tales in a single story.
As the title suggests, the setting is the most well-realized aspect of the story, with the magic forest evoking magic and mystery. And while the choice to mash up so many stories did leave the narrative feeling a bit chaotic, I enjoyed seeing how Kathryn Purdie played with these stories, paying tribute to them and also doing her own thing.There are some other aspects of the world that weren’t quite as well-thought out, but they are forgivable, in my opinion.
The characters are perhaps one of the weaker points, as I didn’t feel super strongly about them, and they felt mostly like vehicles to move the story forward. There are some inklings of promise for the main characters, like Clara and Axel, and I can see continuing to the next book to see how their story develops.
While not perfect, this is a fun read, and I’d recommend it to fans of fairy tale retellings.

An unexpected yet more-than-welcomed fantasy book that has taken the top spot as my favorite book of 2023. I love how the forest made well-known fairy tales twisted and tragic, making the stakes even higher than they already were. The romance was so sweet and it’s impossible not to fall in love with Axel. And Clara is a great protagonist, trying to keep a level head while knowing her fate and desperately wanting to change it, even if she thinks that’s selfish. I need the next one right now.

Full review can be read at the link attached.

What if you could know your fate, and the cards spell your untimely death? A fun mix of Grimm fairy tales and the complicated desire to save those you love while knowing it can cost you everything, I really enjoyed this one. Definitely excited to see where the story goes from here!

I received an advance copy from the publisher, all opinions are my own and a review was not required.

Clara lives in a village next to the Forest Grimm. Despite the name, it has always been a magical place to live, and each villager is granted a magical wish at the age of sixteen - so long as they do not share this wish with anyone. Someone, however, has used their wish to kill another villager, which curses the village and causes villagers to begin disappearing. One of the first to vanish was Clara's mother. The Forest Grimm follows as Clara attempts to save her mother from the forest and to break the curse on her village.

This book has extremely mixed reviews, so I went in with very low expectations. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised to enjoy this! The people Clara meets during her time in the forest are characters we all know from fairy tales, though they are much more similar to the Grimm versions of their characters than the Disney ones. While this book is YA, there is a creepy feeling there that I don't think I would have enjoyed as a young teen. The US cover of this book is a bit misleading from that aspect, in my opinion.

No, this is not a book that will change your life, but I think any lover of fairy tale-adjacent stories will find this to be a fun, easy read. 3.5 stars from me.

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

Thank you, Net Gallery, for the advanced copy of this book. The Forest Grimm is a mishmash of different fairy tales rolled into one. It kind of works but kind of not as people who wander into the forest turn into what the book was so opposed to in the first place. Then all the murder is forgiven except for the first one which is still not explained.

Hands down one of my favorite reads this year!

If you prefer the dark, fanged fairytales of The Brothers Grimm rather than the sanitized Disney versions, this book is for you. The gorgeous prose, the haunting atmosphere, the delightful twists on the folklore were all perfectly executed, and don’t get me started about that friends-to-lovers romance. Clara, Axel, and Henni were a fabulous team, and I loved the ‘journey’ dynamic.

THE FOREST GRIMM was everything I hoped it’d be, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. And that ENDING was absolutely perfect, in all ways.

ALL THE GRATEFULNESS to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc, and to Kathryn Purdie for blowing me away. I can’t wait for Book 2.

So much of me wanted to like this book. I love fairytale inspired stories/retellings - especially ones with a dark vibe - but The Forest Grimm really fell short in all ways that count. I found the book to be very repetitive and severely annoyed by the romance set up. I feel like the author could not decide if the MC was aware of her feelings or not, but the straight up eye oogling every other scene while stating Axel was only a friend got grating (especially given Axel's circumstances). I also felt like the fairytales that are woven into this story are very forced and don't make sense. Cinderella's story doesn't even happen to Cinderella. Rapunzel is Rapunzel in hair only, but is also some how the witch in another story. And don't even get me started on Briar Rose.

I also found it super weird that someone can get murdered in a small town using this magical book and no one has any idea who did the murdering? Nor does it seem like any one seems to care about figuring out who did it or why.

Overall, The Forest Grimm had SO much potential but despite the fairytale elements, I didn't enjoy the journey. I gave it +0.25 stars for disability rep because its nice to see that in a MC, however, the way the disability was written felt clumsy. Almost like the author wanted to include it but didn't really know how to.

2.75 stars

I won't be continuing on to the next book, especially since its gonna be centered around Henni and I really disliked Henni.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book - I went into it obviously expecting fairytale references given the title but it was so much more fun than I anticipated. It reminded me a lot of the tv show “Once Upon a Time” with how all of the traditional fairy tale characters are intertwined and introduced. Some of it was a little on the nose but also that’s kinda the point of fairy tales in my opinion.

The characters were likable and I was rooting for them the entire time. The pacing was solid and I felt interested the entire time.

Overall I’m happy and can’t wait to get my Fairyloot special edition!

The Forest Grimm begins with an evocative phrase: “Tell me again, Grandmere, the story of how I die.”
Kathryn Purdie’s prologue opens when the novel’s narrator, Clara, is only nine. Her grandmother has already foreseen her future, which includes a premature death, in a deck of cards, and Clara longs to change her fate. When she learns her mother, Rosamund, has been given the same reading, she is willing to sacrifice her own life to ensure her mother lives to old age.

The novel then leaps ahead seven years where an adolescent Clara is haunted by her mother, who is not dead, but is one of 66 people lost in the Forest Grimm. The residents of Grimm Hollow, a village at the edge of the forest, were once blessed with a book that allowed them to make their wishes and dreams come true, but have now been cursed by someone who used the book for nefarious purposes. Each Devotion Day a hero is chosen to enter the forest and find the Lost Ones, locate the Book of Fortunes, and lift the curse on the town. Clara longs to be the hero who can save her mother’s life.

The Forest Grimm is a Young Adult adventure filled with fairy tale references. There are red capes, rampion, wolves, stone towers, castles, and spinning wheels. The protagonists come across Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel as they travel through the Forest Grimm. The book explores life, death, fate, love, loss, and time, ending with a promise of more to come. This is a fun read for fairy tale fans and those who love a coming of age story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

This book was just… not good. I hated how obvious everything felt. It felt very… done. I liked certain parts, like the wish granting book and magic forest… but everything else was just embarrassingly awkward. This book did give my eyes a work out based on how often I rolled them (for various reasons)

I actually really liked this book. Where some people thought the numerous fairy tale retelling in one book was tedious, I found it really interesting. It kept my attention. And maybe it was the writing but this was a very vivid book to read. I could picture everything while reading. It was also delightfully gruesome at times. The disability rep was also nice to see.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy to review.

The Forest Grimm brings together all your favorite fairy tales with a dark twist in this new YA Fantasy.

I have been anxiously waiting for this book since the beginning of the year when it was announced. I always love Kathryn Purdie’s books and this one was no different.

Years ago, villagers would make their deepest wish in the Sortes Fortunae until someone used their wish to murder another villager. Now the Forest Grimm has hidden the book and along with it, several villagers known as the Lost. Clara’s mother was the first villager to go missing three years ago. Clara has tried to figure out a way into the Forrest to rescue her mother, but when she discovers the key to entering in the forest, she soon discovers the forest has dangers behind every corner.

There are many aspects of this book i enjoyed. The first is the relationship with Clara and Axel. Axel is the boy Clara is fated to never have and the slow burn romance throughout this book made me invested in their relationship. Will Axel be with Clara or will he continue to look for the girl he was supposed to marry before she became one of the lost?

Another aspect was the fairy tales found throughout the forest. I loved how they were not the fairy tales that we grew up with but closer to the Brothers Grimm stories which added another danger to the forest. I am curious to see what new fairy tales lie within the Forest Grim in book 2.

Of course this book ended on cliffhanger and I will be anxiously waiting until I can get me hands on book 2.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read the Forest Grimm. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the ARC!

The Forest Grimm is the perfect adventure for lovers of the Brothers Grimm fairytales and YA Fantasy. Starting with Little Red Riding Hood, tarot, and a selection of chance to see which villager has to go into the forest in an attempt to save the village, we follow Clara’s journey to save her missing mother, and ultimately, everyone she knows. There are a lot of dark fairy tails jam-packed into this winding story, and there’s also a little romance! This was an enjoyable listen and a great addition to a Fall TBR.

Okay, so this was unexpected. I enjoyed this, but not in an excited way. I felt like this dragged at parts simply because there were so many different pieces involved. I loved the mash-up of fairytales, though, especially with the evil twist. So I'm definitely glad I got to read this even if it's not my favorite.

I had some issues understanding the main characters. Clara and Henni are best friends, so I thought they would be close in age, but Henni is constantly described as being childish. I also didn't completely connect with Axel and Clara's romance because it just seemed a bit out of place to me.

However, if a story full of creepy fairytale retellings sounds good to you, then I hope you give this a go!

Out September 19, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!