A pretty good YA fantasy! You've got all the drama and angst you'd want in a novel like this, but don't think it was anything groundbreaking really

I love how many fairy tales are incorporated into this story and how each of them is told with a different twist. I am excited to see what happens in the second book, which fairy tales are incorporated, and the twists the stories will take.

Sarah Ovens did a great job narrating this novel and I hope she continues to narrate the rest of the books in this series.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I enjoyed this both in audio and ebook form! I liked the way all the different fairy tales were introduced. It wasn't perfect but it was enjoyable. The narrator did a good job, and I would read/listen to more if there is a sequel!

This one took me a little while to read. I started it back in March but didn’t finish it before my son was born so I put it down with the promise to return to it. I was also approved for the audiobook so in October, I switched to the audiobook and I really loved the narrator.

I found the story had a slower start and I feel like I’m always a little critical of younger MCs and making life altering decisions. This book definitely has historical vibes so I have to be mindful of the fact that societies used to be that way and younger people were making big life choices at 15-16.

Anyway, I’m done ranting 😂. I really liked the premise of this story and it reminded me of Cursed by Marissa Meyer and I’d enjoy reading a sequel. Trope that I liked were star crossed lovers, friends to lovers, and fairytale retelling.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 Stars

The Forest Grimm is a delightfully-twisted mash-up of fairytale retellings that are dark enough to make the Brothers Grimm proud.

After a curse befalls Grimm’s Hollow, villagers have disappeared into the Forest Grimm never to be seen or heard again. Clara and Axel decide to brave the forest on a quest to save the ones they love most—Clara’s mother and Axel’s fiancée Ella—and retrieve the missing Sortes Fortunae so they can break the curse on Grimm’s Hollow.

Throughout their journey, Clara and Axel stumble through a number of fairytale retellings, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Sleeping Beauty, but I won’t spoil how each stories weaves into their overall journey other than to say get ready for a few twists.

*****Small Spoilers below******

My only real complaint about the Forest Grimm is how Axel’s motivation for going into the forest is portrayed—he’s so desperately in love with Ella, that he would risk his life by going into the forest to save her. This made it impossible for me to root for the budding romance between Clara and Axel because I couldn’t stop thinking he was a sleazeball for flirting with another girl while searching for his fiancée. You eventually find out there’s more to the story, but that’s not until at least 40% into the book. I get that “forbidden love” is one of the tropes for this book, but I wish the author had made Axel and Ella’s engagement an arranged marriage so he was just searching for her out of duty, or something like that, because it made the romance feel cringey for almost half of the book.

****End Spoilers*****

Overall, I still really enjoyed the book, and highly recommend to anyone looking for a slightly creepy (but not scary) fall read. Thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the copy.

‘The Forest Grimm’ by Kathryn Purdie was a wonderfully dark retelling-mashup of classic Grimm fairytales like Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Robin Hood, etc.

Atmospheric, twisted, a bit wild, rich and lyrical with a hint of slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance thrown in, ‘The Forest Grimm’ is an absolutely perfect read for the fall.

The audiobook, narrated by Sarah Ovens, perfectly captures the dark, foreboding essence of the story and kept me enraptured from beginning to end. Highly recommend!

The Forest Grimm by Katherine Purdie combines themes of fate with a mix of twisted Grimm fairytales into a fascinating story of adventure and self-discovery. I loved the creativity that went into this story. I enjoyed following Clara in her adventures as she worked to find her mother and break the curse. There were moments when the writing felt a bit repetitive, but the story was fascinating and I had fun reading it and trying to guess what would come next.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Katherine Purdie, and Macmillan Audio for an arc of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

The Forest Grimm is a dark tale that weaves in well-known Brothers Grimm stories and characters (Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella, etc) but with Kathryn Purdie's own twist. The audiobook kept my attention the entire time and I was fascinated to see which fairytale character would show up next and to see how their story would be changed and woven into this one. I will say, some storylines worked better than others, but it all still manifested into an interesting read. I felt that there were some questions left unanswered, but I think those will be explored in the sequel which is nicely set up in the epilogue.

3/5 stars (Note, I listened to the audiobook)

I was slightly disappointed by this book. I thought the premise of The Forest Grimm and weaving in old Grimm Brothers' tales (with their own twists) was a cool idea. However, the way the author "weaved" together the story felt disjointed and made the plot of the story disappear into details that just didn't connect. This next sentence is a definite spoiler so beware if you haven't yet read The Forest Grimm and plan to. I understood Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretal as stories and did enjoy the twists that Purdie used to make those retelling her own. However, vampires? Come on - that was a bit of a reach. As I thought more about it, I thought maybe her mom being the original lost and being the only vampire in the story was harkening back to something like the original sin or the original source of evil as portrayed in Dracula. But a reader shouldn't have to try to make themes and tropes work in a story - that's the author's job, and the vampire aspect totally lost me.

Overall, I honestly didn't hate reading this book and found parts of it interesting to listen to. I just wish there was more character development and a bit more time spent on creating a seamless weave in the various fairytale retellings. Thank you, NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Kathryn Purdie for allowing me access to an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

This was a tough one for me. I struggled to get into it and it didn't provide enough twists on the fairytales for me to be captivated. Maybe it is because I've read so many excellent books this year and my TBR is also filled by other highly anticipated reads, but I struggled to get into it and had to force myself through it. It read as lower YA despite trying to be upper YA and darker.

Had a lot of potential. But didn't quite meet my expectations.

I like the idea and concept, but wasn't too fond of how the various fairy tales were integrated into the storyline. They didn't feel natural or seamless. Also, the characters could have benefitted from more development and greater depth.

Overall, an okay read.

*** Thank you to NetGalley, Kathryn Purdie, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

A big thanks to Netgalley and MacMillian for providing an eARC and advance audio book in exchange for an honest review.

The book had me at the mere name drop of the Brothers Grimm, but lost me at that cover.

The Forest of Grimm by Kathryn Purdie is a YA fantasy novel that follows the ill fated life of Clara, who must embark on a journey into the Forest Grimm to retrieve a magic book. Which is capable of lifting the curse of her village and saving her missing mother. With the help of her friend Axel, who is destined to never be with Clara, must face countless trials and tribulations straight out of the Grimm Brothers tales.

I REALLY wanted to love this book, given it's rich callback to plenty of Brother Grimm tales. But it was so thrown together, and haphazard I couldn't keep up. Subvert your expectations, because this book will not let you meet them.

I unfortunately was unable to download it so I can’t comment on the audio, but if you’re a fan of fairy tale retellings with a dark twist this is worth checking out. I did have a bit of an issue with certain diction and repetition choices, enough that it hindered my ability to fully enjoy the story, but overall an interesting read if you’re looking to get transported into a sentient forest type of story.

This was a retelling of the Grimm fairy tales in a unique way. I personally haven’t read many Grimm tales but enjoyed this one.
It is YA so it wasn’t as dark as it could be with this subject matter. Just an FYI if you are expecting something very dark.
The Forest near their village is called the Forest Grimm. A tragedy occurs where villagers go into the forest and are lost forever. Our main character braves the forest to find her mother and stumbled across a few fairy tales stories such has Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and more. These are twisted versions of these fairy tale stories.
This novel was a fun listen. The story was fast paced and while some of the plot points were expected, it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the story.
While there is more to the story (definitely a book 2) I felt like book 1 wrapped up and didn’t leave a huge cliffhanger.

Clara has always known her fate involves the Grimm forest and a monster, but ever since her mother disappeared into the Grimm forest along with numerous others from her village, she's been entering the lottery to gain a chance to search for her. Along with her friend Axel, Clara figures out a way to enter the forest, using red rampion dye to color her cloak. But the way is dangerous, and the forest is alive, and when they find the missing villagers, they are much changed...

While I didn't quite understand what had happened that caused all the villagers to disappear into the forest or what the book had to do with it, I liked the connections to the fairy tales and the romance between Clara and Axel. I don't know if I was just spacing out during important information sections of the book and only tuning in during the exciting times, like when Clara is fighting off Rapunzel's hair or evading Cinderella's love potions, or if the explanations were really so brief that I didn't catch them. In any case, I'm sure readers who enjoy fairy tale retellings will enjoy this one.

I will be doing a longer review on my blog of both the book and the audio.

This is a fantastic take on classic fairytales. The plot moves along nicely although there are a few plot points left unresolved and it does end with room for a sequel. I do wish the romance aspect had been more prominent sooner, but overall I enjoyed the story.

I loved the narrator of the audio book. She had such a fantastic tone and it was very well recorded. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good fantasy.

This is such a great retelling of red riding hood. I loved the magic system and the relationships between the characters. The narrator did an amazing job as well!!!

This was a clever book with a twist on the classic Grimm fairy tales blended into the storyline. Main character, Clara is obsessed with finding her missing mother in the Forest Grimm. When the opportunity presents itself, she ventures into it along with her close childhood friend, Axel. But things definitely aren't always as they appear in the woods here and they are constantly rearranging themselves. You'll be lucky to find your way out when the time comes. Yet, Clara and Axel each have their own reasons for being there - - their own burdens so to speak. And then another friend finds her way to them as well and their search gets even more complicated. In addition to looking to rescue other people, Clara is desperately trying to resist the pull she feels to Axel. She tells herself that he isn't meant for her but for another. But is that really true? And how does Axel feel? Of course, you have a big wolf, a red cape, some other scary fairy tale characters and some that aren't supposed to be scary. It all blends together to be a twisty and fun read. Apparently this is the first book of a duology. I could have been very content with this being a standalone. I hope that the second book doesn't take away from the nice feeling of completion that I had when I wrapped up this first book.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I toggled back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook. I didn't mind the narrator's voices, but I did struggle to keep up with the storyline when I was listening to it as opposed to reading it. I'm not sure what made this book different from others for me, but I found myself reading it to finish because it was easier for me. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for ARC's of both the ebook and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to read/listen to and review both of them.

This was a good book. Light and dark all at once, disability rep. Heroics and fairy tales and enchanted forest...the trifecta of awesomeness of course.
Some predictability but still creative and fun. Will definitely read the next one.

Clara's mother was one of the first to disappear into the Forest Grimm, but this year she plans to go into the depths of this cursed forest and get her back. There's only one problem, her bestie Axel has the same plan only he wants to get his fiance back. Clara doesn't care what happens to her since her death has been predicted. It doesn't matter if she dies as long as she can save her mother. As the two move deeper into the forest they find out just how horrific things really are in there.

This book was a hodgepodge of some well-known fairy tales, and though it wasn't perfect, I enjoyed it for the most part. The romance was a bit juvenile and I'm not sure what Henni was doing there. One good thing about this book is that Clara is disabled, and having that rep is important especially since it's not something usually seen in fantasy stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Sarah Ovens was a good narrator.