Thanks to NetGalley, St Martins Press, and Wednesday Books for these free copies of "The Forest Grimm" and "The Deathly Grimm."

I'm so glad I was able to read the duology back-to-back since they flow seamlessly together.

I was pulled into "Forest" in the opening lines when Clara asks her Grandmere to tell her again the story of how she will die. Clara's grandmother has some magic to tell futures with tarot cards.

But Forest Grimm has the bigger magic and allowed each villager to make a wish and the Forest would tell them how to make their dream come true. Three years ago, that power was yanked from the villagers and their land was cursed since a wish was used for murder.

Clara yearns to enter the Forest to search for the Lost Ones (you'll learn about them) and to find a way to break the curse, although she expects to die in the Forest based on her tarot card reading. Her friend Axel goes with her to search for his lost fiancee Ella.

What's so fun (even though they're dark) about these books is the recasting of well-known Grimm fairy tale characters. Will they show up as villagers? Or are they Lost Ones?

You'll see Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretl, Briar Rose, Snow White, Beanstalk Jack among many others.

I was excited to get back into this world and see how the story would unfold, but I ended up enjoying this one just a bit less than the first.

The story moves really fast which kept me reading, but by the end I almost wondered if the duology would have been best simplified into one book. I love the dark fairytale elements, but they could have been much creepier. The lightness of the writing made it a bit of an odd juxtaposition.

I also wish there had been more room for character development in this book. Most of the growth seemed to happen in book one. Clara and Axel’s relationship was tested, but it didn’t feel like either of them changed much. The mystery around the curse was interesting, but the resolution felt rushed. Clara’s ability to see into the past played a big role in the story, I never fully understood how it worked.

That said, I did enjoy finding what new dark twists on fairytale characters we would find. If you loved *The Forest Grimm*, you’ll probably still enjoy this one, but for me, it was a mixed experience.

3.5- I’m so glad I had the chance to read the conclusion to The Forest Grimm duology, and I’m really grateful for the ARC. After the action-packed adventure Clara experienced in the forest in book one, I was excited to see where her story would go next. However, I found the second book a bit slow and drawn out, especially in comparison to the fast-paced first installment.

That said, one of the highlights was meeting new characters who were familiar figures from the Grimm Fairytales, which was one of the things I loved about the first book. We also get to see how Clara’s powers truly manifest, which plays a key role in both the mystery and her personal growth. The writing, as always, was excellent. In a second book, the beauty is that we can dive right into the action since the world has already been established, but I felt the first half of this book lingered more than necessary. The story itself was solid, though I think it could have been shorter, or perhaps included more encounters in the forest to keep the momentum going.

Thankfully, the pace picked up in the second half, and everything started coming together in a much more satisfying way. Overall, I think this duology wraps up in a way that will please fans, and I would definitely recommend it to lovers of YA fantasy!

“I will break the curse or die trying.”

I was blown away by the first book in this series and this one was even more magical as its predecessor. This book starts right where The Forest Grimm ends and I was immediately sucked in. I appreciated how the author caught the reader up on past events of the first book too as this book carried on.

I enjoyed how the story takes the reader into more Grimm fairytale. No spoilers here, I want to let you have your journey with the fairytales captured in the story, but you are in a wild ride. Full of peril, twists and turns and so much danger and excitement. Purdie did an excellent job of keeping me guessing the whole time. Just when I thought it was safe to breathe, the stakes get even higher.

Clara and Axel each have motives for entering the forest again. And there is so much to this book than the fairytales. Henni and others make a strong cast of characters. Even the Grimm Wolf was a stand out.

I will read anything from this author!

Huge thank you to the publisher for sending the NetGalley link for the ebook and for the audio approval. All views are my own.

The unputdownable second helping of the two book series that explains so much! Clara and Axel return, now as a couple, but their pasts continue to haunt them and a second adventure into the Grimm Forest to break the curse and find a sacred book might tear them appart. This second volume has bits of The Frog Prince, Snow White, Swan Lake, Rumplestiltskin, and more woven into a dark and mysterious retelling that rushes at you with lightning speed and eagerly envelopes you in beloved characters from the first book plush some new ones. You will be guessing right up until the end who the true villain is that brought the unspeakable curse down on the village Grimm by committing dark acts to gain unforetold magic. Can Axel and Clara maintain their love and withstand the fates that seem laid out for them? Beautiful artful storytelling.

Clara and Axel make it out of the forest and back into the village, but people are still lured there. The dangers they had faced were just a fraction of the true horrors within the forest. Now Clara and Axel must return to face an even greater danger, or there will be no village to return to.

This is the second half of the duology begun in the Forest Grimm, and you definitely must read that book first. Clara is haunted by the choices she made at the conclusion of that book, though it partially broke the curse over the town. The hard part is that the murder hasn't been solved yet, and the forest wants justice. This means Clara and Axel must return to the forest to find the other Lost Ones from the village if they can because one of them is the murderer and had stolen the page of the book they wished on. Though they resolve to trust only in each other, Lost Ones are dangerous, and Clara's visions of the past reveal some truths about that fateful night that neither really wants to face.

We have echoes of fairy tales here, including Jack the Beanstalk, the Frog Prince, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and even a sprinkle of Snow White. In the midst of this is a murder mystery, and it's a sharp departure from the first half of the duology. It makes sense that the story was split in half this way. Each dip into the past reveals a little bit more, and the wedge between Axel and Clara means that they don't figure out the truth until it's the end and almost too late. Horror elements heighten the tension for them because there are very real stakes if they lose. Ultimately, it's trust, community, and family love that sees us through, just as some of that drove characters to create the curse in the first place.

4.5/5 stars

I found this a satisfying conclusion to the duology starting with The Forest Grimm.

This series was intriguing to me because of its base in Grimm's Fairy Tales. There are different tales interwoven within the plot that feature unique twists and turns from the original stories. While I didn't feel that this outing featured as many tales as the first book, I enjoyed the more personal stories of the lead characters Clara and Axel. These two are fearless, devoted and lovable, and while it had been a while since I had read the first book, I fell back into their world and their personalities almost immediately. And the world-building for the Forest Grimm was excellent, creatively eerie.

My only caveat was with the denouement. While it was satisfying, I found it a bit convoluted going back and forth between the past and present and with different viewpoints to adjust to.

Overall, a great story with sympathetic characters and a fascinating world and premise. Well done.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books for providing the free early arc of The Deathly Grimm for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This was an okay sequel, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. I didn’t love the conflict between Clara and Axel and I wasn’t really a fan of what the author did with his character for a lot of the book. I liked that we got more of Clara’s magic, but some of the visions and different versions of events got confusing. I found myself kind of rushing through the ending and the big reveal and the ensuing conflict were just okay for me. I did enjoy getting more fairytale references and there were some cute moments at the end. Overall this is a still a good duology that I would recommend for fans of fairytale retellings.

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

Thank you to Wednesday Books & NetGalley for the ARC. I am grateful I was able to find out the conclusion to this duology.

We are back in the forest with Clara and Axel to get to the bottom of all this chaos. There’s a lot going on here & the story can get a bit confusing at times.

If you like a unique spin on dark fairy tales please check out this series.

DNF at 26%. I’m really bummed about this one. I loved The Forest Grimm when I read it, and was excited to get back to Clara and Axel’s adventures in the forest. Unfortunately the narrative in this book fell flat for me. It felt kind of been-there-done-that, and I didn’t feel like the story was compelling this time around. I do really hope that this book finds its audience. But it was just not for me.

While I liked this series, I think the first book has the unfortunate luck of not being memorable. Inrepararion for reading this eARC, I re-read the first book. If I hadn't done that, then I would have ended up rating this book much lower. The characters are okay, but still lack depth. I enjoyed then stir burning also recognized that nice wasn't invested in it. I kept losing interest and waiting for more to happen. Like the first book, this book struggles with pacing. I like that this book introduced us to some other fairytale characters.

Thank you to Wednesday books for an e-ARC of this book.

I was a tad hesitant about returning to this series. I liked the first one, but honestly remembered so little of it that I had to skim the previous book before I read this one. It was a good thing I did, because had I started this book without that refresher I would have been totally lost. Again, kind of like the first book, I struggled through the first half. I felt that by the time we got to 40% nothing much had happened, and it was basically a rehash of the first book, just with different characters.

I honestly didn't find this book compelling, and between the pacing, my lack of interest in the characters it was a book that just ended up not being for me.

60/100 or 3.0 stars

I was looking forward to this sequel, as I really enjoyed the frist book, The Forest Grimm. The storyline in the second story was convoluted to the point where I almost gave up a few times. I wanted to find out how it ended, which is why I finished the book, but it was a little disappointing. I think the plot could have benefitted from having a little less going on. The first book was great, but the second book in the duology really missed the mark for me personally, and that is so unfortunate.

With their trip into the Forest, Clara and Axel have helped slow and partially reverse the curse of the Forest Grimm. However, evil still lurks and the Forest demands that the one who initiated the curse be brought to justice. With Clara’s grandmother ailing and the town council seeking to blame someone for their lingering problems, she and Axel must once again venture into the mysterious Forest Grimm to seek answers to save the ones they love.

This was a good conclusion to the duology. It picks up right where the previous ended and dives right into the need to complete the task of the Forest. Once again the author does a fair job of mixing classic fairytales with a new twist. There is a lot more personal growth seen in Clara this time too. At times the pacing did seem forced or a bit contrived, but ultimately a good read. 3 stars.

Based on a digital Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!
This is book 2 in the YA fantasy duology, The Forest Grimm.
In this book we meet new takes on more Grimm's fairy tale characters, such as, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Princess and the Frog, as we follow Clara and Axel as they try to locate the missing page of Sortes Fortunae and the person responsible for the curse.
This was a really fun read, I especially enjoyed the returning tarot cards and watching Clara learn to navigate her newly found magic. I found this book to be a great wrap up to this story.

"In this spellbinding sequel to Kathryn Purdie's bestselling dark fairy tale, Clara and Axel must return to the forest - and its monsters - if they have any hope of finally breaking the curse on their village.

Emerging from the shadows of the Forest Grimm, Clara and Axel return to their village, the one place they can be safe behind the forest's border. But when the woods begin luring villagers into the forest, it becomes clear that the darkness they battled was merely a whisper of the true horror lurking there.

Burdened by unsettling visions and bound by a love as perilous as the cursed woods that call to them, Clara and Axel must once again enter the forest to unearth the sinister secret at its heart. As they fight murderous woodsmen wielding riddles sharp as blades, spectral maidens who threaten to drag them into an eternal dance, and phantoms able to use the very essence of the forest against them, Clara and Axel realize the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't break the curse once and for all, they may not have a home to return to..."

Yeah, don't go back into the forest. Flee!

DNF at 32%. Would possibly have enjoyed this more if the first book was fresher in my mind. But even so, this was slow and unengaging, and became a chore to pick up.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a rare case where I enjoyed the sequel far more than the 1st book! I felt like Purdie had the foundation she needed from The Forest Grimm to really see a lot of payoff in The Deathly Grimm, and I am super impressed with how she pulled it together into a fantastic story. There was a lot of maturation in her writing and story telling as well, which was great to see.

As with the first book, I love the way she took well known (and some lesser known) stories and put interesting twists on them. It leans very heavily into the original versions by the Grimm Brothers (which makes sense based on the title) but still manages to find points of warmth and redemption. The thing I appreciated most, actually, was how deeply it goes into the dark and creepy of the Grimm Fairytales while still maintaining the integrity of the stories. What I find so often in dark retellings is they go way too far, or it's just underwhelming - Purdie strikes a good balance in both books.

I think the best parts of this book were the improvements in pacing and character development - both felt like they had come a long way from the choppiness in book 1. I never truly knew how this was going to end up but I left the story feeling satisfied, if a bit disturbed (which I believe was intended).

Definitely a YA duology worth checking out!

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

3.5 stars

while i actually enjoyed the second book more than the first, i do still feel that this duology was lacking something in the storytelling. the author included waaaay too many different fairytales/folklore characters, thus the plot felt too rushed and mashed together.

as for the narrator, she did a fantastic job!

i didn't get a chance to read the first book in the duology, but i still found this one pretty good! i loved the vibes and the magic concepts were pretty clear. the characters also had a good sense of identity. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.