A Grimm Legacy

A Grimm Legacy by Janna Jennings

Published by Patchwork Press

20th January 2014

Kindle Edition

 

 

 

Enchanted castles and charming princes thought to exist only in stories come to life in this classically twisted fairy tale that combines the timeless quality of folktales with the challenges of the modern world.

The woods of Elorium appear ordinary to Andi… until the birds start to talk and elves answer doors. Whisked out of her world along with three strangers, Andi finds herself the reluctant guest of Mr. Jackson, a perplexing millionaire who claims to be able to help them get home. The secrets he harbors, however, make it difficult to know just who to trust.

When the group of teenagers discover that in this new world, fiction is anything but, and that they all have unexpected family ties to this fairy tale land, they must learn to rely on each other. The only way to survive evil fairies and giants intent on keeping them in Elorium is to rely on each other.

Faced with characters short on whimsy and bent toward treachery, Andi, Quinn, Fredrick, and Dylan are forced to play their parts in unfinished fairy tales. But in Elorium, happily ever after is never guaranteed.

 

 

"This isn't what I'd planned for my afternoon."

     Andi wiggled the screen out of her window, set it aside and slipped onto the garage roof.  The sun slid toward the horizon and the air carried a crisp, fall tinge.  Andi considered going back in for a jacket, but decided it was too much effort.

     Instead she scooted to the edge of the roof, the brittle wooden shingles shifting under her.  She hung her legs over the edge and lay back, lacing her fingers behind her head.  A top-of-the-world feeling bubbled out of her, she'd had a ridiculous grin plastered on her face for the last hour.

     She'd got it!  The lead in the school musical!  A shiver of satisfaction ran through her.  After she'd seen her name lined up next to the part of Cinderella, Andi made her way home in a happy daze and gone straight to her thinking spot to hang on to the incredulous feeling a little longer.

     A high-pitched woman's scream cut the silence, startling her into sliding several inches farther off the edge of the roof.  Heart hammering she edged back to safety, cursing herself for changing her ring tone.  She had thought it funny every time she got a call and her mother jumped.  She slid her phone out of her back pocket.

 

There has been a trend of late to incorporate fairy tales into today's modern world, screen examples include Grimm and Once Upon A Time, this time that concept has gone into print format.

A Grimm Legacy follows Andi, Quinn, Frederick and Dylan as they're pulled into a land called Elorium. They all come from different places and different families, but they soon discover that they have something in common. Realising that Elorium is a land filled with fairy-tales, they have to survive using their wits and Andi's grandmother's items (a fairy tale book, a cloak, a pair of slippers).

In the beginning, the book is a little confusing as we meet each character individually.  As you read the story-line, you can see the related fairy tale reaching out to you, then the character disappears as the chapter ends.  Once you have done this four times, you do begin to wonder where the book is actually going, but then it all pulls together.

It's a nice mix of fantasy and reality, for children of 9 years and over.  I enjoyed the escapism of it, and reliving the fairy tales of my childhood.  Apparently, the sequel Grimm Memories has now been written!

 

Happy Reading

 

 

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