Book Review: The Grimm Chronicles by Isabella Fontaine and Ken Brosky

The Complete Grimm Chronicles
Isabella Fontaine, Ken Brosky
Publication date: April 28th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Buy links: Amazon


This is the COMPLETE collection of the award-winning Young Adult adventure series!

200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm unleashed their stories upon the world. With the stroke of a magic pen and a deal with a malevolent force of evil, they forever changed humanity’s fate.

Now the characters of the Grimms’ fairy tales walk among us. With every day that passes, they grow more evil. They are the Corrupted, and only a hero can stop them.

This is the story of Alice Goodenough, the last in a long line of heroes who have bravely given their lives to snuff out the evil force that does not belong in this planet. Her story begins during summer vacation, when she happens upon a magic pen and an invisible rabbit  named Br’er who is tasked with teaching her the ways of the hero. With the help of the magic pen, Alice must vanquish the terrible creations of the Brothers Grimm, relying on her dreams to guide her to her next target. Cinderella. Fundevogel. A fisherman. An evil wizard. A trio of dwarves hellbent on controlling the world. But to become a great hero, Alice must give up her old life so that she may protect those she loves most. Otherwise, evil will find her.

And evil will kill her.

This book contains all 12 episodes of the series, as well as the bonus “Lost diaries” of previous heroes and all of the collected Grimm’s  Fairy Tales … over 2,000 pages collected in one edition!

Book 1: Prince Charming Must Die!
Book 2: Happily Never After
Book 3: Revenge of the Castle Cats
Book 4: The Orphanage of Doom
Book 5: Blood and Thunder
Book 6: The Order of the Golden Dragon
Book 7: The Giant Slayer
Book 8: Darkness Rising
Book 9: Malevolence
Book 10: The Black Towers
Book 11: A Dance With Death, Part One
Book 12: A Dance With Death, Part Two

 One word: AWESOME
It's not just a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Fairy tales. The authors made it more than that. They created a universe revolving around their stories in a modern setting, filled with adventure and a whole lot of kick-butt action.
The feel of this book reminds me so much of the game Kingdom Hearts. It's similar to the game in the sense that the premise of the book is centered on the fairy tales the (cool) kids came to know about. There's the development of the character, her adventures and how she battled against the legion of Corrupted.

Looking for a different take on the fairy tale classics? Then this is for you. Though mind, this book is more than just a retelling; it's a chronicle of the adventures that lie beyond those of the fairy tales.




I received my MFA in fiction writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. I've had over a dozen short stories published.

In addition to regularly contributing literary fiction to various journals and magazines, my current project is a Young Adult series called The Grimm Chronicles. Maybe you've heard of it? No? Really? Well ...

My co-author Isabella Fontaine and I devised 3 "rules" for this Young Adult series. They're important to us.

1. There are no love triangles. We've set this as an explicit rule. Our main character might find love, but she won't be hounded by topless boys and she certainly will never spend her time deciding who to spend the rest of her life with.

2. Our hero, Alice, must use her brain to overcome her obstacles. That doesn't mean she can't kick some butt (she definitely can!), but she does have to rely on her knowledge to win the day.

3. Alice will never commit an act of violence against another human being without there being consequences. Sure, she can do battle with evil monsters ... but violence against human beings has real consequences. Too often our heroes of today cause physical pain to people around them in order to achieve victory. Alice is different. Alice respects nonviolence to solve real-world problems, and only uses violence to rid the world of the evil Corrupted.

2 comments :

  1. I have never heard of The Grimm Chronicles until now and the books seem so amazing! Desperately wanting to read this! Outstanding review!
    -Megan, Books of Fascination

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much Megan! Tell me what you think of it :)

    ReplyDelete