A Tale of Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Reader: beware. Warlocks with dark spells, hunters with deadly aim, and bakers with ovens retrofitted for cooking children lurk within these pages. But if you dare, turn the page and learn the true story of Hansel and Gretel - the story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses and outwitted witches. Come on in. It may be frightening, it's certainly bloody, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart, but unlike those other fairy tales you know, this one is true.

One of the things I love about having my blog and reviewing books is the possibility of reviewing books that I would not normally choose. This book is one such book. I would never normally choose a book like this, but when I was offered the oppurtunity to review this book I decided to read something out of my comfort zone. I liked the traditional fairy tales when I was younger and my daughter and I have shared many of Grimms Fairy Tales in the past but when I saw this book I was unsure on what I would think.

This book, A Tale of Dark and Grimm, is based upon the popular Grimm Fairy Tale, Hansel and Gretel.

I really enjoyed the style of the book with the story being interupted at many points by the author who prewarns the younger readers that they should put the book down, when the story is about to get 'gruesome' or scary. These parts of the book is as if an older peer or parent is warning you to stop reading, to ensure you don't get scared. 

The book has some sections of the book which have rather gruesome descriptions of violence within and I would therefore say that I think the book should be aimed towards teenagers, rather than the 9-11 years. There are scenes which involve beheading and fight scenes which may scare younger readers. However, these scenes are all necessary to the story and all add to the story's moral. There is a strong moral throughout the book of inner strength and also staying headstrong and trusting what you believe in to the end.

It was a well written book, which takes a well known fairy tale and splits it into nine manageable chunks, which are all interwoven and combine to tell the story in full. The author is a great storyteller and I will be looking out for future books from him.

Thank you to the publishers, Andersen Press, for sending me the book to review and for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour.