A review by ejpass
Greymist Fair by Francesca Zappia
5.0
5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fairytales, fantasy, short stories, multiple POVs, dark fairytales, spooky season
Big thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collin's Children's Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'm so glad I got this ARC, it's the perfect read for spooky season/Halloween. The book features seven stories that are retellings of lesser known Grimm's fairytales. The stories tell a nonlinear narrative about the inhabitants of the strange town of Greymist Fair. Now, this narrative style won't be for everyone, but I absolutely loved it!
This book is very atmospheric, with the town of Greymist Fair being set in a magical wood with creatures, wargs, that hunt down those who wander from the road. At the same time, the road that leads to Greymist Fair isn't always a straight line, it has a nasty habit of making the journey to the town longer or shorter, sometimes preventing travelers from reaching it entirely. Each of the stories has their own element of spooky to them but manage to maintain that level without getting too scary.
The first story, The Girl Who Outran Death, has Heike, the tailor's daughter, as the main character. Heike's mother has been dead for four years, and so she is the new tailor, though her mother's association with the witch of the woods (however beneficial for the town) means Heike sees few of her neighbors as clients. In this tale, the body of a Greymist Fair villager shows up on the west road, a road that is supposed to be safe from the monsters, sending the town into a frenzy. Heike proves her smarts and her bravery in dealing with the situation, and I enjoyed reading things from her POV.
The Prince's Riddle takes us back in time, to when Heike was a child, and is told from the POV of a prince who can grant wishes. This prince makes people answer riddles before granting a wish, giving hard riddles to the people at court and easy ones to peasants and townsfolk, and refuses to grant wishes to children. The prince ends up in Greymist Fair after joining a traveling caravan/troupe/market, only to be disappointed by their disinterest in his wish granting. I actually didn't find the prince to be that bad, though he certainly has some negative qualities (including being more annoyed that a child is crying after being beaten than by the person doing the abuse). While the prince seems to be a random character/story, his presence serves to provide some background on some of the characters of Greymist Fair, including Wenzel, the innkeeper and Heike's best friend.
Wolf Children answers a mystery you don't even know is a mystery. In it, Liesel, one of the townspeople about Heike's age and the sister of the murder victim from the first story, gets visits from her brother's ghost, who tells her something is afoot in Greymist Fair. Liesel comes across as fairly unfriendly, but in a way that I think is understandable. While she isn't the most likeable character, she has a lot of mettle and does the right thing without a second thought.
Katrina goes back in time again to when Heike's mother was still alive. In this one, the daughter of Lord and Lady Greymist, Katrina, is alive (as are they) and is eager to go into town by herself to hang out with the kids her age. Unfortunately, she gets caught up with Hans, who over all the previous stories has been shown to be bad news, and Fritz, Hans' seemingly not-so-bright friend. Katrina and Hans make a deal to ask the witch of the woods for magic, but as everyone knows, the woods around Greymist Fair are full of things more terrible than a witch. I definitely felt for Katrina since she was both smart enough to know Hans was bad news and to recognize that something wasn't right at the witch's house, she just came to the wrong conclusion(s).
The Secret of Grey Lake was definitely my least favorite, largely because Hans gets something he wants. This story takes place in the 'present' and is really Fritz's story, not Hans'. Fritz finds a wish-granting fish in Grey Lake and Hans begins demanding wishes. Poor Fritz, who wants a friend but also kind of knows Hans is a little shit, does what Hans asks to the detriment of literally everyone but Hans (and maybe the fish, the fish seems fine, lol). On one side, this story goes to show what happens when you give heartless, arrogant people too much power, but on the plus side we also get to see Fritz come into his own and the consequences for the people who abuse their power. Despite his mistakes, I do actually like Fritz as a character.
Doctor Death again takes place in the past, largely prior to Heike's birth, and focuses on Doctor Death, aka the traveling doctor that sometimes visits the town, as well as Heike's mother, Hilda. Doctor Death actually has a pretty interesting life story and I enjoyed learning about him and his practice and companion.
The Wargs of Greymist is the last story in the collection and takes place pretty much immediately after the end of The Secret of Greymist Lake. In it, the village is being sieged by the monsters of the woods, with fear driving them toward their targets. This last story features Wenzel as the main character, and we really get to see him in his element of taking care of Heike and making people happy at the inn. I thought this story had a nice holiday feel and was a nice note to end on. The ending felt appropriate too.
My favorite two characters were definitely Heike and Wenzel. Heike has so much life in her, and she seems both friendly and responsible. She's protective over the people she cares about, but she's also willing to do what's right by the town, even if the 'witch' association gets her some side eyes. Wenzel is someone who has had hardships but has turned around and decided to put the love and kindness in the world that he wishes he'd gotten as a young child. One of the things I liked about him was that he was genuinely happy to run his parents' inn and liked having guests there. I liked getting to see things from Fritz's POV since it made him a more likeable character. I also wouldn't have minded seeing more of Liesel, even if she wasn't the most likeable, especially at first.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was the prefect October read. I really liked the format of nonlinear short stories as well.
Recommended if you like: fairytales, fantasy, short stories, multiple POVs, dark fairytales, spooky season
Big thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collin's Children's Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'm so glad I got this ARC, it's the perfect read for spooky season/Halloween. The book features seven stories that are retellings of lesser known Grimm's fairytales. The stories tell a nonlinear narrative about the inhabitants of the strange town of Greymist Fair. Now, this narrative style won't be for everyone, but I absolutely loved it!
This book is very atmospheric, with the town of Greymist Fair being set in a magical wood with creatures, wargs, that hunt down those who wander from the road. At the same time, the road that leads to Greymist Fair isn't always a straight line, it has a nasty habit of making the journey to the town longer or shorter, sometimes preventing travelers from reaching it entirely. Each of the stories has their own element of spooky to them but manage to maintain that level without getting too scary.
The first story, The Girl Who Outran Death, has Heike, the tailor's daughter, as the main character. Heike's mother has been dead for four years, and so she is the new tailor, though her mother's association with the witch of the woods (however beneficial for the town) means Heike sees few of her neighbors as clients. In this tale, the body of a Greymist Fair villager shows up on the west road, a road that is supposed to be safe from the monsters, sending the town into a frenzy. Heike proves her smarts and her bravery in dealing with the situation, and I enjoyed reading things from her POV.
The Prince's Riddle takes us back in time, to when Heike was a child, and is told from the POV of a prince who can grant wishes. This prince makes people answer riddles before granting a wish, giving hard riddles to the people at court and easy ones to peasants and townsfolk, and refuses to grant wishes to children. The prince ends up in Greymist Fair after joining a traveling caravan/troupe/market, only to be disappointed by their disinterest in his wish granting. I actually didn't find the prince to be that bad, though he certainly has some negative qualities (including being more annoyed that a child is crying after being beaten than by the person doing the abuse). While the prince seems to be a random character/story, his presence serves to provide some background on some of the characters of Greymist Fair, including Wenzel, the innkeeper and Heike's best friend.
Wolf Children answers a mystery you don't even know is a mystery. In it, Liesel, one of the townspeople about Heike's age and the sister of the murder victim from the first story, gets visits from her brother's ghost, who tells her something is afoot in Greymist Fair. Liesel comes across as fairly unfriendly, but in a way that I think is understandable. While she isn't the most likeable character, she has a lot of mettle and does the right thing without a second thought.
Katrina goes back in time again to when Heike's mother was still alive. In this one, the daughter of Lord and Lady Greymist, Katrina, is alive (as are they) and is eager to go into town by herself to hang out with the kids her age. Unfortunately, she gets caught up with Hans, who over all the previous stories has been shown to be bad news, and Fritz, Hans' seemingly not-so-bright friend. Katrina and Hans make a deal to ask the witch of the woods for magic, but as everyone knows, the woods around Greymist Fair are full of things more terrible than a witch. I definitely felt for Katrina since she was both smart enough to know Hans was bad news and to recognize that something wasn't right at the witch's house, she just came to the wrong conclusion(s).
The Secret of Grey Lake was definitely my least favorite, largely because Hans gets something he wants. This story takes place in the 'present' and is really Fritz's story, not Hans'. Fritz finds a wish-granting fish in Grey Lake and Hans begins demanding wishes. Poor Fritz, who wants a friend but also kind of knows Hans is a little shit, does what Hans asks to the detriment of literally everyone but Hans (and maybe the fish, the fish seems fine, lol). On one side, this story goes to show what happens when you give heartless, arrogant people too much power, but on the plus side we also get to see Fritz come into his own and the consequences for the people who abuse their power. Despite his mistakes, I do actually like Fritz as a character.
Doctor Death again takes place in the past, largely prior to Heike's birth, and focuses on Doctor Death, aka the traveling doctor that sometimes visits the town, as well as Heike's mother, Hilda. Doctor Death actually has a pretty interesting life story and I enjoyed learning about him and his practice and companion.
The Wargs of Greymist is the last story in the collection and takes place pretty much immediately after the end of The Secret of Greymist Lake. In it, the village is being sieged by the monsters of the woods, with fear driving them toward their targets. This last story features Wenzel as the main character, and we really get to see him in his element of taking care of Heike and making people happy at the inn. I thought this story had a nice holiday feel and was a nice note to end on. The ending felt appropriate too.
My favorite two characters were definitely Heike and Wenzel. Heike has so much life in her, and she seems both friendly and responsible. She's protective over the people she cares about, but she's also willing to do what's right by the town, even if the 'witch' association gets her some side eyes. Wenzel is someone who has had hardships but has turned around and decided to put the love and kindness in the world that he wishes he'd gotten as a young child. One of the things I liked about him was that he was genuinely happy to run his parents' inn and liked having guests there. I liked getting to see things from Fritz's POV since it made him a more likeable character. I also wouldn't have minded seeing more of Liesel, even if she wasn't the most likeable, especially at first.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was the prefect October read. I really liked the format of nonlinear short stories as well.