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A review by shonaningyo
The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber
4.0
I read this book in the 6th grade and it exceeded my expectations. I'm not a fantasy lover, and I find those whole 'put a new spin on old cliches' to be very droll, but this book really wowed me.
The book indeed puts a new spin on old fairy tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel. The unique and winning choice was to tell the stories from an altered and warped perspective.
Forgive me for reaching out to pop culture, but the majority of it is basically summed up by Shrek 2's Prince Charming's quote -something along the lines of- "Our happily-ever-after hasn't been told yet; our own side of the story has not been presented". This book takes your favorite fairy tales and shines a new, interesting light on characters whose experiences and personalities you thought were set in stone; the supposedly good and kind-hearted heroes are revealed to have a few flaws, whether personality or mental-wise; the so-called 'villains' of yore are shone with a sympathetic light, as well as the notion that they were unjustly persecuted for whatever actions they took against our fairy tales' heroes. They say the winners of a war get to write the history books, and it seems that this is the case for many of the stories presented here.
Another interesting aspect is the fact that all the fairy tales and folklore that you know seems to live and co-exist in one universe. Almost any fairy tale you know, the characters or the story will be dealt and experienced by the characters, or the truth of the events that happened will be explained or mention in passing. I loved how the other characters got to share their side of the story, especially the ones that were considered the villains in the whole thing.
The main character's true identity will also be a surprise twist that I did not see coming. I guarantee you'll enjoy this book.
The book indeed puts a new spin on old fairy tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel. The unique and winning choice was to tell the stories from an altered and warped perspective.
Forgive me for reaching out to pop culture, but the majority of it is basically summed up by Shrek 2's Prince Charming's quote -something along the lines of- "Our happily-ever-after hasn't been told yet; our own side of the story has not been presented". This book takes your favorite fairy tales and shines a new, interesting light on characters whose experiences and personalities you thought were set in stone; the supposedly good and kind-hearted heroes are revealed to have a few flaws, whether personality or mental-wise; the so-called 'villains' of yore are shone with a sympathetic light, as well as the notion that they were unjustly persecuted for whatever actions they took against our fairy tales' heroes. They say the winners of a war get to write the history books, and it seems that this is the case for many of the stories presented here.
Another interesting aspect is the fact that all the fairy tales and folklore that you know seems to live and co-exist in one universe. Almost any fairy tale you know, the characters or the story will be dealt and experienced by the characters, or the truth of the events that happened will be explained or mention in passing. I loved how the other characters got to share their side of the story, especially the ones that were considered the villains in the whole thing.
The main character's true identity will also be a surprise twist that I did not see coming. I guarantee you'll enjoy this book.