The Grimm Conclusion (A Tale Dark & Grimm)
In this final entry in Gidwitz’s trilogy, the author once again mashes together unsugarcoated versions of classic fairy tales. Twins Jorinda and Joringel suffer gruesome fates at the hands of their stepfather—naturally—but that’s only the beginning. Once they dispatch him, they stumble into other well-known fairy tales, such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, as well as some less familiar stories, like The Juniper Tree. The metafictional approach can get distracting; along with regular interactions with the reader, Gidwitz eventually shares a pizza with, and reads his previous two novels to, Jorinda and Joringel. But interested readers won’t be there for the narrative structure. No, they’ll show up for the awesomely dark stories, full of beheadings, corpses, tyrants, murder, and terrible adults who treat children awfully until those children are empowered to fight back, taking the narrative power into their own hands to tell the stories with the happy endings they want to hear. Fans of the series will eagerly pore over this volume, which can comfortably stand on its own. Grades 4-7. --Sarah Hunter