The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Well, I have to say, I enjoyed this book. I hope there is a sequel, but I can't find any information about it online, and it ended in such a way that a sequel isn't necessary.

The story is about a young girl, Elizabeth, whose life is a bit like a fairytale itself. She has a beloved, passed-on Mother, and a rather unlikeable Step-Mother and two rather unlikeable step sisters... and while you get a sense of her home life being not quite happy and a tad unfair, the author doesn't spend too much time delving into it, because that isn't what this story is about.

This story is about a repository in NYC that holds collections of things to be checked out. Among those collections there is a collection of items from Grimm fairytales... all very magical (because in this world, magic does exist)... there is also a William Gibson, H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft collection... which I'd love for them to delve into more!

Elizabeth gets hired as a page, and steps into the middle of quite the conspiracy. Items from the Grimm collection are being stolen, and employees are all suspect. Everyone is walking around looking at everyone else sideways, and Elizabeth is not quite sure who to trust, because it seems everyone is acting a bit shady, except possibly Doc, the man who runs the place.

I enjoyed the interaction between the main characters, because they made decisions as children their age *would* make decisions... trying to protect the ones they love, trying to protect themselves, and being motivated by things like the promise of friendship and love.

This story wasn't quite as well crafted as some I've read before (that might be asking a lot though when I'm comparing her to the likes of Howl's Moving Castle and Ella Enchanted), but the concept was absolutely enjoyable. I feel like this author will only improve... and I fully intend on reading more when she writes it :)

(To explain the comment above... when I was reading the story, the characters would encounter problems... and it felt, to me, as if these problems were a bit too easily solved. Things happened very quickly and without a lot of explanation... issues that seemed like they were a big deal would be resolved a page after they were introduced... in fact, the whole ending of the book was a bit anti-climactic.
There were just too many things that happened that were TOO helpful and TOO glossed over. Despite that though, this really is a VERY fun and enjoyable read!!!)

Book Cover: 5/5
Book Title: 5/5 (the title is what made me pick it up)
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Ending: 2/5