Grimmworld, Vol. 1: The Witch in the Woods - Michaelbrent Collings - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Michaelbrent Collings

SERIES: Grimmworld, #1

GENRE: Middle-grade Fantasy

PUBLICATION DATE: March 6, 2024

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy that combines the modern with the medieval, with a smattering of fairy tale components as well. A bit cluttered in its approach but has some amazing moments. Gets a bit dark, so not for sensitive kids.

Plot Preview:

Twins Jake and Willow Grimm, almost 11, are moving to an isolated town called New Marburg as their parents have found a new “top-secret” job with a tech company known as “Think Tank.” They are stunned to see that the town, disconnected from all other places and not even on the map, is a futuristic place, with robots working as traffic cops and senior citizens indulging in lightning-sword battles for fitness.

However, the one place in New Marburg that is not at all modern is their new school, where, for some mysterious reason, their teacher hates them and does her best to make their lives miserable. Just as they wonder how to tackle this situation, there is a freak lightning storm, and their world changes… literally. The twins find themselves in a medieval castle, and their friends have been transformed into fairy tale characters, not necessarily good ones.

Now Jake and Willow have to figure out not just how to get home, but also how to rescue their best friends, who are Hansel and Gretel in this new world, and in the captivity of the wicked witch. Will Jake and Willow be able to navigate the Cursed Forest and save their friends? Will they be able to return home safely to their parents? What caused this upheaval of the universes?

The story comes to us in the limited third person perspectives of the twins.

Bookish Yays:

🍦 The twins: Contrasting characters, with Willow being an art and sports lover and Jake being a science and video game nerd. So between the two of them, they cover all the skillset needed by fantasy characters. Loved their sibling bond as well.

🍦 The other characters are also a mix of interesting and complicated. The twins’ dad with his “punny” jokes was hilarous. The fantasy characters seem to pay an ode to various beloved children’s stories even beyond fairy tales. The wicked teacher reminded me of Miss Trunchbull from Matilda while ‘Old Eli’ was like Doc from the ‘Back to the Future’ movies.

🍦 The story can be called a ‘fantasy for the nerds’, with many geeky scenes that delighted the inner nerd in me. The multiverse angle also is appealing. At the same time, I love how the book doesn’t elevate the nerds while criticising the “cool” kids such as musicians or sports lovers.

🍦 There are a few life lessons incorporated into the storyline. Some are subtle; the rest are direct. Almost all offer good advice.

🍦 The Grimm connection, as evident in the title and the siblings’ last name, is strong. I enjoyed the inclusion of the Grimm fairy tale elements, especially as these are as dark as the original tales and clearly dismiss the sanitised Disney versions.

🍦 The worldbuilding is fabulous. A bit too much for a single book, but still, very creative.

🍦 As someone who loves riddles, my favourite part of the story was the *challenge*. It was creative, thrilling, and the main reason my rating is rounded up.

🍦 The author's note is sweet and amusing. Enjoyed reading it!

🍦 A shoutout to that fabulous cover art!

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🍬 The title tells you that there is a “witch in the woods”. But to encounter this witch, you need to have a lot of patience because she doesn’t pop up until about 40% into the story.

🍬 The first half is a bit slow. Once the big reveal happens, the action amps up.

🍬 The darkness was great for me but some of the content might be too scary for younger or sensitive kids. Those comfortable with books such as Neil Gaiman’s Coraline will be able to manage this one easily.

🍬 The story feels somewhat cluttered and disjointed because of the number of varied plot points it tries to include. There is futuristic scifi, a nightmarish teacher, a medieval castle, a wicked witch, a riddle-based challenge, a talking animal, a multiverse, fairies, a time-jumping weirdo,… While some of these are handled well, having all in the same book is an overkill. The jump from sci-fi to medieval takes the most time to adjust to as it is almost instantaneous.

🍬 There is some foreshadowing in the initial part of the story, but I am not sure how I feel about it. It creates suspense but it also reveals major plot elements. I prefer foreshadowing to be softer in approach.

Bookish Nays:

🍭 Many plot points are left unexplained. This might be because this book is the first of a planned series, but the number of incomplete arcs is too many to be satisfactory. The ending is not exactly a cliffhanger, but it does tell us where the next book will take us. I hope it resolves the unanswered questions as well.

🍭 Personal preference: I don’t like MG books to talk about attractions and crushes. It is relatively minor in this book, but it is still annoying,

🍭 Why are there no illustrations in this book? MG fantasy books work so well with illustrations, and this one has plenty of illustrative opportunities because of that plotline.

All in all, a semi-satisfying experience. The first half was way too chaotic for my liking, but the second half, especially the challenge scenes, saved the book. I am still interested in reading the next volume of this series, mainly to answer my curiosity about how the incomplete tracks are resolved.

3.5 stars. (3 stars for the first half, 4 stars for the second half. Averaging the two and rounding up wherever applicable because a good ending is always better than a good beginning.)

My thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Witch in the Woods”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.