Early Review – Grump by Liesl Shurtliff (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 304 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1524717018
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Ever since he was a dwarfling, Borlen (nicknamed “Grump”) has dreamed of visiting The Surface, so when opportunity knocks, he leaves his cavern home behind.

At first, life aboveground is a dream come true. Queen Elfrieda Veronika Ingrid Lenore (E.V.I.L.) is the best friend Grump always wanted, feeding him all the rubies he can eat and allowing him to rule at her side in exchange for magic and information. But as time goes on, Grump starts to suspect that Queen E.V.I.L. may not be as nice as she seems. . . .

When the queen commands him to carry out a horrible task against her stepdaughter Snow White, Grump is in over his head. He’s bound by magic to help the queen, but also to protect Snow White. As if that wasn’t stressful enough, the queen keeps bugging him for updates through her magic mirror! He’ll have to dig deep to find a way out of this pickle, and that’s enough to make any dwarf Grumpy indeed.”

I have read all of Shurtliff’s other fairy retellings and always enjoy the blend of humor and thoughtfulness Shurtliff brings to her fairy tale retellings. This was a very fun fairy tale retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I ended up enjoying this a lot.

The whole story is told from “Grumpy’s” POV. It focuses around where he grew up, why he ended up on the surface, and how he ended up entangled with Snow White.

The story is at turns creative, touching, and funny. I loved the world the dwarfs live in and how their their way of living (what they ate, how they slept) was completely re-imagined. The book touches on themes of being different, staying true to yourself, and the importance of friends and families…while still having a lot of humor woven throughout.

Overall this is a quick and fun read that I ended up enjoying a lot. I think fans of humorous fairy tale retellings will enjoy all of Shurtliff’s books; they should appeal to both kids and adults that are fans of this genre.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Goodreads Reading Challenge