5 stars

Another amazing book in the series. This one tells of cousins Jack and Jill as they go in search of a long-lost treasure. The adventures are all new, so you can read this one without having read the first one, though the first one is also amazing and I highly recommend it.

Fantastically written. Highly engaging. Dark and humorous with some wonderful morals and life insights. This is everything I want in a fairy tale retelling.

The book includes a nice combination of classic fairy tales and Gidwitz’s own fairy-tale-style creations. Each chapter works as its own short story that links up to further the plot of the book.

Blood, gore, danger, and peril. This book doesn’t shy away from the more grotesque elements of fairy tales. But the wonderful blend of humor helps soften some of the darker elements.

The book features stories made famous by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Christina Rossetti, and Joseph Jacobs. Includes retellings and elements of “The Frog King/Iron Heinrich”, “The Seven Ravens”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Jack the Giant Killer”, Mother Goose rhymes, “The Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti, “The Lady or the Tiger”, “The Grand Inquisitor”, and “The Three Woodsmen”. These are laid out in a section at the end with a bit more detail, which was a nice inclusion.

A great series for those looking for some of the darkness of the original fairy tales along with more modern humor and story structure.

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