Mundie Moms

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

GRUMP The (Fairly) True Story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Liesl Shurtliff / Blog Tour: Book Review #Grump


I'm thrilled to team up with Penguin Random House to celebrate the release of GRUMP by Liesl Shurtliff. Today's blog tour stop features my 5 star review. This is a middle grade read, readers of all ages will enjoy!

ABOUT THE BOOK

By: Liesl Shurtliff
Published by: Knopf 
Released on: May 29th, 2018
Ages: 8-12
Purchased from: PublisherAmazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 5 Owlets
Thank you to PRH for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rump, comes the true story behind another unlikely hero: a grumpy dwarf who gets tangled up in Snow White’s feud with the wicked queen.

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.

A fun, entertaining twist on a beloved classic. Shurtliff once again works her writing magic, and has created a whole new story with all the original components. We absolutely love her twists on the classic fairytales, and GRUMP was no different. This book is just what we'd excepted to be, a new Shurtliff classic!

One of my favorite fairytales growing up was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This retelling is one I would have devoured as a kid. Told from the point of view of Grump, it wasn't hard to fall in love with this entraining character. His grumpiness is part of his charm, but it also provides some laughable moments too. He plays a much bigger, more important role in this story than the original. He definitely doesn't shy away from taking action when it's needed. I liked that he and Snow White formed a bond in this story. 

While I may not have been Snow White's biggest fan in this story, though I did like her, I was definitely intrigued with the richly detailed world building. It also adds an element to Grump's personality when you know the dwarves history, and the choices Grump ends up making. The dwarves is this story are born underground, have no interaction with humans, and eat precious stones. 

The storyline is fast paced, highly entraining, and completely unpredictable. The later is a huge feat in and of itself, giving the fact we all know how Snow White's story goes. I loved that Shurtliff was able to create a whole new story, while still staying true to the key elements of Snow White's story. 

GRUMP is full of hilarious moments, surprising twists, a little bit of action, and a character whom you can't help but like. Even if he is a Grump. I feel like this book has all the elements that first made us fall in love with Lisel Shurtliff's first book. I think her fans will really enjoy jumping into Grump' story. This book is perfect for those summer reading lists.

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff / Book Review #Lifel1k3


By: Jay Kristoff
Published by: Knopf Books
Released on: May 29, 2018
Series: LIFEL1K3
Add it to Goodreads
Purchase From: Amazon Book Depository B&N
Source: Purchased 
Rating: 5 Stars

On an island junkyard beneath a cigarette sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Seventeen-year-old Eve isn’t looking for secrets; she’s already too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building is a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive was the handful of credits she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she’s discovered she can destroy machines with nothing more than her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.

But when Eve discovers the ruins of a beautiful android boy named Ezekiel buried in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world is turned upside down. With her best friend and her robotic sidekick in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, battle cyborg assassins, and scour abandoned megacities to save the ones Eve loves . . . and learn the dark secrets of her past.

Even if those secrets were better off staying buried.

For those that have read any Jay Kristoff books in the past you will know they are fast paced, full of twists and turns and jam packed full of action. Lifel1k3 is no exception. Told with Jay's wit, the banter between the characters is what makes this book. With Jay you never know what you're going to get and you expect the unexpected, but you will not see the ending coming with this one at all. 

Eve is just trying to get from day to day, scavenging wrecks to build a robot gladiator to compete for money to help look after her sick grandfather. With the help of her friend Lemon Fresh and her robot Cricket, her main worry is looking after her friends and staying safe on the Island called the Dregs. But as strange memories of her life before her parents were killed, start coming back, she finds an Andriod boy called Ezekiel who seems to know more about her past than she does.

Set in a futuristic post WW4 USA, with androids, intelligent robots, and humans with modifications, this is a fun scify ride. But the main theme of this book is friendship. The friendship between Lemon and Eve is solid, as Jay puts it they are each others bestest. Then we have the addition of Ezekiel and the banter really starts. I just loved the language in this book. I loved how the characters spoke to each other, how they had fun with each other and how they coped in a crisis. My favourite quote has to be "you get fancy, Mister Stabby gets dancy, you read me?" The female leads were strong independant characters that will be loved by any YA reader and I'm glad my 15yr old daughter gets to read them.

On Friday 18th May my daughter Megan & I attended the Melbourne (Australia) launch of LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff. Lifel1k3 is the first solo YA book that Jay has written. But to help him launch this milestone his normal partner in crime and Illuminae co author Amie Kaufman hosted the night.

Amie Kaufman interviewing Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff, myself and daughter Megan


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