“‘Not all fairy tales have happily ever afters. Some just have afters.’ Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated; until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her High School status from loser to hero overnight. But with her new found fame brings misfortune in the form of an old family curse come to light. For Mina is descended from the Brothers Grimm and has inherited all of their unfinished fairy tale business. Which includes trying to outwit a powerful Story from making her it's next fairy tale victim. To break the fairy tale curse on her family and make these deadly occurrences stop, Mina must finish the tales until the very Grimm end.”
What is the book about?
Mina Grime has always been unpopular, unlucky and uncoordinated, and she was never involved in anything that would bring attention to her, per her mother’s request. To her, it always seemed like her life was a disaster and that nothing would ever go her way. That is, until she saves her crush’s life while on a school trip. This sudden action she took turned her whole life around and even before she reached the school bus to make her way back home everyone was chanting her name, her status changed from loser to hero in minutes. But there was a reason that her mother always insisted that she kept from the spotlight and remained a quiet, uninteresting girl: a secret family curse that follows every Grimm around and keeps them from leading an ordinary life. It turns out that this whole time Mina was a descendant of the Brothers Grimm, who made a deal with the Fae and now all their relatives are tasked with living through and completing all the fairy tales that we have known since we were kids. Now it is Mina’s turn, and if she doesn’t complete all the 200+ tales before she dies the task will fall to her younger, mute brother, and she will never let that happen. But the task is harder than it looks as mythical creatures attack her and follow her from everywhere, hoping to put an end to the Grimm.
What were your initial thoughts on the book?
I think I have actually read this book over and over again at least 4 times, and each time I understood and enjoyed more of it. Rereading it has nothing to do with how it was written, it is actually just because I would read it on my kindle while on holiday over the long summer in Spain, so I would spend not much time reading and would end up reading only a few pages a day and forgetting about the book until the next year when I found it still open on my kindle. However, only a couple of days ago I finally decided it was time for me to really read the whole book and the whole series and review it. Due to the fact that I already had a vague idea of what the book was about, my initial thoughts were that I was really going to like it because that was always what I thought when I read it all those years ago (I think). I was quite sure it was going to be a good book as I love fairy tale retellings and I knew this book would have plenty, even if they were extremely modernised. It didn’t take me long to start reading and end up stuck in the book and I finished it in only a couple of days.
Who was your favourite character and why?
Answering this question was a lot harder than I thought it would be but I think I finally have the perfect answer. Initially I was going to say Mina, however, after careful consideration, I realised that it was a lie. I did like Mina and I thought she was a great character and I know that in future books she may be my favourite character as she has a lot of potential to develop. However, in UnEnchanted I found that Mina’s constant tears and complaints were a bit annoying. I know that she has the right to act this way because her life has been turned upside down, but it did ruin my view of her a little (and I think she may just get worse before she gets better in future books). So I think my real favourite character would have to be Mina’s best friend, Nan Taylor. I really loved Nan’s attitude to things and specifically loved how she could easily have been the most popular and desired girl in school, but she didn’t care to try because she had her own style and preferred to have Mina as a friend. I really loved her for this and another thing that made me choose her as my favourite was the way that she completely trusted Mina when she explained the Grimm curse and she never once doubted her friendship with Mina. I don’t know what I would do if my best friend told me that she was cursed and mythical creatures would attack at any moment, but I know that it would take me longer than it took Nan to come to turns with it. She immediately tried to help Mina and I really admired for this, and all her other amazing attributes.
What was your favourite part of the book and why?
So this did take me a while to answer because I read the book so quickly that I couldn’t remember when a specific part happened because the whole book had just merged in my mind. However, I did finally decide that my favourite part would have to be when Mina realises that the curse wasn’t some crazy thing that was impossible for her to ever come to terms with and that she would never be able to complete the fairy tale nightmare she was currently living, let alone over 200 of them. I don't specifically remember when exactly this part was, though I do have a vague idea, but I do remember the change in the way she acted and thought. I really liked this part mainly because throughout the book Mina was such a quiet, self-conscious girl with not much confidence in herself who spent her time reading and didn’t have the best sense of style, however at this point she changed. Mina really reminded me of myself in the way she acted before her epiphany and I really admired her when she realised that she could actually do this if she put her mind to it and stopped living in the shadows. I hope to see more of her new self in the next book, though I know that it will take some time for her to truly become confident in herself (I would know).
What was your overall impression of the book?
Overall, UnEnchanted was a really good book and I really enjoyed reading it, even if it was the fifth or sixth time (I’ve lost track at this rate). One thing that I really enjoyed about the book was the initial idea and plot of the whole series. One of the genres of books that I have always felt an attraction towards is fairy tale retellings and when I realised was this book and all the others in the series would entail I was overjoyed. The whole idea of a curse that means that people have to follow in the footsteps (or repeat in this case!!) of their ancestors and complete all the Grimm Brother fairy tales in order to escape the curse and close the gate between the human and Fae plane. This plot means that every book will include the retelling of at least one well known fairy tale, if not more, and maybe some minor ones. This made me so excited because I would get to read so many fairy tale retellings in one go, and I really loved this about the book. Another thing that I really liked about the book was that it was told from the third person. I think this may have been one of the reasons for me not really remembering much about the book after all those times I reread it because when I was younger I hated third person perspectives and much preferred first person, whereas know I am the other way around. I really liked the way this story was told because I got to see the adventure through Mina’s eyes, but I also got the wider picture at certain points. One other thing that I really liked about UnEnchanted was the build up to the big scene at the end. Sometimes books are very good at building the tension before the main fight scene, however, in this case, Chanda Hahn managed it perfectly and it was like I could almost feel the characters own emotions. I was on the edge of my seat during the parts before the big ending, trying to prepare myself, but I could never have been ready for the twist cliff-hanger ending. UnEnchanted was amazing and I can’t wait to read the next book and get more answers to my questions.
Would you recommend this book?
I absolutely recommend reading UnEnchanted. It is the perfect book for anyone who wants an amazing adventure, but particularly those over 13 who love some romance, fantasy and specifically fairy tale retellings.
Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict)
A magical fairy tale adventure, with several twists of unfortunate events.
Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego
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