📚’A time travel #fantasy adventure with a strong fairy tale theme’. Rosie’s #Bookreview Of Grimm Diagnosis Matt Golec. #BookTwitter

Grimm Diagnosis by Matt Golec
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

Grimm Diagnosis is a time travel fantasy adventure with a strong fairy tale theme.

After an accident at a TV studio Rob finds himself in a strange land reminiscent of medieval Germany. Rob seems to accept his new home and is able to use his modern medical knowledge to treat the sick, while he hasn’t missed the fact that most of the people that he meets resemble folks from well-known fairy tales.

Also in this strange world is Rob’s cousin Zev; he too ‘fell’ into this world after he went in search of Rob in the wreckage of the TV studios. One day the duo discover a can of Red Bull, which fills them with dread; someone else from their world is also nearby, and they fear what this might mean.

The plot gets quite complex when their two worlds collide; the author had a lot of fun mixing the modern ways that seeped through to the medieval realm, and some of them were amusing indeed. As the ending grew near the pace of the story increased, culminating in a grand battle which veered away from the parallels with Grimm fairy tales and made me think more along the lines of Middle Earth.

I thought that this story had a lot of good ideas and the fairy-tale theme worked well to a point. I would have liked to see more femininity for the main female characters; they are currently all either old crones or rather ‘butch’ and aggressive, slipping into now dated stereotypes with a few ribald jokes about their appearance and behaviour. I winced several times while reading descriptions of some of the women. I would suggest a little characterisation updating so that this book would appeal to current readers.

So, overall, there was much to like about the storyline, but a bit more thought was needed about the target audience.

View all my reviews  on Goodreads

 

Book description

After an accident strands Dr. Robert Henry Lang in a medieval land without surgical supplies, medicines, or even hot running water, all he wants to do is find a way home to present-day Seattle. But Rob can’t ignore the medical needs all around him, so he begins seeing patients.

Before he knows it, Rob’s services are in high demand.He hires an office manager, Hans, who never goes anywhere without his bag of bread crumbs. He negotiates a work contract with the Fair Godmother, the leader of the town’s professional guilds. And he falls for his bodyguard, a former hood-wearing redhead who still delivers baskets of food to forest-dwelling shut-ins.

Without meaning to, Rob makes a home for himself in this strange place shaped by Grimm’s fairy tales. But as threats from Rob’s old world creep into this new one, he’ll be asked to make choices that could upset not just his own life, but the lives of everyone around him as well.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

📚A Magical Re-Telling of Cinderella. @SueBavey’s Audio Review of The Slipper And The Tree by G. Lawrence @TudorTweep for Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

Today’s team review is from Sue.

Sue Blogs here https://suelbavey.wordpress.com/

Rosie’s Book Review Team

Sue has been listening to an audio version of The Slipper And The Tree by G. Lawrence.

The Slipper and The Tree is a retelling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale but there are many differences and unexpected twists in this fresh feminist take on an old classic.

“Witches become trees when they die.”

The existence of witches is a fact that our main character, Nion, becomes aware of when her aunt comes to visit soon after her mother is killed by her nobleman father. She has been banished to the kitchen rather than continuing a noble life as his child, since she is female and cannot be his heir. This is a brutal man’s world in which only male heirs are valued and women who cannot produce such offspring are cast aside or murdered. Nion’s mother was a witch and has now become a tree in death. A dead witch is able to design a comfortable room within their tree for the use and safety of other witches. Nion’s aunt shows her the tree that her mother has become and gives her its key.

In this version of the story there is not one ball, but three. After each ball the girls rejected by Prince Charming show their desperation to be exactly who he is looking for by mutilating their bodies. What other hope can they have in a society which only values women for their ability to procreate and provide a male heir. They have to marry well to survive at all costs.

There is much less romance in this story than in the traditional Cinderella story, which I appreciated. There is, however, plenty of magic and whimsy with spiders and vegetables who become horses and the coach almost stealing the show. The wonderfully warm and richly voiced narration of Charles Johnston makes it an enchanting story. It is easy to imagine him sitting by the fire with a book on his knees reading to a circle of enraptured children. He is an absolute pleasure to listen to and captures the relevant emotions and moods required by the different parts of the story.

Luckily Nion realizes what she must do in order to be happy for the rest of her life and there is just enough romance to enable her to have a happy ending on her terms – which is very different to the traditional ending for Cinderella.

Nion’s stepmother, who is not wicked, but is understandably jaded having acted as a kind of brood mare to three husbands intent on producing a son, is also allowed a happy ending, finally.

I really enjoyed this story and in particular the audio narration and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes an alternative take on a fairytale.

Book description

This is a tale of witches and wishes, tales and trees, stepmothers, spells and a girl who sleeps in the ashes by the fire…

But it’s not the one you know.

The Slipper and the Tree is a novella, and part of the Retold of Old Series by G. Lawrence.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS