Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Blog Tour {Review & Giveaway}—The Grimm Chronicles: Volume 2 by Ken Brosky & Isabella Fontaine


Stopping by The LUVNV today is The Grimm Chronicles blog tour, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.
We got the pleasure of reading and reviewing the book, and you can win an eBook copy!


The Grimm Chronicles
by Ken Brosky & Isabella Fontaine
Volume #2 of Grimm Chronicles series
Publication: February 13th 2013 by Brew city Press
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy

Amazon Goodreads
200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm changed everything.

With the help of a little magic, fairy tales were made real, manifesting all over the world. Charming princes. Gold-hunting dwarfs. Terrible step-mothers. Heroic animals.

Then, slowly, they began to change. Everyone—from Prince Charming to the old miller—grew more evil. Corrupted. A hero was chosen to stop them, hunting them down one by one and destroying them with the help of a magic pen and a special rabbit assistant.

For 200 years, the hero's magic pen has been passed on from generation to generation. The newest hero is Alice Goodenough, an 18-year-old junior from Washington High School. While her friends spent their summer working and having fun, Alice found herself doing battle with creatures most human beings don't even realize exist. A giant snake. A blood-sucking prince. A terrifying half-man, half-hedgehog. Dastardly dwarfs intent on mind-controlling everyone
who uses a cell phone.

Now, senior year has begun. With it comes a new challenge at school, where bullies have grown bolder and classes more challenging. As if that's not enough, Alice must face off against a collection of Corrupted who all share a terrible secret, one that might awaken a creature capable of doing untold damage. To uncover the secret, Alice will have to face off against a man-eating lizard, a bloodthirsty sea captain, and a mysterious wizard who can see into the future ...

Additional features for this special edition:
— The Lost Journal of Eugene Washington
— Assorted fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm
— A Legacy of Red

There are no words to express how much I loved this book. The Grimm Chronicles 2  is the best Grimm-based book I can recall having read recently. Alice Goodenough is fast becoming one of my favorite heroines. She's no angst-ridden or naturally insecure teenager. She wields a saber and is all brains and sass. Although she starts to begin question herself and her purpose in this book, she has a good head on her shoulders, and I could understand her struggle to make the right choice as she deals with all the stress of high school and being The Hero who kills the Corrupted Grimm characters in a modern-day setting. Her voice was so clear in the narration. I could hear her, feel her, from the pages.

The secondary characters and relationships in this book were also fabulous. I don't know who I loved more—Briar the rabbit sidekick, Seth the geeky best friend, Chase the popular athlete who ends up in a wheelchair because of a drunk driver. They each have strong, unique personalities, as well as their own struggles, and added to the storyline. They were individuals who somehow also complete one another. I can't imagine the circle of friends without any one of them.

The pacing of the plot, action, and theme was better in this volume, too. While each book in the Grimm Chronicles series has three episodes, all three in The Grimm Chronicles 2  were joined more fluidly in a single arc. There was separate conflict in each episode, but they all built up and added to the next, heightening the reader's experience. The action only became more intense, and I found myself unable to put the book down. I was actually disappointed when I reached the last page.

I also loved how no detail was left unchecked or unused in the grand scheme of things. The little factoids interspersed throughout were fantastic—not only did they add to the story, but I learned a few things on a variety of subjects, too. Along with all the humor and wit, the little kernels of knowledge made this book FUN. Yet there were lovely life lessons, as well. I appreciated how the authors weaved the issues into the storyline and how they captured both sides of an ordinary teen and a world hero's life.

Everything about this book was great. It couldn't have been better written; there isn't one thing I wish would have been done differently. I want a hardback copy of it to reread and hopefully share with my kids. The Grimm Chronicles 2  is a timeless read. It's a meaningful adventure full of suspense, mystery, some horror and gore, but also laughs and a little romance. It's the Grimm's Fairy Tales meets The Princess Bride meets Pirates of the Caribbean. A definite must-read series for fans of fairy tale retellings in a modern day setting, with story twists and strong characters, especially a strong, lovable heroine.




eBook provided by the authors via I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Promotions
in exchange for a review. Thank you!



Volume 2 of The Grimm Chronicles contains the following episodes:

Episode Four: The Orphanage of Doom
After facing off with the dreaded dwarf named Sam Grayle, Alice finds her dreams plagued by two separate visions. In one, she's floating through a massive mansion filled with old, dusty furniture and drafty windows. Shadows dance across the wall. Children cry out in terror. A mysterious animal growl echoes through the halls.

In her second dream, a terrible smoke-like creature roams the streets of Minneapolis, feeding off human victims while it plots a terrible revenge that threatens to have far-reaching consequences. Alice must decide which dream to pursue: does she foil the smoke-creature's plot or try to rescue the children from an unseen evil?

Episode Five: Blood and Thunder
Upon making a surprising discovery in a Corrupted's lair, Alice finds herself torn between her responsibilities as the hero and her desire to live a normal life. She's been granted a unique opportunity to leave the entire world of the hero behind. But before she can make her ultimate choice, her nightmares return ..

A ship is coming. And aboard that ship is one of the most terrifying Corrupted creatures Alice has faced yet. In order to face her foe, Alice will have to do without the help of her scorned friend, Br'er Rabbit.

At school, a miraculous recovery by the star of the baseball team prompts more questions, all of them bringing Alice back to that fateful encounter at the orphanage of doom. To make matters worse, a school bully has taken his terrorizing too far, a friend is in trouble, and the mysterious ship in Alice's nightmare holds a terrible secret ...

Episode Six: The Order of the Golden Dragon
Three mysterious golden coins. What is their purpose? Alice must find out, and in order to do so, she will need to use all of the skills she's learned so far. She cannot fail. Failure means a fate worse than death.

Agnim the Mage haunts her dreams, using his terrible black magic to plague Alice with nightmares. Once a character in the Grimms' fairy tales, his magical powers have stronger and stronger the more Corrupted he has become. He has foreseen a cataclysmic event that could mean the end of the world, and only the hero stands in his way. But in order to stop him, Alice will have to find him. And soon. Before Agnim steals her sanity and destroys her mind.

Agnim knows her weakness. He knows her fears. He controls her dreams. He is the most dangerous Corrupted Alice has ever faced. There is no guarantee she can defeat him.

In these trying times, only one thing is certain:

The Golden Dragon will awaken.


“5 stars!”Bookies Book Blog

"Highly recommended for all who love fairy tales and the YA genre."My Cozie Corner

"If you love fairy tales and them being turned into modern day stories you will love these short stories."Mom With a Kindle

“Isabella Fontaine and Ken Brosky’s incredible talent for storytelling takes the reader on an amazing action-packed ride fueled by endless creativity and limitless imagination. TGC is like a high-stakes version of Harold and the Purple Crayon meets a contemporary, above ground Alice in Wonderland.“Bookfetish

“I absolutely loved this book! No, let me rephrase that, I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK! Nope, that doesn't even do it justice. Vol. 1 has the first three stories from the 12 that will ultimately make up the chronicles.”Jesse Kimmel-Freeman



Ken Brosky received his MFA from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He’s written a number of books and regularly publishes short stories. He also helps out at Brew City Press whenever possible. This is his first young adult collection.

Isabella Fontaine lives a quiet life on a farm in rural Wisconsin. She enjoys reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales and writing on a typewriter, which annoys her cats. This is her first book collection.


Tour Giveaway
5 Kindle ebook copies of The Grimm Chronicles: Volume 2
Ends April 11, 2013.


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