Grimm and Grimmer: Classic Fairy Tales Rebooted

by Mark Russell, Alicja Kocurek (illustrator)

This collection of fourteen reimagined Grimm's fairy tales from award-winning author Mark Russell offers a biting new perspective while proving the classics never go out of style. In the two hundred years since Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm first published their collection of fairy tales, things haven’t gotten any less—ahem—grim. So tuck yourself in with some of the classic bedtime stories, retold by award-winning author Mark Russell. Grimm and Grimmer offers fourteen of the Brothers Grimm’s finest stories—a mix of well-known tales including "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella," and ones you might not know, like "The Boy Who Didn’t Know Fear"—reconceived for a twenty-first century while staying true to their roots At times both laugh-out-loud funny and darker than a wicked stepmother’s heart, this captivating collection captures all the absurdities and anxieties of the world just outside our windows.

Genres: Fiction

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

For the comic writer, see Mark Russell

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of fourteen reimagined Brothers Grimm fairytales that offer a humorous, modern perspective while also sticking more accurately to the original, albeit darker tales. They are all of different lengths but most are short, sweet, and easy to read. Some are tales I am very familiar with - such as Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel, and Rumpelstiltskin - while others I had never heard before. Nothing revolutionary here but a quick and enjoyable read that I would recommend, especially if you like reading darker fairytales! Thank you to NetGalley, Mark Russell, and Running Press for the gifted ARC. This is a voluntary and honest review.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original Grimm stories – well, I use the word 'original' loosely, as they were barely their own original work – done with a modern style. What that style seems to give chiefly is sarcasm, but also logic – Rapunzel can easily fall in love with her rescuing Prince as he's the first guy she's ever seen. A boy with the quest of knowing fear for the first time in his life is very flippant about demons he spends a night with, as is the narration. Bad people can be done away with in the most casual – yet strong – sense of justice.

In a fine way we get a different take on our traditional stories, and some of them are actually pretty different – the boy sans fear has a quite fresh set of encounters in the castle (certainly people don't drop down the chimney in bits), and the flea does without the louse (meaning we don't actually know why it was weeping, which would have done no end of help). It's also fine, as you might gather by now, that these are not the traditional few Grimm stories time and again and again, as we get the benefits of a deeper dive into what this author finds the better and more distinctive Grimm efforts. That said, we still see a certain impish thing weaving straw into gold, a certain mirror-fixated old crone finding that the mirror thinks Snow White is prettier, and a hard-done-by daughter taking herself off to the ball where the prince's hand is up for grabs (despite being dressed a la Cyndi Lauper).

I enjoyed this – but then I always am a sucker for a fresh variant on tales like these. They don't provide for earth-shattering differences, but they do as I say have a bit more logic and current-day common sense about them. The girl forced to weave gold from straw is irate with her father deciding that she can and that she will; and then also with the king making the demand, for inventing the rules of the game to fit the genre of story he's in. But this archness, snark and meta attitude is never once over-played, allowing these to be quite the plausible re-edit. All told it's a fun four stars, if not a slice-of-heel more.

[hus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Grimm and Grimmer by Mark Russell in exchange for an honest review.

This collection puts a modern twist on Grimm’s fairy tales, mixing dark humor and absurdity with the timeless charm of the originals. Some of the retellings—like Cinderella and Rapunzel—were entertaining and cleverly reimagined, while the lesser-known tales, like The Boy Who Didn’t Know Fear, brought something fresh to the mix. The author does a good job weaving in today’s anxieties, making the stories feel relevant.

That said, it didn’t fully grip me. Some stories had me hooked, while others felt either too over-the-top or lacking the depth I expected. The humor was sharp, but sometimes it overshadowed the darker, more emotional elements I look for in retellings. The uneven pacing made the collection feel hit or miss.

Overall, it’s creative, fun, and worth a read if you’re a fan of fairy tales with a modern bite, but it’s not something I’d find myself thinking about long after finishing.

[M Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Running Press for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I love a good fairy tale, and Grimm and Grimmer offered me some short and sweet versions of my favorites along with a few I was less familiar with but enjoyed reading for the first time. While this is described as a more modern retelling, I did not get that, but there was a pally tone to these stories that has the author arching his eyebrow along with the reader at the absurdity of some of the plots, which gave it the same feeling as a buddy read.

If you love fairy tales and aren’t an aficionado for some of the Grimm Brothers lesser known stories, the tone of these makes them a lot of fun to read!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of traditional fairy tale reimaginings.

This is a combination of stories you know well that have been slightly tweaked and some more free form interpretations of classic fairy tale themes. It’s nice to get the variety, and all of them have a pretty consistently well-crafted sense of humor and irreverence.

For the most part I found the more free form stories to be the best of the collection, though there was nothing included here that I really felt should have been cut from the book.

Some favorites: The Boy Who Didn’t Know Fear, The Sack of Knowledge, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel the Gambler, The Tailor and His Underachieving Sons, and The Child of Good Fortune.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grimm and Grimmer: Classic Fairy Tales Rebooted by Mark Russell was a beautiful book with a beautiful cover that is an eye catcher. I am so glad I had a chance to read this very different modern twist on Grimm’s fairy tales, So if you love Fairy tales with a new modern twist this is a book for you. It is very different But in a good way.

[Jennifer Holloway Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent a lot of my time in my childhood enjoying fairy tales and really enjoyed the revamp on some of the favorites. I felt the illustrations were very well done and did a good job highlighting the stories. I liked the quirky humor and the witty moments in the tales. There were some I had not heard before which made them a little lackluster. Thanks for the ARC,NetGalley.

[Carla Small · Rating 3 out of 5]

This version creates kind of like a happy medium between depressing dark and quirky funny. For example, Rapunzel literally being treated for salad and then named for it. depressing but funny.😆


Nice simple read but entertaining.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was OK. There were some funny parts, and some stories that I didn't know, but it was an average read for me.

[Jamie Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun and highly clever.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offering a mix of fourteen fairy tales, some well-known and others lesser-known, Grimm and Grimmer: Classic Fairy Tales Rebooted by Mark Russell and illustrated by Alicja Kocurek, the stories are repositioned and refined to reclaim their grittier and darker origins as tales meant more to entertain adults as entertaining cautionary tales.

To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.

Refreshing these fourteen tales and including a bit of twenty-first century context with some turns of phrase inserted or narrative awareness calling out the outlandish trajectory of some of tales, this collection of stories presents an assortment that embraces the inherent darkness and grit, which accompanies a sense of justice that’s a common theme through the tales, some of which remains with little change and some of which is lightened through funnier moments that elicits laughs and eyerolls. There are several lesser-known tales included alongside ones that have been continually told and retold, such as the ever-memorable “Cinderella,” “Snow White,” “Rapunzel,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and “Rumpelstiltskin,” so that readers are given an opportunity to expand their repertoire of fairy tale knowledge beyond the repeatedly rehashed and Disneyfied versions of tales through experiencing the lesser-known tales. The beautiful illustrations that accompany each tale offered an attractive visual, despite the content and moral of the stories not always being pleasing to behold.