Review: The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

Hi

I’m so glad I finally got to read Polly Shulman’s Sophomore Novel.

Title: The Grimm Legacy

Author: Polly Shulman

Summary (B&N.com): Elizabeth has a new job at an unusual library— a lending library of objects, not books. In a secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That's where the librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales: seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the blink of an eye, Snow White's stepmother's sinister mirror that talks in riddles.

When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be accused of the crime—or captured by the thief.

Polly Shulman has created a contemporary fantasy with a fascinating setting and premise, starring an ordinary girl whose after-school job is far from ordinary— and leads to a world of excitement, romance and magical intrigue.

My Review: For some reason this book took me a while to read (which surprised me because I read Polly Shulman’s debut novel Enthusiasm in only a few hours) I think the biggest problem for me was that I don’t like when books pressure me to feel like I should be suspicious of a character that I really want to trust. There’s really only so much mystery I can stand in a non mystery book, and having this happen to me with 4 separate characters is just too much. Every time I got over a plot twist that made me suspicious of someone, there was another one that made me suspicious of another character without clearing up the first one’s name! I like to know at least one person I can root for other then the main character. Other than that annoyance though I liked this book; once I figured out which characters I could trust (which happened about halfway in) I sped through the rest of it. I loved all the references to the Grimms’ fairy tales. that’s what really sold the book for me, that it’s a contemporary fantasy! Needless to say, I would love to work at this particular library.

Click here for my review of Polly Shulman’s debut novel Enthusiasm!