I know many of you love reading retellings because let’s face it, who doesn’t? Today I am here to help you discover a new retelling: THE WILD GIRL by Kate Forsyth, which is a retelling of the life of the famous Grimm brothers, written in an unique way. Read on for my review and make sure you enter the giveaway to win a copy of THE WILD GIRL!
The Wild Girl
Author: Kate Forsyth
Series: None
Genre: Adult, Romance, Historical
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Summary:
Growing up in the small German kingdom of Hessen-Cassel in early Nineteenth century, Dortchen Wild is irresistibly drawn to the boy next door, the young and handsome fairy tale scholar Wilhelm Grimm.
It is a time of War, tyranny and terror. Napoleon Bonaparte wants to conquer all of Europe, and Hessen-Cassel is one of the first kingdoms to fall. Forced to live under oppressive French rule, the Grimm brothers decide to save old tales that had once been told by the firesides of houses grand and small all over the land.
Dortchen knows many beautiful old stories, such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘The Frog King’ and ‘Six Swans’. As she tells them to Wilhelm, their love blossoms. Yet the Grimm family is desperately poor, and Dortchen’s father has other plans for his daughter. Marriage is an impossible dream.
Dortchen can only hope that happy endings are not just the stuff of fairy tales.
First Sentence: ‘Wild by name and wild by nature,’ Dortchen’s father used to say of her.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
What I Liked
I love how The Wild Girl went in depth with the history of Napoleon and his journey on conquering the world – or at least, trying to. While Dortchen was growing up, we also get to watch her and the people she know experience the different parts of Napoleon’s reign: his fight and win with Austria, his takeover of Hessen-Cassel, and the way he changes Hessen-Cassel and other countries. Usually, I would be bored reading this part of history, especially history periods that don’t have any major wars, but Kate Forsyth managed to pique and keep my interest on all things Napoleon.
Kate Forsyth is really good at pulling emotions. At first, I thought I wasn’t that into The Wild Girl: I felt a bit bored with everything that was currently going on until something happened that completely freaked me out and put my emotions all over the place. That was really surprising since I thought I wasn’t invested in the book to feel that much, but my feelings proved otherwise. All I can say is, get ready guys for your emotions to be constantly tugged in different directions – it’s going to be one wild ride.
What I Didn’t Like
I could automatically tell that the romance played a huge part in The Wild Girl once I read its synopsis. I only hoped that I would be sold on the romance and will end up cheering for both Dortchen and Wilhelm to get together despite the horrible odds they faced. However, I sadly wasn’t sold on the romance: Dortchen fell in love with Wilhem at first sight when she was ten and was in love with him every since. That was a little hard for me to take seriously. I felt no sparks between them besides a small amount of friendship, so when Wilhelm proclaimed his love for Dortchen, I was stunned to say the least, even though I was expecting it since the synopsis of The Wild Girl says they will fall in love.
Overall
Fans of the fairytales the Grimm Brothers wrote definitely won’t be disappointed by The Wild Girl.
Her books for adults include ‘The Wild Girl’, the love story of Wilhelm Grimm and Dortchen Wild, the young woman who told him many of the world’s most famous fairy tales; ‘Bitter Greens’, a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale; and the bestselling fantasy series ‘Witches of Eileanan’ Her books for children include ‘The Gypsy Crown’, ‘The Puzzle Ring’, and ‘The Starkin Crown.’
Kate is currently studying a doctorate in fairytale retellings at the University of Technology, Sydney.
One winner will receive a finished copy of THE WILD GIRL/span> by Kate Forsyth, courtesy of St. Martin’s Press! Giveaway is open to US only!
I really love retellings. They really get my imagination going. Thanks for opportunity.
After reading Bitter Greens and loving that, I knew I had to pick up another Kate Forsyth novel and this was it! I really loved it in the end, and her writing style is just so engrossing. Great review Kelly :)
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I love the Grimms fairy tales, but I don’t know anything about their pasts or growing up years. This sounds like such an interesting historical fiction read because I really don’t know much about the brothers or that period in Germany, which was in so much political and economical turmoil. I definitely want to pick this story up soon!
Thanks for the chance to win!
Any book that has to do with fairytales is always a guilty pleasure for me :)
I’ve had this one on my wishlist since earlier this year (I came across it researching 2015 new releases for Fairytale Fortnight). Kate also posted a recipe for Dortchen’s Plum Cake, which looks delicious! I love getting a semi-biographical backstory on two literary figures I know very, very little about.
Beth W recently posted…Nail Files: Peach Lemonade
Sounds like a wonderful read! Thanks for the chance!
well, i’ve always been interested in fairytales retellings…and Grimm Brothers…i hope it will hit the shelf in my local bookstore soon :)
Gorgeous review Kelly :D Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this book. <3 While it looks pretty gorgeous, I don't think I would enjoy it :\ But I'm glad you liked the story :) But yeah, the romance would bother me too o.O I need to feel more for the couple too, hih :)
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The Wild Girl sounds great. I love a good re-telling and all the Grimm Fairy tales. Thank you
First off…love the cover! I also absolutely love books that tear you apart emotionally. And I haven’t read a ton of retellings, so I’m excited to see how this book turns out!
the history part sounds interesting
Now I want to read this haha, I love history :)
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I’m sad to hear you weren’t sold on the romance. I really enjoyed their relationship, thought I understand what you mean. Sometimes the love at first sight thing can be a little hard to swallow.
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I love the Grimm fairy tales. The history inclusion is really appealing to me, thanks for the review.
Loved BITTER GREENS and am looking forward to this next book. I’ll always have a soft spot for Grimm’s fairy tales, and retellings can be great!
Sometimes I feel like books that have romance as the center just kills the story in the end. I’m all for people falling in love, but I want it to be the cherry on top not the whole piece of cake! But, about the part about not feeling the love because Wilhelm didn’t show Dortchen any of his feelings one of my favorite characters, Mr. Darcy, did the same thing. You didn’t know that he wanted or even cared about Elizabeth half way through the book and he did it in such an explosive sort of way
. But, this looks like a good book because I love the Brothers Grimm!
Me thinks this one is steeped in way too much history for me to enjoy it. It is sad, because that cover is beautiful!
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