Grump: The (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is the fourth twisted fairy tale by Liesl Shurtliff. They are set in the same fairy tale world, but each stands on its own.
Ever since he was a dwarfling, Borlen (nicknamed "Grump") has dreamed of visiting The Surface, so when opportunity knocks, he leaves his cavern home behind. At first, life aboveground is a dream come true. Queen Elfrieda Veronika Ingrid Lenore (E.V.I.L.) is the best friend Grump always wanted, feeding him all the rubies he can eat and allowing him to rule at her side in exchange for magic and information. But as time goes on, Grump starts to suspect that Queen E.V.I.L. may not be as nice as she seems. When the queen commands him to carry out a horrible task against her stepdaughter Snow White, Grump is in over his head. He's bound by magic to help the queen, but also to protect Snow White. As if that wasn't stressful enough, the queen keeps bugging him for updates through her magic mirror! He'll have to dig deep to find a way out of this pickle, and that's enough to make any dwarf Grumpy.
Grump is an entertaining read, and one that offers a cool twist on the Snow White story, from the perspective of one dwarf. I like how the twists to the story explained some of the dwarf nicknames, and I really liked this version of how the magic mirror came to be. Snow was a flawed character, in the best way, and grew into herself as the story progressed. Borlen was flawed as well, but I felt many of his mistakes were ones born out of the desire to be appreciated, which might not have been an issue if he had more support from his family. Other characters were not as fleshed out, and felt more flat to me. The trolls and the dwarf that would be thought of as Dopey in the minds of Snow White fans were my favorite characters through the story.
I did like the development of Borlen's character, and I was extremely sympathetic towards him. I think everyone, including his parents, treated him poorly. I spent most of the book being angry at those that could have supported or at least been civil toward Borlen and failed to. One problem I had with the book is that at no point, aside for a brief moment with Snow, did anyone realize how unfair they had been and make an attempt to change or have any kind of consequence for their behavior or assumptions. This really ate at me and made it hard for me to enjoy the read, although it might not affect others quite the same way.
Grump is a read that fans of the author and series will definitely enjoy. Those that have felt unappreciated or apart from others for things outside their control might enjoy it less so.
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