Series ✦ Penny’s Take
In a Glass Grimmly
Adam Gidwitz · 2014
76/100
👍 Worth It
Adam Gidwitz's self-aware narrator is the real magic here — by flagging disturbing content in advance and inviting squeamish readers to skip, he turns darkness into an honest literary tool rather than a shock tactic. The fairy tale retellings are genuinely funny and morally serious at the same time, and Publishers Weekly called it an excellent read-aloud for good reason. Parents should preview first: the violence is real, the blood is real, and that is exactly the point.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: Contains significant violence: blood, vomit, near-drowning, near-amputation, mentions of child murder. Narrator flags content proactively. Parental preview recommended; not for sensitive readers under 10.. We still scored it 76; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety60
Substance / usefulness78
Craft & writing82
Originality75
Evidence & accuracy85
Hype vs delivers82
Age-fit70
👁 Human-eye gut-check80
Penny’s verdict76
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