Name: Grimworld
ISBN: 9781789041576

Avery Moray

Henry Bats is running out of time, and the pocket watch counting down to his death won't stop ticking.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

Grimworld

Sheena

Rating: ★★★★✬ (4.5/5 Stars)
Title: Grimworld
Author(s): Avery Moray
Character(s): 
― Henry Bats: 13 years old
Setting: Grimworld
Tag(s): Fantasy, Middle grade
Content Rating: PG
POV: Third Person
Smexy Level: Subtle
Favorite Quote(s): 
― "The hungry creepers awaken from sleep, Not with light, but flies and meat To reveal their fruit from the earthy deep."
Overall Opinion:
Great early to middle grade books are a rare find and I'm glad I have stumbled upon Avery Moray's "Grimworld: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock". There were definitely some Tim Burton's "Coraline" and "The Nightmare Between Christmas" vibes I got from this and I can easily envision what the characters and Grimworld would look like in his perspective. For that obvious reason I was immediately drawn to that concept and writing style cause I mean who doesn’t love Tim Burton inspired writing and/or movies?! The author did a fantastic job making this her own and taking the reader into another world thus making this one of my favorites reads of 2019. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of Tim Burton style stories to definitely give this a chance and not to forgot this novel is intended for early to middle grade but adults can still have an overall enjoyable reading experience reading this.

Candyce Kirk

3.5 stars

Grimworld sounded like the perfect Halloween read and it definitely had some spooky elements. Our main character Henry is tricked by a Vytiper (a kind of ghost) and this causes him to lose some of his life. According to the pocket watch he is now unable to remove, he only has 10 years to live.

Henry lives in Grimworld and it seems like a darker world with different creatures/ghosts. I know this is a shorter middle grade for a more younger reader, but I would've loved just a little bit more information about this world he's in. We learn a few things along the way, but this story would've been just a bit more interesting for me with more knowledge about the world our characters live in.

I really enjoyed our main character though. He was scared, but very determined to undo this magic and get his years back. Even more so for his new friend, who has even less time than he does. These characters go on a fun adventure together. Even though at times it felt really fast and I always wonder how 13 year olds can do all this without their parents getting suspicious, haha. Their way of figuring things out and fighting was a lot of fun to see!

Family and friendship played a big part in this story as well and it's one of my favorite things about middle grade stories. Grimworld would be an excellent spooky read for this age group and the perfect Halloween read. The concept and characters are really amazing! I hope this author writes more in this world.

Becca Futrell

This is my stop during the blog tour for Grimworld by Avery Moray. This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. 

Grimworld is basically Tim Burton meets Lemony Snicket. Which, let’s be real, those are two very powerful names. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of Grimworld; it was dark & gloomy, which is exactly how I like my middle-grade reads.

There’s a scene at a grocer where the two protagonists, Henry Bats & Langley Skullfield (cute names, amiright?), witness someone named Alfreda stocking alfredo. Like, legit Lemony Snicket vibes right there.

Characters were enjoyable & all with fun names, such as the two mentioned above. One of the antagonists, Jacoby Dread & his butler Ferdinand, reminded me (again, with Lemony Snicket) of Count Olaf. I absolutely loved the ridiculousness of Jacoby Dread & his want to have tea parties.

I loved the different foods & beverages in Grimworld — Sugar Slugs, Fungaid, Cobweb Cake, Coffin Candy & my all-time favorite, Bloody Carrie. Horror movie references are my jam, and always have a way of winning my heart. These really add to the gloom & doom atmosphere of Grimworld, but in a totally fun way.

There are times where this book, that only stands at a little over 100 pages, felt slow. It felt like it took forever to make it to the grand finale. Although, with the gloom aesthetic, it was easy to disregard the slow pacing, because I was excited to see what other fun things Grimworld would introduce.

In the end, Grimworld is a middle grade tale focusing on the power of friendship & working together to defeat an evil. This is the story of most middle grade books, but! Placing it in such a dark world really makes it stand out for me.

Grimworld Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

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