Review: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales by Kiersten White

Title: Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales

Author: Kiersten White

Genre: Middle Grade, fantasy, fairy tale retelling

Publication date: July 2017

Published by: Scholastic

Source: Own Hardcover

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Synopsis:

Once upon a time, a girl skipped into the forest and became a zombie.

Wait, no, that's not how this story is supposed to go. Let's try again.

Once upon a time, a boy did a horrible job as a sheep-sitter and burned his tongue on stolen pie.

No, children in these stories are always good and virtuous. From the top.

Once upon a time, a king and queen tried to find a princess for their son to marry, and he wound up fleeing from a group of very hairy vampires.

Hmmm...

What about, once upon a time, a bunch of fairy tales got twisted around to be completely hilarious, a tiny bit icky, and delightfully spooky scarytales... in other words, exactly what fairy tales were meant to be. Grab some flaming torches, maybe don't accept that bowl of pease porridge, and get ready for a wickedly fun ride with acclaimed author Kiersten White and fairy tales like you've never heard them before.

My rating: ★★★★★

Vampires and Zombies and Stepmothers, Oh my!

I can always count on Kiersten White for a fun, humorous read, and this was no exception! While yes it is an MG novel, I do like to read them every once in awhile, and this one was amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

So this book basically has fairy tale retellings but with a spooky twist! Plus, it has some nursery rhyme story elements thrown in too! I totally loved the blend of fairy tales with the nursery rhymes! When I first heard about this book I thought it was going to be a sort of anthology of retellings, but no! It actually has a very linear story and it was a lot of fun to see all these different stories combined into one epic book! It does change POVs, so it will seem like we’re starting a new story with another character not pertinent to the previous story we were just reading. However, it's all interconnected, trust me.

I also have to talk about the narrator because they were just so darn sassy, and I loved it! The narrator was also very self-aware and it almost reminded me of Deadpool! It was just very cool!

[The queen] pulled the blindfold off the huntsman.
“WHAT DO I DO KNOW?” HE SHOUTED, BECAUSE HE COULDN’T HEAR ANYTHING AND DIDN’T REALIZE THE QUEEN COULD HEAR PERFECTLY WELL. THIS IS WHAT YOU DO, TOO, WHEN YOU HAVE HEADPHONES ON AND FORGET NO ONE ELSE DOES. SEE HOW ANNOYING IT IS?

(Wait a second—she’s BURNING the books? What a horrible girl! I hate her! Quick, make sure she isn't burning this one, because we still have a lot of ground to cover before the end.)

Some of the characters we meet include, Jack (as in ‘and the Beanstalk,’ obviously), Rapunzel, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and Jill, the Stepmother, and so many others! I loved the overlapping between the characters, and I can’t go into too much detail because you just have to meet them yourself! It was really crazy and fun! And I loved how all the characters interacted with one another. I will say that, surprisingly, my favorite character was... the stepmother. She is basically the one who holds everything together, and I loved that twist! But isn’t she evil, you must be asking yourself. Well, you’re just gonna have to see for yourself. I also liked Jack, who I guess was our protagonist, but only because he’s an idiot and everything was pretty much his fault. Lol. But yeah, he was a really fun character.

I very much enjoyed the author’s unique spin on all these famous stories—it was so much fun! I loved the world, the plethora of characters, the cool typography, and the fun illustrations. And I loved that it was a bit spooky and a whole lot of funny, all at the same time! Plus, it has a gorgeous cover.

Whether you're a kid or a kid at heart, you will definitely enjoy this book!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)