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Dead Upon a Time

Elizabeth Paulson

3.16 · Rating details · 795 ratings · 196 reviews

It's a fairytale nightmare . . .

One girl is kept in a room where every day the only food she's given is a poisoned apple. Another is kept in a room covered in needles -- and if she pricks her finger, she'll die. Then there are the brother and sister kept in a cell that keeps getting hotter and hotter. . . .A sinister kidnapper is on the loose in Kate's world. She's not inv ...more

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Hardcover, 211 pages

Published August 25th 2015 by Scholastic Press

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Average rating 3.16 ·

Rating details

· 795 ratings · 196 reviews

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Jan 06, 2016 jv poore rated it really liked it

Shelves: folklore, fairy-tales, middle-grade, mystery, survival-stories, buried-under-books, re-read, fantasy, legends-myths-fables, magic

A brand new fairy tale that feels familiar and comforting, complete with an evil witch (most probably), a damsel in distress, err….. make that a “resident tragic orphan”, and an ostracized giant killer with an opportunity for redemption. Ms. Paulsen unravels the bewitching narrative with relish and wit.

As young Kate trudges through the woods to her grandmother’s cottage, clever clues reveal this will be no ordinary story. “It wouldn’t do for someone with her bloodline to be spooked by a common A brand new fairy tale that feels familiar and comforting, complete with an evil witch (most probably), a damsel in distress, err….. make that a “resident tragic orphan”, and an ostracized giant killer with an opportunity for redemption. Ms. Paulsen unravels the bewitching narrative with relish and wit.

As young Kate trudges through the woods to her grandmother’s cottage, clever clues reveal this will be no ordinary story. “It wouldn’t do for someone with her bloodline to be spooked by a common forest.” Nostalgia nudges oh so briefly and is quickly brushed aside. Creepy quickly turns to true danger.

Having essentially grown up on her own; being actually attacked by wild wolves, then stumbling into the frigid cold of the abandoned home atop the mountain, Kate realizes absolute alone. Her grandmother would never have left willingly. Intricate, eerie, woven tapestries taunt, seeming to tell a story of several sufferers imprisoned in separate, yet strikingly similar cells.

The folks in the village below, for reasons unbeknownst to her, have tolerated Kate, at best; allowing her to sleep in a hayloft in exchange for mountains of mending until her presence could not be tolerated and she was forced to move to the next neighbor. These were not people that would help her find and rescue her grandmother. The boy who dared to taunt a giant however, was the exception to just about every rule. He was also wanted, would be almost impossible to find.

The tendrils of mystery have slipped from the pages and ensnared this reader. As Kate plummets down the mountain, her all encompassing love for the only family she knows creates empathy and her fierce determination in the face of utter despair drums up hope. Her resolve strengthens, her courage becomes clear; the pace quickens and the mystery becomes an adventure.

Forming the most unlikely of alliances lends humor to harrowing situations while bonds are built based on trust. Answers earned along the way applaud the intelligence and observation skills of young adults while pointing to the pitfalls of jealousy. With what can only be called a witchy way, Ms. Paulsen wraps the winding story satisfactorily…and yet, I can’t help but think (make that “hope”) that this is not The End.

This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore. ...more

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Jun 21, 2015 ✦BookishlyRichie✦ marked it as to-read

THIS SOUNDS FUN AS HELL.
description

...more

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Jan 06, 2017 Lenox rated it liked it

It was a good book. Details were very nice and descriptive. The ending was very good, lots of details. There were many things that I would not have expected to have happen in the ending of the book.

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Jul 27, 2015 Melissa Chung rated it it was ok

Well that was...okay. Giving this book 2 stars. Not enough oomph, if you know what I mean.

Katherine (Katie) Hood is a teen with an Uncommon (peculiar in nature) grandmother. Every week she treks up the mountain to get to her grandmother's house to bring the weekly groceries. One day on her way to grandmothers Katie is attacked by a pack of wolves. When she finally reaches her grans cottage, she finds her grandmother missing.

Katie is not liked in the village because being Uncommon is like being a ...more

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Jan 07, 2017 Mrs.Morgan rated it it was ok

Shelves: student-read-alouds

2.5 Stars

So many little nuggets in this book that I greatly enjoyed: the frequent allusions to many well-known fairy tales; the "hat-tipping" to the Grimm brothers with the use of Wilhelm's name which is applied to one of the characters (which a student of mine alerted me to); and the idea that it is a traditional literature-"esque" book but without the typical prince, princess, love story aspect.

The lower rating of 2.5 stars comes in due to the loooong moments of nothing. It felt like forever b ...more

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Sep 30, 2015 Nadia rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: your-stupidity-has-no-limits, somebody-must-have-hit-my-head, hardly-there, dark-magic-and-stuff, fairytale-retellings, i-am-disappointed-beyond-words, 2015-reads

So much potential, not enough execution.

The blurb lies okay?

Pay heed to the other 1 and 2 star reviews and get yourself out of here.

...more

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Jan 05, 2017 Grace Galinski rated it it was ok

My actual rating of this book is 2.5. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't that good either. It may have been because I wasn't actually reading it, and someone was reading it to me, but it definitely isn't on my favorites list. There were a couple parts that made it more interesting, but overall it was pretty boring. ...more

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Jan 21, 2018 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) rated it it was ok

Shelves: fairytale-retellings, ya-fantasy, read-in-2018, disappointing-reads, insta-love

“Beauty in gloom is still beauty.”

This book had potential but failed pretty hard in its execution sadly.

I'm going to rate this 2.5 stars. I rated it 3 a couple of days ago but the story is fast disappearing from my brain. I won't remember anything about this book in a couple of weeks, pretty sure. I had never heard of this book before and just grabbed it by a whim when I was checking out a few things at the library. The cover is pretty cheesy so I wasn't expecting greatness but I tho “Beauty in gloom is still beauty.”

This book had potential but failed pretty hard in its execution sadly.

I'm going to rate this 2.5 stars. I rated it 3 a couple of days ago but the story is fast disappearing from my brain. I won't remember anything about this book in a couple of weeks, pretty sure. I had never heard of this book before and just grabbed it by a whim when I was checking out a few things at the library. The cover is pretty cheesy so I wasn't expecting greatness but I thought it looked fun. Sadly, it didn't really flesh out to anything - at all. Honestly, this is a hard review to write because there is nothing to write about - NOTHING HAPPENS *bangs head on desk*

Our characters are Kate (a descendant from Red Riding Hood) and Jack (Yep, the beanstalk one) stars out ok as we get introduced to everyone. I liked the characters well enough and they interested me enough to not bail on the book, but the book just dragssssssss.. Every time I thought something was about to happen, it didn't. I can barely recall the ending because it was so lackluster. I don't understand why the author didn't go much darker and really make this story interesting. The whole story consists of the grandmother getting kidnapped - Jack and Kate trying to find and save her and walking through the woods. SO.MUCH.WALKING.

There is also a terrible insta-love and surprise surprise (!) it also goes NOWHERE. You could take it out of the plot and it wouldn't make a difference. It's a few awkward scenes of Kate thinking about how hot Jack is basically. It's almost like it was an afterthought. It kind of makes me wonder if the publishing company made the author throw in a romance (that never comes to be!) and so she begrudingly threw something together because it's a hot mess of (let's say it together!) NOTHING!

I read this in a sitting - I've read worse but even as short as this book is I wouldn't recommend picking this one up. Unless you really want to read about the woods and how people can walk through it lol ...more

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Jan 03, 2017 Hannah M. rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 03, 2017 Allen Sockabasin rated it did not like it

Overall the book was the worst i have ever read... I mean heard. The beginning was horrible and so was the ending ...and so was the rest of it.

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Jan 12, 2017 Grace Stinson rated it it was ok

this book to be honest was not one of my favorites. It felt all bounced around.

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Jan 03, 2017 Kyle G. rated it really liked it

I really loved the suspense in the book. It had a good surprise surprise element throughout the whole book. There were a lot of plot twists through the book and I liked all of them. Overall I really liked this book.

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Jan 03, 2017 Andrew Munroe rated it liked it

I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I did at first. It changed how I looked at some of the fairy tales I've grown up knowing. It created a meaning that they lived happily ever after for most people. It was a book I liked but wouldn't consider picking up myself. ...more

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Sep 09, 2015 Ideally.Portia rated it it was ok

Shelves: re-tellings

All those people who keep saying its like the Saw movies and blah blah.... should just cut that shit out right now.

I am very disappointed by this book, especially since based on the concept, it had the potential to be great. This could have been bloody and gory and creepy.... but it was none of those things.

They spent 90% of the book in the freaking woods. UGH. I just kept waiting and waiting for things to get interesting....

Then there is all that talk in the synopsis about how the kidnapped ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Hunter Kimball rated it it was ok

Ok so this book was good but bad. It had many moments in it where you just want to read more, then there are the moments when it just seems like narration of the story. I probably would've liked this if there would have been more action towards the beginning of the book rater than in the end. Though i didn't like it that much it i did like in some area how it had some action and there was more then just boringness going on. ...more

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Jan 03, 2017 Eli rated it it was ok

Not the best book in my opinion. The writing is enjoyable, although a bit bland at times. But the main thing that turned me off from this book was the plot twists. Like, they'd throw them in and then disregard them, or spend too little time on them. On top of that, the characters weren't very fleshed out and you couldn't really relate to them. Overall, I wouldn't recommend reading this book. ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Sarah K rated it it was ok

I was overall not impressed with this book. It didn't keep me interested through the whole thing. I did however the book was well written and the description was great throughout the book. To sum in all up I have to say I didn't enjoy this book. It might be because Im not a big fan of traditional literature. ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Keann rated it liked it

I thought this book was ok. Some parts were good while others parts were bad/boring. I think if I was reading it by myself instead of it being a class reading book I would have like it more. I wish it was a better book because it sound really good to me when I heard what it was about. This is what I thought about the book Dead Upon a Time.

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Jan 03, 2017 Avalley rated it liked it

It was pretty good, though it was sometimes boring and weird. I did enjoy the ending though.

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Jan 04, 2017 Hannah Crabtree rated it it was ok

For some reason, I really couldn't follow this book and didn't know what was happening, most of the time. Overall, I really didn't like/enjoy the book. ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Ally C rated it liked it

I didn't really enjoy this book, if I read it on my own I think I would have liked it more. ...more

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Aug 16, 2015 Sarah (Head Stuck In A Book) rated it liked it

Shelves: arc, review-copy, young-adult, owned-and-read, fantasy, fairy-tale-retellings, scholastic, 2015-august

I know I've said this quite a few times throughout my time writing book reviews but I love fairytale retellings, how the stories and characters can be changed and interpreted by different authors is what keeps me coming back to them, that and memories of reading the originals when I was younger, finding retellings that are unbelievably out of this world is always something I look forward to, unfortunately Dead Upon A Time fell a little short.

The concept of this book had me excited, fairytale cha ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Aodhan rated it really liked it

Overall, this was a pretty good book. I like the authors style of writing, as it was very descriptive and had great word choice. I rated this book a four because the process of Kate getting to Nan took a very long time, which took up a lot of space in the book. It left the book with a short climax which I was disappointed about because the climax would be even better if it had more events and was extended.In my opinion, the book was slow and dragged on until the climax. Once it was there though, ...more

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Jan 09, 2017 Josh Girard rated it liked it

I liked this book. There were some super detailed parts. In the end I did not expect some of the events that happened.

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Jan 10, 2017 | Sarah rated it liked it

It was okay. Not much really happened in it.

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Aug 06, 2015 Kelly Gunderman rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc

Check out this and my other reviews on my blog, Here's to Happy Endings!

"Over the river and through the woods, to a killer's house we go."

The synopsis and the blurb make this book sound like any fairy tale lover's dream (or nightmare, in this case) come true, right?

Imagine that you're a young girl, taking food to your grandmother, who lives alone in the woods. Not only are you attacked by wolves on your journey, when you arrive at her cottage, you find her missing. The only thing left behind a Check out this and my other reviews on my blog, Here's to Happy Endings!

"Over the river and through the woods, to a killer's house we go."

The synopsis and the blurb make this book sound like any fairy tale lover's dream (or nightmare, in this case) come true, right?

Imagine that you're a young girl, taking food to your grandmother, who lives alone in the woods. Not only are you attacked by wolves on your journey, when you arrive at her cottage, you find her missing. The only thing left behind are tapestries that she has woven, each depicting a frightening scene that, once you've seen it, you cannot unsee it (and some of them are horrifying). In one of the tapestries, a little boy and girl are inside a room while the room continues to get hotter. In another, a young woman longs to eat some of the delicious apples in front of her, but some of them are filled with poison.

When you run out into the village to find some help, you realize that, because of who your grandmother is (an Uncommon that no one wants around), no one will help you, and you are completely alone. Or are you? What about the town outcast, who has eluded authorities for over a year? Maybe he can help. So you set out on your journey to find him, and ask for help in finding your grandmother.

This is how Katie Hood (yes, Little Red Riding Hood), begins her trip to her grandmother's house. She needs help finding her missing grandmother, and she turns to the town outcast, Jack, for help. When he agrees to help her, the two set off on an adventure to rescue Kate's grandmother, and hopefully discover the meanings behind the creepy tapestries.

So, this book is a mashup of quite a few fairy tales. You have Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel - just to name a few. Plus, guess what? It all works out, pretty well. You might think that any book that tries to mash all of these stories together might fail at doing so, but Elizabeth Paulson did a pretty fantastic job at making them blend together and create an original and entertaining story. It was really good. I enjoyed it, and it had a few surprises that I didn't really expect, but made the story even more interesting.

The only thing that I had problems with was how rushed the book seemed. The beginning and the middle were drawn out, the way that they should be, considering it's an adventure these two are setting out on. However, the last quarter of the book just felt hurried along. I think there was a lot more room for detail, as the ending just seemed pretty simple to me. While I don't believe this ruins the book, I was hoping for an ending that was a bit more climactic and powerful.

If you love fairy tale retellings, you really won't want to miss this one. It's different, it's entertaining, and it's definitely worth a read!

Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Jan 03, 2017 Emily rated it liked it

I thought this book was interesting. It was definitely not a book I would pick up on my own. It was difficult to comprehened to, since I was not the one reading it.

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Jul 30, 2015 Michelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-august-2015

**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Dead Upon A Time is set in a fairy tale world that is a little darker and a little more twisted than the fairy tales we all remember as kids. And in this world, children are being taken and tortured in creepy ways. I liked (and maybe liked is the wrong word because that makes me sound kind of sadistic) that the children were each tortured in a unique way to their particular story. One was forced to eat a poison apple **You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**

Dead Upon A Time is set in a fairy tale world that is a little darker and a little more twisted than the fairy tales we all remember as kids. And in this world, children are being taken and tortured in creepy ways. I liked (and maybe liked is the wrong word because that makes me sound kind of sadistic) that the children were each tortured in a unique way to their particular story. One was forced to eat a poison apple over and over again, others were cooked alive, etc. Dead Upon a Time is the story of Jack and Kate, two outcasts in the village that embark on a quest to save the children, and Kate's grandmother.

Dead Upon a Time is a very quick read that I think would appeal to a younger crowd of young adult readers as well as older readers who are fans of grimm brothers, once upon a time series, and twisted fairy tale re-tellings. I loved the interplay in Elizabeth Paulson's world between uncommon people v. the concept of evil, v. witches. We got to see some of the differences, but I wish that this was explored a bit more. Maybe in another book. HintHintWinkWinkElizabeth.

I was the most interested in why these children were being tortured and more of the history surrounding their chosen methods. Did the kidnapper know about their fairy tales, or was this the way their tales might have played out instead? A lot is left up to the reader to ponder, which made Dead Upon a Time a unique read. Much of the book was focused on the rescue journey. I loved learned about the world through the journey, and how evil and magic manifested itself. It was a very quick and fun read.

Kate sees glimpses of the children through visions or flashes throughout their journey, but that is almost all we saw of them until the very end. I wanted to see a bit more on the actual rescue and what was going on, at the kidnappers end. I think there is a great book told from the kidnappers or the kidnapped children eyes, as a companion piece. Fans of darker and more twisted fairy tales will like this spin on the classics. I thought it was a great read. One you can finish in only a few short hours, and there was little to no romance, which makes it suitable for readers of all ages. Check out Dead Upon a Time if you dare. Happy ending not guaranteed. ;)

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Emma Getchell rated it liked it

I didn't care for this book a lot. It was good. But I didn't really like it. This style of book isn't my favorite. I don't care for traditional literature. I feel it was written fairly well, but it's not a book that I would've picked up on my own. ...more

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Jan 04, 2017 Harper Averitt rated it liked it

This book was a good book, i think that if i read to myself and read every day to every other i might have had a better understanding of it. But over all i liked the book, and might pick up again to try to understand it better.

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