Tween? Fantasy. Twist on classic/ Grimm fairy tales with a snarky narrator who breaks the fourth wall. Brother & sister. Boy goes to Hell at one point to eat with Satan and his mother. Some violence. Cover: red. Read 2013-2014. Spoilers ahead.

[kk]

I read this book when I was in the sixth grade; I'm a university student now so the date in which I read this book was a little over seven or eight years ago. I remember the contents of the book being quite disturbing for the younger audience that had access to it, causing me to return the book to my librarian with words of caution.

I don't remember much, but I think it was a twist on Grimm fairy tales with the two main characters being brother and sister. I remember the narrator being snarky and often addressing the reader in a humorous way.

SPOILERS AND CONTENT WARNING UP AHEAD (gore)

I remember that the story included a bird from a fable I have also forgotten the name of. Where the bird drops flour (or a stone) on someone's head, killing them upon impact. I also remember the parents in the story murdering one of the children to cook into a stew. I also remember one of the children (or maybe one of the adults) being murdered by having something closed on their head.

As I said, I was eleven when I read this in my school's library. There were some funny parts, of course. With the whole "going to hell and meeting an atypical stature of satan" thing, I still think about it all to this day.

Honestly, I'm not exactly sure why I want to find it. I think not knowing what its called is bugging me like an itch I can't scratch.

[Michele]

Was this a novel or a collection of short stories?

[[deleted user]]

do you remember any cover details? or if the title was long or short?

[kk]

Michele wrote: "Was this a novel or a collection of short stories?"

It was one continuous novel, I believe. Maybe around 100-200 pages long.

[kk]

alice仙境 wrote: "do you remember any cover details? or if the title was long or short?"

I remember it having a red cover with black and white accents. I think it had a tree on it, or maybe a crow... like I said I read it nearly a decade ago so it's hard to remember. But it was definitely a bright red with black and white accents.

[[deleted user]]

Sounds like a collection of twisted fairy tales. I read a book like that, but don't remember if it included all of those. It was a three part series.

1. A Tale Dark and Grimm
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...
2. In a Glass Grimmly
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
3. The Grimm Conclusion
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

The cover you described matches best with the third book.

[[deleted user]]

I remember that the story included a bird from a fable I have also forgotten the name of: The Nightingale https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

In The Nightingale, an emperor has a pet nightingale who he rejects for a clockwork one, but on his deathbed, his clockwork nightingale breaks and his real nightingale comes back and heals the emperor with song.

Where the bird drops flour (or a stone) on someone's head, killing them upon impact. I also remember the parents in the story murdering one of the children to cook into a stew. I also remember one of the children (or maybe one of the adults) being murdered by having something closed on their head: The Juniper Tree https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

In The Juniper Tree, the stepmother kills the brother by slamming his head in a chest. The sister thinks it's her fault, and cries. The brother becomes a bird and flies about collecting things while the stepmother cooks his body into a stew. The sister takes her brother's bones and buries them under the juniper tree. The brother, still a bird, comes with shoes for his sister and golden chains for his father. But when his stepmother steps out, he drops a millstone on her head and killed her. Then he lands beneath the juniper tree and becomes a boy again.

[Summer]

There's more than one fairytale about the devil and his mother/grandmother, if you want to do a bit of research to narrow it down. The devil with the three golden hairs, the devil and his grandmother.

Have you checked your library catalogue or asked a librarian for help?

[Kris]

Google Books preview of The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz - Concinnous' suggestion:

https://books.google.com/books?id=qBz...

Quotes from the book:
- ... the stew pot and all the plates clattering to the floor ... As the stepfather came clear of the door - BANG! The bird dropped the millstone right on his head.
- Fact 4: Her mother ate her brother in a stew.

[Kris]

I added a few details to the header/ topic title. Feel free to edit it.