Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl

23 reviews

mpbookreviews's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I love that Grimrose Girls was a mystery suspense with a dash of humor. Those moments caught me off guard and I love it.  I always love prep school settings and love that this place is technically cursed, where its students will die based on a fairytale story. Hopefully the sequel have more magic incorporated. The only con I have is that its hard to differentiate the girls apart. No character really stood out and felt flat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

ammie116's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

nytephoenyx's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

If I had to choose a character from The Grimrose Girls I most resemble, I’d have to choose Ella, because I spent so much time trying to match up all the characters in the book with their fairytales, I failed to see what was right in front of me.

The Grimrose Girls is the perfect read for folks who like light mysteries entwined with light fantasy, boarding schools, and fairytales come to life. It’s a little dark – it’s a little like Pretty Little Liars. And I’m okay with that! Ella, Rory, Nani, and Yuki are far more likable than the PLL crew. I chose this book because I wanted a dark fairytale retelling, and I got something in that range. It’s not focused on a single fairytale – it’s focused on a little bit of a lot of them. It’s interesting and fun to predict, and the rotating POVs kept things fresh.

I am a little disappointed Pohl focused primarily on commonly known fairytales. I get it – as a writer, it’s important to engage the reader. Internationally familiar fairytales (read: the ones turned into Disney movies) are an easy choice. With the exception of “The Juniper Tree“, all referenced fairytales will be very familiar to a diverse audience. I generally enjoyed Pohl’s writing, but there were certain characters I wished had been more tied to their stories. Some, like Ella, were very close. I would have liked more consistency across the board.

There is a lot of diversity and representation in The Grimrose Girls and I’m undecided how I feel about it. Typically I’m very excited for a breadth of diversity and I still am… but it also felt a bit contrived. Each character had a different race and a different sexuality. So, on the one hand, there is a lot of representation. On the other, I’m just cautious about the intense variety of it. There were a couple other little things that bugged me as well, including the whole “scholarships for employee’s children” angle that got Nani into the school in the first place. Some things lined up a little too perfectly without sensible in-world explanations.

As a whole, I really liked the book. Despite my uncertainty about the wealth of representation, I do want to nod to Pohl for taking the time to let Nani express frustration about Hawaii’s colonialism. It was a brief moment, but it stood out to me.

This was a good nighttime read, a good “what’s next” and “whodunnit” read. I’m a big fan of books that keep me analyzing and thinking – The Grimrose Girls did an amazing job of that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

valeriasshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

queer, fairytale retelling, disability representation

emilia_mb's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

bookedandbusy's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was incredible! I loved that the more I read the more I was able to see the fairy tale aspect. And I love how elements of the classic fairy tales were combined with the darker side of the classics. I can’t wait for the next book!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism and Suicide

Minor: Deadnaming

Also has graphic mentions of drowning,

criticalbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

cball2428's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

an absolutely thrilling story about 4 girls who despite the odds band together and create a bond so strong. also incredibly sapphic and amazing character development

i would like rory’s gender ok

disability representation!

rory has fibromyalgia

 
mental illness/neurodivergency representation!

ella has diagnosed OCD and anxiety

 
transgender representation!

svenja is a trans woman (minor character but still important)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, and Acephobia/Arophobia

cammiem8's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I gobbled this book up on an airplane and was really intrigued by the story, but I didn’t quite feel connected to the characters and was disappointed to find out the book isn’t a stand alone. I’ll likely read the next book when it comes out, but I wish this one felt like more of a complete story on its own and not just a setup for subsequent books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, and Vomit