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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)
disability representation!
mental illness/neurodivergency representation!
transgender representation!
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
rogueblackwood's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Author: Diverse? Yes! Female, Brazilian, and Gay. She/her
Characters: Super Queer! trans, ace, aromantic, demi, pan/bi, and lesbian main characters. And a variety of races, home countries, and skin tones!
Subjective rating: 5/5
Writing: 4/5 (it's YA for sure but was well done!)
Plot: 5/5, the pacing was really well done. You could tell it was well planned and that you had clues that were available but not glaring.
Characters: 5/5, each character felt real, and each character had a distinct voice and motivation
Themes: 5/5, found family on point!
Narrators: Multi, Each chapter goes back and forth between the main 4 girls. Rory, Yuki, Ella, and Nani
POV: Multi 3rd person
Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery, with light Romance side plot. YA LGBTQ
Type: Series, Book 1 of ? from Grimrose Girls, no date for sequel yet
Content Warnings: death (on and off-page not too graphic), betrayal, child abuse (light and off-page), talk of suicide, chronic illness
So this is more of what I wanted from Malice but didn't really get. It is a unique retelling in every way, it plays into the tropes I love without being predictable fully. You see the parallels but nothing is completely as it seems.
As far as rep, can you get better than this? I don't know if there are straight characters lol! We have trans, ace, demi, pan/bi, and lesbian characters all of whom are very flushed out and none play into harmful stereotypes. You also have a character with chronic illness in this which I found so amazing. Rory has fibromyalgia that she battles with but doesn't allow to control her life.
I felt like the little side romances felt genuine especially for teens, the first flutters, and how everything is life and death at that age. None of them felt forced and you saw the attraction.
Characters: Super Queer! trans, ace, aromantic, demi, pan/bi, and lesbian main characters. And a variety of races, home countries, and skin tones!
Subjective rating: 5/5
Writing: 4/5 (it's YA for sure but was well done!)
Plot: 5/5, the pacing was really well done. You could tell it was well planned and that you had clues that were available but not glaring.
Characters: 5/5, each character felt real, and each character had a distinct voice and motivation
Themes: 5/5, found family on point!
Narrators: Multi, Each chapter goes back and forth between the main 4 girls. Rory, Yuki, Ella, and Nani
POV: Multi 3rd person
Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery, with light Romance side plot. YA LGBTQ
Type: Series, Book 1 of ? from Grimrose Girls, no date for sequel yet
Content Warnings: death (on and off-page not too graphic), betrayal, child abuse (light and off-page), talk of suicide, chronic illness
So this is more of what I wanted from Malice but didn't really get. It is a unique retelling in every way, it plays into the tropes I love without being predictable fully. You see the parallels but nothing is completely as it seems.
As far as rep, can you get better than this? I don't know if there are straight characters lol! We have trans, ace, demi, pan/bi, and lesbian characters all of whom are very flushed out and none play into harmful stereotypes. You also have a character with chronic illness in this which I found so amazing. Rory has fibromyalgia that she battles with but doesn't allow to control her life.
I felt like the little side romances felt genuine especially for teens, the first flutters, and how everything is life and death at that age. None of them felt forced and you saw the attraction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Child abuse and Blood
lilacpixxie's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Child abuse
ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
The mystery was kind of predictable, however I’m curious to see how things will play out in book 2. Especially since there are still a lot of secrets to be unveiled
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse
mothie_girlie's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Physical abuse
Minor: Ableism
alonlyfangirl's review against another edition
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
nerdysread's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebook Fire for the e-arc of the book
So. Just to make things clear. We have tales retelling. Disabled Lesbian with sword. Characters of Colors. Dark academia. A lot of sapphic characters. An aro and ace character. Mysteries. Murders. Great characters.
So I think this book is awesome. I mean it has everything. It’s a mix between plot and characters driven story. There are multiple povs. You have to understand who is who. And this is the perfect start for a book serie.
Yeah I really loved it. I’m always a sucker for retellings. And better when it’s gay. So thank you for this book. And now I can’t live in peace without having the second one
So. Just to make things clear. We have tales retelling. Disabled Lesbian with sword. Characters of Colors. Dark academia. A lot of sapphic characters. An aro and ace character. Mysteries. Murders. Great characters.
So I think this book is awesome. I mean it has everything. It’s a mix between plot and characters driven story. There are multiple povs. You have to understand who is who. And this is the perfect start for a book serie.
Yeah I really loved it. I’m always a sucker for retellings. And better when it’s gay. So thank you for this book. And now I can’t live in peace without having the second one
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Transphobia
Minor: Death of parent
melaniereadsbooks's review
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an arc of this book.
At Grimrose Academie, accidents happen. A girl might die every once in a while, but that's just normal, right? When best friends Ella, Yuki, and Rory lose their friend Ari, they know something more is going on. Together with their new roommate, Nani, they find clues that Ari left behind and uncover the dark fairy tale secrets hiding at Grimrose.
Dark Academia, Fairy Tale Retellings, Queer Squad Goals, and a Gorgeous Cover! This book has everything I wanted. I loved these dark fairy tale retellings and picking up on the breadcrumb trail (pun intended) that the author left for us to follow!
I've been trying to decide who my favorite character is, but I just can't seem to figure it out. I think that's a good sign: I love all of them. They are messy, and imperfect, and refuse to be pushed into the boxes that the world wants to push them into, and I just love that so much. And a trans love interest!
There were a few times in this book where the writing felt a little clunky and certain scenes didn't feel super well-developed, but I think that might just be because I had an advanced version! I look forward to reading the final version and probably loving it even more!
Pub date: October 26, 2021
At Grimrose Academie, accidents happen. A girl might die every once in a while, but that's just normal, right? When best friends Ella, Yuki, and Rory lose their friend Ari, they know something more is going on. Together with their new roommate, Nani, they find clues that Ari left behind and uncover the dark fairy tale secrets hiding at Grimrose.
Dark Academia, Fairy Tale Retellings, Queer Squad Goals, and a Gorgeous Cover! This book has everything I wanted. I loved these dark fairy tale retellings and picking up on the breadcrumb trail (pun intended) that the author left for us to follow!
I've been trying to decide who my favorite character is, but I just can't seem to figure it out. I think that's a good sign: I love all of them. They are messy, and imperfect, and refuse to be pushed into the boxes that the world wants to push them into, and I just love that so much. And a trans love interest!
There were a few times in this book where the writing felt a little clunky and certain scenes didn't feel super well-developed, but I think that might just be because I had an advanced version! I look forward to reading the final version and probably loving it even more!
Pub date: October 26, 2021
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Transphobia
beforeviolets's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
2.0
Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
A thrilling retelling of classic fairytales filled with twists, magic, and just the right amount of darkness. Think Disney Princesses turned dark academia.
The first two-thirds of this book really struggled with the pacing. It dragged SO MUCH and I don't know if it was an attempt to counteract the feeling of over-exposition or in order to build tension, but either way it made it hard to read and made me almost DNF this read a few times.
HOWEVER, the last third of this book was SO MUCH FUN! It was riveting, properly gorey and spooky and magical in the way I was expecting this entire book to be. It just sucked that I had to get through so much of the text before I was able to experience it.
This book was promised with a lot of diversity, however, there was quite a bit of problematic representation which I will explain below.
(Minor spoilers ahead)
The Asian character struggles with parental pressure to be the very best and have perfect grades and be the perfect daughter.
There is a character who is very clearly the "mean masc lesbian" type.
The half-Native, half-Black character's entire plot line is that she has an absent Black father who abandoned her. She is also stereotyped as a "mean lesbian."
One character has OCD and it is introduced by one of the other characters questioning if she had taken her meds. Her opinions and experiences were also constantly doubted or questioned due to her OCD.
The character that is meant to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast has a trans girl as a love interest (insinuating that the trans woman is a beast).
On that note, the trans girl's fairytale retelling is that she is The Ugly Duckling, explicitly stating that as a trans girl, she has become a swan.
Especially seeing a book written by a queer author, it was sad to see the lack of care put into the quality of the diversity.
My lovely friend Jess also discusses the representation, so I would suggest viewing their review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4268785942?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
TW:mentions of suicide, parental physical and emotional abuse, self-harm, and parental death. depictions of anxiety, OCD, blood, and gore.
A thrilling retelling of classic fairytales filled with twists, magic, and just the right amount of darkness. Think Disney Princesses turned dark academia.
The first two-thirds of this book really struggled with the pacing. It dragged SO MUCH and I don't know if it was an attempt to counteract the feeling of over-exposition or in order to build tension, but either way it made it hard to read and made me almost DNF this read a few times.
HOWEVER, the last third of this book was SO MUCH FUN! It was riveting, properly gorey and spooky and magical in the way I was expecting this entire book to be. It just sucked that I had to get through so much of the text before I was able to experience it.
This book was promised with a lot of diversity, however, there was quite a bit of problematic representation which I will explain below.
(Minor spoilers ahead)
The Asian character struggles with parental pressure to be the very best and have perfect grades and be the perfect daughter.
There is a character who is very clearly the "mean masc lesbian" type.
The half-Native, half-Black character's entire plot line is that she has an absent Black father who abandoned her. She is also stereotyped as a "mean lesbian."
One character has OCD and it is introduced by one of the other characters questioning if she had taken her meds. Her opinions and experiences were also constantly doubted or questioned due to her OCD.
The character that is meant to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast has a trans girl as a love interest (insinuating that the trans woman is a beast).
On that note, the trans girl's fairytale retelling is that she is The Ugly Duckling, explicitly stating that as a trans girl, she has become a swan.
Especially seeing a book written by a queer author, it was sad to see the lack of care put into the quality of the diversity.
My lovely friend Jess also discusses the representation, so I would suggest viewing their review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4268785942?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
TW:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Self harm, Suicide, and Death of parent