Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Grimrose Girls

I loved this book! The characters were very compelling and I am so excited to see where this series goes. This book is for the kids who read Ever After High as a child and are looking for something a bit darker. I liked the writing as well although it was a little rough at the beginning. The only drawback for me is the mystery. It was very predictable and I guessed who the killer was from the beginning. It was very slow passed but I am hoping that it pays off in the sequel. If I read this book 3 years ago I would have been OBSESSED. The diversity was refreshing, both in LGBT and POC representation. I appreciate that Pohl is unafraid to label her characters on the page. I love fairytale retellings and this series is such an interesting take on it. I can't wait to see how it develops!

Notes after 24 hours: While i initially loved everything about this book there are a few problematic elements that I can't look past. I have knocked this book down a star because of the implications of the problematic representation. A lot of the representation is rooted in stereotypes. The worst of which being (MINOR SPOILERS) the Belle character from Beauty and the Beast's love interest is a trans woman. This character is also tied to the Ugly Duckling fairytale. This implication makes me feel very upset as I did love Svenja's character in the book, I just hate the portrayal of her as "beastly" or "ugly." Other stereotypes include: mean lesbians, the asian main character's arc revolves around parental pressure to be perfect, one character's mental illness being introduced by another character asking her if "she's taken her meds, yet." While i feel like this is still a good book despite stereotyping, I wish the author had put more thought into portraying identities other than her own.

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mollslol's review

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dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

I thought this story had a lot of potential, but unfortunately the author just didn’t pull it off. The story focuses on multiple POVs to progress the plot, but oftentimes we just start to get a glimpse of a character’s story and motivations before we’re pulled into another POV. At the end of the novel, almost 400 pages in, I still didn’t feel like I truly understood any of the characters beyond a shallow description and their romantic interests. The plot itself is intriguing and hooks you, but fails to progress beyond “just a really good story idea”. The end of the novel leaves us with more questions than answers and it feels like the author wanted to leave it that way just for the sake of a sequel rather than because the story actually needed a sequel. Overall, I had high hopes for this book but I was pretty disappointed.

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criticalbooks's review

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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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ehmannky's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Truly mad that this did not come out when I was in like, 9th grade, because I would have adored this series as a teen. It was a fun, fast read with a lot of fun, fractured fairy tale elements to it. I personally don't feel a need to read what comes next, but I had fun reading this book.

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cammiem8's review

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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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nerdysread's review

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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

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itshardizzy's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

ohhh what a ride.

the book was very good and I've finished really fast. I really liked how complex the MCs are and how they aren't perfect and have real problems. The book deals with a lot of things, but mostly with grief and with finding ones trueself. It was PLL meets Brothers Grimm but make it Sapphic (and I loved it).

the characters are all relatable and they have real struggles and not just rich people problems. the author really succeed in blend the personal problems of the characters with the main plot and in showing that in the end they are all teenagers that still haven't figure out life. even the side characters have well constructed background and problems that aren't connected with the MCs. and the relationships where really natural and really comfortable to follow.

the plot is very interesting and i saw how PLL heavily influenced the author, literally there was times where I was "am i reading PLL?". there was clues well hidden everywhere and it was fun to put the pieces together.

one thing that I want to talk about is the diversity in here. Although it is a school for the rich and privilege, we also have a few special cases like Ella and Nani, but I didn't really think they tackled those privileges as well as the author could. what the author did well - in my opinion - is to display LGBTQ+ characters without that being the main focus of their stories, being gay is treated normally and that was awesome; but that doesn't mean the author didn't explore the struggles that comes with being yourself and that shows thru Yuki and Svenja.

also I loved Pippa talking with Rory about her being the only black girl in their club and about even though she is rich, black people will never be seen the same as white rich people.

honestly this was a great read, but there was a few parts where i was like ???

like the part where yuki told them about what she had said to Ari right before she died and there wasn't much of a reaction; and like the author was building this secret for chapters and making us anxious about how the others would react, but in the end it wasn't that big of a deal

. I'm really excited to the follow up and to see if some of my predictions will become a reality and to see how they are gonna deal with the new found truths and with the things they've done.

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