Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl

34 reviews

jackiepreston's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Vomit

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

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: Blood and Death

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

yvonne_cl's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Death of parent

charlee_12's review

dark emotional inspiring mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Blood, and Toxic friendship

saltair_andtherust_onyourdoor's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I think the concept was super interesting but it could’ve definitely been executed in a better way. Like i wanted to know the stories of some other characters more. For example

Micalis story would’ve been so fun to read about even with her death it was so interesting

also i feel like some storylines weren’t finished. Hopefully the sequel makes up for its.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide and Physical abuse

Minor: Transphobia

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

mals_library's review

dark funny 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Body horror

Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

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

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

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

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