Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl

34 reviews

morevna's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

0.75

Awful Asian rep, godawful aroace rep

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

anniereads221's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, and Abandonment

drowning

ashleykarime's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Murder

Minor: Gore, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

thewoodlandbookshelf's review

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

eviecate's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Eating disorder

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

blackbookishbabe89's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

rey_therese07's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment

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 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Transphobia

Minor: Death of parent