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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.
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
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