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lil_ducky25's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Child abuse
Minor: Transphobia
rissaread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, and Cancer
Minor: Transphobia
bookedandbusy's review
dark
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
5.0
This was a great sequel and way to end the series! I loved it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Cancer, Murder, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Chronic illness
hawkguyscoffee's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.0
While a nice and satisfying sequel to the first book, it has enough flaws that make it feel somewhat detached from it's pair.
Following the last book, the story remains strong with enough interesting twists and turns to keep you wanting to learn more and with characters lovable and interesting enough to care and want to see more of. However, it simply tries too hard to be contemporary and funny in places where it simply shouldn't be. Seriously, I get that we're in a more online age, but making references to memes during mayor character beats and crucial moments feels a little too forced. The same can be said about trying to fit certain tropes by sheer force in places where they wouldn't have happened naturally, to the point where some dialogue felt taken straight from a tumblr funny-post that got 100k likes back in 2015. It also weirdly feels like it's trying really hard to be picked up by Netflix at certain points.
This was more of a pet peeve, but making it so every time Yuki got narration time we would see the same sentences and descriptions of how the darkness was consuming her felt very tiring. The first few times it was fine, but putting that in all of her scenes was simply too much. I feel it would've worked better if used sparingly or every now and then
Nevertheless it was a good read and an interesting continuation to it's predecesor, though it must be said that the previous book stands way better by itself.
Overall, the book felt like a loose fit, and not because the story wasn't good enough.
Following the last book, the story remains strong with enough interesting twists and turns to keep you wanting to learn more and with characters lovable and interesting enough to care and want to see more of. However, it simply tries too hard to be contemporary and funny in places where it simply shouldn't be. Seriously, I get that we're in a more online age, but making references to memes during mayor character beats and crucial moments feels a little too forced. The same can be said about trying to fit certain tropes by sheer force in places where they wouldn't have happened naturally, to the point where some dialogue felt taken straight from a tumblr funny-post that got 100k likes back in 2015. It also weirdly feels like it's trying really hard to be picked up by Netflix at certain points.
This was more of a pet peeve, but
Nevertheless it was a good read and an interesting continuation to it's predecesor, though it must be said that the previous book stands way better by itself.
Overall, the book felt like a loose fit, and not because the story wasn't good enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Transphobia
hollyk's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Some things this book did well:
-representation
-Anxiety rep
Things this book did not do well:
-literally everything else
Pacing: this book was so lopsided. There is absolutely nothing happening for the first 2/3 of the book, and when, in the final 1/3 mind you, there finally is action, it makes absolutely no sense. The curse made no sense. And while it could be argued that the first 2/3 were meant to be character driven, the point of character driven arcs is to have some form of character development. There was none to be found. The curse didn't feel very urgent considering 4 months pass within the first 2 sections of the book, and then we're led to believe everything else happens within 2 weeks max?? No.
The curse isn't well explained, and also how/why it was broken was confusing as well. Also,Where was all the magic before? We've seen absolutely no sign of magic outside of Yuki, and now we're to believe that all the teachers and the headmistress have been witches all along?
The character arcs in this book were okay with the exception of Yuki and Ella, though the latter less so. Suddenly Yuki has turned into BadCinderella Snow White and is on a villain arc, but she showed no signs of this thinking in the first book and it just came out of nowhere. Also her obsession with Ella? Where was that in the first book? Also Ella suddenly being in love with Yuki?? This came out of nowhere to me as well, and kind of undermined the friendship conquering all message. I just absolutely hated pretty much everyone. No one was interesting, no one was compelling really, and overall it felt hasty.
The villains felt like the author tried to subvert theevil stepmother trope, and then, when she realized that there would be no villain, shoehorned the villains in with no foreshadowing in the slightest.
The more I write the angrier I get. I thought the first one was just okay, but this one just did not do it for me.
-representation
-Anxiety rep
Things this book did not do well:
-literally everything else
Pacing: this book was so lopsided. There is absolutely nothing happening for the first 2/3 of the book, and when, in the final 1/3 mind you, there finally is action, it makes absolutely no sense. The curse made no sense. And while it could be argued that the first 2/3 were meant to be character driven, the point of character driven arcs is to have some form of character development. There was none to be found. The curse didn't feel very urgent considering 4 months pass within the first 2 sections of the book, and then we're led to believe everything else happens within 2 weeks max?? No.
The curse isn't well explained, and also how/why it was broken was confusing as well. Also,
The character arcs in this book were okay with the exception of Yuki and Ella, though the latter less so. Suddenly Yuki has turned into Bad
The villains felt like the author tried to subvert the
The more I write the angrier I get. I thought the first one was just okay, but this one just did not do it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Blood, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Transphobia
rhensie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
Hmm, I need to sit on this one for a couple of days. I really enjoyed myself, and some of the representation issues I had in book 1 didn't happen here. I love our girls (esp Nani and Rory) and I am so happy that they got their happy ending. But I felt like the end was a bit nonsensical - how exactly did they work out that that was the way to break the curse? Also, how much blood does Yuki have?? They seemed to use a lot of it. And yet, despite it making not a whole lot of sense, it was compulsive and I had a great time reading it. 4 stars (for now?)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
thewoodlandbookshelf's review
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cancer, Abandonment, Blood, and Death
gracelynnreads's review against another edition
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide
jackiepreston's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Cannibalism
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Transphobia
melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
Thank you to SourceBooks Fire and Netgalley for an arc of this book.
In the sequel to The Grimrose Girls, things are even more tense at Grimrose Academie as Yuki, Ella, Rory, and Nani deal with the fallout of Penelope's death and try to solve the mystery of the curse that is trapping them in fairytale retellings and killing off girls left and right.
This was so good! I loved everything about it. The entire time I was thinking about Midnights by Taylor Swift and trying to figure out which song works for each. I got one for every girl but the two that felt the most right to me was Anti-Hero for Yuki and You're on Your Own, Kid for Ella. They feel so right for both these girls and their character arcs.
This was great! I'm glad we got some more of Rory and Nani in this one. Such a great duology and definitely recommend for those Dark Academia vibes!
In the sequel to The Grimrose Girls, things are even more tense at Grimrose Academie as Yuki, Ella, Rory, and Nani deal with the fallout of Penelope's death and try to solve the mystery of the curse that is trapping them in fairytale retellings and killing off girls left and right.
This was so good! I loved everything about it. The entire time I was thinking about Midnights by Taylor Swift and trying to figure out which song works for each. I got one for every girl but the two that felt the most right to me was Anti-Hero for Yuki and You're on Your Own, Kid for Ella. They feel so right for both these girls and their character arcs.
This was great! I'm glad we got some more of Rory and Nani in this one. Such a great duology and definitely recommend for those Dark Academia vibes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse and Cancer
Minor: Transphobia, Ableism, and Fatphobia