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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
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
books with a group of mentally unwell, dysfunctional, yet beloved characters who found each other and become a family, i cherish you
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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
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: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood
Moderate: Cancer, Physical abuse
Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Transphobia
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
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:
Complicated
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
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Nami, Ella, Rory, and Yuki are back, and this time they are out to break a curse, a curse that could be deadly for one of all of the girls.
I really enjoyed the character development in this second Grimrose girls. I think each of the girls got fleshed out a lot more compared to the first book. I think the character I enjoyed the most was Yuki, but apparently I'm not the only one there. I found myself somewhat disinterested in Ella's story, though I did feel for her for what she suffered at the hands of her stepmother. Rory was also kind of boring in this book. I enjoyed the way Nami's story played out. I think if any of the girls would be considered the main character, it's probably Nami.
All in all it was a satisfying conclusion to this duology. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
I really enjoyed the character development in this second Grimrose girls. I think each of the girls got fleshed out a lot more compared to the first book. I think the character I enjoyed the most was Yuki, but apparently I'm not the only one there. I found myself somewhat disinterested in Ella's story, though I did feel for her for what she suffered at the hands of her stepmother. Rory was also kind of boring in this book. I enjoyed the way Nami's story played out. I think if any of the girls would be considered the main character, it's probably Nami.
All in all it was a satisfying conclusion to this duology. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
Maybe I am stupid, but I was very confused reading this and also very bored.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
Thank you to NetGalley, author Laura Pohl, and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review!
The Wicked Remain was a rare case of me actually enjoying the sequel a bit more than the first book. If you remember my review over The Grimrose Girls, I did not particularly enjoy the book because I don't like fairy tale retellings and didn't realize it was one. Knowing what I was getting into for the sequel helped me to enjoy it more, although I would say the things I didn't like in the first installment transferred into this book as well. I found The Wicked Remain to be much more engaging as a reader; since it was the sequel, the action started right away, and I felt that the book was able to accomplish more in its span. Again, I really enjoyed the LGBTQ+ representation, and I thought that readers were able to see the friendships develop between the girls on an even greater level. However, this book ended in just about the cheesiest and most predictable way possible, which tainted my view of the book. I was really pleasantly surprised that I was enjoying this one so much more as I was reading it, until I got to the last 1/4th of the book. Don't get me wrong, I am essentially a Disney adult and love the princesses, but this felt like a complete rip off and repeat of each Disney Princess movie that the girls were based off of. The "new" twists that were added were again predictable and didn't add any huge merit to the story. I was also a bit confused by who the villain was, as I wish that would have been better fleshed out through the course of two novels. As I said in my review for The Grimrose Girls, this wasn't necessarily a bad book, it just wasn't the book for me.
The Wicked Remain was a rare case of me actually enjoying the sequel a bit more than the first book. If you remember my review over The Grimrose Girls, I did not particularly enjoy the book because I don't like fairy tale retellings and didn't realize it was one. Knowing what I was getting into for the sequel helped me to enjoy it more, although I would say the things I didn't like in the first installment transferred into this book as well. I found The Wicked Remain to be much more engaging as a reader; since it was the sequel, the action started right away, and I felt that the book was able to accomplish more in its span. Again, I really enjoyed the LGBTQ+ representation, and I thought that readers were able to see the friendships develop between the girls on an even greater level. However, this book ended in just about the cheesiest and most predictable way possible, which tainted my view of the book. I was really pleasantly surprised that I was enjoying this one so much more as I was reading it, until I got to the last 1/4th of the book. Don't get me wrong, I am essentially a Disney adult and love the princesses, but this felt like a complete rip off and repeat of each Disney Princess movie that the girls were based off of. The "new" twists that were added were again predictable and didn't add any huge merit to the story. I was also a bit confused by who the villain was, as I wish that would have been better fleshed out through the course of two novels. As I said in my review for The Grimrose Girls, this wasn't necessarily a bad book, it just wasn't the book for me.
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
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Wicked Remain is the second installment and conclusion of the Grimrose Girls duology, and it’s just as good, if not better than the first one.
The characters in particular feel richer and more developed, especially as they’ve each become disillusioned with the academy upon the revelations of the truth. It’s interesting to explore how their stories and the possible dark endings parallel the original fairy tales, and how that inspires fear in them. And I continue to love the queer rep in the books, and the romance in this one is more prominent, coming in places I didn’t expect, although I was happy to see it all the same.
While this installment is quite a bit longer than its predecessor, it does not sacrifice brisk pacing for the longer length. It might possibly be translated a bit into some uneven pacing in places, but it’s otherwise fairly solid throughout.
This series is incredibly enjoyable, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark fairy tale retellings.
The Wicked Remain is the second installment and conclusion of the Grimrose Girls duology, and it’s just as good, if not better than the first one.
The characters in particular feel richer and more developed, especially as they’ve each become disillusioned with the academy upon the revelations of the truth. It’s interesting to explore how their stories and the possible dark endings parallel the original fairy tales, and how that inspires fear in them. And I continue to love the queer rep in the books, and the romance in this one is more prominent, coming in places I didn’t expect, although I was happy to see it all the same.
While this installment is quite a bit longer than its predecessor, it does not sacrifice brisk pacing for the longer length. It might possibly be translated a bit into some uneven pacing in places, but it’s otherwise fairly solid throughout.
This series is incredibly enjoyable, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys dark fairy tale retellings.