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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
With incredible twists and a combo of all my favorite fairy tales, The Wicked Remain is the incredible sequel and conclusion to The Grimrose Girls. I love the character development throughout these two books & the ending OMG fantastic! I did not see it coming!
Laura Pohl does an amazing job of showing how powerful young women can be if they just believe -- in themselves and in their friendship.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for a fair review.
Laura Pohl does an amazing job of showing how powerful young women can be if they just believe -- in themselves and in their friendship.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for a fair review.
dark
funny
mysterious
adventurous
dark
emotional
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
AAAAAAAAAAAAAH
UPDATE!!!
Okay, okay, okay. Everybody stay calm. Everybody stay f**** calm!
I want to thank SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley so much. Because this book? My favorite of this month. It has everything.
So after a messy and bloody winter ball, and some holidays, the four girls are back together and have one goal: break the curse. But it may not be that easy, and maybe not what it seems.
I loved the first volume; this was my most anticipated book of the year. So when I was reached to read an e-arc I HAD to say yes. And you know what? I don’t regret it. Our characters have significant development, and the mystery and thriller sides are fantastic. I loved the focus on Yuki’s power. Because our girl deserves to be badass and morally grey. I was scared for them all along. Also when I thought “I know what’s happening”... Well no, I did not actually.
The fact that I loved all the girls equally just proves how great Laura Pohl is for writing characters. She’s great at writing mysteries, action, touching, and sad scene. There’s a bit of romance, but what is a fairy tale without a bit of romance? Also, one of them may surprise you.
But what I loved more? The relationships between all the characters. It evolves with good and bad. They are real relationships, and that makes the characters even more real.
So, yes, I loved this book, as I planned to. Thank you Laura Pohl for it.
Also, I annotated it so much…
UPDATE!!!
Okay, okay, okay. Everybody stay calm. Everybody stay f**** calm!
I want to thank SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley so much. Because this book? My favorite of this month. It has everything.
So after a messy and bloody winter ball, and some holidays, the four girls are back together and have one goal: break the curse. But it may not be that easy, and maybe not what it seems.
I loved the first volume; this was my most anticipated book of the year. So when I was reached to read an e-arc I HAD to say yes. And you know what? I don’t regret it. Our characters have significant development, and the mystery and thriller sides are fantastic. I loved the focus on Yuki’s power. Because our girl deserves to be badass and morally grey. I was scared for them all along. Also when I thought “I know what’s happening”... Well no, I did not actually.
The fact that I loved all the girls equally just proves how great Laura Pohl is for writing characters. She’s great at writing mysteries, action, touching, and sad scene. There’s a bit of romance, but what is a fairy tale without a bit of romance? Also, one of them may surprise you.
But what I loved more? The relationships between all the characters. It evolves with good and bad. They are real relationships, and that makes the characters even more real.
So, yes, I loved this book, as I planned to. Thank you Laura Pohl for it.
Also, I annotated it so much…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Transphobia
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5 stars
I read The Grimrose Girls earlier this year, and when I finished I was a little nervous about the sequel. I’m rarely satisfied with the ending of book series, and I didn’t really know how well The Wicked Remain will continue the story of the first book. When I started reading, it picked up right where it left off and I thought that this was a fantastic ending to the series.
This series is definitely one of my favorites. It has a diverse cast of characters, takes place in a boarding school, and has a bunch of gory fairytale retellings. I already want to reread it!
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an e-Arc!
I read The Grimrose Girls earlier this year, and when I finished I was a little nervous about the sequel. I’m rarely satisfied with the ending of book series, and I didn’t really know how well The Wicked Remain will continue the story of the first book. When I started reading, it picked up right where it left off and I thought that this was a fantastic ending to the series.
This series is definitely one of my favorites. It has a diverse cast of characters, takes place in a boarding school, and has a bunch of gory fairytale retellings. I already want to reread it!
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an e-Arc!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
TL;DR: A fairytale duology conclusion that puts heart, friendship, and complex humanity at the centre of its push for happy endings
(eARC provided by Netgalley)
The Wicked Remain managed to surpass the brilliance of The Grimrose Girls, often in ways I couldn't expect. I entered this book thinking it would be a solid followup, but, without the creeping mystery of the first book, it might lack that special spark - I was happily wrong. This book takes all the pieces from the predecessor and focuses in on their emotional weight and their thematic significance. All four protagonists are compelling and manage to develop in ways that feel deeply human, and the supporting cast is perfect too. What will always surprise me is how a writing style that can initially seem quite sparse and blunt actually is a beautiful (as well as immensely readable) vehicle for this tale. And for all the risk of magic contrivance or tropey copouts, the ending is absolutely perfect at balancing fairytale ideas with modern sensibilities. A deeply intersectional duology that truly brings fairytales into the modern world in a way other texts sometimes only partly manage.
10/10 in personal rating system
(eARC provided by Netgalley)
The Wicked Remain managed to surpass the brilliance of The Grimrose Girls, often in ways I couldn't expect. I entered this book thinking it would be a solid followup, but, without the creeping mystery of the first book, it might lack that special spark - I was happily wrong. This book takes all the pieces from the predecessor and focuses in on their emotional weight and their thematic significance. All four protagonists are compelling and manage to develop in ways that feel deeply human, and the supporting cast is perfect too. What will always surprise me is how a writing style that can initially seem quite sparse and blunt actually is a beautiful (as well as immensely readable) vehicle for this tale. And for all the risk of magic contrivance or tropey copouts, the ending is absolutely perfect at balancing fairytale ideas with modern sensibilities. A deeply intersectional duology that truly brings fairytales into the modern world in a way other texts sometimes only partly manage.
10/10 in personal rating system
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
genre: YA Fantasy
Minority representation: LGBTQ+, disability, POC
Trigger warnings: violence, domestic violence, physical and emotional abuse, gore, blood, suicide, mentions of cancer. (Trigger warnings were included in the book!)
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Laura Pohl for letting me review this gem of a book! I was so excited to read about Yuki, Rory, Ella, and Nani again! The wicked remain starts right after winter break with the girls coming back to Grimrose. The end of their stories is rapidly approaching, especially so for Eleanor. Can the girls find a way to break their curse? Or should they accept their fates?
This thrilling sequel to the Grimrose girls is everything I longed for! The girls grow into their characters even more, mysteries are uncovered, and even more questions arise. The wicked remain is definitely darker than the Grimrose girls, which I loved. There’s more LGBTQ+ rep to fill our hearts with enough joy to crush them in the next chapter. It felt like a great emotional rollercoaster with more action and a lot of dilemmas.
Yuki’s aroace identity is explored more, which warmed my heart as I’ve asked myself the same questions as her. I related very much to her struggles with her identity and relationships. The loneliness being aroace comes with is very accurately depicted. I also loved the LGBTQ+ identities of the other girls being explored!
As for Rory’s chronic pain rep from her fibromyalgia, I loved how it was ever present in het chapters but didn’t completely dominate her character! It’s not romanticised as the illness is very much at times described as debilitating. I think Pohl did an amazing job at writing a disabled character who isn’t there for anyone’s pity and has so much more to her than the illness!
If you love a fairy-tale retelling true to their dark originals this duology is very much written for you! Although it’s YA it does a great job at keeping the mystery and being dark enough to frighten readers. Also, not that the Gore trigger warning is not a formality as this book does get pretty grim ;)
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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
This review may include spoilers for The Grimrose Girls.
This is now one of my favourite series and I have not shut up about it since I read the book.
The characters' development arcs all finished in a satisfying, but unique to them way. Since the characters all differ from each other so much, you would expect for at least one of them to get on your nerves, right? That somehow did not happen here -- I was equally invested in all of their plots.
This book has an immaculate atmosphere to it, and there were so many lines at which I teared up and plot points that had be gasping. Also, I love the clever use of narrative structure here. The pacing may have lagged at times but that only added to the tension being built up.
I loved the thought and care that had gone into the creation of the girls' romances -- there is a solid base of communication and genuine enjoyment of each others company which I think is missing from a lot of other YA books.
Of course, friendship is a key element of this story -- I thoroughly enjoyed all the scenes of the girls together, they play off of each other incredibly well and their bond is believable.
The worldbuilding was also well executed, the curse heartbreaking. It may not be intricate and with pages of explanation but it does not need to be that way to be menacing and a vehicle for the girls' development.
Overall, a wonderful conclusion to the Grimrose Girls series! A diverse and beautiful story that I would recommend to everyone.
This is now one of my favourite series and I have not shut up about it since I read the book.
The characters' development arcs all finished in a satisfying, but unique to them way. Since the characters all differ from each other so much, you would expect for at least one of them to get on your nerves, right? That somehow did not happen here -- I was equally invested in all of their plots.
This book has an immaculate atmosphere to it, and there were so many lines at which I teared up and plot points that had be gasping. Also, I love the clever use of narrative structure here. The pacing may have lagged at times but that only added to the tension being built up.
I loved the thought and care that had gone into the creation of the girls' romances -- there is a solid base of communication and genuine enjoyment of each others company which I think is missing from a lot of other YA books.
Of course, friendship is a key element of this story -- I thoroughly enjoyed all the scenes of the girls together, they play off of each other incredibly well and their bond is believable.
The worldbuilding was also well executed, the curse heartbreaking. It may not be intricate and with pages of explanation but it does not need to be that way to be menacing and a vehicle for the girls' development.
Overall, a wonderful conclusion to the Grimrose Girls series! A diverse and beautiful story that I would recommend to everyone.