Reviews - The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association

417 reviews for:

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association

Caitlin Rozakis

4.02 AVERAGE

the_bookish_chimera's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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: N/A

“She wasn’t a stupid child for sure. Just not an easy one.”

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association is another book about a magical school… except it’s nothing like you’ve read before.
I loved the world building, how it was rich but authorized itself to use modern technology, all at once –while tackling another franchise that should not be named. That made it easy to slip onto that world, and to be carried away by the story as we try to understand what is exactly the menace that lingers over this school (and students). That book was all fun, satirical, a bit like a magical Desperate Housewives.
That said, it also felt like a great metaphor about parenting, especially when coming about “special needs children”. Let’s be honest, I don’t have children. But I once was that child. I loved to see the discovery of the magical world –of that toddler’s needs and challenges– from an adult’s (a parent) POV.

That mom does her best, she only thinks about her kid. Yet, she makes mistakes. She gropes for, torn between her unconditional love for her “newly appointed werewolf” daughter, her difficulties to integrate in the community, what everyone says she has to do (no matter if it’s completely contradictory), what she imagines will be the best for her family, especially regarding societal “injunctions”.
Some things can –maybe– feel triggering for the “different adult”, yet I found them interesting here, because that Mom questions her decisions, and isn’t afraid to change, even though clumsily and despite the fact she has everything to learn and is completely overwhelmed. That makes her feel guilty, a lot, and that felt super relatable when it comes to parenting life… even when sprinkled by magic. I also loved the couple’s difficulties as they try to blend, to understand their new life, and the mysteries that happen, and rediscover how to be partners in their life.

Thank you to the author and Titan Books for this eARC via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

whats_worth_reading's review against another edition

4.0

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association is the seccond cosy fantsy by Caitlin Rozakis. Set in the ficitonal town of Vielport, which Vivian Tanaka and her family have just moved to following the rather dramatic events which saw five-year-old Aria turned into a werewolf.

The town is a mixture of all magical creatures from vampires to unicorns so mundane humans Vivian and her husband Daniel find themselves as the non-magical outsiders. Viv tries her best to fit in with the cliquey mums but struggles to accept their children's veiled bullying of her daughter.

When the townspeople start to question if the Tanaka’s arrival has triggered a prophecy that will bring “end of the world” level drama and Viv is suspected of stealing funds from the school, things go from bad to much much worse for the family. She finds herself shunned and rejected by the small group of women she thought were her friends and has to find a way to dispel the rumours about her and save her marriage.

I’ll be honest I struggled to sympathise with Vivian for the first half of the book. She was so desperate to fit in and put her own feelings above those of her husband and daughter, choosing only to focus on how she came across to others at their expense. I found it difficult as a mum to a special needs kid myself to understand how Viv could let Aria be bullied and do nothing about it until she was excluded by the other mothers.

Once Viv embraced the townspeople who wanted to accept her and help her family she became much more likeable. Facing the struggles within her family head on instead of trying to patch things over on the surface let Viv come into her own and embrace her strengths. I really loved the second half of the book and flew through the last 100 pages, desparate to discover who or what was the reason for all the drama in the town.

This was a fun, cosy fantasy with generic situations which I think most parents can identify just with an added magical twist! The day to day struggles of family life are all here, from making time for your spouse to worrying about how your kid is doing in school. It just makes me thankful that I don’t have to worry about demon dogs and interdimensional portals when I send my boys to school!

lucasbrooks's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny tense fast-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

Good story with the emotional angles handled in a realistic way, but certainly a heavier tone than the author’s debut novel. Same sort of witty satire, but this time those bits are reprieves from stressful scenes

playswithstring's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Have you ever had a book fall into your lap at the perfect time? This was it for me. This book landed on my doorstep the day my youngest graduated from Kindergarten. Perfect timing!

This book made me laugh, cry, and made my heart swell. I highly recommend this to millennials who were into Harry Potter and now have to deal with their own battles in parenting.

toryanne's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense

ctkierst's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

tooyu's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted fast-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

Fun and a fast read! The execution felt a little clumsy at times, especially with the reveal at the end but I did enjoy the magic of the world and all its characters.