crothe77 's review for:

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis
5.0
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
 
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis is a third person-POV contemporary fantasy putting a new spin on the magic school trope. When Vivian and Daniel’s daughter, Aria, is bitten by a werewolf, they now have to send her to a school for magical folk, opening them up to an entirely new world they didn’t know existed. Things do not go smoothly as all three have to adjust to this new school and the new dynamics as well as a prophecy that points to Aria.

I really appreciated how Daniel and Vivian are having struggles in their marriage throughout the book. As the plot is something of an allegory for a child being diagnosed with a chronic illness, it makes perfect sense that one of the parents would need to quit their job to be a full time parent and that it could create resentment. It also makes sense that Vivian would try to immerse herself as much as possible while Daniel is resistant as he still has his job and has his own experiences when it comes to being an outsider. Vivian starts hiding things from him, which creates even more friction. I fully bought the escalation of the issues they were having because I’ve seen it play out many times in real life.

I’ve seen a few people call this cozy and I’m very on the fence about whether or not it could be a cozy fantasy. I think that there are parts of it that are on the cozier side, such as the academic fair and the lower stakes when it comes to trying to fit in. On the other hand, we are delving into bullying and there is a somewhat graphic scene of a five-year-old being attacked by a werewolf. I think whether or not this is cozy is really going to depend on the individual and it won’t fit super neatly within the subgenre for a lot of readers. 

I loved the worldbuilding bits that came from the school announcement epigraphs that opened each chapter. It acknowledges the modern aspects of our world and how they fit within a magical community that shares the world instead of existing in a separate dimension a la portal fantasy. There’s mentions of what Halloween costumes are not OK to wear and what kind of projects are not allowed. It’s these little details that make a world feel lived-in and throughout.

Content warning for harm down to a child and bullying

I would recommend this to fans of magic school fantasy looking for a book from the POV of a parent and readers of fantasy who want something with cozier stakes but a bit more bite