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A review by stewartj0421
The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
The concept of this book was intriguing from the get-go. I am always a fan of modern retellings of classic stories. However, there were a number of issues that impacted my enjoyment of this book.
Firstly — and this is no fault of the author — I think I am past the stage of enjoying YA. There were elements of the story that simply came across too undeveloped-frontal-lobe for me. However, I must also say that the highest quality YA books should be enjoyable for adults. The quality of this book did not meet that standard.
My second issue is with the editing of the book. There were lots of errors throughout the story that caused me to believe it was poorly translated, at which point I read the author’s biography and confirmed that she is Brazilian, which likely affected some of the composition and structure of the sentences. While I have great admiration for an author who writes in many languages and/or in a language that is not their first, a poorly written or translated story does not make for an enjoyable reader experience. There were just too many awkwardly phrased sentiments for my taste.
Lastly, I struggled with alternating between four different character perspectives. While I understand the purpose was to familiarize us with each of the main “princesses” of the story individually , in effect it made it more difficult to keep track of everything that was happening.
Despite my criticisms, I am a huge fan of the concept and I think the author is commendable for taking on such a concept in the first place. While I will not be reading the second book, I do hope that some of my issues are improved upon in future publications by this author, because I think she has the potential to be a great storyteller.
Firstly — and this is no fault of the author — I think I am past the stage of enjoying YA. There were elements of the story that simply came across too undeveloped-frontal-lobe for me. However, I must also say that the highest quality YA books should be enjoyable for adults. The quality of this book did not meet that standard.
My second issue is with the editing of the book. There were lots of errors throughout the story that caused me to believe it was poorly translated, at which point I read the author’s biography and confirmed that she is Brazilian, which likely affected some of the composition and structure of the sentences. While I have great admiration for an author who writes in many languages and/or in a language that is not their first, a poorly written or translated story does not make for an enjoyable reader experience. There were just too many awkwardly phrased sentiments for my taste.
Lastly, I struggled with alternating between four different character perspectives. While I understand the purpose was to
Despite my criticisms, I am a huge fan of the concept and I think the author is commendable for taking on such a concept in the first place. While I will not be reading the second book, I do hope that some of my issues are improved upon in future publications by this author, because I think she has the potential to be a great storyteller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia and Suicide