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A review by abookandchai
The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl
3.0
3.5 stars
when i got to know this book was a queer dark academia murder mystery i was instantly hooked! the grimrose girls definitely delivered on the 'dark' part, all the murders were gruesome and caught me off guard. the magical element and fairytales mixed with them made the perfect mix.
i really loved the representation portrayed through the characters; black, asian, lesbian, bi, pan, disabled, anxiety+ ocd, aro-ace, trans. they each had their flaws and unique struggles. the povs of the four girls were intriguing to read about too, as they went through the course of the story and ended up on a conclusion. the twist added to the fairytales to introduce the eerie atmosphere stays throughout the novel
i guess my issue was with the pacing and lack of actually feeling of being eager to uncover the mystery. i was just flowing along with the story, because as it progressed i kind of lost interest. the story has a slow start and it stays slow for a while, and so the build up is pretty slow too. it only changed to be fun in part 3, where the pieces start coming together and the potential for book two is set up.
overall, i really liked the idea behind the grimrose girls! dark fairytale retellings are always a must read for me and i'm glad this held up on that front. but then again, this can be interpreted as very basic. if you're looking for an easy read which is unapologetically queer, with multiple povs and has both murder and magical aspects, this one is for you!
thank you sourcebooks fire and netgalley for the arc!
when i got to know this book was a queer dark academia murder mystery i was instantly hooked! the grimrose girls definitely delivered on the 'dark' part, all the murders were gruesome and caught me off guard. the magical element and fairytales mixed with them made the perfect mix.
i really loved the representation portrayed through the characters; black, asian, lesbian, bi, pan, disabled, anxiety+ ocd, aro-ace, trans. they each had their flaws and unique struggles. the povs of the four girls were intriguing to read about too, as they went through the course of the story and ended up on a conclusion. the twist added to the fairytales to introduce the eerie atmosphere stays throughout the novel
i guess my issue was with the pacing and lack of actually feeling of being eager to uncover the mystery. i was just flowing along with the story, because as it progressed i kind of lost interest. the story has a slow start and it stays slow for a while, and so the build up is pretty slow too. it only changed to be fun in part 3, where the pieces start coming together and the potential for book two is set up.
overall, i really liked the idea behind the grimrose girls! dark fairytale retellings are always a must read for me and i'm glad this held up on that front. but then again, this can be interpreted as very basic. if you're looking for an easy read which is unapologetically queer, with multiple povs and has both murder and magical aspects, this one is for you!
thank you sourcebooks fire and netgalley for the arc!