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oraclereadings's Reviews (107)
Actual Rating: 3.5 β°
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Chloe is beautiful and I love her!
Red is kind of a jerk and a creeper and I do not care for him. Ugh.
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β’ π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬ β’
β° 3.5 β° I enjoyed reading it, but it didnβt have quite the impact that I thought it would.
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πππππ
Chloe is beautiful and I love her!
Red is kind of a jerk and a creeper and I do not care for him. Ugh.
ββΊβββΊββ
β’ π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬ β’
β° 3.5 β° I enjoyed reading it, but it didnβt have quite the impact that I thought it would.
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DNF 37%
There is just no world building in this book. Everything is thrown at you and I am not here for it.
There is just no world building in this book. Everything is thrown at you and I am not here for it.
Actual Rating:
2.5β°
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I wanted so badly to give this a rating above three stars, but I am an honest person and I cannot lie to myself. I just could not get into this. The concept was amazing to me. A world with ghosts and spirit dogs roaming the everyday modern world. An indigenous girl with the ability to see and control these spirits, with the ability to wake up the dead. I was here for it.
Sadly, though, the story was very slow. I wasnβt fully into the story until about halfway through the book and even then, my interests was very slim.
The artwork was amazing and I would definitely try to reread this book just to look through the art again.
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β° 2.5 β° Listen. I didnβt hate it, but I also didnβt like it. I got through it, but still just a meh book.
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2.5β°
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I wanted so badly to give this a rating above three stars, but I am an honest person and I cannot lie to myself. I just could not get into this. The concept was amazing to me. A world with ghosts and spirit dogs roaming the everyday modern world. An indigenous girl with the ability to see and control these spirits, with the ability to wake up the dead. I was here for it.
Sadly, though, the story was very slow. I wasnβt fully into the story until about halfway through the book and even then, my interests was very slim.
The artwork was amazing and I would definitely try to reread this book just to look through the art again.
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β° 2.5 β° Listen. I didnβt hate it, but I also didnβt like it. I got through it, but still just a meh book.
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Actual Rating: 3.5 β°
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β brown main character
β lesbian main character
β bi representation
β enemies to frenemies to friends to lovers
I liked this a lot more than I thought that I would. Any time magic or magic schools are involved, Iβm always worried that there is going to very blatant obviousness to βa certain seriesβ that I will not mention. I was so relieved that How to Succeed in Witchcraft was original in its own way. The world building was beautiful, including magic in the modern day real world with modern day real life problems. It really made me think, βjust because magic exists, it does not mean that all of our problems are solvedβ.
Shay is at the top of her class and is always receiving backlash at βcheatingβ because she shares magic with her family. Her and Ana are always competing against each other, to see who can climb to the top faster. The main course of their competition is a scholarship to the school that Shay has been dreaming about her whole life.
βSharing magicβ is a topic that is frequently discussed and is a very important topic in this book. When you share magic, your emotions can alter that of the person you shared magic with. It can be a positive thing when it is done with the right people (like your family), but it can also have negative effects if not.
When Mr B, the drama teacher and head of the scholarship committee, persuades Shay to star in the upcoming schoolβs musical play, claiming that she is the βdiversityβ that her school needs. Even though joining the musical will mean having to deal with Ana more, Shay agrees, seeing this as a chance to impress Mr B in hopes of winning the scholarship.
She soon comes to realize that Ana isnβt all that bad and finds herself becoming friends and undeniably wanting even more. Soon Shay finds herself feeling conflicted between Anaβs friendship and competing with her for the scholarship.
TW: Grooming
There is a teacher (view spoiler) that gives Shay unwanted attention. This includes invading personal space and inappropriate touching and remarks. These remarks consists of racism, queerphobia, and comments that lead to manipulation.
I am also going to be including a spoiler that I think is worth reading if youβre concerned about this trigger. [ One day after rehearsal, Shay discovers said teacher with another student in his car. They are very explicitly βsharing magicβ and heatedly kissing. (hide spoiler)]
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β’ π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬ β’
β° 3.5 β° I enjoyed reading it, but it didnβt have quite the impact that I thought it would.
ββββββββββββββββ½β°βΎββββββββββββββ
πππππ
β brown main character
β lesbian main character
β bi representation
β enemies to frenemies to friends to lovers
I liked this a lot more than I thought that I would. Any time magic or magic schools are involved, Iβm always worried that there is going to very blatant obviousness to βa certain seriesβ that I will not mention. I was so relieved that How to Succeed in Witchcraft was original in its own way. The world building was beautiful, including magic in the modern day real world with modern day real life problems. It really made me think, βjust because magic exists, it does not mean that all of our problems are solvedβ.
Shay is at the top of her class and is always receiving backlash at βcheatingβ because she shares magic with her family. Her and Ana are always competing against each other, to see who can climb to the top faster. The main course of their competition is a scholarship to the school that Shay has been dreaming about her whole life.
βSharing magicβ is a topic that is frequently discussed and is a very important topic in this book. When you share magic, your emotions can alter that of the person you shared magic with. It can be a positive thing when it is done with the right people (like your family), but it can also have negative effects if not.
When Mr B, the drama teacher and head of the scholarship committee, persuades Shay to star in the upcoming schoolβs musical play, claiming that she is the βdiversityβ that her school needs. Even though joining the musical will mean having to deal with Ana more, Shay agrees, seeing this as a chance to impress Mr B in hopes of winning the scholarship.
She soon comes to realize that Ana isnβt all that bad and finds herself becoming friends and undeniably wanting even more. Soon Shay finds herself feeling conflicted between Anaβs friendship and competing with her for the scholarship.
TW: Grooming
There is a teacher (view spoiler) that gives Shay unwanted attention. This includes invading personal space and inappropriate touching and remarks. These remarks consists of racism, queerphobia, and comments that lead to manipulation.
I am also going to be including a spoiler that I think is worth reading if youβre concerned about this trigger. [ One day after rehearsal, Shay discovers said teacher with another student in his car. They are very explicitly βsharing magicβ and heatedly kissing. (hide spoiler)]
ββΊβββΊββ
β’ π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬ β’
β° 3.5 β° I enjoyed reading it, but it didnβt have quite the impact that I thought it would.
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Actual Rating: 3.5 β°
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2023:
What can I say? Reading trashy YA novels is a toxic trope of mine.
No, but in actuality, despite all of the stereotypical tropes that live in young adult culture, this wouldnβt have been a bad book. (view spoiler)
I still did not like or care for a majority of the characters. Clary is just your typical young adult fantasy heroine. Jace is an asshole. Simon is the whiny friend. Alec is a brooding asshole. And Isabelle did absolutely nothing wrong. She is a queen. But everyone else is on thin fucking ice, I swear!
Anyway, I heard thereβs new books coming out. And thereβs books in the series that I never even picked up. So I decided to pick up this series again. Just because. For funsies. (view spoiler)
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2016:
Well, that ending was awkward.
I wasnβt even sure I was going to finish this because the story just seemed so slow and I wasnβt into any of the characters. Iβm hoping that Iβll be able to enjoy the other books in the series because I really want to give them a chance.
ββΊβββΊββ
β’ π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬ β’
β° 3.5 β° I enjoyed reading it, but it didnβt have quite the impact that I thought it would.
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2023:
What can I say? Reading trashy YA novels is a toxic trope of mine.
No, but in actuality, despite all of the stereotypical tropes that live in young adult culture, this wouldnβt have been a bad book. (view spoiler)
I still did not like or care for a majority of the characters. Clary is just your typical young adult fantasy heroine. Jace is an asshole. Simon is the whiny friend. Alec is a brooding asshole. And Isabelle did absolutely nothing wrong. She is a queen. But everyone else is on thin fucking ice, I swear!
Anyway, I heard thereβs new books coming out. And thereβs books in the series that I never even picked up. So I decided to pick up this series again. Just because. For funsies. (view spoiler)
ββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
2016:
Well, that ending was awkward.
I wasnβt even sure I was going to finish this because the story just seemed so slow and I wasnβt into any of the characters. Iβm hoping that Iβll be able to enjoy the other books in the series because I really want to give them a chance.
ββΊβββΊββ
β’ π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬ β’
β° 3.5 β° I enjoyed reading it, but it didnβt have quite the impact that I thought it would.
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Iβm sure that this gets better, but I am just bored out of my mind and cannot force myself to read anymore.
I might try reading this again later, but right now it is just not for me.
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β§ DNF below 50% will not be rated β§
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I might try reading this again later, but right now it is just not for me.
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π‘π¨π° π’ π«πππ ππ¨π¨π€π¬
β§ DNF below 50% will not be rated β§
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The concept of this story is very powerful and something that isnβt too far from the reality that we live in. I would have loved for this book to be a favorite, or even a four star read. It just doesnβt have the βumphβ that a story like this needs.
Iβve never read any of Ahmedβs books, so itβs hard to say whether I dislike her writing style. For me, it felt like the story was trying too hard to tell about three different plot points. There was the regular young adult plot, and then the dystopian world plot that we would expect from this sort of book. And then there was a mild revolution slash secret spy shit going on. While I understand that that goes in with the situation of the book, it just felt off. Like, weβre supposed to count on a couple of teenagers to start and lead this revolution? With said teenagers also bouncing back and forth between their romantic lives and their families, and spending about 10% of their time on said revolution. I donβt know. Maybe I missed a point, but it just didnβt deliver.
I put half of the blame on our classic, typical, young adult main character. Layla was so selfish in her actions that I physically wanted to scream. Again, end of the world like setting and wanting to resist, good job. I applaud anyone for wanting to do so. But girl, there is a time and place, and putting your family in danger is not the way to go.
Also, this is just a random part that bugged me that I feel the need to address: There is a part in the beginning of the book (so no spoilers) where Layla and her family are entering the camp for the first time. Layla has just smart mouthed a guard or her parents or whatever, I honestly donβt remember that much detail, and then not even a second later she is cutting up jokes and making a new friend with a Doctor Who reference. Thatβs another thing that I hate in fiction. Not pop culture references, but when those references are just constant and reused over and over.
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β° 2.5 β° Listen. I didnβt hate it, but I also didnβt like it. I got through it, but still just a meh book.
βββββββββββ½β°βΎββββββββββ
Iβve never read any of Ahmedβs books, so itβs hard to say whether I dislike her writing style. For me, it felt like the story was trying too hard to tell about three different plot points. There was the regular young adult plot, and then the dystopian world plot that we would expect from this sort of book. And then there was a mild revolution slash secret spy shit going on. While I understand that that goes in with the situation of the book, it just felt off. Like, weβre supposed to count on a couple of teenagers to start and lead this revolution? With said teenagers also bouncing back and forth between their romantic lives and their families, and spending about 10% of their time on said revolution. I donβt know. Maybe I missed a point, but it just didnβt deliver.
I put half of the blame on our classic, typical, young adult main character. Layla was so selfish in her actions that I physically wanted to scream. Again, end of the world like setting and wanting to resist, good job. I applaud anyone for wanting to do so. But girl, there is a time and place, and putting your family in danger is not the way to go.
Also, this is just a random part that bugged me that I feel the need to address: There is a part in the beginning of the book (so no spoilers) where Layla and her family are entering the camp for the first time. Layla has just smart mouthed a guard or her parents or whatever, I honestly donβt remember that much detail, and then not even a second later she is cutting up jokes and making a new friend with a Doctor Who reference. Thatβs another thing that I hate in fiction. Not pop culture references, but when those references are just constant and reused over and over.
ββΊββ βΎββΊββ
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β° 2.5 β° Listen. I didnβt hate it, but I also didnβt like it. I got through it, but still just a meh book.
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I have always loved retellings and it was no surprise to find that I enjoyed The Grimrose Girls. The beginning was a little slow for my tastes and had just started out as a normal mystery YA, but once the story actually started taking place, I was all over it. In this book, the main characters find themselves connecting the dots to their fairy tale selves and how it determines their fate.
Ella, living with her horrible step-mother and step-sisters and forced to clean and cook for them, designing clothes in her spare time, is quite obviously the fairy tale embodiment of Cinderella.
Yuki, being portrayed as the most beautiful girl in the school with her white as snow skin, ebony hair, and red rose lips, is no other than Elsa. I meanβSnow White.
Rory and Nani are easy to figure out if you know your fairy tales. Some of the side characters are a little harder to know who theyβre supposed to be unless youβre an expert on fairy tales.
The story surrounds the mysterious death, that the police ruled out as a suicide, of the girlsβ friend Ariane. Ella, Yuki, and Rory donβt believe that Ariane would do such a thing without leaving a note. With help from Nani, they find a mysterious book with a list of previous murders that may be connected to all of them at their school.
I did like that we got to have different points of view from each of the girls, but it felt like not enough of the story was able to be explained or explored on certain points. But I guess thatβs also why this is part of a series.
I do plan to read the next book in the series and hopefully that goes well because this could end up being a new favorite series for me.
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β° 4 β° A really good book. Could be a favorite, but itβs missing something.
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Ella, living with her horrible step-mother and step-sisters and forced to clean and cook for them, designing clothes in her spare time, is quite obviously the fairy tale embodiment of Cinderella.
Yuki, being portrayed as the most beautiful girl in the school with her white as snow skin, ebony hair, and red rose lips, is no other than Elsa. I meanβSnow White.
Rory and Nani are easy to figure out if you know your fairy tales. Some of the side characters are a little harder to know who theyβre supposed to be unless youβre an expert on fairy tales.
The story surrounds the mysterious death, that the police ruled out as a suicide, of the girlsβ friend Ariane. Ella, Yuki, and Rory donβt believe that Ariane would do such a thing without leaving a note. With help from Nani, they find a mysterious book with a list of previous murders that may be connected to all of them at their school.
I did like that we got to have different points of view from each of the girls, but it felt like not enough of the story was able to be explained or explored on certain points. But I guess thatβs also why this is part of a series.
I do plan to read the next book in the series and hopefully that goes well because this could end up being a new favorite series for me.
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β° 4 β° A really good book. Could be a favorite, but itβs missing something.
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