I was really intrigued by this anthology because it was edited by two favorite authors and I have to say they did an amazing job with the overall story! I loved the magic and murder mystery vibes a lot! Obviously as with any anthology I have a hard time writing a review that makes sense since every short story has a different author and therefore has a different writing style. Some hit and some miss for me. There were quite a few stories that I was mostly just skimming because I didn't have the same connection and just wanted the plot to move forward. It definitely picked up about 75% of the way through and I read the rest pretty quickly.

While this book has a good murder mystery throughout, it wasn't as interactive as I like my mysteries because of the anthology style. I was able to gather some clues here and there but I was mostly relying on each separate character to finally reveal the murderer because they weren't really known to us the whole time, if that makes sense. Usually when I read a murder mystery I like to try and guess before the reveal but this format didn't really allow that as much in my opinion. But overall, I do think that based on the format and the storytelling technique, this was fun and I would still recommend it!

What a cool and interesting concept! Honestly, I didn’t really love this book, but I think that was my own issue. I couldn’t keep up with some of the stories and I lost interest about a quarter through. However, I did find all the writing to be really well done.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for providing me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All the views and opinions in this review are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

I loved this book so much! It was full of mystery full of magic. It’s an intriguing multi-point book that is easy to follow when they switch views. The story was amazing and such a fun and fast read. Would recommend this to a friend!

The Grimoire of Grave Fates by Margaret Owen and Hanna Alkaf is a captivating and thought-provoking exploration of the power of fate and destiny. Through a series of compelling stories, the authors explore the idea that our lives are predetermined by forces beyond our control. With vivid descriptions and engaging characters, this book will leave readers pondering the mysteries of life and death.

This book was so well done. A murder mystery at a school of magic that moves around the world. A racist professor who many wanted gone. 16 magical teens trying to solve his murder. Because of the set up of this book, where each story was written by a different author, each character was easy enough to remember because they were so different. I really appreciated how much diversity this book included. There were students of color, a student in a wheelchair, neurodivergent students, non-binary and trans students, and LGBTQ+ students. The magic system was fascinating, because each student had their own method. They created spells through math, dance, lyrics, nature, and much more. It was cool to learn about all of the different ways each student cast spells and for the most part, it was related to their culture, which really added so much depth to the story. Many of these students reflected on the different ways that they didn’t feel like they belonged at the school, whether it was because they hadn’t yet made friends, their family doubted them, or they struggled to master their magic. Many of them struggled with these very real feelings of self doubt, but yet each student was integral in finding the murderer. They all set out to work independently, but ended up supporting each other. It was nice to see earlier characters pop up again in someone else’s story. Overall, I really enjoyed the set up of this mystery. It was new and exciting and fun to get to know each character.

Murder? Magic? Mystery? Incredible! The muli-POV allowed for such a dynamic story, however it did become a little overwhelming with the amount of characters involved. The diversity was refreshing. I know many of my teen readers will enjoy this, so I will be recommending for purchase. Plus the cover is gorgeous!

This book is FREAKING EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER WANTED!!! The representation. The freaking premise. The 18 different students POVs. It sank its teeth into me and would not let me go. Honestly this is in my top 5 reads of the past year. I want…. No. I NEED MORE. Harry Potter who? This is the magical academy I want. I am totally buying this and shoving it into peoples hands.

Wonderful book. The characters and storyline was phenomenal. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a great story.

A professor has been murdered and everyone at the magical academy known as the Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary is a suspect. Eighteen students, 20 hours, and a murderer to catch. Told from 18 different students, along with evidence, interviews, and notes, the mystery and events unfold all leading up to who killed the despised professor Septimius Dropwart and how each of the students could be involved. This was such a fun and magical read, especially when you get to see the events fold bit by bit from each student’s perspective all leading up to the events of the professor’s death and who could be involved. The mystery is revealed in tidbits and overall, it was a fun mystery read told in a unique format that definitely was an undertaking. i would highly recommend this for fans of mystery and fantasy reads! The students all had possible motives and all of them had some connection to the event. With so many unique perspectives and personalities, all the students were interesting to get to know and the overall villain was a fun one to figure out. Seriously, what a fun read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

As a thought experiment about a different kind of magical school with a diverse set of characters, this book succeeds with flying marks. As a murder mystery, or indeed simply as a book with a coherent plot, less so.

The advantage becomes the disadvantage, as can be the case with a project this ambitious. That we spend only one chapter in each character’s head is the whole idea, but it means connective tissue is easily lost when the torch passes from one to the next. The reader gets some Big Reveals multiple times, which lessens their impact. The Biggest Reveal is predictable in the general whodunit sense, but simultaneously impossible to foresee in its specifics since you don’t meet the key POV characters until quite late in the game, which I found unsatisfying. It’s also frustrating to get attached to a character and then never see them again.

Too, I wonder how much editorial work went into “smoothing out” the overall feel of the book. Very few of the individual authors’ voices are distinct, which is a bummer, because in a book like this, I’m hoping for something to send me off wanting to read their other works. With the voices so similar, though, I have no such indication, nothing to spur me on to find out when my TBR is already so full.

Ultimately, an interesting idea, but I find myself wondering if a novel was really the right vehicle for it.

To say that I've been eagerly awaiting this book is a massive understatement. I've had this on my TBR ever since it was announced and I was so thrilled to get an early copy! I love everything about the set up of the world from the inclusivity of different cultures to the reminder that magic belongs to all. As a reader with terrible memory, it was a little tricky for me to connect to the narrators. I loved each chapter while I was in it, but once I was onto the next it was hard for me to recall who I'd already met and who was new (this is also why I'm terrible at mysteries LOL). Each story flowed so well from one to the next that it felt like one cohesive story, which I can't even imagine how much work that must've taken. Overall, this was a fun, easy to read anthology that I plan to go back through and annotate to see if I can catch all the clues!

The Grimoire of Grave fates is a fascinating multi PoV magical mystery that grabbed me on page one and has kept me thinking about it long after sitting my kindle down.
What I Loved
1. The use of multiple points of view allowed for each of the character's voices to truly shine and let the reader feel like a detective solving the case.
2.Murder at a magical school where more people seem to have a potential motive than not.
3. The book is visually stunning and conveys well the tone I should expect through the chosen cover

Where I would normally list the things that didn't work as well for me here I am enamored with just about everything regarding this book and my only compliant is that it ended and I must now try to find a book to follow up that glorious reading experience.

Who I would recommend this book for
If you love dark academia , have enjoyed murder mysteries such as The Ivies by Alexa Donne, and are looking for a fantasy world to give you similar vibes then I think you will greatly enjoy The Grimorire of Grave Fates by Margaret Owen, and Hanna Alkaf.

This book is so much fun! I love the way it was written. I was skeptical at first because I don't like short stories, but since each perspective was told by a different author it actually made it so much fun to read. There was such a clear difference between the characters because they were literally being told by different people. It took a little while to really understand where I was because we were in so many different heads, but things steadily built on each other, and I just enjoyed it more and more as I kept going. I didn't think any of the authors did way better or way worse than any other. Each chapter was enjoyable and kept us slowly moving forward. If people like a really fast pace this might not be the best choice, but if you like learning about different magical affinities this is a great choice.

A murder mystery at a magic school!
This book was very uniquely done.
Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary is a school for people who possess all kinds of magic. When a mean-spirited, bigoted professor turns up dead, it seems many people have motive.
The story is told in 18 different POVs, written by 18 DIFFERENT authors. Everyone has a different piece of the puzzle.
Although it was a difficult to keep track of all of the students we heard from, I didn't have trouble following the story. I enjoyed how each voice was unique.
This was a page-turner for me. I think this will appeal to mystery fans more than fantasy fans, but I enjoyed the twists that the magic put on it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children's foe an early copy for review.

I know what it wanted to accomplish but it didn't work for me and I'm not sure it was because it was trying to tell a cohesive story with eighteen different authors to move the story forward (like Blackout and White Out and others of the ilk). While all of the authors are fabulous in their own right and the multiple entries that were the collective story (interviews, messages, documents) bring another layer of excitement to the story which I also enjoy, maybe I'm tired of magical academies or murder mysteries. I wouldn't say completely tuckered out by them but certainly there needs to be a spark to light my fire- and this one I had started a few different times then let languish on my Netgalley shelf.

I know there is an audience for it who will love it, I'm not that naïve, but I was not a fan personally.

I wish a queer anthology book like this was around when I was growing up - but I am so glad that young adults will have this (and many more to come) when it releases in July. 18 authors, 18 students, a school of magic, and an overlaying mystery makes for such a great read. Honestly, the only negative I have is that I wish it had cut down on some POVs just so the others could develop a little more (maybe 12-15 instead of 18?) but that's just a small nitpick. As usual with an anthology, some stories were better than others, but overall I truly loved this and I really can't wait to have this one on my shelf.

This is my new all-time favorite anthology! I have never read anything like this, and I need more! Maybe there will be a sequel one day? Please?

If you liked HP, but prefer something more diverse and less bigoted: read "The Grimoire of Grave Fates"!

This book is incredible! It feels kind of like if Agatha Christie had written Harry Potter. The fact that it is written by so many different authors in so many points of view and still meshes in quite an accomplishment! I was so intrigued by the different magics and how they’re all utilized. I definitely think this book was too short because I need more of these characters!

Although a bit slow in the middle (I just wanted to solve the mystery!) and, of course, many characters to keep track of, I still found the story compelling and engaging and the different characters' voices distinct. Personal standouts were Randy Ribay's transcript and Darcie Little Badger's action packed scene. An easy recommendation for many teens.

The idea for this was wildly intriguing to me and I think each individual piece was well done and well-realized. However, I didn't really feel like any one character was particularly well-developed? They just lacked a lot of depth, and felt sort of surface-level. I do like, though, that the cast of characters was diverse. Like I said, I liked all the individual pieces, but I think together they just didn't work. Some POVs seemingly retold information we already had but not in a way that added anything. Certain pieces also seemed to have their own story arcs, which made it really disjointed when one POV already had a climax and the overall story was still not quite there yet. Overall, the idea for this was super cool and I can only imagine how much time and effort it took to plan out and execute all the different POVs and make them even marginally connected. I think it just didn't...quite work. Very cool and unique idea, though. 3.5 Stars (because I did have a fun time and loved the idea) rounded up to 4 Stars.