Personally, I’ve never been into sort of mystery novels so it doesn’t necessarily make it high on my rating off the bat. I think this story had a lot of potential, and I would get the appeal of it, but it was really just mediocre.

The writing style was also hard to read. It didn’t feel like a well written story. I had a lot of hope for this book because of its general idea/synopsis but I was disappointed.

This book had potential but unfortunately it fell a little flat. I feel like too much time was spent focused on sexuality. It would have been nicer if that energy was directed into the stories.

The Grimrose Girls is one of the most interesting fairy tale retellings I've read in quite some time! I loved how Pohl wove together these different fairy tale characters and stories so seamlessly. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl is a fresh, original take on ancient, unsettling fairy tales. The diverse cast of characters is also exciting to see in the YA genre.

There were, however, a few unsettling plot points that I would like to address. First of all, the character portrayed as being Belle from Beauty and the Beast fell in love with a transgender woman. I'm sure that is wasn't intentional, but comparing a transgender person to a beast is incredibly rude and demeaning.

The main characters were also absolute hypocrites. They accused their classmates of moving on too quickly after their best friend died, but appeared to gloss over the deaths of other classmates without any lasting grief on their part. The four main characters actually watched one of their classmates die in a horrific way, and they discovered the brutally murdered bodies of several more classmates throughout the novel. The fact that they were able to instantaneously move past these deaths was alarming and sends a poor message about PTSD to readers.

Now, on to what I love about this book! The Grimrose Girls takes place at an academy in the Swiss Alps. In addition to the regular load of coursework, students have the option to take part in extra curricular activities like fencing and horseback riding. There is also a cute town nearby that serves incredible gelato. Count me in!

The four main girls also underwent a lot of positive character development over the course of the novel. I'm excited to see where fate takes them in the upcoming sequel! Fans of murder mysteries seeped in magic, diverse characters, and modern fairy tales will delight in this new series in the YA genre.

I received an ARC of The Grimrose Girls from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire; all opinions are my own.

4.5 stars!

I was so intrigued by this book from the moment my eyes saw the cover! Blog followers will know that I love book set in boarding schools and books with fairytales, so I just had to read this book. I am so grateful that I was able to get my hands on an e-arc! And before I forget the content warnings: suicide mention, depiction of anxiety and OCD, parental physical/emotional abuse, mention of parental death, light gore.

The Grimrose Girls is a modern creative and very interesting retelling of our favorite fairytales told from the perspective of Ella, Yuki, Nina and Rory. I will admit, having 4 perspectives really put me off at the start but I actually enjoyed the many povs in this book. I think the easiest retelling to guess is Ella or Cinderella. The others are a bit harder to guess and I actually couldn’t tell while reading. I stumbled across a post explaining the characters and now I can see all the subtle hints.

It centers around the death of one of their friends, Ari. They find a fairytale book in the dorm rooms that doesn’t seem right. The story has magic/ fantasy aspects, a bit of romance (love Freddie!!!) and of course an amazing mystery that I couldn’t crack! The story reminds me of The Ivies by Alexa Donne which I really enjoyed too.

It’s a bit hard to get into the book since there is a lot of backstory and hunting for answers/clues but around halfway through, things get really good! Laura Pohl’s hints are so subtle but incredibly creative and well placed. So well that when I learned the name of the murderer I felt so silly for missing it. In between clue hunting, the girls still grow their friendship through shopping for fabric for the ball and spending time together which I thought was nice to keep in. The boarding school aspect also has a big part in the story and I love that it was obvious that the girls focused on school

Like I mentioned, the mystery is amazing especially since the deaths continue while the girls are investigating which adds a bit more thrill to the story. The ending is a bit abrupt but worth it. I have a feeling that a second book will be coming out and I can’t wait to read it! I also just want to mention how pretty the cover is! I love the red and black theme and all the hints on the cover.

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I don’t know where to begin. This was my first NetGalley read, and I’m already ready for the sequel. Yes, it’s that good. I always read YA books with 2 minds: that of a fan and that of a teacher always looking for books to share with my students, and The Grimrose Girls hit high marks for both parts of my mind.

I loved that the novel starred a diverse cast of characters including several LGBTQ characters. What I especially liked was the gender and/or sexual identity of the characters was not the main focus of the plot. It was one part of their characters. Our youth (and adults, too), need to read the coming out stories, but also stories like this! Brava, to Lara Pohl for crafting the novel in this way.

I will admit, I am a sucker for novels with boarding schools as a setting, and Pohl does not let down in this aspect, either. Numerous staircases, towers, and, of course, secret passageways adds to the mystery that abounds.

Finally—I adore novels that have fairy tales as source materials! I would put The Grimrose Girls right at the top with some of my favorites—Marissa Meyer’s, The Lunar Chronicle Series; Bridgid Kemmerer’s, The Cursebreaker series; and most recently, Cinderella Is Dead, by Kalynn Bayron. One of the most fun aspects of reading The Grimrose Girls is trying to figure out which fairy tale each of the characters, including “minor” ones is, for lack of a better way to say it, from.

There were a couple of parts about 70% - 80% in where I thought, “Ok, let’s get on with it.” There was information in these parts that is very important. I was being impatient because I wanted to see if I was guessing the resolution to the mystery correctly. (I didn’t.)

So, friends, mark your calendar for November 2, 2021, and get The Grimrose Girls. You’ll love it!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl is the first book in a new YA fantasy series. When I saw that the description read "The Descendants meets Pretty Little Liars," I knew that I need to add this book to my TBR list right away. Those are two of my favorite TV shows/movies, and my favorite genres are YA fantasy and thrillers. This book sounded like the perfect blend for me. The story revolves 4 girls who attend a prestigious boarding school, Grimrose Academie. Three of them are devastated after the 4th girl in their clique dies in an apparent suicide, but was it really suicide? Soon, they find out that their destinies are connected to the stories of fairy tale princesses in a magical book of stories. I enjoyed trying to figure out which girl belongs to which fairy tale. Some of them were easy to figure out, but others took me a long time in the book before I realized who they were. That made the book fun and intriguing at the same time.

Here is an excerpt from an opening chapter of the book:

"The first day of school started with a funeral.
...
The Grimrose Académie was exclusive not only in name, but also in reputation. Its location in Switzerland and the exorbitant price ensured that only the richest and most powerful were able to attend. It sat on one of Alps’ most beautiful hills and boasted a giant fairy-tale-like castle with four towers and white marble, gardens extending up to the mountains that surrounded them, and a crystalline lake to complete the view.
Studying at Grimrose was a guarantee of your future. When you studied at Grimrose, nothing could ever go wrong.
Except that on the eve of the first day of school, one of the Académie’s most exceptional students had drowned in the school lake.
Alone."

After I read that excerpt, I was so excited to continue reading this book and to figure out what happened to the dead student. One highlight of this book is the characters. Even though the book is told from 4 different points of view (third person, not first), I never got the 4 girls mixed up. I think that's a testament to the author's strong characterization. This book is also very inclusive, with characters from various racial/ethnic backgrounds and with different sexual identities/orientations. One warning I want to give you is that this book requires suspension of disbelief. It requires you to believe that girls in the boarding school can embody fairy tale characters. If you think that's too unrealistic or magical, this is not the book for you. However, if you enjoyed Once Upon A Time or the Descendants movies, and you're ready to believe in magic, then definitely check out this book.

Overall, The Grimrose Girls is an excellent YA fantasy that blends magic, action, and romance together. There are many references to famous fairy tales - the Grimm version, not the Disney version - and we also get to see multiple characters meet and fall in love with each other, with their relationships developing over time. I did take off 1 star, because the pace felt slow at times. The central mystery of their dead friend is introduced at the beginning of the book, but they don't really make any headway in solving the mystery for at least 2/3 of the book. I still enjoyed reading this book and finished it in a day. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above or if you're a fan of YA fantasy books, then I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in November!

CW- death, murder, domestic abuse, chronic illness, fire, deadnaming, vomit, acephobia/arophobia
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The Grimrose Girls takes place at a boarding school and uses classic fairytales to uncover the plot of a murder and a century long magical curse.
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I really enjoyed this book! The premise is so good, and I loved the mystery aspect of it! I think the multiple povs worked well, although they could muddle together at some points. The inclusion of the fairy tales was also great.
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My favorite part was definitely the queer rep! There were two sapphic mcs, an aroace mc, and a trans love interest/sc! The rep was just effortlessly there, and it made me so happy!
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I would recommend this to Disney fans and fans of the Twisted Tales series!
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I made it about 30% of the way through this book. I’m really disappointed to say I didn’t finish. I had a really hard time connecting to the characters, and the writing style struck me as more middle-grade than YA. The representation and the synopsis were so appealing, and I wish it delivered.

From the beginning it's clear this might not be my favorite thing in the whole world. I don't usually read young adult mysteries because I'm often let down by them. And at first this seems like another let down but as the story goes on I find myself liking it more. It takes a while for the story to really start to pick up so this won't be the book you should read when you're trying to get out of a reading slump. But once the pace picks up the book starts to get darker in a good way.

This book has tons of LGBTQ+ representation. I'm pretty sure none of the main characters are straight. And bonus points for actually using the words asexual and aromantic! Those one's are hardly ever mentioned.

I think part of the reason this was such a nice read for me during a really stressful time is because the characters dealt with a lot of teenage angst. They're trying to figure out themselves and I can relate to that instead of thinking about the exam results.

Describing this as "Pretty Little Liars"-esque is pretty on point. I kinda get the same vibe although I'm always horrified by the last seasons of that show and how bad it turned out. This doesn't turn out as bad.

One of the pet peeves I have with young adult mysteries is teenagers trying to investigate murder without parental supervision. Just seems overly stupid and reckless. Adults aren't really present in this book anyway (which in a way makes it easier to look over the fact how stupid this would be in real life).

All in all, I'd say this was a simple read that you should definitely read if this sounds like something you'd be interested in and I'd be interested in reading the sequel!

This just didn't work for me. I couldn't get engaged with the writing style, I didn't connect to the characters, and I didn't find it particularly suspenseful. I was excited for this book based on the premises, so I was disappointed.

Four troubled friends,
One murdered girl...
and a dark fate that may leave them all doomed.

The Descendants meets Pretty Little Liars in this story of four reimagined fairytale heroines who must uncover connections to their ancient curses and forge their own paths... before it's too late.

After the mysterious death of their best friend, Ella, Yuki, and Rory are the talk of their elite school, Grimrose Académie. The police ruled Ariane's death as a suicide, but the trio are determined to find out what really happened.

When Nani Eszes arrives as their newest roommate, it sets into motion a series of events that no one could have predicted. As the girls retrace their friend's final days, they discover a dark secret about Grimrose--Ariane wasn't the first dead girl.

They soon learn that all the past murders are connected to ancient fairytale curses...and that their own fates are tied to the stories, dooming the girls to brutal and gruesome endings unless they can break the cycle for good.

Think Once Upon a Time meets Pretty Little Liars and you have The Grimrose Girls. Everything in concept sounds fantastic and the premise of the book is excellent, exciting and intriguing… however, there was just something lacking.

For me many of the characters didn’t feel real enough, they were cardboard cutout stereotypes that I found it very difficult to empathise with and I also feel Pohl placed too much emphasis on their sexual orientation and neuroses to really allow their characterisation to develop.

Repetitive in places and lacking in solid continuous flair and style it just never really truly hooked me which was a shame as I feel there was a lot of promise and potential between the pages that was just never fully realised!

#bookreviewsbymrsc #thegrimrosegirls #laurapohl

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish this book. I DNF’d it just before the halfway mark. It failed to grab my attention. I was enticed by the premise but the writing style didn’t speak to me and nothing really drew me in. It was a shame because the synopsis really had me excited to read it.

4.5 stars!

Really enjoyed this well written thriller/mystery spin of a fairy tale re-telling with a full LGBTQIA+ cast. The 4 leading ladies alternate narrating the chapters, so we see 4 unique perspectives, including how each girl's fairy tale affects their feelings and actions. It was fun to guess which fairy tale was associated with each character, including beyond the 4 narrators. It was also great to see so much representation: F/F pairing, characters who are pan, on the ace and aro spectrums, and also chronic illness, mental health, and neurodiversity. A boarding school was the perfect setting for a thriller/mystery and though part of the mystery is resolved in a satisfying way, there is still a larger mystery at play. Looking forward to the next book in this series.

Reading this felt like watching a deleted scenes special feature. Without the context of the story, which wasn't fleshed out coherently at all (in my opinion), you're left with a series of thinly related vignettes about characters you have no reason to care about.

Nani is new at Grimrose Academy, but her roommates Rory and Yuki aren't very friendly. With their friend Ella, Rory and Yuki are mourning the death of Ari who has recently drowned. It's being marked a suicide. Case closed. But the girls don't believe that Ari actually killed herself. When they uncover a strange book and a list of names, the girls attempt to solve the mystery surrounding Ari's death. The Grimrose Girls is a modern fairy tale with a pretty diverse cast. The reader should immediately note similarities between the girls and their favorite princesses: Ariel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. I liked this book and the diversity among the girls. There was a wide range of sexualities exhibited in Grimrose Girls. Thus, I think that most girls can find a character they relate to in this book. At times I felt the girls sounded either a bit too flat or a bit too similar. Probably one of the challenges of having a story with 4 point of view characters. All in all this was an enjoyable book that I would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

An interesting exploration of grief and what happens when fantasy bleeds into reality.

“Grimrose Girls” follows four girls who are suffering in the aftermath of their friends suicide. In an attempt to find answers they stumble upon a hidden floorboard and murky history where classmates have a tendency to end up dead and if this quartet isn’t careful they might be next.

This is an interesting take on the idea of a fairytale leading more towards that of Brothers Grimm and less Disney and it was interesting to guess where each of their stories would lead them.

The cast of characters were fun and layered each going through their own problems and grief and trying to manage life in the after such a tragic event and how that can sometimes lead to groups getting closer or drifting apart. I feel like each could have easily carried the story solo but it was nice to see a shared perspective.

My biggest issue was I feel like the conflict/antagonist is rather weak and I know it’s a set up for a series but for me it wasn’t enough to hook me to want to continue despite caring about the characters. I think it has the potential to be something great but as for now I’m satisfied with the ending I was presented.

Not a bad start but one I wish was structured a bit differently and delivered on the grit it promised rather than the tease.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Grimrose Girls is a unique twist on fairy tales. After Ari's drowning is ruled a suicide, her friends investigate to find out what really happened. It seems Grimrose has dark secrets and a curse. can they uncover the mystery before more deaths?
I enjoyed getting to know the girls, who were all facing their own problems. There were lots of twists that I didn't see coming. I'm looking forward to the next one!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this early copy to review.

Book Review for The Grimrose Girls

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