The Wicked Remain brings back some of my favorite characters: Nani, Rory, Yuki, and Ella. This book is somehow darker and more delicious than the previous book. Each of the main characters in the book is fully fleshed out and believable and that adds to the urgency and tension in the story. I love, love modern fairy tale retellings and this is by far one of my favorites.

You know you enjoy a book when you power through no paragraph indents. There were many aspects I liked about THE WICKED REMAIN. Our main girls are back and all still easy to root for. The mystery and reveal could have been paced a bit better. It went from them not knowing to suddenly figuring things out, as well as the source of the curse not feeling foreshadowed. I loved what was done with povs.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Wicked Remain is the second book in the duology of the Grimrose Girls. We are back with our four girls Ella, Rory, Yuki and Nani. And it is finally time for them to break their curse. 

First things first, I absolutely loved the fact you could get back into the story of our four girls without trouble. The story just continued effortlessly and even delivered more than I have expected. The idea of bringing fairy tails into the modern time is genius. 

The story has so many twists and turns. It never get boring for even one second. I just thought: What the hell?" for half of the time. Another massive plus point is the LGBTQI+ representation and the character diversity. 

Overall, it was an amazing read and I absolutely enjoyed it. Laura Pohl wrapped this story perfectly up. 

Publishing Date: 1st November 2022

A twisted and dark fairy tale retelling with a sapphic twist? The sequel to The Grimrose Girls was everything I needed it to be. 

This book was darker and more twisted then its predecessor and at moments had me questioning everything I thought I knew about the origins of these fairytales. For moments I was worried there would be no HEA for the girls stories. 

As with the first the girls were all incredibly well developed and had so much depth that even when they aired on the side of morally grey I found them relatable. Though the book featured a lot of the girls getting their happy ever afters and the stories finding their happy endings the real highlight of this book for me was the relationship between Yuki and Ella. The love they shared for each other knew no bounds, and they would each go to the ends of the world to save the other and my heart melted in its entirety for both of them.

Though I hate so see the story end and the duology come to a close I was so satisfied with how nicely this wrapped up. 

Thank you to Sourebooks Fire and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Grimrose Girls duology is full of magic, darkness, and unwavering hope as four friends fight to break a curse that has plagued their school for centuries. The Wicked Remain is a strong sequel and provides many answers that the first book left unanswered. I appreciated that the author focused on revealing more about the curse and how each girl is impacted by it, forced to face their weaknesses. I wish that we would've learned more about the fairytales within the book that other characters were based on. One challenge I had was that this book is slow; it didn't really pick up until the 60% mark. There were too many repeated conversations about not knowing what to do, having no clues, and it felt like it was being dragged on. I also thought the reveal of the true villains wasn't that great. It just didn't feel adequately built upon.

I loved the ending. It was powerful and encapsulated the true meaning of the series perfectly.

The story focuses more on the curse and the remaining stories in the books, than Ari and the murders from the first book, which I enjoyed. I liked that we were introduced to more of the side characters in a deeper way, and began to learn how everyone was connected, and which story they followed. From small clues in tgg, it was easy to assign some of the girls to their stories, but I was surprised with some of the fairy tales that were chosen.

By the end of tgg, I didn't have a favourite character, and thought that they were all quite unlikeable and underdeveloped, but I think at the ned of it, it would be Nani. The more we learned about her and followed the mystery surrounding her and her father, the more I liked seeing her and reading from her pov, as she was quite withdrawn and mysterious in the first book, so it was interesting to learn more about her.

I don't think there was much character development for the other girls in the group. Rory, Ella and Yuki didn't seem to change much from being rude and bad tempered with each other, and there was still a lot of tension between them. I thought the rivals to lovers dynamic between Rory and her love interest was well written and one of my favourite relationships in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the story a lot, and thought it was really suspenseful and original, it held my interest well, and delivered a really well rounded and inclusive fairy tale retelling. I would love to see this adapted as a movie or tv show, as it has so many twists and an eeriness to it that would work perfectly.

My full review will be posted on my goodreads account, closer to the publication date.

The Wicked Remain managed to surpass the brilliance of The Grimrose Girls, often in ways I couldn't expect. I entered this book thinking it would be a solid followup, but, without the creeping mystery of the first book, it might lack that special spark - I was happily wrong. This book takes all the pieces from the predecessor and focuses in on their emotional weight and their thematic significance. All four protagonists are compelling and manage to develop in ways that feel deeply human, and the supporting cast is perfect too. What will always surprise me is how a writing style that can initially seem quite sparse and blunt actually is a beautiful (as well as immensely readable) vehicle for this tale. And for all the risk of magic contrivance or tropey copouts, the ending is absolutely perfect at balancing fairytale ideas with modern sensibilities. A deeply intersectional duology that truly brings fairytales into the modern world in a way other texts sometimes only partly manage.

I got a free e-ARC through Netgalley, this in no way affected this review.

You guys don’t understand the scream I let out when I got approved for this ARC! I read The Grimrose Girls back in January and enjoyed it so much and now I didn’t have to wait almost an entire year to read the second and final book in this duology!

Now, I can’t say too much about the plot since this is a sequel, but the people who enjoyed the first book will be very pleased with how this sequel wraps everything up!

We arrive back at Grimrose Académie and are still following Rory, Nani, Ella and Yuki as they try to solve the mystery that’s plaguing the Académie. It was really nice to learn more about these characters and see their relationships evolve even more.

I also loved all the queer and diverse rep we got in this book, especially since it’s a fantasy/horror book!

The Wicked Remain is book 2 in the Grimrose Girls and picks up after the events of book 1.  Now that Ella, Yuki, Rory, and Nani have figured out the curse they are set out to break it.  The book follows each of the characters on their journey through their own POV which makes for a fast read. There is great LGBTQI+ representation, I really loved the relationships between the characters and how they protect each other.  It is an excellent story with a lot of twists and turns and is quite funny at times.  The world-building is top-notch as is the character growth.  It is just an all-around great story.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an amazing sequel. I absolutely love this world, these characters and the representation. I definitely don't feel let down and I'm so glad I've read this book. It had so many amazing plot twists and it was very easy to read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own. This was an amazing sequel and I love every second of it, while waiting for this to read book 1 and be ready, you will not be so happy to read both.  It was so amazing.  There was great representation and it was just fun and a perfect sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! 

I am SO excited to have the chance to read this book! I read the first book in the series The Grimrose Girls, last year. I instantly fell in love and immediately needed the second book. Well it sure did not disappoint!

Our girls are back. Ella, Yuki, Rory, and Nani have figured out the truth behind the curse. Now they need to pick up the pieces, and figure out how to break the curse cycle. But each girl is hiding a secret of their own. The book will immerse you in the story of each girl and their paths. Now will they be able to break the curses of their stories and find their happy endings? 

There is so many twists, turns, and adventure. I love this world, and I am so excited to be back!  This book is one of my favorite fairytale retellings with its fresh look on a few of our favorite heroines. 


What I love:
-the LGBTQI+ representation is so strong in this book. I love how it isn’t a second thought or a box to check off in terms of diversity. Plus the slight nod to demi was wonderful to see. 
-the world building is fantastic as always. I love the dark academia feel through this series
-multiple POVs which keeps the pacing fast. I didn’t want stop reading at all. 
-the twists I didn’t see coming. The growth of all the characters was also wonderful.

I absolutely loved this sequel! I think it did a great job tying up the stories from the last book. I loved all the characters and cheered for them through the story. The ending was also perfect! I can’t wait to read more from this author! 4.5 stars out of 5