DNF at ~50%
I'm not doing a full review because I didn't read the full book, but basically: I adore Margaret Owen and a couple of the short story authors, but I just could not get into this one and wasn't enjoying it. I might come back to it later, but I'm not feeling it.

These always make me want full fledged stories when I read these things. This one I think would be great for higher grades in middle school or lower grades of high school. This was still pretty interesting to read but it always leaves me wanting more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book. I found this book would be great for younger readers who may be struggling to find their identity in their world. Or readers might identify if they are struggling with pushing down and hiding their identity while the process is hurtful and all-encompassing. Despite the horror and mystery elements, this book has a taste of “coming-of-age” that some younger readers might find relatable and enjoyable.

This is a great book for diverse reads, and I really loved the representation in this. A school of magic, a murder, and each story is a different classmate finding clues!

I enjoyed this. It's a bit young YA, if you know what I mean? So, I had a harder time connecting with every character. But overall, I think this concept is so unique, and I really feel like it has been executed well.

It's a fun book to pick up and read through!

Out June 6, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Thoughts

I wanted to love this book so much, and I do so love the concept here. But the execution... it just didn't come together. The natural diversity, the abundance of magic, and the myriad of voices that come with working with so many great authors makes this great. But the story wasn't there, and the story is what counts at the end of the day.

Pros
Casual Diversity: The beautiful thing about having so many authors come together is that the authenticity of their experiences shine through. These authors are all so incredibly different, and their characters represent that well. Passions, identities, cultures come together into one big, messy experience, and that diversity of thought and identity feels so natural, so effortless. These thoughts and ideas clash and comingle in a way that feels both real and hopeful, something that could happen and should happen (as much as anything could and should happen in a realm of magic). It was a pleasure to sink into a world where anybody and everybody can be what they want. So much magic exudes from these pages, magics familiar and not, and that's beautiful.

Text Chains: This is a school. People talk. Teens talk, and that happens here. Behind the scenes, text chains are blowing up, a thousand voices and secrets and conspiracies being shared between students. And we get to be privy to these text convos as well between each "chapter." These text chains not only add a bit of levity and humor to the text but they act as a throughline, connecting characters and places as we hop from one person to the next in this long investigation. That's a great device to employ, and it's employed well.

Ending: It all comes together in the end, believe it or not. So many authors, so many characters, so many types of magic... and all the loose threads get knotted up into a great reveal, a classic villain-spilling-secrets scene, and a messy (in a good way) conclusion. I wish the journey to this end was as smooth as the ending itself, but at least I found myself somewhat satisfied when I closed this book at the end.


Cons
Anthology Blah: This familiar anthology woe is, unfortunately, only accentuated in this book. Some of these stories are great, enticing snippets of vivid life and characters. Others are not quite as great. Because these stories come back to back to back to complete one overall landscape of plot, this big picture comes out somewhat blah. These stories and these styles are all unique and different, but they don't come together to form a particularly compelling picture. The concept is great, but the execution is, unfortunately, predictable (i.e. predictably bad).

Forgettable Figures: I found it very hard to remember who was who and what was what in this book. Each chapter is told by a different author and in a different perspective. Though descriptions of characters are consistent throughout, what each author chose to emphasize about personality, outer appearance, and overall importance meant that it was hard to remember characters. Name alone, in a world this full of characters, doesn't really do. It's not a fun reading experience to have to wrack your brain to remember who So-And-So was again. The format here means you never really get your footing in this world, and the characters are an unfortunate casualty of that.

Lost Plot: This book starts strong and ends strong. Don't get me wrong on that. It does come full circle. But the in-between part is where this book is particularly taxing. There are too many plots happening in only little snippets. The overall plot gets lost in the tangents, and that made me sad. Because I absolutely adored this world, and I absolutely adored some of these stories. Instead of creating one big picture, I wish this collaborative effort was used as a springboard for a whole bunch of stories, authors all working together to create a series of individual books wrapped up in character and culture in this great, multicultural world of magic. As it was, the individuals and their personal woes meant that the book dragged, the storyline forgotten, and that made me so, so sad. Because what's the point of a book that isn't going to dig into characters and isn't going to provide a compelling plot? There really is none.


Rating
⭐⭐⭐
3/10

Erstwhile fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series might like dipping their toes into this new magic school. Fans of Janice Hallett's The Appeal will love sitting in the investigator's shoes once again in this murder mystery.

3.5⭐️

The concept of this book was *so* cool. I loved the incorporation of different perspectives as well as different media types. Galieo academy was also so fun to read about and I would love to read more books set at this school that discuss the different kinds of magic. The representation in this book was also phenomenal, and I am so happy to see a book with so many different experiences being represented.

Definitely check this book out!

Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for me review.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Margaret Owen and Hanna Alkaf edit 18 authors through whose powers combine into The Grimoire of Grave Fates. Readers follow various characters, each penned by a different author, as they investigate a murder mystery at a magical school. Professor Dropwort was not well loved by students or staff and there seems to be no shortage of potential motives for his death. Readers learn more hour by hour as the investigation unfolds and the diverse students most alienated by Dropwort take center stage.

This project was undeniably ambitious. To have 18 authors working together in one world and producing a single coherent story from the perspectives of 18 different characters sounds like a lot because it simply is. To highlight cultural, racial, gender, and sexual identity diversity in a book with such a complex make-up is even more admirable. For me, personally, the project seemed just a little over-ambitious. Even as a lover of fantasy, I almost wish that the authors had kept to being solely a murder mystery in order to eliminate one extra aspect of complexity. However, I realize this would remove some of the amazing cultural components through the various magic types highlighted, so it leaves me torn.

All of the authors were cohesive enough that the mystery was easily solvable by the reader, which is good for the intended age demographic. For me, I was left with a middle-of-the-road feeling. The concept of this project was so utterly amazing and the execution was adequate. Good. But I was left wanting more. I wasn't motivated to pick up the book between reading sessions and this book took me far longer than a typically formatted novel would take me.

Overall, I absolutely appreciate what was done with this project and would recommend it to the target age demographic. To older readers. I invite them to share in the fun of the experience rather than seek out a new masterpiece here.

I absolutely LOVED this anthology! All the stories within were amazing, and I just wanted more from all of them! Absolutely will recommend, and I can't wait to give a re-read around spooky season!!

Everyone is the hero of their own story. This is a written as a round robin story, where each other gets one chapter with their own lead character. You'll see the characters from the other chapters pop up occasionally, but each chapter is rooted in the knowledge that for this chapter, this one hour, this is the most important character to the tale. They are each the hero, each vital. It's a very complicated structural thing to pull off, and luckily the group of authors here are all incredibly skilled. Incredibly fun, readable, and empowering. After you finish, you'll want to go track down the books of authors who you maybe hadn't picked up before.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ebook ARC!

I was really looking forward to this title as it has such an incredible list of authors contributing and the general premise was so catching. A murder in a magical school with an anthology type of set up? Sign me up!

I think this book has a very clever idea and the execution of creating the book with a new author writing each chapter and character gives so much room for different voices and styles to bring the reader in. Some of these chapters were much more compelling than the others in terms of what was going on in them but overall the murder-mystery was still really fun. I do think its difficult to get in to though as so many of the chapters dont really feel like the connect. It felt like reading a bunch of short stories that dont start to tie in until way later and when they do start explaining the solved details its a little rushed feeling.

I did still enjoy this for the most part but would only rate it around 3.5 stars due to said disconnect and how long it takes to get to the meat of the plot. I think each individual writer contributed something fun and unique though and I would love to see more books with this sort of setup in the future!

Thank you to Yallwest and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially curious about this book because a few authors I'd read before were contributing to this, but unfortunately, they were not enough to save this one for me. Conceptually, this book is fascinating—an anthology taking place at a magical school with a diverse cast, all the chapters being written by different authors? It should have worked. But again, unfortunately, it did not.

While the premise is interesting, the sheer number of chapters and characters in this book is simply too much. It made the entire mystery feel rather disjointed and difficult to follow. Certain chapters were much more compelling to me than others (my favorites being the ones by Victoria Lee, Mason Deaver, and L.L. McKinney, off the top of my head), and while most of the others were well-written, there were unfortunately a couple that just fell flat. The mystery itself came to a close WAY too abruptly for it to really feel like an ending. Overall, there were just so many pieces to the story and such little cohesion that I don't think it was executed the way it should have been. (And also there was a weird amount of typos in this one and it kind of made it feel more unfinished than it actually was.)

TL;DR: There were some bright spots, but unfortunately the execution was a little messier than it needed to be.

With its compelling blend of diverse perspectives, a riveting murder mystery, and a touch of enchantment, this book is sure to leave readers yearning for more adventures in this mesmerizing world. The Galileo Academy serves as a backdrop for this intriguing narrative, having recently undergone significant transformations to become a diverse and inclusive institution. The narrative unfolds through alternating perspectives, offering readers a glimpse into the thoughts and motivations of a diverse range of characters. Each student possesses unique skills, perspectives, and secrets, making them both suspects and amateur detectives in their quest for justice. This is a delightful read that combines elements of mystery, magic, and coming-of-age stories. The diverse cast of characters and their complex relationships add depth to the narrative, ensuring that readers remain engrossed until the final page.

This one was just ok. I was super excited about the premise, I mean a murder mystery in a magic school? But I think something got lost. There was too many characters that I didn’t like reading from and too many missing pieces. It was my first time reading from a lot of these authors and I think some of their writing styles just isn’t for me.

I feel sooo sad that I did not like this book as much as I thought I would. Some of the stories I did not read. I enjoyed Randy Ribay's story. Please read other reviews as I cannot properly review this book. However, if you are looking for a really cool premise with amazing authors writing interconnected stories about a magic school, please read this book.

The first story in this anthology was really intriguing, however, I felt like it ended before I could really connect with the character. That is the problem I had with most of the stories, I felt like before I could decide if I liked someone or not it was over, and were on to the next person. Also while all the stories are connected in that all the POVs are in the same place and involved in this mystery the transition between the POVs felt abrupt and made it hard for me to want to continue.

I think that others will really enjoy this, it just wasn't for me.

The concept for this book alone is ambitious and intriguing. A series of "short stories" told by several prominent (and truly amazing) authors, THE GRIMOIRE OF GRAVE FATES tells the story of a murder mystery inside a magical school. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different student at the academy. Their gathering of clues, including reveals about the victim (a racist man who nobody will miss, including this reader) and how the school handles the investigation (spoiler alert: not well), are detailed in each chapter. I adored every character we're introduced to and was sad at every chapter ending, as I was fairly certain we'd never see them again. A couple recurring characters popped up here and there in mentions and in brief interactions, but not enough to form a solid web of relationships or to form the connective tissue to the mystery itself.

As I mentioned, this was a very ambitious project and I can't imagine how much work went into outlining the clues, secrets, information vital to the mystery, and which authors were in charge of writing those reveals. Unfortunately, it was not as pleasurable of a read for this mystery-lover, as the story as a whole felt both rushed and not deeply developed at all. I would adore another mystery in this setting with these characters but with more interactions and through-lines integrated into the story.

I will recommend this book to students as each author who contributed is incredible, and this is a great method of introducing students to different writing styles as well as introduce them to more authors they are sure to love. Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC for this reveiw!

This is such an interesting idea - a supernatural murder mystery where each chapter is written by a different author and gives a different character's perspective. Some chapters worked better than others, but I absolutely loved the world building around the school and would happily read more about it! Overall, a pretty good read.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy.

This book is super creative! Definitely a response to HP - but feels very distinct. Despite being short stories, the tone and craft level remain consistent throughout. Each story reveals a little bit of the mystery and it's just super fun to read.

Anthologies are often hit or miss for me because I tend to like longer form stories where I have a chance to get to know and care about the characters. So when I saw that there was an anthology being edited by one of my favorite authors where the stories were all interconnected, I was intrigued!

The Grimoire of Grave Fates was expertly done, with each story from a different POV but with recurring characters as the school had to figure out who killed the school's most hated teacher... and more importantly, prove that it wasn't themselves or anyone they cared about.

The diversity of the contributors bleeds over into the book, bringing a wonderfully diverse cast of characters with representation across different gender identities, sexualities, and races.

I am so impressed by how well the stories wove together and built off of each other--this could easily have been a disastrous mess instead of the elegant masterpiece that it turned out to be.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy of this. I'm so excited to get my hands on a finished copy and see the final layout and design. So well done!

The writing style of this book is so interesting. Having the chapters from the perspective of so many different students gave such an interesting perspective on the school and the murder victim. It was also an intriguing way to present the evidence as each student was uncovering part of the mystery. I really enjoyed piecing together the clues and seeing so many cool characters. It's a very cool and well composed story.