The Grimrose Girls

I'm going to start by saying that I am a huge fan of Pretty Little Liars and Once Upon a Time and this book says that it's a mix of the two. And honestly, I saw that. There was drama, mystery, some murders, and a curse with storybook characters. I'm ALSO a huge fan of those OG fairy tales that aren't surrounded by princes and princesses and happy endings. And that's what this story is all about. So the premise is great and imaginative and had me hooked. However, I was slightly disappointed, but I feel like this is book 1 in what will be a series and I am very excited about that (if it isn't I am going to be incredibly disappointed and would change this review drastically).

The characters made me like and hate the book (in a good way). Some of the characters here were the worst. I won't give any spoilers but a main character that I was expecting to love, I loathed. She was mean for the sake of mean with no backstory that warranted it. I'm all for the villains of stories, but it's their stories that made them interesting. But maybe, if there are more books we'll get to learn more about this particular character. There were also some characters that were so sweet and earnest. And all said and done I think this perfectly highlighted the different personalities and moods teenagers have/go through.

Also, I loved the visibility. I love a book that is diverse and highlights different backgrounds, religions, sexualities, and cultures. All of the main characters are a plethora of sexualities and it's a boarding school in Switzerland that accommodates kids from all over the world. There was a lack of different races, however, that was noted in the book and I think will be touched on more (again, hoping for some more in a series).

This would have been a 4 star read other than the fact that I never felt excited. I never had the drive to learn what happens next. I don't know if that's due to my mood while reading or the writing, but I would definitely reread later to see and DEFINITELY read any other books related to this one to see how the story continues to unfold.

I recommend those to love fairytales (especially the twisted ones), boarding school dramas, and a bit of magic.