OH HOW I LOVE ME SOME GOOD, QUEER, DARK ACADAMIA! From the start I found myself completely immersed in the setting--a mysterious elite boarding school, complete with multiple fairytale retellings, and a queer cast of characters. Laura Pohl did a fantastic job of writing The Grimrose Girls. There was a lot of mystery and the writing was not too elaborate but detailed enough to keep me intrigued. The pacing and timing of small reveals throughout the story kept me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning and I thoroughly enjoyed every twist and turn as these retellings unfolded in new and unexpected ways.

TW: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE, PARENTAL PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE, SELF-HARM AND PARENTAL DEATH

A story about boarding school students trying to solve a mystery intertwined with fairy tales retelling. With loads of mystery, The Grimrose Girls, by Laura Pohl, delivers a deep and somber story rooting in the murky secrets of a prestigious school for very rich people.

The book starts right after Ariane, one of the most treasured students of Grimrose Académie, is found dead drowned in a lake at school grounds. Initially, the police rules the case as an accident or potentially a suicide, but some of the girl’s friends (Ella and Rory, willing, and Yuki, by peer pressure) don’t really believe that version and start to go through their own investigation. They are joined by newcomer Nani, who needs to dive into the school’s past so she can try and find her father, who vanished just before she arrived at the academy. But, while doing that, they might just uncover some sinister matters that revolve around Grimrose Académie’s past.

Grimrose Girls has such a strong story that it makes it difficult not to get involved in it. The book is narrated from four different points of view, and that gives it a good complexity, since the reader can experience it from a good variety of perspectives. Also, the plot just flows really easy, not once losing its pace.

The questions addressed are also really relevant especially during the times we currently live in. The way Pohl approaches such serious matters is noteworthy, being so genuinely sensible about them.

It is, also, a very interesting retelling of many known fairy tales, getting away from the storylines generally used by other books of the kind. How every story is woven into one big plot is spectacularly well done.

Ari's dead. Whether by murder, suicide, or tragic accident, her ending was not happy. She was not a Disney Princess. Now, her friends, Ella, Yuki, and Rory want answers. All carry their own guilt. All carry their own secrets. All have a lot to learn about themselves and one another. A new arrival at the elite Grimrose Academie, Nani Esez, offers to help find what happened to Ari, but she has an ulterior motive, her own mystery to solve.

An entertaining read, this is aptly described as Pretty Little Liars meets Once Upon a Time meets the Descendants. The fairy tales at the heart of the story are supplemented by several other references, and it'll be fun to see where she takes these characters are they really come into their own in book 2.

If you're wondering whether to pick up the start of a series (or duology), I'll say this... The mystery of Ari's death is solved. You're still left with a satisfying enough ending from that standpoint. However, another mystery unfolds, and you're still left with plenty of unknowns. You also don't really see the girls "come into their own," which I assume is coming in the next book. This is more of the start of their journey, and it can be a slow one at times. You will still get a good deal of female friendships and unlikable characters with a lot of predictable plot and some twists thrown in. I'm more interested in this book as a way to get to the next one.

While this book is a dark academia book, it is not a haunted house/school novel. It is also not very atmospheric. That second part is a missed opportunity. There is little description of this castle that is a school with 73 staircases and hidden passageways. I didn't expect Harry Potter, but in a book about fairy tale retellings, I did want something more than a bare bones description of the school.

Representation: You do get some romance, and the LGBTQIA representation is well done in this book. The BIPOC representation is technically there, but the way it's presented is as an afterthought. It's offensive, and the author would do well to either lean into it further in Book 2 or not mention it at all.

4 stars

"We're not going to save just one girl. We are going to save them all."

rep // lesbians, wlw, ace, demi

cw // murder, gore, death, abuse

The Grimrose Girls follows the stories of Ella, Yuki, and Rory after the alleged suicide of their 4th bff Arianne who drowned herself at their elite private school Grimrose Académie. When a new girl, Nani moves in as well, they start to notice more things are dangerously amise as more girls start dying. When a book of fairytales is discovered in Arianne things, their interests are even more peaked. But this book shows all the originally ends of fairytales. The twisted dark scary ones where there are no happy endings, such as where the little mermaid drowns herself. With more and more connections between the stories and the deaths of the students, Ella, Yuki, Rory and Nani must save the girls from this curse.

Also the book is super queer. Two of our main characters are lesbians, one is pansexual and one is asexual aromantic. It was so refreshing in a young-adult novel to read about girls who are very comfortable with their identities and sexuality. The author does a great job at showing a very realistic group of students with different sexualities and identifies.

I thought the magical realism that existed within the novel was brilliantly done. The mysterious, sinister magic creeps closer as the plot progresses, as the girls discover more about the death of Ariane and the fairy tale book she left behind. I found myself trying to figure out which character corresponded to which fairy tale character, and it reminded me a lot of Ever After High. The gradual reveal of characters was really well done, and I actually gasped at a certain scene with an apple pie. The pacing was great and kept me hooked, wanting to know more. It really brought fairytales to the modern world, interlacing these traditional, well-known tales of caution and darkness with young love, teenage angst and strong, female friendships. Can't wait for the sequel!

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl tells the story of Ella, Yuki and Rory, students at the Grimrose Académie, whose friend Ariane died under mysterious circumstances. When Nani Eszes arrives to the school and becomes their new roommate, they team up to find out the truth about Ari’s death, for it may not have been an accident as the police ruled out… and it may be connected with an ancient fairytale curse…
This book was an amazing read for me; it is very interesting and entertaining. The characters have a great development, and if I had to choose a favorite, it would definitely be Ella, because she is such a good person, always being nice to everyone. The plot is very original, and I liked that the book is narrated from various POVs, so you can comprehend each of the main character's thoughts better.
If you like fairy tales, YA novels, thrillers and stories with queer characters, you will definitely love this book.
I’dlike to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What starts as three girls investigating the death of their beloved friend, becomes a conspiracy that involves the whole of the Grimrose Academie. Nani comes to the party late, becoming the newest roommate and confidante. All four girls start seeing their stories play out like those in a fairytale book that might have caused their friend's death.

The Grimrose Girls took the idea of fairytales and ran with it. I loved knowing who each character represented before they figured it out. Though at times I was just shaking my head at them wondering how they couldn't see what story they were a part of. That being said, I didn't guess the ending and who ended up being the villain. There were times when I had my doubts but I didn't realize the extent of the manipulations. All the characters have different types of relationships making it highly probable you'll relate to one of the girls. Poor Nani walking into this school in the middle of chaos. I'm interested to see where we go from here and what the overlying story is, especially since there will be pretty strong consequences from the actions taken in this book. For me, this was a 4/5.

If you like twisted fairytales, conspiracy theories, or bordering school murders, this is the one for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

The Grimrose Girls is a remarkably interesting story with wonderful diversity, interesting characters and a well, I am not so sure about the plot. I wanted to love this so much more than I did. It has great bones and could be outstanding. My key issues where it is a telling book rather than a showing book and I am unsure of what the major plot was about so I cannot decide if the story accomplished its goals or not. I never connected to any of the characters so I wasn't as involved as I could have been.

That said the authors writing style matched this story well and I really loved (the diversity as I mentioned above) as well as the magic system the author created. I thought it was unique and fun to learn something so different. I just wanted more. I think if you are on the fence then give this story a try, it might just be my own issues that kept this story from being everything I wanted it to be.

The plot was flawless, and it kept me engrossed throughout. The fairytale retelling elements, the diary or book, and the plot twists kept me engrossed until the very last page. I strongly advise YA thriller fans to read these.

The one thing I adored in this book was the cat. The cat is awesome. I love any feline named for Satan and behaving as such. I’m also normally a sucker for short chapters, but here it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t get a good chance to connect to any of the characters and there’s quite a few. I loved the premise, but this was just lacking something. Maybe since it is a part of a series, we will get more in depth with the later books.

4.25 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an arc of this book.

At Grimrose Academie, accidents happen. A girl might die every once in a while, but that's just normal, right? When best friends Ella, Yuki, and Rory lose their friend Ari, they know something more is going on. Together with their new roommate, Nani, they find clues that Ari left behind and uncover the dark fairy tale secrets hiding at Grimrose.

Dark Academia, Fairy Tale Retellings, Queer Squad Goals, and a Gorgeous Cover! This book has everything I wanted. I loved these dark fairy tale retellings and picking up on the breadcrumb trail (pun intended) that the author left for us to follow!

I've been trying to decide who my favorite character is, but I just can't seem to figure it out. I think that's a good sign: I love all of them. They are messy, and imperfect, and refuse to be pushed into the boxes that the world wants to push them into, and I just love that so much. And a trans love interest!

There were a few times in this book where the writing felt a little clunky and certain scenes didn't feel super well-developed, but I think that might just be because I had an advanced version! I look forward to reading the final version and probably loving it even more!

Pub date: October 26, 2021

Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Gore, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Transphobia

Grimrose Girls is 'Pretty Little Liars meets Once Upon a Time' and I absolutely loved it. I love fairy tale retellings and this book is definitely that, plus a 'remote location murder/mystery,' which was such a treat. The story focuses on four girls at the start of a new term at their prestigious school, Grimrose Academy. Yuki, Rory and Ella are still reeling from the mysterious death of their best friend, Ari, when newcomer, Nani, arrives, and the race to solve the mystery of their friend's death is on. I loved the switching perspective for all the girls, so we truly got to know and understand each one. I really loved figuring out which tale each girl represented and how that tied into the overall story. The LGBTQ+ representation in this book as absolutely amazing, it really felt like no matter who you are, there is someone in this story to connect to. The mystery was a lot of fun and I loved the climax. I cannot wait to see where this story goes!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC to read and review. My review will be posted on my Goodreads and StoryGraph pages, as well as my IG page (@th3bookishl1fe20) a few days before publication.

THE GRIMROSE GIRLS depicts three girls wrestling with grief and piecing together the ragged edges of their lives after their friend dies and a newcomer is placed with them.

I love remixes and retellings, and this fairy tale boarding school uses the more tragic iterations of the various tales simultaneously as plot and motivation. It was fun to try and figure out who the various characters were and what that might mean for the story. I appreciate that this emphasized the archetypal nature of these stories, where tales like Cinderella have parallels under other names around the world.

I like the worldbuilding and the cast of characters. I was wondering how the story was going to square the girls' in-universe understanding of fairy tales with the parallels they were noticing, but I like how it's handled. Where this really shines is in its portrayal of the complex dynamics between the remaining three girls and their new fourth after Ari dies. The rotating perspectives kept the story moving and showed the very different ways the four main characters think about past and current events, including their differing understandings of who Ari was and what she meant to them individually and to the group as a whole.

The main plot gets wrapped up but the overarching investigation/mystery has a lot more room for the series to continue. It's a good narrative balance since I have closure on the most important things while also having an idea of what they need to figure out next.

Minor spoilers to follow. There's a character who seems to straddle roles across several stories, two for sure and a third by my best guess. I like the feeling this generates, but I wish it happened more clearly for other characters as well. Part of why it feels strange is that when the canonically transgender character is given the story roles of Beast to another character's Belle and also names herself Swan in a purposeful reference to the Ugly Duckling, it made that portrayal feel strange, like she could only exist in context with perceived monstrosity. It definitely seems like it's trying to be a good or respectful portrayal of a trans character, and I think it mostly succeeded (especially with how her side role as Beast plays out). My main issue with it is that it used her so much in story beats that relied on her transness or her past experiences of transphobia that I don't have much of a sense of her beyond the coy and slightly abrasive trans girl. I like her and I'm glad she's there, but this definitely wasn't her time to shine.

A great remix of some classic tales, I'm excited to see what the sequel brings!

After the death of a roommate, four friends at a boarding school discover their fates are intwined with the tragic endings of fairytales.

Much of the fun of this murder-mystery-fantasy is sorting through the many fairytale parallels. The novel moves slowly at first (the main appeal at the start being the fairytale tie-ins), but the plot picks up dramatically in Part Two, at which point it is difficult to put down. There is also a heartening amount of LGBTQIA+ representation, including gay characters, a transgender girl, and an asexual protagonist. I'd recommend this title to high school readers who love twisted fairytale retellings.

Dark academia with fairytale retellings mixed in? YES PLEASE! This book is so far my fave book of the fall. I love the spoopy Grimm’s fairytale vibes set in a boarding school! This book was so good! I loved all the characters and the diversity and their individual growth. It was SO good.

My only criticism was that it ended too quickly and slightly abruptly… But that just means I need the next book!!

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl is a mystery thriller that is a mix between Pretty Little Liars and twisted childhood fairy tales.

The story is set in Switzerland at a private boarding school called Grimrose Academia, for the wealthy and the elite students.

The story follows 4 girls:

Ella, a biromamtic people pleaser

Rory, a strong lesbian who comes from a wealthy background

Nani, a lonely lesbian who came to the school to find her father who sent her to the school

Yuki, seemingly perfect aro-ace person with a deep hidden anger

The story follows the girls who a desperately trying to find the secret of their friend’s death, and the secrets of the school.

If you enjoy dark academia, mystery thrillers, and or boarding schools then I highly recommend this book to you.

Thank you for Netgalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts at an exclusive boarding school where the girls are grieving the loss of a classmate.

They didn't think their friend would take her own life and wanted to find out the truth. As they investigated they uncovered some interesting facts about the school. This may not be the first time this happened.

This was a fun one I love retellings and it was like Descendants meets Pretty Little Liars. Also, the ending really makes me want to pick up Book #2.

✨It was interesting taking these classic fairy tales but reimagining them with transgender, asexual, lesbian rep in it. They make more sense to me that way, lame patriarchy. They actually read the actual summaries of the real HCA stories which are horrible and were created to scare the crap out of young women to get them to stay home and not go out, cause men are evil and scary?

Thank you sourcebooksfire and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

The Grimrose Girls was such a cute and fun read full of murders and secrets.

Dark/light academia meets fairy tales, but not the Disney ones unfortunately, the original ones that don't end with "happily ever after". The book follows a group of girl who just lost one of their best friends, Ariane, and who are trying to figure out what happens. As the girls retrace their friend's last steps, they uncover dark secrets about themselves and their destinies.
I'm a sucker for boarding school settings, especially if it's full of sapphic girls and mystery. The characters were so interesting and loveable, they're all so different with their own personnality, their own strenghts, and fears. I loved them all so much. Their friendship was so great, with ups and downs and doubts. I really liked how all the relationships and feelings were written.
I'm really looking forward to the next book, to see how the story will evolve and how the characters will grow.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

The Grimrose Girls is one of those books I've been hearing a lot of buzz about and was super excited for. What's not to love about a book described as "Pretty Little Liars meets Once Upon a Time" in a dark academia setting with queer/sapphic characters?

While I did enjoy the story overall, it was a bit slow at the start. Nani's POV chapters sometimes felt like they were pasted in from another book. until her story finally started to overlap with the other girls'.

The diversity representation in the book (LGBTQIA+ characters, a character with chronic pain, one with OCD, etc.) was very well done and felt authentic. I also loved that the author chose to included content/trigger warnings at the beginning of the text, and wish more authors/publishers would pick up this practice.

I have a lot of unanswered questions after this book, and am looking forward to the sequel to see how they will be answered.

I was excited to read this book as i thought the premise was really unique and interesting. The book is well written, but I wanted to know more about the curse and how this affected those at the schools. It felt like it was setting up for a sequel, so maybe this will provide more information

I didn't know what to really expect out of this book. All I knew was boarding school + fairy tales + people dying, which all together had me hooked.

I like meeting the four main characters of Ella, Rory, and Yuki (who's best friend Ari was the first death) and Nani (who moves in after Ari's death). Some fairy tales were easier to pair with characters than others, which just made me more interested in what was going to happen next. The way in which the girls worked together, fought, dealt with their separate issues, and just survived at Grimrose was an adventure. The ending was a bit of a surprise and I liked how each girl came to the conclusion of who did the killings (most of them). I can't wait to read book 2!