A murder mystery that takes place at a boarding school + classic fairy tale curses! It’s about learning to control your own story, which I loved. It’s also multi-POV, and each of the narrators was interesting in her own right. After the death of a friend, Rory, Ella, and Yuki join with new girl Nani to investigate. I loved the Dark academia combined with fairy tale vibes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I remember my dad allowing me to watch The Craft when I was a kid and absolutely fell head over heels for that genre of film and now having read Grimrose Girls, it was like a wave of nostalgia. I lived the characters and felt that all were paid attention to during the course of the plot and their build of character. The descriptions were easy to imagine and I thoroughly enjoyed it in a single evening. The prose is easy for someone who is at the level of a Freshmen, or someone at 30 like me who just wanted a good read with not too much world building. I would highly recommend.

This fairytale retelling(s) features not only 1 MC who is not like other girls, but 4, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

Grimrose Academy, an exclusive and expensive private boarding school/castle, has had a student die suddenly, and her friends try to dig deeper into the mystery.

We were too busy being told what makes each girl special and unique to actually see it in their actions. As it was, they succeeded in sneaking around, keeping secrets, aligning friend groups and kissing their new-found love interests while girls at their school were dying like every other week...pretty much the same recipe for most YA boarding school fantasies.

The fact that there are 4 MCs rather than one actually takes away from the opportunity to really become emotionally invested in any of them. The LGBTQIA representation and racial diversity was great, but it felt forced, as if the author was checking off boxes to make sure she was as inclusive as possible. It would have been nice to have delved a little deeper into any one of these characters, but there wasn't enough bandwidth, so some characters resorted to making dramatic speeches that were more at home at a podium rather than a private talk with their friends.

Although the author tried to create an atmosphere of mysterious dark academia, it ended up being more about the teen friend drama and angst, giving off poor little rich girl vibes. It was definitely not spooky.

As to the mystery itself, the premise of seemed to be an interesting take on the usual fairytale re-telling. However, there wasn't enough revealed in this book to really figure out how or even what was happening to the students at the school. I just feel that the drama of the MCs was given more air time than the actual mystery.

Loved this one!! So amazing to read and the story was entertaining. I loved the main characters as they moved through the story.

These characters were really interesting. The book didn’t seem to really pick up until the end which was a bummer but I was definitely left wanting to know what else will happen.

I'm a sucker for fairy tales but I absolutely love the new trend of giving these characters some autonomy in their lives. This was a fun read to explore friendship and identity in.

What if you took Nancy Drew, and introduced her discretely to Grimm Fairy Tales while at a boarding school? This story has equal parts mystery, while a team of girls attempt to solve the death of one of their closest friends, while introducing fairy tales about a quarter of the way through. The premise is extremely interesting. I enjoyed the story tremendously once I got into it. I did think it was a little predictable at times, but overall very well executed. I’m intrigued to venture into the next book, and already have recommended for purchase.

I really wanted to like this book but I had to DNF. I don’t know what it was about the writing but I just couldn’t get into it. I think the premise is great and I know my students may be more inclined to enjoy this book so I will definitely hype it up to them as a fairy tale murder mystery with dark academia vibes.

Great book and enjoyed the characters . loved the slight romance and the how well the group worked together. Overall a great book . I would read this author again.

I think it's sadly time to admit this is a DNF - I picked it up around the time of the release but never found myself going back to it. While I'm always intrigued by a murder at a boarding school, this one just sadly wasn't for me.

This was a great YA read with a dark academia/ murder myster vibe. It was amazingly written and I am very excited to see
What happens in book 2

I can appreciate a darker approach to fairly tales. And I liked the individual motivations and complexities to the girls. I didn't like the overall plot as much. It's not nearly as clever as it thinks and the charm wore off quite quickly, with the deaths coming more rapidly and with far more ridiculous circumstance and explanation.

The Grimrose Girls was an atmospheric, private school, murder mystery story. It had a very diverse cast of characters. I loved the the dark twist on fairy tales that this explored. I’m not sure if I’ll continue on with the sequel, but I enjoyed my time with this book.

A gang of fearless teens who is trying find the source of a mystery and a curse so they can write their own path.

This book needs a sequel!

Thank you #NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for giving me the opportunity to read this!

This was a multi fairytale retelling with ace rep. Three girls come back to school and vow to solve their friends suicide, which they think was murder. They find a mysterious book of old fairytales that don’t end in HEA but in curses. This had Pretty Little Liars vibes, the characters were fairly entertaining and the plot had decent flow. I just didn’t relate much to the story, so I’m giving it three stars. I know a lot of people who would enjoy this though, so I’ll definitely be recommending it.

Just not the right one for me.

I loved the cover and the premise sounded intriguing, but once I started actually reading I quickly realized that I did not like any of the characters or the love interest. The one positive I can say about this book is that its very diverse which is so great to see in books, but the characters felt very one dimensional and not developed at all.

DNF @ 40%

I tried and tried to get into this book but I could not. I just didn’t connect with any of the characters and I found that it just wasn’t holding my attention. I decided to DNF around 27%

The Grimrose Girls is a dark fairytale retelling set in a dark academia world at a boarding school. When Ella, Yuki, and Rory's best friend Ariane mysteriously dies and it's ruled a suicide, they set out to find out what really happened. They don't expect to uncover ancient fairytale curses tied to their very own fates. Can the girls break the curses? This is so much fun for readers who enjoy fairytale retellings. The twist on classic fairytales is so much fun. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Grimrose Girls today.

I typically enjoy fairytale retellings and this was no exception. I enjoyed seeing the several variations of tales and the dark side of them as well. The mystery was not a big shock to me, but that didn't deter me from liking the story. The aesthetic and the setting were fantastic and I love hearing about The Grimrose Académie itself. I look forward to reading the sequel.