Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review. #NetGalley #TheWickedRemain

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A satisfying end to this fairytale, some of it unpredictable, and some I hoped for.

The reveal of the true mystery of the duology, the secret of the curse and the final resolution was all a bit Disney/Once Upon a Time, but that was the point of it all!

I thought it was ver in tune with fairytales how romance forward this book was, and with four MCs I’m sure it was quite a task to set them up properly and it was set up, I thought, at the expense of us having a sharply written investigation into the crux of the curse.

Nevertheless, I feel like fans of the first will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately, I have not read the first book in this duology, however, the world-building and narration explained everything I needed to know. I was expecting to be confused, but within the first few chapters I understood the backstory and the plot-line made sense.
I loved the mystery of this book, and how the main characters weren’t all necessarily “good” - they were discovering themselves and that is such a beautiful thing in books.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for supplying me with a review copy of this book.

A solid follow-up to the first book. I liked how it managed to sustain itself from book one, which was quite a good read. I didn't have as much high expectations this time because there is always a chance of sequels being disappointing, but this one surprised me. The characters were just as enjoyable as before and I liked their growth, as well as how things ended for them. This was a lot more romance heavy, which I can't really complain about as a romance lover. Just some spots here and there that dragged, but otherwise a solid read. Can't wait to see what the author has in store for us with her next books.

This book has some of the best LGBTQ + rep I have read in a book in quite awhile. Trans rep, Bi rep, Lesbian rep, and it doesn’t stop there. This book is beautifully crafted with characters that work together so well and show both their strengths and weaknesses. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves fairytales, dark academia, or just cozy gay love stories.

Quick summary: This was a mediocre sequel to The Grimrose Girls. It didn't feel as polished or exciting as the original, but I'd still give it 3.5 stars.

Full review: Laura Pohl's follow-up to The Grimrose Girls picks up where the first story left off. Ella, Yuki, Rory, and Nani must break the curse before it claims its next victim... or risk joining the girls in an early grave. I had high hopes for this contemporary fantasy—especially since the first story was so good!—but The Wicked Remain fell flat for me.

Part of the problem was that this story lacked direction. There weren't many clues for the girls to explore, and they spent the majority of the book blindly searching for things that might help. That made the plot drag leading up to the climax. Nobody likes saggy-middle syndrome, and I'd hoped for better from this duology.

Additionally, all four girls made the same self-discovery. Seriously. The same realization was repeated again and again, disguised behind flowery prose and internal monologues. I was excited to read the empowering, feminist message the first time, confused by the second, bored by the third, and annoyed by the fourth.

This book was also rife with grammatical errors and weak sentences. I'm giving it a pass on this front since I received an ARC, and the final addition should fix the mistakes.

The characters themselves were enjoyable. Nani and Rori were nice, and I absolutely adored Yuki and Ella. Their close friendship and unwavering faith in each other was heartwarming, and I'm glad we got to hear their point of view throughout the story. I was satisfied with the girls' place at the end of the novel, even if the climax seemed a little rushed.

Before I list my concluding thoughts, I want to mention that this book had several swear words. They aren't any worse than what you'd hear in a middle or high school, but that might be something sensitive readers want to know before diving into this book.

Concluding thoughts: The Wicked Remain is a unique, revisionary take on traditional fairytales. The empowering feminist messages, believable romances (including several LGBTQIA+ relationships!), and likable protagonists place this story at 3.5 stars. I'd recommend it to readers who enjoyed the first book in the duology and those looking for contemporary fairytales.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for sending an arc of the title in exchange for an honest review.

*mind spoilers for grimrose girls (book 1) ahead*

The Wicked Remain picks up right where Grimrose Girls ends with Ella, Yuki, Rory, and Nani exploring the depths of the world to find a way to break free from the curse that's been haunting the Grimrose Académie girls tied to their wicked fates as told by an ancient fairytale book. While Grimrose Girls had a sinister and dark undertone to it, The Wicked Remain took an increasingly grimmer and darker turn, just like the cursed fairytales with their not-so-happy endings driving the story.

The sequel had me hooked in place and took over my life in the best way possible. I especially loved the fact that friendship was the story's driving force despite their conflicts and differences. All of the characters were explored more, with their coming-of-age moments and discovering their worth and rightful place in the world. The Wicked Remains wraps up with a very satisfying conclusion, quite a feminist ending to the fairytales we've grown up hearing of.

Fairytale retelling has never bode well with me in the past and I was pleasantly surprised by how much loved this series. Goes without saying that I enjoyed The Wicked Remains much more than Grimrose Girls and in my humble opinion, deserves all the hype in the world!

Part 2 of the Grimrose Girls story is a wild ride. Turning the fairy tales inside out seems to be the author's specialty. The power between the four girls gives them the courage to face down the curse in multiple ways. A definite twist to the timeless classics!

Um. So. How do I form words.

I might have been particularly biased toward this book because I was, and still am, OBSESSED with the first one. I actually panicked when I found out this was approved for me on Netgalley, like ????? what.

And then I read it. As you can tell, my brain did not recover.

“Magic was a battle of wills, of pouring the essence of self into the thing you wanted the most, making it real and concrete, letting it all out without guilt.”

The plot actually shook me so much, partly because it stayed on the same course as the first book but also took these little twists and turns that confused me and, looking back, made the whole experience completely different. Grimrose was the same as it always was, but also so changed, and I didn’t really know how to process that.

And only Laura Pohl could insert a fucking vine reference into a book. Absolutely iconic. I screamed.

“Is that allowed?” Rory asked, looking over her shoulder at the two students mashing their faces together. “Is that allowed?” Rory repeated louder, and Sabrina paused just long enough to give Rory the middle finger.”

On a similar note, each character got her own little arc of realization stemming from the events of the first book. The development was really well done.

Ella slowly grew into someone similar to, but not nearly the same as, what she started out as and I loved her determination to keep things together. She had this perfect inner strength and love that I personally found really rare and I loved the way she developed.

She also had OCD and was severely abused at home and I honestly was obsessed with her mental health portrayal. She felt so realistic and relatable in the most inspiring way and I was in love with the representation.

“She also never looked for her own story in these old records because her story was so much like the stories of countless other young girls in the world. Not just the girls who were fated to retell Cinderella, but girls who were prisoners in their homes, held captive in the darkness, until the day they vanished. No one noticed them, and no one would remember their names.
There were a hundred thousand other little Cinders out there, but only Ella got to be named for what she was.”

Yuki is a fan favorite and I can see why. I personally cannot choose a favorite, but like. Her progression was so much fun to read and I loved the conflict she brought to the story. That pressure to be perfect, to always be what everyone expects, was so incredibly done and her inner narrative was just…yes. The angst, the spiraling, the constant fury and confusion and want? I -

I wasn’t as much a fan of her being represented as aroace. I mean, I loved the representation, of course, but I thought it was a bit of an exaggeration to make her disgusted by all romance? I think the moments in the book where she physically shut out her friends’ SOs were just kind of awkward. It would have been possible to make her realistically aroace without the social irony.

“Yuki wasn’t perfect, and she was never going to be.
She was ice and cold and darkness; she was sharp and scared and lonely, and there was a hunger so deep within her to be accepted, to be loved, to be embraced for who she was.”

Rory is absolutely iconic and I loved reading her personality. She was so brash and loud and fearless but also had a million tiny fears that she kept guarded at all times and I just couldn’t get enough of her drama. She was so complex and entertaining and badass and came to terms with herself so beautiful.

I also loved the fact that she had chronic pain from a condition and not an injury, because most fantasy books try to make the pain stem from something within the plot. Rory didn’t, and the way this was shown was really well-done.

“It’s the twenty-first century,” Nani said. “It’s time we get some gay princesses out there.”
“I am but a poor baby dyke,” Rory mumbled.

Nani actually revealed so much more of herself in this book than I thought possible, because I thought we got a lot of her in the last book and then - surprise, bitch, it turns out it’s actually possible to like her even more. I loved how instrumental she became to the story.

“Trying to keep herself safe, building castle walls around who she really was.
And here was someone, knocking on the door, asking to be let in. asking to be led through the staircases and the dark dungeons, and maybe eventually, to a place filled with light.
That’s what being a friend meant. It was crossing the dark and murky waters together, never afraid to see what would come out on the other side.”

What I didn’t like as much about this book, especially with Nani’s character, was the fairytale connections. I think in the first book, the characters were more set up for the fairytale plots, like they were waiting for the lines to be drawn. The way the lines were drawn in this one were not what I thought they would be.

And I was willing to accept that, but it just felt kind of out of place? I admire that Laura Pohl took a different route with pretty much all of their tales, adapting them to the books and the characters, but these felt a little wild to me. They just didn’t settle with the plot as well as I thought they should have.

Something that struck me about this book in comparison to the first one is the way the relationships developed.

First and foremost, the friendship between the girls actually got a lot more spotlight in this one. The conflicts and conversations and growing understanding felt so perfect for each of the characters, and I loved that.

“It’s what friendship meant. That they would do things together, and no matter how hard it became, they would still be there. It was not about proving a point that you could do it on your own - that was just stupid. Besides, it wasn’t about accepting help. Friends didn’t help you because you needed it or out of charity or pity. They helped because they loved you. They helped because that’s what friends did.
So no one would take the journey alone. Friends cared, and they chose to care.”

And then the romance. Honestly, I’m more of a fan of the development of a ship than its fulfillment, so I personally liked the first book better in terms of the romance. But the couples in this book stayed true to who they were in the first, and the way they picked up from here felt really natural.

I wasn’t as big a fan of the push and pull of those relationships, but it was nice to see how they turned out and what happened with the ships from the first book. Everything was really well-written and each couple got a swoon-worthy moment. Which is all I’m really asking for.

“That said, Nani said carefully, looking up at Rory again, “the curse is happening either way. You might as well shoot your shot. Also, Pippa is, and I say this with the utmost respect, unbelievably hot.”
Rory’s face burned, and she looked down at her hands. “She is, isn’t she.”
Nani laughed out loud. “How can you even practice when you have to look at her?”
“I just insult her,” Rory said truthfully. “So my brain gets distracted.”
Nani snorted. “Excellent. I wonder how she hasn’t noticed you’re into her yet.”

The ending felt a little bit rushed because things were resolved at literally the very last second. But I think it really helped draw out the tension as the book went on because it was so drawn out until the last few pages. And back on the topic of relationships, those also felt really stretched. Like, we only got real resolutions to the couples within the last couple of chapters.

Overall, I am shook. This book wildly exceeded pretty much every expectation I had for it. My brain didn’t stop wondering what the fuck was going on until I was finished, because even at the resolution, I still couldn’t keep track of what was happening.

Maybe I’m just not smart enough for this book.

Ella, Yuki, Nani and Rory are coming to terms with the terrible events at the end of book one. Their lives are in more danger than ever, along with all the other girls they suspect are in the books, unless they can break the curse. But how and where the curse originated from is still a mystery.

I remember being confused in book 1 about which fairytale some of the girls fit in to, and honestly, I still was at the end of this book 😅 However, the action kept me interested and I enjoyed discovering the secrets of the curse. Im always worried when I read a sequel, quite a while after the first book, that I’ll have trouble picking the story back up, but I had no difficulties with this one, it just seamlessly continued. Fairytale Retellings are some of my Favourite books, so the multiple layers of different fairytale character arcs in this duology had me constantly trying to figure out the little clues as to who fit in to which story – it was a lot of fun! It did take me a while to get into the first third of the book but once the story picked up I found it hard to put down.

If you enjoyed The Grimrose Girls, this is a fantastic ending to the story!

now that the grimrose girls know about the curse sentencing fellow students to fairytale-esque deaths, they must figure out how to stop them from happening, especially since any one of them could be next.

this book was heavier on the romance than in book one (at least, from what i can remember), but that was fine! it gave the girls something more to fight for. even with the various romances, friendship played such an important role throughout this book, which i really loved.

the ending was very satisfying, too! i really didn’t know what was going to happen, but the way the plot played out and the way the book ended was so great.

if you enjoyed book one, i definitely recommend picking this one up!

THE WICKED REMAIN concludes the Grimrose Girls duology as they try to break the curse once and for all, to stop the cycle of girls bent and broken to fit tales which deny them happy endings, and usually take their lives.

The worldbuilding focuses primarily on details of the curse, the castle, and the relationships between the characters. This would be a hard book to get into if you’re not at least passingly familiar with a few key stories (Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, and probably Sleeping Beauty), and there are a few more that would help (Swan Lake, Rapunzel). It doesn’t pause to explain their plots and only occasionally spells out their relevance. This is probably a good decision, given how steeped in them many people are through cultural osmosis even if they’ve never read them and never seen any of the film adaptations. I think this book halting to explain them would have been more irritating than helpful, but I’m noting it since anyone who’s managed to avoid every Disney Princess’s story will have a rough time here. I know there were minor characters whose stories I didn’t recognize or don’t know, but at least for them my lack of recognition didn’t matter much.

I’m torn about the way that one of the secondary characters is handled. She’s a trans girl whose story involves her (implicitly cis, definitely female) cousin being jealous of her and trying to take over her life (including trying to steal her girlfriend). Because of the way the stories overlap, and characters with their own narrative can fill different roles in other characters’ narratives, she also is implied to be the Beast to her girlfriend’s Beauty. It has room to have such an interesting narrative about monstrosity, transphobia, and jealousy… and then just leaves it there. The cousin is jealous because… I don’t know, the curse makes her jealous to fit Swan Lake’s narrative. There’s no real reason stated, she just is. There’s a line about how the cis(?) cousin thinks she can be a better girl/girlfriend than her trans cousin, which stands out to me as unmistakable transphobia, but it’s not named in the way that the other narratives usually have their issues and abuses stated explicitly by the end. It’s possible this gets more attention in the published version than in the ARC I read, but it’s similarly understated in the first book so I’m not anticipating this particular change. For anyone concerned I'll note that while I can't think of a reason other than transphobia to motivate the cousin, there's no deadnaming or misgendering, just a very weird insistence that she'd be better at her trans cousin's life than she is.

This wraps up a bunch of stuff left hanging from the first book, while also having a full storyline of its own. I don’t recall anything it both introduced and resolved, but it’s the last book in the duology so that’s not an issue. The ending wraps up things very well, with suitable conclusions for the main characters and the school as a whole. The ensemble of point-of-view characters is largely unchanged from the first book and their voices are consistent. This does a good job of relaying important information from the last book in a way that quickly refreshes returning readers and might even enable new readers to jump in knowing only the basic premise. It is the conclusion of a duology, however, so as usual I recommend starting with the first book before reading this one.

Yuki and Ella feel like the main two in the group of protagonists, but Nani and Rory get a larger presence than I remember them having in GRIMROSE GIRLS. The pacing is good, the number of main characters is large enough to feel like a full group and to provide a steady supply of answers and developments along the way. In particular, Nani’s storyline with her father get some answers I wasn’t expecting but were very welcome, and I’m very happy for Rory. The central mystery of the curse gets a satisfying answer and a number of suitably dramatic moments, and I like how it all turns out.

CW for cursing, sexual content, ableist language (brief), fatphobia (brief), transphobia, grief, child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, confinement, panic attacks, medical content, blood (graphic), violence (graphic), cannibalism, self harm (brief), suicide attempt, murder (backstory), suicide, child death, death.

This ARC was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED the first book so much so I knew I had to snatch up this ARC.

I will say I think this book was a bit slower than the first, not as much intrigue and mystery but still wonderful.

This sequel felt more fantastical than the first, which I love fantasy so all about it. One of my favorite things about this series is that it isn’t simply retelling fairy tales. These girls STILL have their own lives and personalities. They were never truly defined by their fairy tales (aka the whole point of this story).

~~~~ SPOILER ALERT ~~~~

As much as I loved Frederick, I thought it was so important that Elle did not get swept off her feet by her prince. That she picked herself up and realized she could do whatever she wanted. Cheesy, but so important for any young woman (and really anyone who has ever felt they had to rely wholly on others) to understand no matter the circumstances, they can trust themselves.

Of course my favorite part of this series is the diverse cast.
OBSESSED that the entire cast is queer - made my gay librarian heart happy. And it didn’t feel like checking off boxes the way some books do.

I’m all about friendship and love between others so the ending made my heart so happy. That true love can be among friends *UGH* gave me the same happy feels that the end of Loveless by Alice Oseman gave me.

How important it is that you can have platonic true love with your best friends ❤️❤️

Absolutely will be adding this to my library!! Laura Pohl give us more of your amazing characters!! I would die for them

'The Wicked Remain' contains a satisfying conclusion to the 'Grimrose Girls' duology, after our four narrators learn much more about the curse and those around them. After the events in 'Grimrose Girls,' the wicked do, indeed, remain. While one piece of the puzzle was resolved, the four friends have much investigating left to do, in order to discover the greater mystery of the curse that affects them all.

Once again, I enjoyed the variety of representation: F/F pairing, characters who are pan, on the ace and aro spectrums, and also chronic illness, mental health, and neurodiversity rep.

I really enjoyed the first book, but this sequel fell a bit flat for me. I was drawn in by the mystery of The Grimrose Girls, whereas there didn't seem to be much substance to the puzzle solving in The Wicked Remain. It was as if the mystery was in the background and the focus was more about each girl's cheesy love story. The mystery was wrapped up in the final pages but I didn't feel this did it justice, as it could have been developed more fully throughout the rest of the book. The sense of danger and suspense from Book 1 was missing.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

With graduation looming, time is running out for Yuki, Ella, Nani & Rory. With only months to break the curse, their own lives are getting in the way - and it might just be fatal for all of them.

Words cannot describe how much I adored Grimrose Girls, so being able to read an advanced copy of its sequel was incredible. A blending of fairytale and teenagers exploring life/love, with just a touch of magic, the world Pohl created with these books is truly amazing and so unique.

Pohl does a phenomenal job at reestablishing the events of Grimrose Girls as the story goes along so reading them back to back wasn’t needed, which I really appreciate in a sequel. This book elaborates on previous events, opens up more of the world created and manages to keep four characters POVs unique, refreshing and true to the characterization.

You can’t review this book without also touching on the representation. Not only do we get characters of multiple nationalities and races, the LGBTQIA+ rep is amazing to see. I love when I can find myself represented in a book, it is an wonderful feeling.

Overall, this was a great read, a wonderful follow up and compliment to Grimrose Girls, a cool and unique concept and I cannot wait to see what Pohl does next.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this title.

I really enjoyed The Grimrose Girls and was excited to see how the series would end up. I was not disappointed! As Nani, Yuki, Ella, and Rory learn more about the curse that has has seemingly doomed their fates, they discover that it is deeper and darker than they could have ever imagined. I was genuinely surprised with the ending and found the loose ends to be wrapped up in a satisfying manner. I think older MG and YA readers will enjoy the series.

4.5 stars/5

The Wicked Remain is a continuation of The Grimrose Girls - part fairy tale retelling, part Pretty Little Liars and pure fun.

Yuki, Rory, Ella and Nani are still attempting to discover who or what is behind the curse that has them watching their friends and classmates at their boarding school and trying to prevent them from a grim ending.

Working together to break the curse while each battling their own issues and figuring out what the future holds other than an untimely ending at the hands of the curse. One is battling with inner power and darkness. One is running out of time to escape from a horrible situation. One is being forced onto a path not of her own choosing. lOne is figuring out why she is there and where she belongs. None know if it is even possible for them to achieve their happy ending.

Yes, there is a bit of romance in this book but the true love is that between these friends. In the end, they will do whatever they can to protect one another and break the curse.

Grimrose Girls was a great read that made for an amazing PMReads buddy reads discussion. I enjoyed it but was a bit confused due to my lack of fairy tale knowledge and spent too much time worrying about which girl corresponded to which fairy tale. In The Wicked Remain, however, I had the background I needed and I was fully invested in their stories and loved it even more than the first.

What a unique and amazing duology! Highly recommend pre-ordering now.

I hadn't read the first book, The Grimrose Girls, when I stumbled upon this book but ended up reading them both in about a day and a half once I started. I LOVED the classic fairy tale vibes with nods to the original tales, not the "happily ever after" versions. I enjoyed the diversity of the characters and appreciated how it had a touch of romance but wasn't too racy. I'm a librarian at a Kindergarten through 6th grade school and am always looking for romance and LGBTQ+ novels that are appropriate for my upper grades students and I could definitely add this to my collection for them to enjoy!

As an absolute fan of The Grimrose Girls, I've been looking forward to this book for so long! I read TGG twice already, and I'm so delighted that this one was somehow even better. It took all the fun parts of the first one, especially the character dynamics, and pushed it even further.

So many fairytale retellings/inspired stories get overshadowed by the original tales, but Laura Pohl makes each of the girls uniquely her own and rounds up a perfect duology. I cannot wait to go back into these books and re-read them all over again!