Welcome back to another Coffee, Book, & Candle review! This week's review is for The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl, which was recommended to us by our friend and fellow writer Bryan!
Genre: YA Dark Academia / Fairytale Retelling
Category: Cozy Read
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Rating: 3/5 Stars
Plot: 3/5 stars
Characters: 3/5 stars
World: 3/5 stars
Four troubled friends,
One murdered girl...
and a dark fate that may leave them all doomed.
After the mysterious death of their friend, Ella, Yuki, and Rory are the talk of Grimrose Académie. The police ruled Ariane's death as a suicide, but the trio is not convinced.
When Nani arrives as their newest roommate, it sets into motion a series of events that no one could have predicted. As the girls retrace their friend's final days, they discover a dark secret about Grimrose.
PLOT
The Grimrose Girls has a lot to keep readers engaged: an excellent first line, short chapters, and multiple POVs. I also appreciated the unique twists Pohl gave to these familiar tales and how each retelling worked with the overall plot and character development. Even though there are some fantastical elements, nothing about this story ever felt unbelievable—which was a relief for me, as I'd been super disappointed in a few books prior to picking this one up. It was a great help getting out of a reading slump.
This book deals with death, survivor’s guilt, assimilation and first language attrition, abuse, neglect, and more, so make sure you read the content warnings before jumping in. Luckily, you can find them at the beginning of the book.
Unfortunately, several moments of great writing were broken up by editing errors—misspelled words, typos, bad sentence structure, punctuation errors, run-on sentences—all of which disrupted my reading flow and left me confused at times.
I will likely continue with the series, as the first book ends with some unanswered questions, particularly in the girls' personal lives. But I can't say it's high on my list, and I'm not sure if I would ever feel the itch to reread it. Only time will tell.
CHARACTERS
Despite being almost entirely female casted, this story hosts a diverse set of characters. Multiple ethnicities, body types, backgrounds, and sexual orientations and identities are represented. There is also mental health representation, but what made this story stand out from similar books is the inclusion of chronic pain.
As is true for many fairytales, each character has her own family issue and inner struggle. Ella is a self-sacrificing scholarship student with anxiety and OCD, Yuki wears a mask of stoicism she feels can never slip, Rory is the “strong” one with chronic pain, and Nani is the new girl who's thrust into the middle of a mystery while dealing with her own crisis at home.
Each of these problems have molded the characters into distinct personalities, and their interactions show that friendship can bring out the best and worst in us.
Happily ever after never covered what came after that, how half the heroes could be scarred for the rest of their lives. It was falsehood sold to keep little girls dreaming about something that didn't exist.
WORLD
The worldbuilding was the weak link for The Grimrose Girls, in my opinion. While I enjoyed the atmosphere of the story, I can't say that anything else about Grimrose Académie stood out. It never fell subject to White Room Syndrome, I just...didn't find anything particularly special about it. That's not to say the worldbuilding was bad. It was just fine.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Grimrose Girls was a quick, entertaining, atmospheric read featuring a diverse female cast that ensures most readers will be able to relate to at least one of the characters. Pohl's blend of dark academia settings with Grimm's fairytales gives the story a dark-yet-cozy vibe that's perfect for fall or winter. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA retellings, dark academia vibes, diverse female casts, mysteries, and found family.
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