Grim Lovelies | Review

Greetings readers!!

I read this book in record time…I think? It was done only in commutes to and from school. And I did it in less than one week so I think that is a record. Now…I think I might have hyped myself a little too much for this one. But I mean…Paris. Monsters. Magic. How can that go wrong….well it can…

Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

Pub Date: Oct 2nd, 2018
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Price: $24.99 CAD
ISBN: 9781328809186
Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Anouk envies the human world, where people known as Pretties lavish themselves in fast cars, high fashion, and have the freedom to fall in love. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. Enchanted from animal to human girl and forbidden to venture beyond her familiar Parisian prison, Anouk is a Beastie: destined for a life surrounded by dust bunnies and cinders serving Mada Vittora, the evil witch who spelled her into existence. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.

Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. Pursued through Paris by the underground magical society known as the Haute, Anouk and her fellow Beasties only have three days to find the real killer before the spell keeping them human fades away. If they fail, they will lose the only lives they’ve ever known…but if they succeed, they could be more powerful than anyone ever bargained for.

From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd, Grim Lovelies is an epic and glittering YA fantasy. Prepare to be spellbound by the world of Grim Lovelies, where secrets have been long buried, friends can become enemies, and everything—especially humanity—comes at a price.

---

BUY IT!

Chapters Indigo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

---

What I Liked What I found MEH:

The Magic:

The magic was cool. I liked the whisper aspect and the hierarchy of creatures. I liked the dynamic between the different levels of creature and it created the perfect element of drama and suspense. The goblins were definitely my favourite!

Characters:

I didn’t connect with any of the characters, its not that I disliked them but there was no substance to any of them. Anouk was okay. I mean she only had one year of full human life with a dark bleak animal past that is not really explored in the book until like the end. Everyone else was really flat. None of them were really piqued my interest, except maybe for Cricket because her sass was fun. Everyone else was literally so static and didn’t get much development throughout the novel.

The romance was the most meh–of all the mehs:

Anouk and Plain-Ass Beau honestly had no chemistry, I am sorry. Their little school girl/boy crushes turned into love in the span of like a chapter. Nothing about either of them really made this relationship work for me. And I think the author is trying to put some next-level love triangle thing and…I’m not up for it. Unless the other guy turns out to be something more interesting than Beau, but from what I’ve read so far he is missing a few screws…

The Plot:

It was fine. I liked the time crunch and I liked the antics of the adventures, but it was not exciting…I mean there were “suspenseful” moments and yet I felt nothing. Throughout this whole book I just flipped and flipped, but never felt any true, deep emotions for what has been happening to the characters.

The Ending:

The ending was…okay? Like I don’t know…it just feels like book 2 will be a completely different thing from book 1…? It was a little predictable and I am not necessarily intrigued by what it has to offer.

What I Disliked:

There was nothing I necessarily disliked, it’s more that I disliked that fact that I found the whole book to be so meh!!!! I needed something in this book to exaggerating, explosive, crazy and maybe then I wouldn’t find it to be so meeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh.

Oh I did dislike that the only French used in this book was for swear words and they were so awkwardly placed interrupting the flow. I mean I think I expected a lot more French than just the repeated vas te faire foutre.

---

Overall, it was okay. I did have some fun while reading this book, I will not lie. But I had no real attachment to this story. I could have gone my whole life without reading it and I think I would have been content! (Is that too harsh??) It’s fine, it’s just not anything overly exciting or new and the characters did not shine for me which is like the worst case for me!

Rating: 2.75-3 / 5 Stars

Recommend: It’s really up to you. If you don’t mind a more–I guess–plot driven novel.

Let me know what you think! Have you read this yet? What did you think? Have you ever expected too much from a book?

Happy reading!

~ Rendz