Book: Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

Published October 2018 by HMH Books For Young Readers|376 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Grim Lovelies #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

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.

I really liked this one!  I definitely liked it a lot more than I thought I would, especially since I didn’t like it at the beginning.

I had a hard time getting into it, and I’m not sure why.  I did end up really liking it, and I thought the world was interesting and different.  It did feel pretty slow at the beginning of the book, and once Mada Vittora dies, I did get a lot more interested.  There’s this racing against the clock feel to the book, but at the same time, it seemed like not a lot happened, even when they were happening.  It could have felt a lot more action-packed, considering it’s told over the span of a couple of days,

I really liked the world, and the idea of an underground magical society, and witches being territorial.  That was really cool, and I’m hoping we see more of it in the rest of the series.  I did want more of the Haute and the magic, and Paris did seem like a great backdrop for everything going on.  And yet, it wasn’t as used as much or as well as I thought it would be.  It felt like a missed opportunity, and I wanted it to come together a little bit more.

It’s so odd too, because the book seems to be set in current time, but the vibe of the book is something a lot older than that.  It threw me every time something like a car was mentioned, because it took me out of the book a little bit.

It did feel like the magic was just there- and in general, I feel like that describes the book.  I think I wanted more explanation for what was going on, and I didn’t really get that from the book.  It might be wishful thinking on my part, but I really want more of how everything came to be, but I’m doubting it will actually happen.  Still, one can hope.

I did expect something a lot darker and more twisted.  There was a lot of potential for that, and while the book was not as dark as I thought, I still enjoyed reading it.

3 stars.  I liked Grim Lovelies, and there’s a lot of potential.  Hopefully, the next book will expand on the world more.