Name: Grim Lovelies
ISBN: 9780358108238

Megan Shepherd

In this "darkly enchanting saga" (EW) by New York Times best-selling author Megan Shepherd, a young girl must steal a spell from Paris' glittering world of witches before the magic keeping her human runs out.

Grim Lovelies

Lea ;)

I just wasn’t feeling the book. It seemed by no means boring but I couldn’t force myself to get excited about it. There could be a fight scene going on and I genuinely couldn’t care less. It was a good pass time though

When their mistress is murdered, Anouk and her fellow beasties have only three days until their enchantment ends and they are transformed back into animals, but in seeking to remain human, they threaten the hierarchy imposed by the society of magic handlers in Paris called the Haute.

Savannah Winchell

Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd 
4.25 ⭐️
- I’m glad I found out this is a series
- badass ending
- not feeling the romance but oh boy is there potential 
- beautiful magic
- unique world 
- dark and twisty and divine
- sometimes too rushed
- Anouk is baller

allie

Katharina Hoffmann

Three stars, mainly because of Hunter Black. Oh, you don't know who he is? What he's doing? What makes him so goddamn likeable? I think you need to pick up this book and find out for yourself...

The only reason I finally picked up this book was that it had been on my tbr for too long.
But where am I now? I developed FEELINGS for those characters. Feelings! And this might be the very first time that I developed feelings for one-dimensional characters but hey, here we are. Especially for Hunter Black (*gulp*).



Anouk is a beastie. An animal turned human thanks to her mistress Mada Vittora, an evil witch who keeps her beasties imprisoned as her servants. Then one night, upon finding the witch murdered in her own bedroom, Anouk turns from a housemaid to a victim of persecution as she and her fellow beasties flee from their prison to try and renew the spell that keeps them human. They have 72 before they return to their animal form, all while being hunted by the witch's son Viggo and his loyal watchdog Hunter Black (I'm name dropping, ain't I?).

The whole beastie plot was relatively original and I enjoyed that the story was set in Paris.
I liked the fast-paced plot but I wish Anouk had been a little more "racy"? She is a very lovely and kind character but I was missing just a teeny weeny bit of character development.

I had some issues with...

a)
a romantic relationship that felt a bit like it was coming out of nowhere. Like, literally nowhere. It wasn't there and then it was. Everything seemed too smooth and happen too quickly.



I definitely couldn't.

b)
a few cheesy scenes

c)
the great battle at the end which felt a bit like the script for a Guy Ritchie action sequence

d)
representation
Yes, this book has lgbtq+ and poc representation BUT...
the lgbtq+ rep resulted in queer baiting: there is ONE gay character and we only get to know that he's gay at the end of the book. Also, the person that character is in love with is straight. Excuse me? Furthermore, there is a trans character which is great but said character is badly represented and there are some lines/ descriptions concerning that character that didn't sit well with me.

All in all, I can't say that I didn't enjoy this book. The setting is really cool and original and I don’t really know why, but this book gripped me despite its obvious issues.

Imie Kent-Muller

Grim Lovelies is an interesting take on the characters from fairy tales that are often forgotten. Think of the animals in Cinderella who are turned back into their animal form after one night of being a human and then you have the basic premise of  Grim Lovelies. I was lucky enough to get an ARC through NetGalley, and I really enjoyed this book!

This book is the beginning of an intriguing series that follows Anouk and her ‘family’ that are known as ‘beasties’, once animals but human thanks to a witch they all serve. Their time as humans begins to run out, and therefore the beasties need to work out a way to stay human or they will go back to their animal ways.

Overall I thought this book was clever and enjoyable. I am excited to see the released book later in the year. If you’re looking for a new way to look at old fairy tales, then this story of an often forgotten group of characters is for you. It has magic, adventure, family, humanity and even love. I give this book 4.5 stars!

Full Review: https://mythicreader.wordpress.com/20...

Sophia De La Garza

To put it lightly this book was mediocre. I didn’t care for the characters much and the ones I did, well let’s just say they didn’t have the best time. Yeah this book for me was just plain. I might pick up the sequel eventually but who knows. 

Overall, 3 stars

Nickie Mohler

3 .5ish

Even though this didn't blow my mind, I found it enjoyable. I loved the characters, the magic was interesting, and it was just a fun read. Bonus: it has goblins!

Anouk is a Beastie. Beasties are animals turned human by a witch. She is basically a servant. She can't go outside, she can't do anything unless her witch Mada Vittora wants her to. 

What would happen if Mada Vittora died?

I plan to continue on with the series.

Kath Lau

It took me almost 3 weeks to finish this book. Check out my full review here.

Narah Quinn

I really enjoyed this! 
It built up nicely - came to a good conclusion and left you wanting to know more - I'm excited for the next instalment. 

Anouk was a very likable character as the main protagonist and all the supporting characters were wonderful, by the end I was fully invested and …….. (No spoilers here) …….I guess we will find out!
 
I also think it (perhaps not on purpose) skilfully showed how often 'Human Nature' is not best shown by humans themselves, it certainly left me feeling that maybe we could all do better. 

I'd definitely recommend this to fans of magic, urban fantasy, and readers looking for something to get swept away in.

Merged review:

This was a beautiful little prequal novella in the Grim Lovelies series, that I got as part of the Midnight Beauties pre-order campaign. 
Unsurprisingly I finished it really quickly during one of my library shifts and I am so glad I read it. 
We follow Cricket and discover a little about how she came to be in her current position (trying to learn some magic in Grim Lovelies).
On a task for Mada Vittora she has to steal Prince Rennars ring from a Pretty that she has been told stole it from the Prince. It turns out the Pretty is after the ring as well - he needs it to save his sister who went in search of magic and is now missing. 
Its a fast paced little story of love, loss and friendship and I think a delightful little bit of depth to the already wonderful story we are told in Grim Lovelies. 
I hope they make this widely available in the future, but for now I am thankful that I got to read it!

Samantha Bass

The beginning of this story seemed a bit slow and confusing for me at first, but by the end it was a fast ride through. I like the premise of this story and loved certain scenes, but for the most part I was either confused or it sped through all of the action and interesting scenes. I would be interested in reading a sequel and finding out what happens next for Anouk, especially after that ending though. Overall, I liked the story, it was just too slow in the beginning and too fast at the end for me, but the characters were interesting and fun!

Megan Leprich

Never have I read something so whimsical, delightful, and funny all at the same time. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book and it definitely surprised me. 

I’m still slowly making my way into the fantasy genre world and I loved everything about this book. The characters were so amazing and I loved Anouk. She was such a bada** and so selfless, always worried more about her friends than herself. 

The details of this book were so well written and everything was so vivid, I felt like I was in the book and seeing things with my own eyes. 

I’m so excited for the sequel as the book left on a bit of a cliffhanger and I need to know what happens next!

Rosie Qua

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

Written by Megan Shepherd, Grim Lovelies follows Anouk, a girl made from a creature known as a Beastie. In this world with Royals, witches, and goblins, Anouk and her fellow beasties are forced to fight for their human lives.

This was a fantastic novel. Written from the perspective of someone learning everything it means to be human (Anouk was changed just over a year ago and never allowed to leave the house), this novel hits a lot of wonderful marks. Other than not being a standalone. The sequel, Midnight Beauties, is scheduled to come out sometime this year.


 
With a compelling main character and fully fleshed supporting characters, shepherd takes her readers on a wild and mysterious ride. I enjoyed Beau and the Prince and all of the complex things that occurred. This is a novel that touches on a lot of things that are popular in Young Adult novels now (transgender, gays, multiracial), but it handles all of those in a wonderful, realistic way. Which is, it doesn’t toss it in your face that those are present in the novel. They do have an affect on the stories and the characters. But they don’t smack you up the face with them.

And the story! This is a twisting story whose twists make sense. Yes, they are from left field, but they come that way through the characters. There is a history that plays into everything that goes on and the progression makes sense as you go. The rules apply, even if you don’t realize why they apply.

Something else that struck me, that I don’t normally take note of, was the goblins and their crazy. They are mad, but they aren’t evil. They are definitely mad, but they aren’t manic. I am struggling with how better to describe this, but they remind me how the mad hatter should be portrayed. It was very appreciated.

Overall, I think anyone could find something to enjoy in this novel. Unless you don’t like blood and gore in your books. Then turn away. Marketed as a Young Adult novel, honestly I think anyone over the age of 10 could enjoy this book. It is written well, has good pacing, and is an interesting story that avoids a lot of cliches.

Kaeli Wolf 

This book is utterly phenomenal, I couldn't stop reading once I started. It is an enchanting tale of a young beastie who learns how to live, how to love, and how to hate. It is a book for dreamers and for those who still carry hope in their soul. I love this book, and I can't wait for the next one!!

Cath

I could not put down this book! Whizzed through it in less than 24 hours. What a ride it was! The story reminded me so much of Swan Lake, where the magic system revolving around 'The Beasties' involves transforming them back from humans to animals. I cannot deny how beautifully the author writes. The fantastical play in words suit the quirky and magical world she's portraying. Talk of magic and mythical creatures - and in a setting like Paris! Normally Paris comes across as the city of 'Love', but the way Shepherd explores the city - through wishes, dreams, and magic . I guess the themes don't stray far from love, but the story is much darker than just wishes and dreams. 

What sands out most from the story is the atmospheric writing and how immersive it is. Reading the novel gives me major Over The Garden Wall vibes. All this talk of a field of flowers, witchery and magical enchantments, the October air, oversized sweaters and honey-slathered breakfasts. Even hot-chocolates with marshmallows! But that's all the book had to offer. A sense of atmosphere. The conflict was interesting to start with, but bleak when the author decides to keep dragging the plot. It felt like I was going around in circles. I grew bored of the conflict quickly, and had no care for whether or not the characters were going to succeed. I had such high hopes for the character development in the book. While some were met, most weren't.

Everything just seemed to reach a dead-end halfway through the book. The only reason why I was able to finish the book within 24 hours was cause of the minor characters in the novel. I find Anouk very bland to start with, and though she makes for a fierce heroine, I had no care for what she is to become. There wasn't enough of her personal roots that stuck to me. She was just introduced as what she was and nothing more. We know that she is ambitious and a dreamer, but we don't know how she came to become the person she is. We were only given vague hints of her past, which was a bummer because I really wanted to relate with Anouk, but I couldn't. Could this possibly mean that we're getting a sequel that explores more of Anouk's past? And possibly the other characters' too? Hopefully. Otherwise, the book is just like any other fairytale. The story, and especially its characters, still has plenty of room to develop. Nonetheless, it was a great read. I was so engrossed that I lost track of time. Truly the feeling I'd expect to get when reading a fairytale novel. It's immersive and hypnotic.

Thank you so much HMH Young Readers for sending over an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Manon van Heumen

I really liked this book! It was whimsical and fast-paced, and those were two ingredients for a good book!

Ashlee

Digital copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ... almost 4 stars?

It was different, at times intriguing, it was good and then it became meh. Certain paths were set up in this (Prince Rennar’s character being at the forefront in my mind) and I was so excited for the story to follow that path but then it didn’t and I became so tired with the cat and mouse. The premise is absolutely fantastic, but it fell a bit flat for me. To the point I hoped this was a standalone so everything could wrap up and I could move on. Except it isn’t. I’m not even sure I’m excited about where the story appears to be going.

Anouk herself wasn’t terribly stirring. The attempt to transform her from innocent maid into a powerful leader was okay but not convincing enough. About halfway through the book it was as though Anouk’s character skipped the process of transforming completely and was just suddenly someone different.

The romance in this was sweet but also not terribly compelling. I enjoyed the character Anouk is involved with but really hoped she would take another path that was offered to her. Something more intriguing that I felt would have assisted with the complexity of the story. I really cannot see why the story didn’t go this way as every path was leading to it. Perhaps it’ll come in the sequel? 

The most interesting characters in this were Prince Renner, Hunter Black and Viggo. In other words, my love for morally grey characters continues. 😂

I don’t know whether to recommend this or not. It’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it at times, but the last half or so of the book was so meh and all over the damn place that it ruined how much I had been enjoying it (and I had been!). 

I don’t know, everyone has different opinions. Give it a shot! I’ll probably still read the sequel to find out what happens but this definitely should have been a standalone.

Lisa Beasley

This was a really interesting story with some nice characters. Some of the plot aspects were a little convoluted sometimes but overall it was enjoyable. 

3.75 out of 5 stars

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures

*I received an ARC from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I didn't love it but I liked it. I liked it enough to want to continue with the series. 

Things I liked: The writing is beautiful. I'm now a huge fan of Shepherd's writing. She describes Paris from the eyes of someone who has never been outside before. It's gorgeous. 
The story is very interesting. And kept me turning the pages.

What I didn't like: The characters. I just didn't really care about them. They didn't seem to have unique personalities. Except for Cricket. And I didn't like the romance. I for once wanted the main character to stay single. Beau was whiny and weak in my opinion.

Grim Lovelies

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