Review – Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 2, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1328809186
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Grim Lovelies series
Source: ARC from Amazon Vine
Rating: 4/5 stars
“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..”
This is the first book in the Grim Lovelies series by Shepherd. I got a copy of this to review through the Amazon Vine program. I believe this is a planned trilogy. This was a decent read; it presents a complex and interesting world but I had some issues engaging in the story.
Anouk is a Beastie; she was brought to life by Mada Vittora. Mada Vittora is a witch who helps run Paris. In this series all of the normal people are referred to as “Pretties”. The witches and Royals (fae-like magical being) control what the Pretties do. When Mada Vittora is murdered, Anouk finds herself on the run with Mada’s other Beasties as they try to figure out how to survive.
The idea is an intriguing one but it felt somewhat half-finished throughout. Anouk is one of those passive heroines who ends up being influential mainly through her own stubbornness. Anouk is an interesting collection of contradictions but I had trouble relating to her. The other Beasties Anouk travels with are fairly stereotypical types of characters and I wish they had been filled out a bit better.
It didn’t take me long to finish this book but the whole time I felt like something was missing. I am struggling to figure out exactly what. The story just didn’t have enough to engage me, the characters not quite enough depth, and the world was a bit unfinished.
Overall this was an okay book built around an interesting concept. I struggled a bit to engage with it and didn’t think it was Shepherd’s strongest novel. I enjoyed Shepherd’s Madman’s Daughter series a lot more than this one.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
