The Grimrose Girls: A deliciously sinister mystery with a fairytale twist

Laura Pohl’s The Grimrose Girls was initially described as Pretty Little Liars meets Once Upon a Time, which is actually pretty accurate and more likely than not to draw in a lot of curious fans. But to be honest, though I liked both of those properties quite a bit, the comparison actually does Pohl’s book a disservice – The Grimrose Girls is a page-turning thriller that’s much more than it initially appears to be.

Yes, it’s a fairytale retelling, sort of. And yes, it’s a teen-focused murder mystery in which a group of girls must survive a deadly killer. Again, sort of. But Pohl deftly combines both into something that feels fresh and new – and nothing like you’d expect.

The Grimrose Girls follows the story of Ella, Yuki, and Rory, three friends at the prestigious Grimrose Académie for Elite Students in the Swiss Alps. The fourth member of their friend group, the vibrant, red-haired Ariane, died under mysterious circumstances just as their senior year began. While the school is convinced her death by drowning was a suicide, her friends aren’t so sure,  And their discovery of a strange fairytale book among Ariane’s belongings hints at something darker – and a much older pattern may be at work.

Along with new student Nani – who moves into Ari’s old dorm room – the girls begin to investigate the stories in the strange book, and they discover other mysterious deaths at Grimrose, just as more bodies begin to appear, all found in scenes that recreate famous fairytale tropes. (One girl is found dead in a destroyed bowl of porridge, another is beheaded by a wire strung from a juniper tree. A third is murdered alongside her grandmother by a “wolfish” boyfriend.”)

But this is fairytale retelling that is the furthest thing from a carbon copy of the original tales, and though its central characters all map to specific famous figures within the genre (Snow White Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, etc.), each girl’s story is uniquely her own. The Grimrose Girls infuses the familiar beats of these familiar tales with new life, using their darkest corners to explore contemporary issues of friendship, loss, and identity alongside the mystery of a magical book and a curse that may be driving all students into unhappy endings.

The novel is effortlessly diverse, featuring major characters of multiple races, ethnicities, sexualities, and gender identities. There are both queer and heterosexual romances and one of the main group identifies as asexual. Other characters struggle with a variety of health and disability issues, from anxiety to chronic pain. And, perhaps most importantly, the friendship between our core group of girls feels lived-in and genuine, the sort of relationships that maybe you’re only ever able to form at this point in your life, when you’re learning – and accepting – the people you’ll become, together.

Though the novel’s propulsive mystery winds up in an unexpected climax – the story isn’t finished, and there are plenty of questions left to answer in the sequel. (Which, has definitely rocketed into the top half of my most anticipated list for next year.) I can’t wait to see where this story tadkes these girls next, and what’s really lurking in the shadows – and past – of Grimrose Academie.

The Grimrose Girls is available now. Let us know if you’re planning to give it a look!