Once Upon a Time meets Pretty Little Liars in this queer, dark academia story about four reimagined fairy tale heroines who must uncover their ancient curses before it’s too late.
THE GRIMROSE GIRLS SERIES
by Laura Pohl
Sourcebooks Fire
(via KT Literary)
Book 1: THE GRIMROSE GIRLS (October 2021)
Four troubled friends, one murdered girl… and a dark fate that may leave them all doomed. After the mysterious death of their best friend, Ella, Yuki, and Rory are the talk of their elite school, Grimrose Académie. The police ruled Ariane’s death as a suicide, but the trio are determined to find out what really happened.
When Nani Eszes arrives as their newest roommate, it sets into motion a series of events that no one could have predicted. As the girls retrace their friend’s final days, they discover a dark secret about Grimrose―Ariane wasn’t the first dead girl.
They soon learn that all the past murders are connected to ancient fairytale curses…and that their own fates are tied to the stories, dooming the girls to brutal and gruesome endings unless they can break the cycle for good.
Book 2: THE WICKED REMAIN (November 2022)
At Grimrose Académie, the fairy-tale deaths continue. And unless the curse is broken, one of the girls could be next. Nani, Yuki, Ella, and Rory have discovered the truth about the curse that’s left a trail of dead bodies at Grimrose. But the four still know nothing of its origins, or how to stop the cycle of doomed fates. And each girl harbors her own secret. One is learning why she was brought to the school. One struggles to keep her new and deadly power under control. One knows exactly how much time she has left. And one, trying to escape her dark destiny, will come even closer to fulfilling it. Can the girls change their own stories and break the curse? Or must one of them die to end it forever?
« Enthralling… Fans of empowering feminist fairy-tale retellings will love this. » ― Kirkus, starred review
Laura Pohl is a Brazilian writer who lives in São Paulo. She likes writing messages in caps lock, quoting Hamilton, and obsessing about Star Wars. When not taking pictures of her dog, she can be found discussing alien conspiracy theories. She is the author of The Last 8 duology.
A coming-of-age novel that explores reinvention and self-acceptance in the wake of online harassment, set against the skater culture of Seattle. Sixteen-year-old cheerleader Aspen lives a runner-up type of life, but the spotlight finally hits her when scandalous pictures of her go viral. Rathen than endure the cruelty of her classmates, Aspen ditches school and straps on some roller skates.
After being expelled from her boarding school, eleven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald travels to Fitzgerald Manor – a wondrous estate she never knew her family owned – to live with her secretive, estranged grandfather, only to discover that the library he runs is filled not with books, but magical objects called curiosities. Rowan loves everything about the library: its collection of enchanted objects, its quirky patrons, and the whimsical carousel café where she hangs out with her new friends.
Invited to the exclusive Aisling Academy, run by his own mysterious grandfather, Uriel finds the curse is the least of his problems: horrible accidents keep befalling the students, ghosts roam the halls, and Uriel isn’t sure he can sing in the first place! And if Uriel can’t find a way to break his family’s curse, he’ll have to leave his new school, and his new friends, forever…
With an explicitly asexual protagonist in Ophelia and positive fat representation in Betsy, this book also combines the queer inclusion and body diversity that made Our Flag Means Death resonate with so many.