The Grimrose Girls

Overall rating: 5/5Writing:4/5 (it's YA for sure but was well done!)Plot: 5/5, the pacing was really well done. You could tell it was well planned and that you had clues that were available but not glaring.Characters: 5/5, each character felt real, and each character had a distinct voice and motivationThemes: 5/5, found family on point!

Characters: Super Queer! trans, ace, aromantic, demi, pan/bi, and lesbian main characters. And a variety of races, home countries, and skin tones!
Narrators: Multi, Each chapter goes back and forth between the main 4 girls. Rory, Yuki, Ella, and Nani
POV: Multi 3rd person
Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery, with light Romance side plot. YA LGBTQ
Type: Series, Book 1 of ? from Grimrose Girls, no date for sequel yet
Content Warnings: death (on and off-page not too graphic), betrayal, child abuse (light and off-page), talk of suicide, chronic illness

So this is more of what I wanted from Malice but didn't really get. It is a unique retelling in every way, it plays into the tropes I love without being predictable fully. You see the parallels but nothing is completely as it seems.

As far as rep, can you get better than this? I don't know if there are straight characters lol! We have trans, ace, demi, pan/bi, and lesbian characters all of whom are very flushed out and none play into harmful stereotypes. You also have a character with chronic illness in this which I found so amazing. Rory has fibromyalgia that she battles with but doesn't allow to control her life.
I felt like the little side romances felt genuine especially for teens, the first flutters, and how everything is life and death at that age. None of them felt forced and you saw the attraction.