One of the things that got me excited about this book was the setting.

The premise of this book was fascinating especially the magic system but I wanted to know more. I don’t want to give more details about it to avoid spoilers but feel free to send me a message. Also, I think that the trans representation in this book was quite problematic. But I would like to mention that this book has the “bury your gays” trope.

We have POC characters as well as queer (gay and a trans girl) ones. Most of the characters lacked depth and it made me not fully invested in them. The only characters that caught my attention were Cricket, Hunter Black, Rennar, and the Goblins. There’s a POC character who is missing for the the most part (like 85%) of the book and I was actually expecting so much from him based on Anouk’s description and stories but I ended up disappointed. I also didn’t get why she’s the “chosen one” aside from she’s the main character. Anouk’s character growth was good but it’s a little lacking and unconvincing. Let me start with the characters in this book.

Their human forms are tied to the witch’s dark magic so when the witch dies, they will return into their original animal forms after three days. One day, she finds her mistress murdered. She lives with other Beasties and they all serve an evil witch. Our main character is Anouk and she’s a Beastie. We have the Royals who have the power, Witches who uses blood of Pretties (aka humans) for magic, Goblins who are fashionable tricksters, and Beasties who are animals enchanted into humans by witches. Grim Lovelies is sets in a magical Paris. 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. 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. Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood-and Anouk is accused of the crime. 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. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. 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.

Grim lovelies series