Reviews

The Grimoire of Grave Fates by Hanna Alkaf, Margaret Owen

puddledunk's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is a really interesting combination of fantasy and murder mystery.  I found it to be intriguing, but hard to follow.  The story is told primarily through a number of student perspectives, with introductions of pieces of evidence.  The number of perspectives to follow was difficult for me, particularly in the audiobook since there are only two narrators (one for all of the students, the other reading the evidence) so the characters were difficult to distinguish.  I think a full cast audio for this book would make a great listening experience.

izrosemary's review

Concept and writing were all great, just realized short story anthologies aren't for me

sashahc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I just finished a very fun book.  It’s called “The Grimoire of Grave Fates” and it’s a murder mystery set in a floating magical Academy.  It takes place over the course of a day and is told from the POV of 18 different students, each of which discovers a piece of the puzzle.  Each student is written by a different author, and some of my favorite fantasy writers are here.  There is a fantastic diversity of characters (and authors), including race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability.  I really hope they continue to develop this as a shared world and we get more books about the students introduced throughout the story.

may_hope278's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

borrowedbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This collection of stories is amazingly conceived, you'll follow the journey of one story through the lens of multiple students written by an incredible collection of writers. The story is a lot of fun and the journey to the end will keep you on your toes. 
The biggest negative is that because it switches perspective frequently you'll find yourself wanting to know how the story ends for students you'll never hear about again and that can be super frustrating. 
From an editing stand point because there are so many characters there were a few instances that I'm 90% sure the wrong name was used. 

all_things_book's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

wilhelmina_reads's review against another edition

Gotta give it back to the library.

sylexlibris's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

mayapike's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

niklit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

My only gripe with this book is that I want a separate book from every character's POV. If you've got strong feelings about Harry Potter and JK Rowling, this is an excellent balm.  

Magic school murder. The deceased? Openly antagonistic, bigoted magical history professor Septimius Dropwart. Each POV is from a different author, and the inclusivity is amazing.