A review by jenn_sveda
Autumn of the Grimoire by J.L. Vampa
4.0
Was very on the fence about what to rate this one - probably more of a 3.5 rounded up.
Aesthetically, this book really went off. I could very easily picture this as a gritty HBO drama series. The descriptions of rich autumn imagery were beautifully done and built the tone of the novel well. That said, there were definitely times when it went a little overboard. The clothing descriptions sometimes got a little too Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way for my tastes, and I wasn't a fan of how overtly Sorscha was sexualized. Considering we almost exclusively got descriptions of her from her SISTER's perspective, I didn't need to hear so much about how hot her naked body was or how her skimpy nightgown hugs her body just right. Who thinks about their sister in those terms??
Once I got into this book, I stayed pretty engaged with it. It definitely never went in a direction I expected, which is slightly disappointing but also refreshing. For example, as soon as we found out that Grimm is reincarnated frequently but can't remember his past lives, I thought "oh no. We're about to find out he was also Ira in the past and that's why they're so in love." I'm not entirely convinced that's not going to be revealed in a later book in the series, but as far as developing a relationship, I think that's super lazy and I'm happy this book, at least, didn't go in that direction.
At the same time, I wasn't completely sold on the relationship between Grimm and Agatha. When Agatha first meets the royal family and gets a chilly, rude greeting from both Grimm and Gaius, my first thought was, "I wonder which one of these assholes she ends up with." Then, when Grimm and Gaius were arguing and worried about Grimm's impending marriage ruining the way things were, I thought, "Wait. Are the two of them...?" which is honestly a relationship I could have gotten behind. For Agatha and Grimm, I just couldn't see the chemistry.
Enemies-to-lovers is a hard trope to do correctly; if the stepping stones from enemies to tolerating each other, to begrudging friendship, to genuine fondness, to actual love aren't done well (without skipping too many steps in between), you end up banging your head against a wall wondering why your protagonist is suddenly falling all over herself for a guy that treats her like shit. In my opinion, the best enemies-to-lovers stories are ones that are based in respectful dislike. In other words, although it's clear the couple can't stand each other, it's because of opposing values or competition for a shared prize, not because they both think the other is stupid and useless. The fact that the first "nice" thing that Grimm thinks about Agatha is how much he wants to have sex with her up against the shelves of the library, even when he still thinks she's an ignorant, dirty, untrustworthy peasant soured the relationship for me. Also - and this is more of a personal pet peeve - I found Grimm constantly calling Agatha "peasant" and then "little witch" was more condescending than cute. Maybe I'm just surrounded by too many children's books that use the phrase "little witch" to see it as anything other than belittling and creepily paternalistic.
I liked the twist of Grimm being a reaper (even if I think the nickname is so on the nose, it's eyeroll-worthy). The gradual revelations that everything we as readers have learned about the world is wrong - magic still exists in the kingdom, the Grimoire isn't infallible, Mila isn't actually working with Grimm - really destabilizes the story and makes us feel as shocked and lost as the characters do. The story ends with a twist that brings the Sisters Solstice together, which is definitely a good path to take, as they are by far the most interesting part of the story and keeping them separated for the entire novel felt like a missed opportunity.
One final point before I wrap this review up - I really disliked the way Sorscha's character was treated. I understand wanting "Spring" to be hypersexual, as it's the season most associated with fertility, but I hate that the shorthand for this turned into "promiscuous bisexual female character." Unlike Agatha, who is faithfully devoted to first her lost love Ira and then her husband Grimm, Sorscha is shown to be committed to a relationship with a woman named Rosemary...unless there is any other warm body within spitting distance. That's not to say every character needs to be interested in monogamy, especially semi-immortal beings that need to hide most of their true selves from regular mortals, but I think bisexual women get enough of a bad rap that using "bisexuality" as a synonym for "hypersexuality" is kind of a miss.
That said, I really did enjoy reading this book. I thought it was an interesting take on elemental magic, and the worldbuilding was pretty solid. I might continue with the series, depending on how I feel when the next book comes out.
Aesthetically, this book really went off. I could very easily picture this as a gritty HBO drama series. The descriptions of rich autumn imagery were beautifully done and built the tone of the novel well. That said, there were definitely times when it went a little overboard. The clothing descriptions sometimes got a little too Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way for my tastes, and I wasn't a fan of how overtly Sorscha was sexualized. Considering we almost exclusively got descriptions of her from her SISTER's perspective, I didn't need to hear so much about how hot her naked body was or how her skimpy nightgown hugs her body just right. Who thinks about their sister in those terms??
Once I got into this book, I stayed pretty engaged with it. It definitely never went in a direction I expected, which is slightly disappointing but also refreshing. For example, as soon as we found out that Grimm is reincarnated frequently but can't remember his past lives, I thought "oh no. We're about to find out he was also Ira in the past and that's why they're so in love." I'm not entirely convinced that's not going to be revealed in a later book in the series, but as far as developing a relationship, I think that's super lazy and I'm happy this book, at least, didn't go in that direction.
At the same time, I wasn't completely sold on the relationship between Grimm and Agatha. When Agatha first meets the royal family and gets a chilly, rude greeting from both Grimm and Gaius, my first thought was, "I wonder which one of these assholes she ends up with." Then, when Grimm and Gaius were arguing and worried about Grimm's impending marriage ruining the way things were, I thought, "Wait. Are the two of them...?" which is honestly a relationship I could have gotten behind. For Agatha and Grimm, I just couldn't see the chemistry.
Enemies-to-lovers is a hard trope to do correctly; if the stepping stones from enemies to tolerating each other, to begrudging friendship, to genuine fondness, to actual love aren't done well (without skipping too many steps in between), you end up banging your head against a wall wondering why your protagonist is suddenly falling all over herself for a guy that treats her like shit. In my opinion, the best enemies-to-lovers stories are ones that are based in respectful dislike. In other words, although it's clear the couple can't stand each other, it's because of opposing values or competition for a shared prize, not because they both think the other is stupid and useless. The fact that the first "nice" thing that Grimm thinks about Agatha is how much he wants to have sex with her up against the shelves of the library, even when he still thinks she's an ignorant, dirty, untrustworthy peasant soured the relationship for me. Also - and this is more of a personal pet peeve - I found Grimm constantly calling Agatha "peasant" and then "little witch" was more condescending than cute. Maybe I'm just surrounded by too many children's books that use the phrase "little witch" to see it as anything other than belittling and creepily paternalistic.
I liked the twist of Grimm being a reaper (even if I think the nickname is so on the nose, it's eyeroll-worthy). The gradual revelations that everything we as readers have learned about the world is wrong - magic still exists in the kingdom, the Grimoire isn't infallible, Mila isn't actually working with Grimm - really destabilizes the story and makes us feel as shocked and lost as the characters do. The story ends with a twist that brings the Sisters Solstice together, which is definitely a good path to take, as they are by far the most interesting part of the story and keeping them separated for the entire novel felt like a missed opportunity.
One final point before I wrap this review up - I really disliked the way Sorscha's character was treated. I understand wanting "Spring" to be hypersexual, as it's the season most associated with fertility, but I hate that the shorthand for this turned into "promiscuous bisexual female character." Unlike Agatha, who is faithfully devoted to first her lost love Ira and then her husband Grimm, Sorscha is shown to be committed to a relationship with a woman named Rosemary...unless there is any other warm body within spitting distance. That's not to say every character needs to be interested in monogamy, especially semi-immortal beings that need to hide most of their true selves from regular mortals, but I think bisexual women get enough of a bad rap that using "bisexuality" as a synonym for "hypersexuality" is kind of a miss.
That said, I really did enjoy reading this book. I thought it was an interesting take on elemental magic, and the worldbuilding was pretty solid. I might continue with the series, depending on how I feel when the next book comes out.