Grim Lovelies

Written by Megan Shepherd

384 pages

Published by HMH Books

Publication date: 2nd October 2018

Summary (from Goodreads):

“A magical dash through the streets of Paris. Part caper, part fairy tale, part opulent witch society, you’ll be swept away by all of it. GRIM LOVELIES absolutely dazzles.” —Kendare Blake, #1 NYT bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series

“A darkly enchanting saga…bound to attract fans of Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, and more.” —Entertainment Weekly

“I lost myself in this magical book.” —Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval and Legendary

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. But Anouk can never have those things, because she is not really human. 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. That is, until one day she finds her mistress murdered in a pool of blood—and Anouk is accused of the crime.

Now, the world she always dreamed of is rife with danger. 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. 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.

From New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd, Grim Lovelies is an epic and glittering YA fantasy. Prepare to be spellbound by the world of Grim Lovelies, where secrets have been long buried, friends can become enemies, and everything—especially humanity—comes at a price.

Why I can’t wait to read this:

It’s set in Paris! Paris! I have only visited once but completely fell in love with the city, as pretty much everyone else who has ever visited has. I love reading books set in different places, particularly when I see those places when visiting or can flavour my reading of the book with my own experiences there.
It is fantasy, which is my genre of choice. I also like anything that sounds like a fairytale and this seems to have that influence with Anouk being turned into a human by a witch.
Underground magical society? Sign me up! This sounds like just the sort of thing you would find in Paris, a city with another city underground (you can visit parts of the catacombs but they go on for miles and miles!). I also like that magic is ‘underground’ in the other sense of being hidden as I love imagining our own world but with a twist.
Entertainment Weekly recommends this for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black. Whilst I usually take recommendations like this with a pinch of salt (as EVERYTHING is the next Hunger Games or the next Harry Potter) I do love both of these authors and have read pretty much everything they have written…so seems like a safe bet that I will enjoy Grim Lovelies too.
Yet again, gorgeous cover art. I particularly like the gargoyle as I like them a lot! When we visited Notre Dame my boyfriend got bored because I sent so long walking around, examining the gargoyles and taking tonnes of photos!