The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association

Two parents and their recently-bitten-werewolf daughter try to fit into a privileged New England society of magic aristocracy. But deadly terrors await them – ancient prophecies, remorseless magical trials, hidden conspiracies and the PTA bake sale.

When Vivian’s kindergartner, Aria, gets bitten by a werewolf, she is rapidly inducted into the hidden community of magical schools. Reeling from their sudden move, Vivian finds herself having to pick the right sacrificial dagger for Aria, keep stocked up on chew toys and play PTA politics with sirens and chthonic nymphs and people who literally can set her hair on fire.

As Vivian careens from hellhounds in the school corridors and demons at the talent show, she races to keep up with all the arcane secrets of her new society – shops only accessible by magic portal, the brutal Trials to enter high school, and the eternal inferno that is the parents’ WhatsApp group.

And looming over everything is a prophecy of doom that sounds suspiciously like it’s about Aria. Vivian might be facing the end of days, just as soon as she can get her daughter dressed and out of the door…

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Lots of humor and snark
• A magical world existing within our boring, normal world
• Parents navigating the crazy world of Parent-Teacher Associations and social circles
• Older protagonists coming of age and figuring out who they are and who they want to be
• Lots of paranormal creatures and cryptids
• A magical mystery that threatens everyone

Overall

I absolutely loved the author’s previous book, Dreadful, so I knew from the start I was going to pick this one up. But then I found out it was basically Mean Girls means the nightmare that can be the PTA but make it magical, and that felt eerily relevant to my life a few years ago, and then I was completely invested. Obviously, this entire scenario is custom built for hilarity and chaos.

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association is every parent’s worst nightmare . . . with a sprinkle of magic added on top. There’s humor, parents trying their best, adorable squads, a little mystery, and a truly terrifying PTA.

This one was so hard for me to rate, because while I really enjoyed the majority of the book and had a ton of fun reading it, the ending was so frustrating to me. Mostly, it was due to my dislike of Viv’s husband and some of the sort of obvious outcomes (“reveals”?) at the end. All in all, though, the majority of the book was very fun to read, ridiculously relatable (despite the paranormal aspects), and the type of book I’d like to see more of!

My Thoughts

What is scarier than being the new person in town? Being the new human family in a town full of paranormal creatures. Oh, and having to join the PTA to assert your dominance and prove that you deserve to be there.

Okay, sure, we can all sit here, safely behind our screens, lecturing Viv in our minds about how you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. And that’s true. But I’d be willing to bet that most of us still have that inner drive to belong, to seek to fit in. I sure do. While I can’t really relate to Viv’s situation (shame, really), I relate a lot to Viv in general! We’ve all put ourselves in uncomfortable situations we didn’t want to be in because we’re just doing our best to pretend to be a fully functioning human-shaped adult capable of accomplishing things.

Viv’s plight is utterly relatable while being extremely funny. Mostly because she’s completely in over her head (also relatable) while she’s just doing her best. Despite being human, due to circumstances Viv is still healing from (and blaming herself for), her family has been thrust into a paranormal world, and they all need to grapple with trying to fit in. Add to that having to grapple with her newly minted werewolf daughter and all the challenges associated with it, and I think many of us can forgive Viv for feeling unprepared.

I really felt drawn to Viv, who struggles with a lot of things that I think readers can identify with, whether they’re parents or not. The fact that it’s done with a humorous bent makes it easier to get through without feeling overwhelmed. Plus, I can confidently say that while my daughter’s early school years were harrowing to navigate, at least they didn’t involve actual unicorns and prophecies and dangerous magic. So, hey, I had that much going for me.

The world here is equally fascinating and terrifying, sometimes simultaneously, which only ups the realism factor. There are dark moments—because sometimes paranormal things have consequences—but sometimes magic is just magical. Life is about balance.

The book cycles between the two, sometimes quickly. Not in a way that gives readers whiplash, but in a way that will keep you on your toes. It’s enough to remind you that magic is a thing, but also that Viv and her family are in over their heads because who would have expected xyz to be a thing?! I really enjoyed the duality of it, even while cringing at some of the things that magical world considered completely normal and commonplace.

Obviously, the magical town comes complete with a creepy Doomsday prophecy that seems to be unraveling at this moment. There are hidden conspiracies and dangerous cliques and plenty of secrets. (But hey, when it’s normal to live for hundreds of years, it’s expected that you’ll gather a skeleton or two or ten in your closet.) I really appreciated how paranormal surprises kept popping up, while the author simultaneously shoots down some of the more cliche beliefs, so you never quite know what to expect next.

It isn’t just the parents who suffer from this dichotomy, either. The magical school is of course a private school, and it’s downright cutthroat. Students need to prove that they belong there by passing a series of grueling tests every so often during their schooling. If they fail, they’re culled from the flock and ousted out so that only the cream can rise to the top. It’s a very competitive atmosphere, and sometimes competition brings out the worst in people. Sometimes kids. But especially their parents.

While there’s an overarching plot and mystery happening here, it’s really the character developmental and squads where this book shines. The side characters, by and large, are delightful.

I will admit that there are a lot of characters, so it’s sometimes hard to keep track of them all, and I do wish we had the opportunity to get to spend a little more time with the key ones. That being said, though, I really enjoyed what time we did get. They were all so different, but not without their own struggles (even if it takes Viv some time to realize that).

Not all the characters are delightful (duh), but the obvious bad guys are obvious. You can smell them from a mile away, and they behave exactly the way you expect they will. Despite that, Viv getting involved with them makes sense. She wants what is best for her daughter, and ingratiating herself with the popular crowd seems like a surefire way to accomplish that. It’s something we’re all guilty of at some point (even when we’re old enough to know better . . . sometimes especially then.)

Sticking Points

I very strongly disliked Daniel . . . and I don’t think I was meant to? I get the impression he was meant to be presented as a sympathetic partner, but I couldn’t help but wish he would get eaten by a Chupacabra.

Spoiler alert: he does not. Nobody is more disappointed by that fact than I am. While I appreciated the thoughtful approach to marital conflict . . . I didn’t appreciate Daniel’s simultaneous insistence that he didn’t blame Vivian, while also completely blaming Vivian. I’m treading a fine line here to try to avoid spoilers, but even while Daniel was apologizing for his part in any misunderstandings, he was still saying that Vivian didn’t do enough on her end . . . except for the times she was doing too much.

The real breaking point for me was when Daniel felt that Vivian didn’t allow him to protect her and Aria because she didn’t tell him about things that she definitely tried to tell him about that he continuously dismissed and argued with her about, until she finally stopped talking about them. The gaslighting was real. The fact that Daniel is aware that Vivian has childhood trauma surrounding gaslighting from her parents makes it even worse. Not only did it make me roll my eyes, but the fact that Vivian had to apologize, act contrite, accept all the blame, and change her ways made me viscerally angry.

Look, could Vivian have handled things better? Yes. Communication is clearly not a strong point for her and something she should work on, and I appreciated her recognition of that. But Daniel was hot garbage and deserved to be dropped into a black hole.

About Caitlin Rozakis

New York Times best-selling author Caitlin Rozakis writes fantasy with a satirical twist and a cozy heart. Her debut novel is Dreadful, but turned out not to be dreadful at all.

She also writes romance under the name Catherine Beck; her novella “Leah’s Perfect Christmas” was adapted into the Hallmark Channel Original Movie “Leah’s Perfect Gift.”

Caitlin Rozakis is the pen name of Rebecca Rozakis. After graduating from Princeton, she has had too many career changes, including mechanical engineering (cut short after the murderous robot incident), finance (amortizing tequila receivables is not as fun as drinking tequila), and the American Museum of Natural History (who knew emus had birth certificates?), and a number of marketing positions, some at companies you may have even heard of. She lives in Jersey City with her husband and son.

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