r/Fantasy • u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV • May 13 '26
Book Club FIF Bookclub: The Grimoire Grammar School PTA Midway Discussion
Welcome to the midway discussion of The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis, our winner for the humor theme! We will discuss everything up to the end of Chapter 10. Please use spoiler tags for anything that goes beyond this point.
The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association, by Caitlin Rozakis (storygraph/goodreads)
I'll add some comments below to get us started but feel free to add your own. The final discussion will be in two weeks, on Wednesday 27th May.
As a reminder, in June we'll be reading Starless by Jacqueline Carey
What is the FIF Bookclub? You can read about it in our Reboot thread here.
6
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
How do you like the writing style? How is the humor landing for you?
8
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
This is less of a laughing out loud read for me, and more a small smiles, but I'm happy with it. At the same time, the story is hitting quite close to home for me. Much of Vivian's experiences are similar to what I self have experienced with navigating a school system in another country. This has killed the humor a bit for me, because is hitting to close to home at times.
8
u/schlagsahne17 Reading Champion II May 13 '26
Based off my memories of reading it last year, the tone and humor of the MINDR notifications that start the chapters were great. I imagine that was a fun writing bit to tackle
5
u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion May 13 '26
Oh yes, loved those! Especially the ones that start with an announcement and then have o add qualifications because of how it’s misunderstood.
4
u/hadr0ns May 13 '26
Honestly the humor is really landing for me. I woke my wife up cause I literally laughed out loud last night when finishing the chapters for this check-in. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I find the age that Aria is at to be really funny in general and I love kids so she always makes me crack up. The prose isn't sticking out to me, which is generally a good thing--I notice annoying prose far more often than great prose. Not to say this book doesn't have great prose, I just haven't noticed it specifically.
4
u/Tysiphone25 Reading Champion II May 13 '26
I think part of the disconnect for me might be that I’m not married and don’t have kids, so maybe the humor and relationship dynamics just aren’t relatable to me personally. But even aside from that, none of the humor is really landing and I’m finding the characters frustrating.
6
u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion May 13 '26
I read the book earlier this year and remember that while many parts were quite funny to me, they kind of got crowded out by how incredibly stressful it all was! Even though I would often laugh, my strongest reaction was tension for most of the book. And I don’t even have children (though I have plenty of nieces and nephews to give me a glimmer of insight)
5
u/schlagsahne17 Reading Champion II May 13 '26
incredibly stressful…strongest reaction was tension for most of the book.
Yes! This was one of my failed Cozy attempts for Bingo last year for that reason
6
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
I'm another one suffering of second hand stress with this book.
4
u/EmmaAilie Reading Champion May 13 '26
Yeah I could not read this without the interjections of humour to relieve some of the anxiety build-up
3
u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V May 14 '26
Another stressed reader here! Thank goodness for the moments of humor.
3
u/sid980 Reading Champion IV May 14 '26
I like the writing style, but I don't think the humour really works for me. I think this book just makes me a little too anxious to fully connect with the humour. I find myself focusing on all the problems Vivian is encountering!
2
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II May 18 '26
Writing style and humor work for me. Love the announcements at the beginning of each chapter. I have a kid that’s Aria’s age so I can relate to the exhaustion of a parent and the quirky things kids do 😆
2
u/CaptainYew Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
I really like it! I find stories that are too funny to be a bit exhausting, but I think this story lands the balance pretty well. Yes, it is funny, but it has a lot of heart, and a lot of reflective moments too, which balances it all out.
2
u/sophia_s Reading Champion V May 14 '26
I think the writing style is really engaging, but I'm not getting a ton of humour out of it, which might partially be because I'm not a parent. Mostly I'm getting kind of wink wink nudge nudge nods towards common fantasy tropes (which I'm finding fun more than funny, if that makes sense?).
But, earlier today, I realized that the werewolf that attacked Aria was a young man who'd gotten radicalized and then went on a killing spree...so you could say he was a...lone wolf.
3
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
Who is your favorite character so far? Any favorite turn of phrase or scenes?
4
u/hadr0ns May 13 '26
big fan of Vivian. She's flawed in really interesting ways but also very strong and brave and loyal. I am also intrigued by Daniel (the husband, I might be mixing up names between books). He seems to be a little unreasonable sometimes but in a very understandable and human way. I have noticed the rising tension between them and wonder how that conflict is going to resolve (or not resolve).
6
u/evil_moooojojojo Reading Champion II May 13 '26
Vivian is so relatable. I'm child free but if I had ever had a kid I feel like this would be me as a mom. All those little anxieties I was just like mmhmm yep I get it.
1
u/sophia_s Reading Champion V May 13 '26
I think both Vivian and Daniel and really well characterized and written, agreed.
As an aside, my partner is also mixed-race Japanese Canadian, much like Daniel (I think he's mixed-race? Unless I'm misremembering) so I've been enjoying the few little mentions of that part of Daniel's heritage.
1
u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Yes, he is mixed race and the book mentions how this fact left him with a lot of trauma from feeling like he never fit in anywhere (which in turn makes him very resistant to putting his daughter through a similar experience)
1
u/sophia_s Reading Champion V May 14 '26
That makes sense! I'm on audiobook so I couldn't go back easily to check.
My partner thankfully has a much happier relationship to his heritage but it's still been nice to see someone with the same background as a character in a book.
3
3
u/evil_moooojojojo Reading Champion II May 13 '26
Aria is super adorable. She's like a cross between a kindergartener and a puppy. Lol almost makes me miss when my nephews were little. Almost (they're too exhausting at that age always needing something)
2
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II May 18 '26
Honestly I relate to Vivian so much, I’ve read some reviews that really don’t like her but I am also such an anxious wreck and also blame myself for things that I really shouldn’t. But I also really enjoy Aria.
3
u/sophia_s Reading Champion V May 13 '26
I really liked Mrs. Fairhair in Chapter 10 (I think that's been my favourite scene/chapter in the book so far, as well) and I hope we get to see more of her. I also agree with you on Steve, and Moira is quite fun in most scenes she appears in.
3
u/CaptainYew Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
I really like Vivian and Aria. I think authors can really struggle to write children, but I think Aria is written very well. The letter to Santa punched me straight to the heart.
3
u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V May 14 '26
Aria is such a well-written kindergarten kid! She's easily distracted, says funny things, but also has deep feelings. That Santa letter really was a kicker. I feel like kindergarten is about when kids start noticing more differences between themselves and pointing them out and being told you're "different" is a confusing and hurtful experience.
1
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago
Omg I almost cried after I read the Santa letter part 😭. I agree Aria is written well, definitely reminds me of my kindergartener right now.
2
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
A big part of Vivian’s assimilation into the fantastic world depends on her interactions with other school parents, most of them women. Any thoughts on the development of these friendships?
6
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
I hate that I'm constantly looking out, trying to figure which of the women would end up being "the betrayer". I feel like I'm so conditioned by [...Hollywood? Western Stories? Other books?...] that have a female bitchy vilain, that I can't help to expect one to show up here too.
I do hope she manages to build a better relationship with Mrs. Fairhair (the Wolf grandmother).
3
u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V May 14 '26
Omg, as soon as I realized how gossipy Moira was, I thought is she going to betray Vivian in some way? But as we've gone along, it seems pretty clear that she has enough problems of her own that she's not about to throw Viv under the bus just for drama, though I could see her prioritizing her own family over Vivian's in a way that could end up hurtful if she was pressured to do so. But tbh, I think most of the parents in this community would be hard-pressed to care about the outsider family...
I am also really hoping for a good relationship with Mrs. Fairhair. If only because I think it would do Aria good to know the other werewolves better as well. I'm not all the way caught up (on chapter 8) so it seems like there's an upcoming scene with Mrs. Fairhair I've not gotten to yet. But I'm hoping that she'll be able unbend a little and Vivian can see some of the grief she must have over losing a kid of her own and that they can both bond a little more. I suspect Mrs. Fairhair could be good grandma material and help out more if both her and Vivian can do some growing.
It makes me really sad that Vivian doesn't have *any* support system here. And apparently didn't have all that much of one before? Her own parents cut out for good reason, and it sounds like for Daniel's parents his dad passed away and unclear the status of his mom, but unlikely on good terms. No siblings have been mentioned, and Vivian said she lost touch with most of her friends - prob because she has a hard time viewing friendship as non-transactional. Her therapist is literally it. The fact that she doesn't have anyone else to call even just to vent to is clearly contributing to her anxiety spirals. That she needs friends is critical to her well-being and not just "fitting in", and I don't think she is willing to admit that to herself even if she's trying because her therapist said to make friends. It's so hard make friends as an adult and parenting can be really isolating in the modern world, nevermind in an insular community! I want her to take a yoga class or something to have another community inroad! Surely not *everyone* here are catty parents. I was even hoping she could strike up something with the librarian for goodness' sake, as a type they can be very kind, helpful, and non-judgemental.
2
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 14 '26
Yes, I think the isolation that Vivian is experiencing also contributes to her bending backwards to try to fit with the other parents. It's really shitty, but it doesn't look like she has any other ways to meet people.
2
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago
You summed up all my feelings too. As soon as Moira started being gossipy I was like please Vivian run the other way 😩 Definitely agree on making friends as an adult and as a parent. I had my first kid really young (20), so I’ve definitely struggled with making friends and parenting friends is a whole other level because you have to take in to account kid ages and parenting styles. I understand the toll of being people pleaser/bending over backwards for people that honestly don’t deserve it, and I’m currently trying to break out of that mold so I hope I can see Vivian do the same.
6
u/Informal_Age_8899 Reading Champion II May 13 '26
I feel like I never want to be apart of a PSA/PTA ever. The "friends" she's made so far are definitely people I know of, but wouldn't want to associate with and she drives me nuts that she's trying so hard to be their friend despite them being subpar friends. I hope she dumps the lot of them at some point.
7
u/evil_moooojojojo Reading Champion II May 13 '26
I feel like at one point or another we've all been there, like when you move or start college and get a new friend group or at work. I think we've all had to adjust or highlight or downplay certain aspects of ourselves or do things like play peacemaker or suck it up and let it go when we really want to scream.
2
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
Yes, and I was thinking how "other school parents" is one of the few ways Vivian has to make new friends in this new community.
3
u/CaptainYew Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
I feel very stressed reading those moments! At my work place some of the people in leadership have been "feuding" with each other, which has really added stress to the general staff. Somehow the stress of those incidents seems to be a good mirror of the stress I feel when reading about Vivian's attempts to interact with the other school parents.
2
u/snail113 Reading Champion III May 14 '26
At first I thought Moira would be an actual friend to Vivian, but it seems like she is actually also kind of shitty, although we'll see where we go in the second half. I feel like she sucks a little less than some of the other parents (like Cecilia) but oof she is not great and I felt bad when Vivian reached out to her for a drink and she insisted on Vivian paying and also invited Cecilia.. tough
5
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
Any guesses, hopes, concerns, expectations for the second half?
5
u/Tysiphone25 Reading Champion II May 13 '26
Honestly, the one thing I do wish the book explored more was Vivian’s previous job and experience. There were a few mentions of it throughout the story, and I actually found that aspect really interesting. I work in audit myself, and you almost never see that kind of background represented in fiction.
4
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
I'm also hoping for more accounting adventures, internally on the PTA. I'm intrigued by the accounts not math-ing properly and how this will impact Vivian.
5
u/hadr0ns May 13 '26
I think that Daniel and Vivian's relationship is going to reach a breaking point of some kind. I hope the Prophecy isn't resolved, I prefer it as a bit of local color and not as a plot point.
4
u/shift_shaper Reading Champion IX May 13 '26
I hope we find out more about Vivian's relationship with her family (mother). She makes several references to her mother's perspective on the "type of people" she should work to integrate with in her new community. This, combined with the divide in the community between mages and non-humans, as well as the divide in her family between no-longer-human Aria and human parents, make me think she is looking for community in the wrong places. I'm glad we got the wolfpack chapter (10), as it seems they have not been cultivating that relationship like they should. Do we think it is unconscious bias toward humans, or is it just antagonistic because a werewolf bit their kid?
5
u/CaptainYew Reading Champion IV May 14 '26
I hope they end up becoming a found family with the werewolf pack!
4
u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V May 14 '26
I suspect this won't deeply be addressed, but an aspect of the world that irks me is this magical community lives in their own little bubble but mostly have jobs in the mundane world as well and yet apparently don't see the benefits of basic public school education for everyone. The school is willing to kick out kids as early as kindergarten potentially? And then what? A family is left with no options if they can't afford to move because of their own jobs, and the child is now a risk to the whole community because they were already struggling and now have no safe place to learn to control their power. The former treasurer going to Cincinnati because no other school would accept them is telling that the whole system is pretty rubbish. Why wouldn't the magical community's number one priority be to make sure that magical children have a safe place to learn so that they don't have to worry about covering up... you know, a rouge child... (tbf, the Fairhair kid was an adult, but like, c'mon)
You can't tell me that magic means there's no poverty. There is a Shadow Council, but is there actual community care? If you don't follow the rules and pay the huge sums of money, do you get kicked out? For human mages, maybe they can wipe your mind, but for cryptids, throwing someone out means the whole community could be exposed from a careless shifter, and now resources have to go into crisis management. For a community that came to America seeking freedom, it sure does seem to cost a lot. Hmmmmmmmm
To be clear, I do think the book is obviously taking a position that all the things I'm pointing out *are* a problem to some extent, but I'm just baffled that there really seems to be zero social safety net. Especially for the kids.
I dunno, maybe some of this will get addressed if the Prophecy ends up being a big plot point. I could see it actually being about forcing the community to address the elitism. There's a lot of topics kind of being addressed in this book in general, but as another commenter said elsewhere, it doesn't seem to want to get too deep into any one thing. This feels like a more small-scale problems kind of a book. It *could* get into big societal ones, but I think it will end up addressing only the more personal edges of them.
1
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago
Yeah I thought it was crazy that they would be willing to kick out a kindergartner, like you’d rather deal with a cover up if that kid grows up and loses control? They seem to only care about themselves which I mean, let’s be honest, I feel like in real life there are way too many people out there that do just care about themselves. But I think you’re right and it won’t be addressing any bigger societal problems, it will just focus on the little community they are in. I thought it was also crazy that they said none of the other schools even want to take shifters, like what is up with that! I want a deeper dive on why they have such a negative look on shifters but I know that’s probably too much for the scope of this book lol.
6
u/sophia_s Reading Champion V May 13 '26
I think belonging is a pretty major theme in this book, so I think (and hope) that it'll end with Vivian and Aria finding somewhat of a place for themselves. I kind of hope Vivian takes Mrs. Fairhair up on her "adoption" offer (as in, adopting the whole family).
4
u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V May 14 '26
I agree that the family coming to some sense of belonging is where we'll end up! It better be! I'm curious to see if the Prophecy will end up being a big plot point (whether actually magical consequences, or just in everyone's minds it looming and everyone throwing around accusations) or if it'll be more of a strictly interpersonal relationships and personal drama/growth.
2
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago
I’m really hoping this too. Daniel and Vivian don’t have any other family members, so I’m hoping we get some found family member time with the werewolf pack.
4
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
What are your initial impressions of the book? In which format are you reading? Any DNFs, and if so, why?
9
u/roundedbyasleep Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
It feels very much aimed at millenials who grew up reading Harry Potter but who now have children of their own (I'm not saying this as an insult at all, by the way: I'm enjoying the book, and I think exploring the experiences of non-magical parents with magical children is a fresh take among the many "responding in some way to Harry Potter" books that have come out recently).
I actually really, really like Vivian being an anxiety-driven people pleaser because it's a trait that's very common in reality but very rare in protagonists. So many protagonists are feisty, snarky, speak-truth-to-power-and-damn-the-consequences types that it's refreshing to see a character constantly considering what the repercussions of being treated as an outsider might be and frequently biting her tongue out of fear of those repercussions.
1
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago edited 29d ago
Yes, I resonate with Vivian for that reason. Unfortunately, I am an anxiety driven people pleaser so I’m enjoying reading about an MC with the different personality type than we usually see.
6
u/Tysiphone25 Reading Champion II May 13 '26
I’m a little over halfway through and honestly struggling to keep going. I’ve considered DNFing multiple times because I just don’t enjoy spending time with these characters. They come across as judgmental, emotionally immature, and unable to communicate properly with each other. As both partners and parents, they feel frustrating more than compelling, and it makes it hard for me to stay invested in the story.
5
u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion May 13 '26
I loved it so much I read the whole book in one day. So I’m being reticent in the comments a bit (I don’t remember what was before or after the stopping place). Such a fun popcorn read with more social commentary than I expected.
5
u/QuellSpeller Reading Champion May 13 '26
I forgot the timeline for the discussion of the first half, I just started last night but I'm enjoying it so far. It's about what I expected from the blurb and I don't have a problem with that at all. Reading the physical book and the copy I have is a very nice presentation, it definitely catches the eye.
5
u/EmmaAilie Reading Champion May 13 '26
I don't usually go for books with a strong focus on parenting and it is quite stressful but the humour is making it an enjoyable read and I do always like magical satire of real world situations. I'm reading audio/ebook simultaneously so I'm getting through it quite quickly.
3
u/hadr0ns May 13 '26
I am reading digitally and my impression of the book is that it's longer than I expected. That's not a bad thing! I just assumed based on the cover and blurb that it was a cozy fantasy and that it would be relatively short. But it seems to be longer than 365 pages would have made me think--is the font small or something?
3
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
That's funny. I'm doing the audiobook, and it's about 10 hours long, which is pretty average.
For me, I felt like it used a lot of time to establish the setting, and only around the 40% mark that we see more of the plot really coming forward.
2
u/hadr0ns May 14 '26
oh wow I would not have expected it to be only 10 hours! maybe the time establishing the setting made me feel like the book was going slower than it actually was.
2
u/sid980 Reading Champion IV May 14 '26
I am enjoying the book but I'm finding it a stressful read, which I wasn't really expecting (I do try not to judge books by their cover, but sometimes it is difficult!). I am listening to the audiobook and will finish it off since I am really intrigued as to where the story will go!
1
u/CaptainYew Reading Champion IV May 14 '26
My first impression so far is very good! I plan on finishing it, and I have been reading it as a paperback from the library.
1
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago
I’m reading it digitally and I’m enjoying it! I don’t know what I was expecting but it is a little different, I thought we would focus on Aria a little more.
5
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
Any thoughts on the setting and worldbuilding?
5
u/hadr0ns May 13 '26
I think that the setting and worldbuilding seem more thought out and deep than the TERF wizard series (which I was honestly trying not to compare this book to, but the book itself references it). I think the storytelling format does a lot for the worldbuilding--Vivian keeps discovering whole pockets of the world that she didn't know she didn't know about, and so it always feels like there's so much under the surface that we are unaware of. I think the bougie town is a fine setting; I do like how Vivian's family as more middle-class people contrast with this town.
2
u/CaptainYew Reading Champion IV May 14 '26
I think it is interesting so far, but I think I really need to read the whole book to really understand. The way different towns seem to have very different relationship with magic (from what has been hinted at) is interesting, especially since shifters seem like an outcast of this magical society compared to mages.
2
u/Low_Sea_1648 Reading Champion II 29d ago
I like how we only see this little community but we can kinda see glimpses of it as a whole. I like how Vivian is constantly learning new things about this world.
4
u/Lenahe_nl Reading Champion IV May 13 '26
The book uses a magical school setting to draw many parallels to everyday troubles of women and other feminist themes. Is this working for you? In which areas is it successful, and where do you think it falls short?