The Grimmer by Naben Ruthnum is a YA Urban Fantasy book that follows a highschool kid, Vish, as he navigates small-town drama, his dad’s recovery from addiction, fixing friendships, and working with a bookseller to fight an evil wizard guy named Farris who is trying to turn all the people in town into vessels to hold the people he’s absorbed. There is magic in the river, and cats that fight evil on a whim.

Naben Ruthnum was recently the Writer-In-Residence at my college, and I never interacted with him directly but I still appreciated what he did while he was there. I’d not yet had the chance to read anything he had put out. I think I was either scrolling bookstagram or skimming through “New Book” lists when I saw this was being released, and figured now was better than never to finally check out Ruthnum’s work. I don’t typically pick up YA for myself to read anymore, but I was really looking forward to something completely different than what I was reading in my internship.

I had a lot of fun reading The Grimmer. I found the main character, Vish, very relatable despite our obvious differences. I loved the characters, I enjoyed Vish’s growth, and the twist at the end was both surprising and bitter-sweet.

As an average metal music listener, small-time band enjoyer, and musician myself, I really enjoyed having something outside of the main plot to connect with Vish. Part of me wishes to be back in high school, learning bass and trying to convince my friends to start a band, but the other part of me is grateful those days are gone now that I’m securely in a gigging band. It was fun to relive that through this book, and honestly I found myself maybe a bit too focused on the music, friendship, and bandmates side of the story. It was such an endearing aspect that really added a unique feeling to what originally felt like a generic “chosen one fights the worst villain in the world” trope.

But that trope really doesn’t cover it either; which brings me to the twist. This is your spoiler warning, read no further if you’re not interested in spoilers. Agastya, who is the kind of cynical teacher who fights his own demons, is actually just a future version of Vish who time traveled via magic to warn his past self about Farris. I really liked this idea even though it’s been done before, but almost immediately after I finished the book, I started questioning everything. When time travel enters the playing field, I have to ask—are there multiple timelines? Does Agastya (AKA Future Vish) and the gang completely rewrite history by traveling back in time? Someone please tell me if Gisela explained this at one point and I just missed it. I just have such a hard time wrapping my head around the specifics of time travel!

If you’re looking for a good, quick book to read, this one could be it—so long as you don’t overthink the details like I do! I really enjoyed being able to vibe with Vish and his musical tastes, and I found it so sweet that Agastya (AKA Future Vish) was able to see his former self make different choices that should hopefully lead to a happier life down the road.

If you have read this, and are looking for something with similar vibes, I would recommend taking a gander at the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Irish writer Derek Landy. The books get a bit more dark than The Grimmer, but they had some very cool characters.