In this post, indie author Katy O’Hera breaks down what she’s learning from The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl while drafting her own dark YA fantasy novel, The Institute for the Unruly. From gothic boarding school vibes to murder, magic, and resisting fate, Katy explores the thematic overlap between comp books and her WIP—and what it means when your main character doesn’t seem to want anything at all. Come for the craft insight, stay for the chaos.