BOOK REVIEW
I was really disappointed with Sorcery of Thorns. I had seen so many raving reviews, I was so excited to start this one and was certain it was going to be epic. I really didn’t find it that great at all, I struggle to find many redeeming qualities if I’m honest.
My favourite part would be the magical elements and imagery, flying books, statues, hedge & gargoyles coming to life. The world itself was beautiful, full of stunning old-style libraries. I could imagine myself spending hours in one of the Great Libraries studying or curled up with a good book.
I Loved the idea that books come to life and have a mind of their own. The idea that neglected books developed ‘brittle spine’ and that books themselves had feelings about the way we as humans treated them was exciting and fresh. It has always been a dream of mine that a book would talk back one day, and I got to live this reality through this book.
The story itself was slow to start and I felt even slower to get to the plot line. Half-way through the book she is lost in a new city. It felt like majority of the book was spent as she navigated new places, without any real progression in the plot.
¾ of book was spent wondering around different houses, studying going to or from work – with little no interaction with other and Thorn in this time. The daily activities were very mundane and unexciting, it just felt a bit like a missed opportunity. In a world full of magic and demons, it felt like there was room for so many things that would had filled out the boring character time. There was so much time to learn more about our main characters and their interactions rather than leaving majority unsaid. Which I wouldn’t have found so terrible if the ending brought everything together.
This story is not one centered on romance, which is fine - not my personal preference but not a complete necessity. More than half-way through and we hardly knew any details at all about our leading man Thorn, other than the fact he spends all his time in the study and pushing people away. Character development and exploration felt lacking. It was as if all of a sudden, they were declaring their love for each other and skipped so many of the steps leading up to that in the first place. There were plenty of glances and lingering stares but minimal exploration of character or even friendship between the two till the very end.
Silas was the redeeming character – he was kinder than our leading man at some stages. When we meet him for the first time Elisabeth describes him as the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, there was a short period of time, where that statement had me thinking perhaps Silas would be the love interest. I loved that despite being evil in nature he was one of the kindest heartfelt characters in the book.
I’m someone who likes a concrete happy ending to a story. I’m not a fan of the open ended, implied reality. When I finish a book, I like to get all the little bits that say YES we got a happy ever after. Suffice to say Sorcery does not end like that. I found the ending rather unsatisfying; it has a joyful conclusion, but the ending is just as uncertain as majority of the novel, giving you little bits but leaving majority open ended and left to the imagination.
The story itself was enjoyable, I struggled to continue through the middle section as it dragged on. Elisabeth is a strong independent woman, who carries the world’s fate quite literally on her shoulders, despite how badly she has been inflicted. Prevailing with certainty as she tries to convince Thorn to join her in her quest to prove not only her innocence but the fate of the libraries and the Otherworld that hang in the balance.
The story itself I found could have been a child’s bedtime story with the minimal complexities and ease of conflict. Even the battle scenes, especially the final one - I was expecting more, we only got one battle of magic and that was from the sidelines. I was expecting an expansive show of magical mirages and grandeur which there were, but I felt fell short yet again.
The book itself is extremely well written and complex in structure. For a standalone novel where the world is one book long soo it has 400 pages to come together, fall apart and round all together again, it didn’t hit the mark for me.
⭐️⭐️✨/5
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