Thorn book review | 4 star read

Thorn by Intisar Khanani
Published by Hot Key Books on March 24, 2020
Pages: 460
Goodreads

A princess with two futures. A destiny all her own
Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.
When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl.
But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.
With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for.
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Includes The Bone Knife, a bonus short story set in the world of Thorn.

I picked up Thorn because I had heard good things about it and also the book cover appealed to me. I knew it was a retelling of The Goose Girl fairytale but I’ve never read it so went in blind. I’m kinda glad I did, to be honest. There were things in this book that would have been ruined if I had known or had an inkling about beforehand. I loved the characters and the setting and I think it was a really well set up book. One that had some really good moments and enough world-building to know what was going on without it being boring.

Characters in Thorn

We follow Alryya, a princess who has had her identity stolen on the way to meeting her betrothed. She takes on the guise of Thorn and becomes a goose girl. The story is her a she tries to work out what she wants from her life. I fell in love with Thorn not only as a character but as a person. Her story made me clench with frustration and anger. I could feel the pain she was going through. It made everything feel more real and I really connected with her story and everything she was going through. She really was the highlight of this book which makes perfect sense seeing as it’s her story and her life.

A lot of the characters in Thorn feel as though they are side characters even the Prince. He feels like he’s stood just left of center stage but shines bright enough to make an impact on the story. I think I loved the way his character became more and more complex as the story went on. There were definite moments where he took me by surprise and nothing really made sense in a good way.

Good and bad bits

Thorn kept me on my toes all the way through, so it was definitely one of my favourite parts. There was always something new happening and as a result, I loved the way the story shaped my enjoyment. In terms of plot points, there were some really awful moments that made me want to cry. But then other points that left me uplifted and at peace. It really was a complete mix bag of everything.

Worst parts for me was definitely the ending. The ending felt a little half-hearted after all of the world and life building. I will go so far as to say I have NO idea what actually happened at the end. Also, the resolution was odd, it was just a really weird moment in the book. The ending definitely needed fleshing out more.

Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this one, it was beautifully written with some fantastic characters. If you’re in the mood for some really good fantasy then this book is for you!

Have you read this one? Let me know what you thought!