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abookishgoth's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
regulusreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
⭐️ | 4.5 stars
uhm WHAT. the ending of this book left me shattered, it was over before i was ready to depart from this world and im anxiously anticipating the sequel (and looking forward to reading Forever Red).
but going back to the beginning, this book follows Arlo. Arlo is a sweet but deeply anxious young man who’s at the beginning of his journey and just as he begins to think he understands what his life will be, everything changes. however, this change lights the path to a whole new understanding of himself and the parts of himself that had been obscured.
I also really enjoyed this take on . I haven’t read a lot of vampire-centric fiction but I liked that this was different and almost veering into sci-fi territory in how it works.
while I was unsure of the writing style at first it began to make sense due to it following Arlo and the way he thought. I relate to Arlo, not fully, but especially in regards to him being aroace and seemingly neurodivergent (at least to me). pages 269-272 made me cry, I felt so seen. while my heart experiences of being aroace are different to Arlo’s, his struggle with his identity is familiar. I’m still struggling with my identity and reading books like this are so healing. Arlo is not broken and neither am I.
the book had its slower moments and faster moments but I think it works. after the first couple chapters the book flew by and I finished it far quicker than I thought I would because I couldn’t put it down. the stakes hit you like a brick. i was devastated at the end and yet, it felt necessary.
ANYWAYS GOOD BOOK, GOING TO CRY NOW 👍
uhm WHAT. the ending of this book left me shattered, it was over before i was ready to depart from this world and im anxiously anticipating the sequel (and looking forward to reading Forever Red).
but going back to the beginning, this book follows Arlo. Arlo is a sweet but deeply anxious young man who’s at the beginning of his journey and just as he begins to think he understands what his life will be, everything changes. however, this change lights the path to a whole new understanding of himself and the parts of himself that had been obscured.
I also really enjoyed this take on . I haven’t read a lot of vampire-centric fiction but I liked that this was different and almost veering into sci-fi territory in how it works.
while I was unsure of the writing style at first it began to make sense due to it following Arlo and the way he thought. I relate to Arlo, not fully, but especially in regards to him being aroace and seemingly neurodivergent (at least to me). pages 269-272 made me cry, I felt so seen. while my heart experiences of being aroace are different to Arlo’s, his struggle with his identity is familiar. I’m still struggling with my identity and reading books like this are so healing. Arlo is not broken and neither am I.
the book had its slower moments and faster moments but I think it works. after the first couple chapters the book flew by and I finished it far quicker than I thought I would because I couldn’t put it down. the stakes hit you like a brick. i was devastated at the end and yet, it felt necessary.
ANYWAYS GOOD BOOK, GOING TO CRY NOW 👍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Excrement, and Kidnapping
madscientistcat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, and Kidnapping
Minor: Confinement and Acephobia/Arophobia
crusoe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Fallen thorns was not what I expected at all which is okay because it's a fun read anyway. Only in the last 'act' does the story get truly dark and the tonal shift is quite a twist.
I think the characters and their relationships with each other are very fun as well though Lucy especially suffers from some one-dimensionality, mostly because we aren't given an indepth backstory on most of the characters. (You could read the novellas Baxter is working on but really it should be a vital part of the story.)
Unfortunately, you can also easily tell Baxter is a first time author. The writing suffers from some growing pains in terms of its pacing, some cliche dialogue and a slight lack of personal style. Nevertheless, these are all things that can only get better over time and I'm excited to see what they'll write next.
So, in short, the story didn't blow me away as much as I'd hoped but I had a good time reading it!
I think the characters and their relationships with each other are very fun as well though Lucy especially suffers from some one-dimensionality, mostly because we aren't given an indepth backstory on most of the characters. (You could read the novellas Baxter is working on but really it should be a vital part of the story.)
Unfortunately, you can also easily tell Baxter is a first time author. The writing suffers from some growing pains in terms of its pacing, some cliche dialogue and a slight lack of personal style. Nevertheless, these are all things that can only get better over time and I'm excited to see what they'll write next.
So, in short, the story didn't blow me away as much as I'd hoped but I had a good time reading it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Torture
spot_the_book_unicorn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Alcohol
avaa1000's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Torture
charthegoose's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
hazelwood's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Yay finally an aroace vampire story!!! Though I'm quite annoyed that the next book in the series is apparently a prequel... I need to know what happens next! The narrator (Arlo) was very relatable although his voice took some getting used to, especially his tendency to over-analyze every social interaction - a very realistic representation of social anxiety. I like that each side character has their own lives outside of their interactions with Arlo too. I found Arlo triply relatable, as an aroace introvert and kind of touch-repulsed person myself. I liked the illustrations of each character in between chapters, although it was frustrating not being sure who was who (no labels for illustrations). The plot revolves around Arlo becoming a vampire after a fateful encounter with a "date" with devious intentions. At first he doesn't take it well despite there being a whole group of good vampires (the Thorns) who offer him help. He goes into a self-destructive spiral that only ends when he finally accepts their help. Eventually, he joins the Thorns and gains a loving queer found family. There is a mysterious (evil?) being stalking him the whole time, trying to turn him into something else. The ending was kind of sad and confusing to be honest, and I'm not sure what to think about it. Which is why I hope it will be expanded into a series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
juan_adhd_reading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very cute book! Despite the inherently dark fact that it is about a boy being killed and becoming a vampire, this was actually a really lighthearted coming of age story. I found it a bit cheesy at times, but in the way that receiving a bunch of compliments at once can sometimes feel cringy (is that just me 😅). Anyway, this book also has a very emphatic arc of the main character, Arlo, discovering his asexuality which is one of the strongest points of this book. I could relate to Arlo in a lot of ways which was one of the reasons why I really enjoyed this book. The other one being that all the characters genuinely love Arlo, and care for each other very deeply. If you’re a fan of the found family trope, I highly recommend this book. Also, one of the biggest highlights of this book is the character art scattered all throughout. It is gorgeous! I really wish more books included illustrations like this.
My main complaint would be the pacing. Given that most of the book is set on finding the person that killed Arlo, I would expect more tension, action and a bit more mystery. I took longer than expected to finish this book because of the pacing. However, the last 50 -ish pages where extremely action packed and much more violent and dark that the rest of the book. I think I would have rather more of the book to be written this way.During one of the last chapters there’s the death of a character that carries a strong emotional sucker punch. Personally, I think this could’ve been done better if we had explored more of this character, but it was still incredibly sad. Still, I am very excited for the continuation of this story, and also the prequel coming out soon about the supporting characters Ben and Casper (loved them!)
My main complaint would be the pacing. Given that most of the book is set on finding the person that killed Arlo, I would expect more tension, action and a bit more mystery. I took longer than expected to finish this book because of the pacing. However, the last 50 -ish pages where extremely action packed and much more violent and dark that the rest of the book. I think I would have rather more of the book to be written this way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
lattefairies's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Reading fallen thorns went from cozy and sweet to stressful and then traumatising and sad. I love these characters so so much and I love their relationships and their adoration of each other and that's why I'm never forgiving the author. I need book two like, yesterday. The way this book ends is so devastating my heart tore into As many pieces as the amount of characters I love which a lot.
I think my favourite thing about this book other than the incredible platonic love portrayal and the relationships and queerness is the main character. We don't find such great depiction of an aro/ace character easily and I'm so grateful I got to. I love arlo with all my heart and I relate to him so much. Him and Ben did not deserve this and I will forever be MAD. My heart is still broken and I still can't move on T T
I think my favourite thing about this book other than the incredible platonic love portrayal and the relationships and queerness is the main character. We don't find such great depiction of an aro/ace character easily and I'm so grateful I got to. I love arlo with all my heart and I relate to him so much. Him and Ben did not deserve this and I will forever be MAD. My heart is still broken and I still can't move on T T
“You don’t have to explain,” she winked, “boys have needs.” My laugh came out delayed as my brain processed what she said. It was just a joke, nothing to get worked up over, but… that’s not me. I’m not like that. I didn’t have needs.
Here are some of my favourite things about this book:
- how much queerness there is and how normalised it it.
- the diverse collection of characters.
- the lovely found family aspect.
- some of those plot twists were fire.
- I love that the vampire aspect was in fact a parasite, it made it more interesting.
- I love that we still have fantasy elements even though the vampire aspect turned out to be a parasite.
- I LOVE BEN AND CASPER they have my heart I already miss them.
- I love arlo with all my heart he's my baby if anyone lays a finger on him I'm rioting 😭
- MARIANNE!!! not elaborating on that. You'd understand once you read :).
A note: this is something I personally enjoyed and loved because I relate to arlo so much but it might be iffy to some people. We spend a lot of time in arlos head. We see his thoughts, observations, feelings, and emotions all throughout and I loved it a lot. But I also thought its very fitting considering what happens with the pov's later in the book.
I also want to point out that I VERY MUCH appreciate how arlos anxiety (and eyesight lol) were not cured after he turned and I think the way his anxiety manifested differently afterwards in a very subtle way, when it comes to his heart, was genius.
All in all. I cannot wait for book two 😔
—
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail