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erins_bookshelf_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
The storyline was interesting and I might need to read this again to appreciate the book properly, I think it moved kind of slow in the beginning but it picked up in the second half of the book so its okay :)
The whole concept was very interesting and I can’t wait for the sequel
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Ableism and Misogyny
solouncapitulomas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
theespressoedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The story is very quick to suck you in. It's not necessarily fast-paced so much as it's just not slow. There's always something happening to further the plot and I'm grateful that I read a physical copy rather than listening to it, only because I think I would've missed important elements if I had utilized an audiobook. The chapters are a bit longer than is my typical taste, but truthfully, I didn't realize how long they were because I often forgot that I was even reading! It's definitely an atmospheric escape book.
There's not a particularly large cast of characters. Only four are of utmost importance with a handful of secondary characters that provide excellent support to the main cast and help to further the story. While some may categorize this novel as "enemies-to-lovers," I wouldn't be so quick to slap that label on it. The protagonists may not mesh well at the beginning, but they aren't truly enemies. They're more like misunderstood colleagues. This will make much more sense if you read the book!
I'm sure I'm not the first to state that Silas is the stand-out character in this book. He's absolutely fascinating and I would absolutely love an entire book (or spin-off series) just about his story. I'm hoping that the sequel will include a lot more information about him and how the demon-and-sorcerer relationships came to be.
There are a lot of really beautiful quotes throughout this action-packed book. Two that stood out to me were:
You belonged in the library, as much as any book.
and also..
I think--I think I was a bit dead already, before you came along... You've reminded me to live. That's worth having something to lose.
Really, Sorcery of Thorns is a beautiful book with so much great adventure, fantastic characters, and a story that will keep you hooked from beginning to end. It is absolutely winding up on my favorites list for 2022!
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization
melancholy_rose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Blood
oddduck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
To start: I love the premise. The idea of librarians (keepers of knowledge) and sorcerers (users and perhaps finders of knowledge) being at odds with each other is so fascinating. There's so much room for conflict and plot and drama. I also enjoy stories in which characters realize what they've been taught all their lives isn't necessarily the Sole Truth and then have to learn to think for themselves. I vibed with a lot of the basic elements, it was moreso the execution that I did not, but we'll get to that.
Nathaniel and Silas are excellent characters and the BOOKS!!! Love me some sentient books. The books were also so diverse in appearance, personality, and use. Five stars all around for the sentient books. I also adored Nathaniel. He is the only character in this book that made me laugh (numerous times!). He's got just the right mixture of dry humor and resigned "of course this is happening, why wouldn't this be happening?". And he's smart and flawed and kind of dragged into helping Elisabeth by repeated exposure. He's got principles, but he's willing to have his mind changed, and he cares about his people so much. He's clearly still mourning his family, including his father, despite why his father died. And his relationship with Silas. I mean, the end really speaks for itself:
I also got very excited over the casual queer and disability representation. Elisabeth describes Katrien as completely uninteresting in romance (clearly aromantic, or at least aro-spec) and Nathaniel is explicitly bi. Utterly delightful, for both of them. And I loved that it just wasn't a big thing, like at all. Elisabeth literally does not care, beyond confirming that there is a possibility Nathaniel might be into her. And on the disability side of things, Wick and Hyde are so cool. I was thrilled that they were both in positions of significant power, especially Wick, who is visually impaired (which some would argue is an impediment for working in a library). But no! She's the deputy director of the Royal Library! And she uses braille! Excellent. Plus Hyde is explicitly said to be hard of hearing and relies on lip reading. And his hearing is not magically cured when
In all, I really liked the end of this book. I figured out the plan at a good point. All the seemingly random details were reprised in a satisfying and/or exciting way. All the loose ends were nicely wrapped up. It was a satisfying end, and almost made me rate this higher. But there's just some stuff, especially at the beginning, that I think could have been done better (or not at all).
Elisabeth was not a very strong protagonist for a lot of the book. Especially at the beginning, she felt very reactionary, which is a bit strange since the two big events that kick the whole story off are her deciding to sneak in to see the sorcerer and her deciding to fight the malefict. I think it's because Katrien is the instigator of the first part and, well, if the malefict hadn't already been unleashed, she wouldn't have had to make that decision either. So it's like yeah, she chose to do these things, but it wasn't totally her, which makes her feel a little less autonomous. By the end, she was making decisions and deciding what she wanted, which made me like her a lot more. At the start, I also got some "not like other girls" vibes, which I personally can't stand. Again, the got better as the story progressed, and I did like how practical and down to earth she was, and her unwavering love of books (even as her relationship with her position as a librarian changes) was very endearing, because honestly same.
The romance was okay, but not standout. I adore Nathaniel, as discussed above, and think he's a very solid love interest. I just would have liked to see more bonding moments between Elisabeth and Nathaniel (especially ones that aren't "holy crap we might die"). I love enemies to lovers and while this was more of a one-sided enemies to lovers (because let's be honest, Nathaniel doesn't not consider Elisabeth an enemy the way she does pretty much until the fight with the fiends when they first get to Brassbridge), the development was still satisfactory. Elisabeth gradually learns to trust Nathaniel, and once we reach that point, there's not a whole lot in the way of continued development for their relationship. She's kind of just like "oh I want to kiss him" and then they do that. I don't know. I would have liked more scenes of them just hanging out, maybe taking a break from planning, and talking to each other. That really would have helped the make-out scene before the climax kicks off feel less out of left field for me. (Like seriously, if Silas hadn't interrupted them, would they have actually had sex? Because I'm sorry, they do not know each other well enough for me to believe that's a healthy step for their relationship at this point.)
The sexism/misogyny from the doctor seemed out of place? Well, the whole "Elisabeth is mentally unstable and hysteric" subplot was just weird and gross, really. Like, until this point, there doesn't seem to be that old fashioned sexist attitude in this world. You could make the argument that Warden Finch has it, but I think his feelings more stem from disapproving of raising Elisabeth in the library in the first place and also that she (and later Katrien) keep pranking him and such. He doesn't like her for things she's done, not the fact that she is a girl and/or is doing something he doesn't consider proper for a young woman. Historically, doctors did treat women the way Elisabeth is treated and did in fact claim that novel reading was bad for women, but I argue that this is fantasy. We can just discard oppression with prejudice if we want. And I understand why Ashcroft did this. Discrediting Elisabeth is a smart move. But there were other ways to do it that didn't involve any of this. I strongly disliked this part.
My final main issue is that the plot felt manufactured at times. Like, it was clear that this was something the author had decided was going to happen and thus forced it to work. Again, the end did not feel this way (after the ball) but there were several points before that where it did. The "Elisabeth is mentally unstable and hysteric" subplot is one of these instances, as was the "Elisabeth is obviously innocent because she bravely fought off those fiends, thanks newspapers" bit, the "Elisabeth gets a job at the Royal Library" part and the "let's expose the villain at the ball" decision. Like, I get it. But also it doesn't quite work for me. There's just too many coincidences and they feel too easy. Again, the end comes together really well, but getting there was a little hard for me.
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
hapalyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
bluejayreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness
bookishflower's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Child death
angstifies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Ableism
ellenwilberg's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Murder