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yilliun's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Silas🥹
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
readabookortwo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.25
"She now understood that the world wasn't kind fo young women, especially when they behaved in ways men didn't like and spoke truths men weren't ready to hear"
I have wanted to read Sorcery of Thorns for five years since it very first came out and I am SO happy that I have finally read it. This book is filled with so much magic and warmth I have loved so much of my time reading it.
I loved Elizabeth as a main character she is absolutely so badass, I loved the way that she changed over the course of the book and realised how outdated some of the views and prejudices are, I love that she was always willing to put herself in danger to protect those she loved and just wanted to save everyone even if she died in the process. I absolutely love her so much!!
My favourite character was Nathaniel he absolutely made me giggle so much, I loved his sarcasm but also the way he cares so much. He's been through so much and you can tell how traumatised he is from those events but he never wants that to stop him, always goes along eventually with Elizabeth and her plans and I absolutely adored him. He wasn't willing to bow down to what everyone and the world wanted from him, to what they thought he should do, he carved his own path and deserves every bit of happiness.
I also, of course, loved Silas. You can tell how much he cared for these people even though he felt he shouldn't have, he wanted Nathaniel and Elizabeth to be alive and safe at all times. He absolutely made me bawl my eyes out and I loved the relationship between him and Nathaniel, the two of them truly cared so deeply foe each other and it was really beautiful.
"She looked across the shining city, ancient, impossibly vast and wondered how all that light and beauty could exist side by side with so much darkness"
As a book lover, I of course, love when I read a book that is about books. And this one was about books and I loved the element of the grimoires and how they played a role in the story. It just felt so magical and warm and I think really had an important message about how people treat each other and the things that are different.
"Sometimes they were sinister, grotesque- but so was the world outside. And that made the world no less worth fighting for because wherever there was darkness there was also so much light."
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book! I think the pacing lacked in some places but the overall plot and characters really had me falling in love with the book. I'm so, so happy that I finally read it and hope to read the novella soon!!
I have wanted to read Sorcery of Thorns for five years since it very first came out and I am SO happy that I have finally read it. This book is filled with so much magic and warmth I have loved so much of my time reading it.
I loved Elizabeth as a main character she is absolutely so badass, I loved the way that she changed over the course of the book and realised how outdated some of the views and prejudices are, I love that she was always willing to put herself in danger to protect those she loved and just wanted to save everyone even if she died in the process. I absolutely love her so much!!
My favourite character was Nathaniel he absolutely made me giggle so much, I loved his sarcasm but also the way he cares so much. He's been through so much and you can tell how traumatised he is from those events but he never wants that to stop him, always goes along eventually with Elizabeth and her plans and I absolutely adored him. He wasn't willing to bow down to what everyone and the world wanted from him, to what they thought he should do, he carved his own path and deserves every bit of happiness.
I also, of course, loved Silas. You can tell how much he cared for these people even though he felt he shouldn't have, he wanted Nathaniel and Elizabeth to be alive and safe at all times. He absolutely made me bawl my eyes out and I loved the relationship between him and Nathaniel, the two of them truly cared so deeply foe each other and it was really beautiful.
"She looked across the shining city, ancient, impossibly vast and wondered how all that light and beauty could exist side by side with so much darkness"
As a book lover, I of course, love when I read a book that is about books. And this one was about books and I loved the element of the grimoires and how they played a role in the story. It just felt so magical and warm and I think really had an important message about how people treat each other and the things that are different.
"Sometimes they were sinister, grotesque- but so was the world outside. And that made the world no less worth fighting for because wherever there was darkness there was also so much light."
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book! I think the pacing lacked in some places but the overall plot and characters really had me falling in love with the book. I'm so, so happy that I finally read it and hope to read the novella soon!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
jzupp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
jennlikesreading's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was so cute!! A very whimsical books literally about books. I absolutely loved Nathaniel, Silas and Elisabeth, their dynamic was so cute!!! Definitely worth a read if you love fantasy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
lue_moon's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Quintessential YA fantasy; the kind of book I would have absolutely made part of my personality as a kid had I read it then. Magic, demons, libraries with sword-weilding librarians and books with their own personality and unique power. Hell yes. It was a fun read set in an immersive world. Absolutely YA, so if you're not a lover of YA, it won't be for you. But if you want to tap into memories of jumping into a magical world like you did as a kid or teen, this just may do it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death
marena02's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
fayesavanne's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Love how books were such a big part, reminds me of howl's moving castle and loved the romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
margaret_k30's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Body shaming, Gore, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, and Classism
nat_kiverse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I don't think I was entirely in the right frame of mind for a book like this but also as I was reading, I got the sense that it was aimed for a demographic significantly younger than me. That isn't to say it isn't good at all, rather that it's a perfectly fine book that would be better suited to people either getting into fantasy or are just new to reading in general.
Things I liked:
Things I liked:
- It was suitably descriptive and was easy to imagine the kind of world the characters inhabited.
- No awkward sexual content for the sake of sexual content. Disclaimer that I have nothing wrong with smut being in books (I've written smut fanfic myself) but it feels like there's an expectation in books these days - especially ones that booktok focuses on - to have sex scenes in them, and they end up coming across as gratuitous rather than the evolution of a couple's relationship. The closes thing that happens is a sexy makeout session that gets stopped by another character.
- On a related note, the romance was pretty good. I still think we didn't get much of what Elisabeth sees in Nathaniel compared to what he sees in her, but they're a cute, slightly chaotic couple. It especially felt like the romance was more of a side plot rather than the main focus, which was nice.
- Speaking of romance, we have some good representation in the form of Nathaniel who mentions he's bisexual in a very natural way, and it's just accepted before moving on.
Things I didn't like:
- The pacing felt a bit all over the place, and as a result some things felt like they were over before they had even begun. Sometimes it felt that Elisabeth and other characters were going through a checklist of things to make the plot progress rather than it happening organically. Two spoilery examples come to mind:
Elisabeth being institutionalised and her subsequent escape felt like it happened way faster than it should have. It felt like the author had plans for it to be longer but couldn't find the appropriate research or changed her mind last minute but didn't take out the scene because otherwise it would have ruined the progression of events. Silas' first death is supposed to be treated as this massive stakes raising moment forces Nathaniel and Elisabeth to think for themselves instead of having to rely on him constantly... or so I thought until Nathaniel essentially goes "right, let's go to the basement and re-summon him; I'll just bleed on the old pentagram and he'll be back in a jiffy", which really killed the stakes for the remainder of the book.
- Your mileage may vary heavily on this point of contention, but some of the foreshadowing was very obvious to me. This is one of the main reasons I feel like the book was definitely aimed at younger/less experienced readers than myself.
- A very minor thing but I got annoyed at the author's use of the Noodle Incident trope for funny moments involving Nathaniel. It happens a lot in another one of my favourite series - The Gallagher Girls - but that series is aimed at a younger demographic, and the protagonist of that series is often telling noodle incidents that she has only heard of instead of directly participating in.
In contrast to here where Nathaniel is describing things that happened to him to make him seem charming, I think there could have been moments where instead of Nathaniel describing a Noodle Incident that happened to him, Elisabeth could have either witnessed an incident or come in partway through/at the tail end of an incident. The ending felt extremely rushed and anticlimactic. It felt like the author got bored of writing the story and just wanted to wrap it up as soon as possible. And I still have no idea why Nathaniel lost his powers at the end.
And something double-edged I both liked and didn't like:
- We have some decent aroace representation - and a Black aroace character to boot! I'm grateful that Katrien's sexual orientation is alluded to but not dwelt upon. Again, it ties back to the idea that the romance was a side thing rather than a big focus of the story.
...Unfortunately Katrien is barely in this story, and feels more like a token Black Best Friend that Elisabeth occasionally communicates with for updates on the Summerhall Library, rather than a fully realised person.It was especially annoying that Katrien supposedly single-handedly investigated the new director and documented his crimes so that he could be punished off-screen. I believe the author wants this to be a standalone story, but I would like to have a short story or just something about Katrien's off screen chronicles.
There were a few other Black characters that felt more like they were there for token representation, but it didn't irk me as much as it did Katrien.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death and Panic attacks/disorders