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A review by danireneewood
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
3.0
"Stories always begin the same way: There was and there was not. There is possibility in those words, the chance for hope or despair."
When she was a newborn, Soraya was cursed to be poisonous to the touch, a curse that has kept her locked away and hidden for most of her life in order to prevent the royal family to which she belongs from drowning in their shame. After all, the royal family is prized and protected, at least according to lore, and a poisonous princess doesn't fit with the narrative.
The arrival to the palace of a handsome soldier who saves the life of her twin brother (the soon-to-be ruler) from the hands of a dangerous demon, brings Soraya out of the shadows - Azad notices her from afar, has dreamed about her his entire life, is not afraid of her, and understands her. The desire to be free of her curse grows stronger, and so with it comes events that will pull her out of the shadows and away from the truths she has believed to be true about herself.
This book handles a lot of themes that can only be described as humanistic, specifically questions of what a family does or does not do, the boundaries and expectations of trust, and the various forms love can take. It's a story that is engaging - it relies heavily on foreshadowing to the point where things don't feel as surprising as you wish they would be, but the fantasy elements of the story kept me from seeing this as too big of an issue.
What keeps this from being a 4 star (or even 5 star) read for me is that this book toed the line of the dark tale I desperately wanted it to be - Soraya is a character created to deeply battle a personal war between light and dark, and unfortunately I felt she never lived up to that potential. She always seemed to toe the "safe side" of discovering those points of personal conflict, and it felt too easy to pull her away from temptation.
Additionally, I wanted more from a few supporting characters, namely Parvaneh. Parvaneh plays a significant role in Soraya's character development, and while not every YA Fantasy needs a heavy dosing of romance, I felt exploring the nature of theirs would have benefited a deeper character exploration of them both. Parvaneh has the makings of a strong female character just as much as Soraya, and I found myself wanting more.
Wanting more out of a book isn't always a bad thing, as it can be what keeps us reading.
Overall, I loved this book because it felt just as messy as life can feel, and it was a wonderfully quick and escapist read in a time where I'm in desperate need of just that.
"She had read enough stories to know that the princess and the monster were never the same. She had been alone long enough to know which one she was."
When she was a newborn, Soraya was cursed to be poisonous to the touch, a curse that has kept her locked away and hidden for most of her life in order to prevent the royal family to which she belongs from drowning in their shame. After all, the royal family is prized and protected, at least according to lore, and a poisonous princess doesn't fit with the narrative.
The arrival to the palace of a handsome soldier who saves the life of her twin brother (the soon-to-be ruler) from the hands of a dangerous demon, brings Soraya out of the shadows - Azad notices her from afar, has dreamed about her his entire life, is not afraid of her, and understands her. The desire to be free of her curse grows stronger, and so with it comes events that will pull her out of the shadows and away from the truths she has believed to be true about herself.
This book handles a lot of themes that can only be described as humanistic, specifically questions of what a family does or does not do, the boundaries and expectations of trust, and the various forms love can take. It's a story that is engaging - it relies heavily on foreshadowing to the point where things don't feel as surprising as you wish they would be, but the fantasy elements of the story kept me from seeing this as too big of an issue.
What keeps this from being a 4 star (or even 5 star) read for me is that this book toed the line of the dark tale I desperately wanted it to be - Soraya is a character created to deeply battle a personal war between light and dark, and unfortunately I felt she never lived up to that potential. She always seemed to toe the "safe side" of discovering those points of personal conflict, and it felt too easy to pull her away from temptation.
Additionally, I wanted more from a few supporting characters, namely Parvaneh. Parvaneh plays a significant role in Soraya's character development, and while not every YA Fantasy needs a heavy dosing of romance, I felt exploring the nature of theirs would have benefited a deeper character exploration of them both. Parvaneh has the makings of a strong female character just as much as Soraya, and I found myself wanting more.
Wanting more out of a book isn't always a bad thing, as it can be what keeps us reading.
Overall, I loved this book because it felt just as messy as life can feel, and it was a wonderfully quick and escapist read in a time where I'm in desperate need of just that.
"She had read enough stories to know that the princess and the monster were never the same. She had been alone long enough to know which one she was."