Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Sorcery of Thorns

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

81 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

The ideas and concepts behind Sorcery of Thorns were so interesting and the beginning was so intriguing but sadly towards the end, the book was lacking some things so that I could only give 3.5 stars.

Like I’ve said, I really enjoyed the main idea. Elisabeth is an apprentice at a library with Grimoires, living books that are sometimes friendly, sometimes straight up evil. After being accused of a murder she didn’t commit, Elisabeth is brought into the capital by the magician Nathaniel and his demon companion Silas. There, she learns that she’s part of a bigger conspiracy that threatens the fate of her world.

It was so sad to see how Elisabeth not only had to adjust to this new situation but how judgmental all the people were towards her. Here, I liked how Rogerson integrated modern concepts, like paparazzi, into a medieval setting. There were other interesting concepts introduced, like different dimensions. I feel like many of those idea had so much potential but not all of this potential was used. Other things I quite enjoyed were the action scenes.

In contrast, some moments of the story were quite predictable, like

Ashcroft being the (stereotypical) villain. Until the end, I was still not sure what his motivations were

. Also, we had the typical dancing ball. Some moments didn’t make too much sense for me, like how at the beginning, Finch doesn’t believe her even though you can clearly see that Elisabeth was in a battle. This was probably because

he just wanted to get rid of Elisabeth

, but there could’ve been maybe a better explanation why Elisabeth had to leave.

All in all, the pacing of the story was quite good but towards the end, it became a bit slow because some miscommunications happened which was annoying. Compared to this, I found it clever that

the libraries built one big summoning circle

. I have to admit that I don’t remember so much about the final fight since for some reasons, I was zoning out a lot while reading it.

What I furthermore liked about this book was the writing style. It portrays the emotions of the main character well, describes magic and everything else quite vividly and creates atmospheric settings, like the libraries or the Thorn Manor. What I noticed though is that the German translation that I’ve read had some grammar mistakes and missing words.

When looking at the characters, I liked both Nathaniel and Elisabeth. Elisabeth was sometimes a bit too naïve for my taste, e. g. believing that Ashcroft’s doctor would actually help her. There was some chemistry between them, and I appreciated that the romance was more on the slow burn side – because we meet him in the course of the first pages, I was afraid that I would be an insta love. What was also great was the development of the characters. Another character I liked was Silas. He’s so interesting and you should never forget that he’s a demon, no matter how nicely he acts.

Overall, I have the feeling that more could have been made of Sorcery of Thorns. With the world and the characters, there’s an interesting basis but the plot just lacked some things for me.

Content Warnings

_ladypearce_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book made me feel so much. I was incapable of doing anything because my brain was occupied by this book.

Content Warnings

zoemorana's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny 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? No

4.25

Content Warnings

sammymilfort's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Content Warnings

nadiaherondale's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Rogerson manages to create an amazing world within just one book, which some authors can't do with a trilogy. The plot was captivating, as the writing and the characters felt strong. I especially liked Elisabeth's independence from societal norms having been raised in the library and Nathaniel was a great love interest, plus Silas, who might be the best character in the whole book.
I think the only complaining I can do is that the finale felt a bit rushed, and that I wished this was a trilogy or a duology, not because I wanted this particular plot to drag into another book (100 more pages I think would have been sufficient) but because I want to read more about the characters.

Content Warnings

sydneyluxford's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This book was so good. Oh my God. I don’t know why I put it off for a year.

As I was reading it, I felt like I was watching a movie — I can’t explain. This book needs to be made into a movie.

Elisabeth and Nathaniel were such a cute couple, I actually cannot. WHEN HE CALLED HER A MENACE AT THE END 😭😭😭😭😭. Screaming and throwing up.

Also, I cannot believe Elisabeth is 6’3. When I found out, my jaw literally dropped. But it’s about time there’s a book where the girl is taller than the guy.

OMG. WHEN NATHANIEL SAID HE LIKES BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS I LITERALLY SCREAMED. IT WAS SO UNEXPECTED. His sexuality may not have been mentioned much, but I think a little representation can go a long way. You don’t see many bisexual characters in books. ALSO, Katrien is aromantic, I think???? There was a comment about her not being interested in romance at all.

Content Warnings

maemma's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

solouncapitulomas's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

I do not have enough words to describe how good this book, if u still have doubts about reading it and you like fantasy, stories about books and funny characters this is the one, also the characters are so lovable I swear.

Content Warnings

theespressoedition's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

Sorcery of Thorns took me by surprise in the best way possible. I went into it knowing very little: there was a magical library and it's set during autumn. That's it! I think that might have made it stand out all the more.

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!

Content Warnings

cozylifewithabby's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I love the whole idea behind this book with the magic of books and the importance of libraries to keep sorcery in check. The characters were likeable and it never got too dark. Highly recommend for book lovers who are new to fantasy. It is also a standalone, so that is another reason it is great for newbies.

Content Warnings

More...