Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Lesson in Thorns

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Lesson in Thorns by Sierra Simone

18 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book was great, but I wish it were in first-person POV. The POV made it harder for me to like the characters. Most, but not all of them, were likable.

And wow, it did get smutty at the end. LOL, but I guess that'll happen when almost everyone wants to screw each other. I'll have to ask someone about the accuracy of the BDSM elements, but from what I know, it was pretty accurate on those counts.

Narrator Rating: 3.0 stars

I didn't care for the narrator, which most likely lowered my overall book rating slightly. They did an excellent job with voices, but something about Poe's voice just irritated me, and she was the main POV.

Elements

Heartfelt- 💔 💔 💔
Horror-N/A
Love aka Romance- 💋 💋
Predictability- 🔮 🔮 🔮

Spice- 🌶 🌶 🌶 🌶 & 1/4
Tear- 😭 😭
Thrill- 1/2 of a 😲
Humor- N/A

Content Warnings

spicybookbrain's review against another edition

4.0

Content Warnings

readingwithgen's review against another edition

2.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

bsvab's review against another edition

2.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

koistyfishy's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4 Thorn Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️.5/5

“Yes, oh.” He pushes his face farther in, burying his nose in my neck. “I want to touch you as if you were mine.”

This book made me go, "What the hell did I just read?" I was confused for a majority of it, but it wasn't the kind of confusion that made me upset or dislike the book. If anything, it was that very confusion and sense of unknowing that drew me in deeper.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:"
When Prosperina (Poe) was a little girl, she spent a summer at Thornchapel with a group of friends, and during that time she had a fake wedding where she married two people, Saint Sebastian and Auden. Not long after, her mother vanished and the last place she was seen was Thornchapel. Now she’s returned as a librarian, hired to catalogue the estate’s library, but really hoping to uncover what happened to her mom.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
I’ve never read a book like this before. There is a plot, but it’s pretty loose. A lot of it is left up to the reader to infer based on the clues and little aspects written into the story. You don’t always know what’s going on... you’re just kind of there, going along for the ride. It has this eerie, unresolved energy, where you’re meant to feel like something is always lurking under the surface. BASICALLY IT'S JUST VIBES. The main thread is that Poe is at Thornchapel trying to find out what happened to her mother, but we don’t actually see her doing much digging. It’s more like the group just sits around in the library, eating and talking about rituals. I wanted to see a bit more detective work. But at the same time, I think that’s the point, everything is hazy and confusing and you’re not always meant to get concrete answers. You’re supposed to be speculating.

The writing in this is absolutely beautiful. It’s lyrical, poetic, and full of metaphors. It’s vivid and descriptive in a way that’s almost unscripted poetry. The flower and nature descriptions alone were stunning and there must be at least 50 of them. If you don’t enjoy purple prose or metaphor-heavy writing, this might not be for you, but I was hooked. It just hit differently. AND I LEARNT SO MANY NEW WORDS FROM THE BOOK!

The chapters from Poe’s POV are written in first person, and the majority of the book focuses on her, what she’s experiencing, what she’s thinking, and what she’s feeling. Then, every so often, you get a short chapter told in third person that jumps to the other characters. These read like little “meanwhiles,” almost like a voiceover that’s peeking into their lives. They’re short and scattered, but they give a glimpse into what’s happening helping you peice the story together.

The characters are all tangled together in this complicated web. They were once childhood friends, and now as adults, the dynamic is intense and messy. Everyone is kind of in love with each other but also have this dislike tension lingering in the atmsphere. It's almost like there is this magic in the air. It’s subtle, more like a haunting feeling that fate or something ancient is pulling all the characters together. It makes you wonder if history is repeating itself or if these six people are just cosmically tethered to one another?

It’s a polyamorous setup, and everyone is openly bi and sexually fluid. I loved that it was never treated as taboo. It just was. Their relationships were chaotic, magnetic, and beautifully entangled.
Auden, the "New" Lord of the Thornchapel has feeligns for Poe but he is engaged to Daphne, who has a weird love-hate relationship with Rebecca, who is working on redesigning the Manor's gardens. Then there is Becket the local priest who is just friends with everyone. And finally the outcast, Saint Sebastian, the man who is now in love with Poe used to be the boy who used to be Auden's best friend and but now the two cant stand each other.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Polyamorous Relationship (3M and 3F) that leads to FF, MFM, MM and FFM interactions
▶ Virgin FMC's and MMC's
▶ Myserious and Gothic Vibes
▶ Forced Proximity

𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨 and
▷ Washes Her Hair
▷ Takes Care of Her (Aftercare)
▷ Chin Lift
▷ Spicy/Steamy Water Scene
▷ Undressing Help
▷ "Mine"
▷ Came in his pants

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨:
➢ Edging
➢ Degradation and Praise (Good Girl)
➢ BDSM and Spanking
➢ Blood Play
➢ Voyeurism

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It gave me gothic mystery with an eerie atmosphere. The characters were complex, the vibes were immaculate, and while I didn’t always know what was happening... I was obsessed anyway. AND I LOVED THE VIBES!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom Books, Sierra Simone and Netgalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

laurenju90's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

nstinch54's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

* I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 4 March 2025

I requested this book purely based on my love for Sierra Simone’s book Priest.

This one had 6 characters who spent a summer together as children and reunite after many years apart as adults.

This was more of a slow-burn type romance as most of the action doesn’t happen until the last 1/3 of the book. The beginning felt very info-dump heavy and I found it to be a bit of a struggle to get into, unlike Simone’s other books I’ve read. Eventually the plot did pick up, but I just didn’t quite click with this book like I’d hoped I would.

Content Warnings