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bexi'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I have a few minor gripes with the writing but I simply love the story, the world, and the characters too much to give this anything other than 5 stars.
I was excited to read it every night. I didn't want it to end and I'm low-key sad that I finished it. There's a companion novella and yes, I am going out to the nearest bookstore tonight to purchase it.
Shoutout to booktubers for putting this book on my radar. And for comparing it to Howl's Moving Castle - that was the selling point for me. If you enjoyed HMC (book or movie), pick this up because I agree with the comparison.
Now somebody please adapt this into a miniseries for television because I wants ittt ðŸ˜
I was excited to read it every night. I didn't want it to end and I'm low-key sad that I finished it. There's a companion novella and yes, I am going out to the nearest bookstore tonight to purchase it.
Shoutout to booktubers for putting this book on my radar. And for comparing it to Howl's Moving Castle - that was the selling point for me. If you enjoyed HMC (book or movie), pick this up because I agree with the comparison.
Now somebody please adapt this into a miniseries for television because I wants ittt ðŸ˜
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders
moonchild_cos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
mirrorcover's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Classism, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Misogyny, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
inkdrinkers's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
This was everything I hoped for and more.
Elisabeth Scrivner has grown up in the halls of magical libraries. Left on the steps of one as a baby, she's grown up with the sincere desire to be like the wardens overseeing her librarian apprenticeship - stalwart, true, and with swords strapped to their sides, ready to protect the world from the magical grimoires caged in the halls of the library. She knows magic is horrifically terrible, something to be protected from, but when a grimoire is released from a library, transforming into a monster and leaving Elisabeth implicated in the crime of setting it free, she must turn to Nathaniel Thorn, a sorcerer she knows better than to trust, but the only man who can help her stop the very end of their world.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK. Funnily, this entire thing took me a year to read. That's unheard of for me, and I feel weird even putting that in writing because this isn't a bad book. In fact, it's so good I couldn't bear to pick it up again because I knew it would end. Is that dramatic? Maybe a little, but I found myself so completely captured by this story and the characters inside of it that I just couldn't fathom not having them after I was done. Then I got word there was a sequel coming as a novella and I rushed to pick my copy back up, realizing I could finally finish it without going, full-spiral, into a post-book slump. This is my first book by Margaret Rogerson and I think it's solidified her as a favorite. This is YA in its truest form, wonderfully adventurous, heart-wrenchingly emotional, and full of characters that you can't help but love.
I LOVED Elisabeth. My big (6'0 feet!!!!) bull-headed angry girl. She does so much in the span of these pages and grows into a beautiful character that I just want to grab her and kiss her forehead at the end. I've never read a book where I felt so feral and protective over the main character, but this one did it to me. Nathaniel is truly one of the best book boyfriends in current YA, he's grumpy and sarcastic and entirely too snappy for his own good, but he melted my heart with every twitch of a smile he had in these pages. And SILAS!! There is nothing more to say than Silas is the absolute best demon there ever was, and I would 100% ruffle his little white cat ears.
Finally, I really can't write this review without saying how quickly it brought tears to my eyes. There's something so healing about the way representation in young adult has grown from side characters to open discussion about sexuality. It's not a major plot point, there's no grand reveal or silly plot tied to it about secrets or hiding, it's just there on the page and accepted so easily. You can claw this book from my cold, dead, hands - I love it dearly, and I really, truly would recommend it to everyone.
Content warnings: forced institutionalization/confinement, violence (with swords!), body horror (light, in regards to demons), death of a parent/grief, misogyny (sprinkled throughout), panic attacks (briefly on page around 70% through), gaslighting (present throughout, done by the villain)
Elisabeth Scrivner has grown up in the halls of magical libraries. Left on the steps of one as a baby, she's grown up with the sincere desire to be like the wardens overseeing her librarian apprenticeship - stalwart, true, and with swords strapped to their sides, ready to protect the world from the magical grimoires caged in the halls of the library. She knows magic is horrifically terrible, something to be protected from, but when a grimoire is released from a library, transforming into a monster and leaving Elisabeth implicated in the crime of setting it free, she must turn to Nathaniel Thorn, a sorcerer she knows better than to trust, but the only man who can help her stop the very end of their world.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK. Funnily, this entire thing took me a year to read. That's unheard of for me, and I feel weird even putting that in writing because this isn't a bad book. In fact, it's so good I couldn't bear to pick it up again because I knew it would end. Is that dramatic? Maybe a little, but I found myself so completely captured by this story and the characters inside of it that I just couldn't fathom not having them after I was done. Then I got word there was a sequel coming as a novella and I rushed to pick my copy back up, realizing I could finally finish it without going, full-spiral, into a post-book slump. This is my first book by Margaret Rogerson and I think it's solidified her as a favorite. This is YA in its truest form, wonderfully adventurous, heart-wrenchingly emotional, and full of characters that you can't help but love.
I LOVED Elisabeth. My big (6'0 feet!!!!) bull-headed angry girl. She does so much in the span of these pages and grows into a beautiful character that I just want to grab her and kiss her forehead at the end. I've never read a book where I felt so feral and protective over the main character, but this one did it to me. Nathaniel is truly one of the best book boyfriends in current YA, he's grumpy and sarcastic and entirely too snappy for his own good, but he melted my heart with every twitch of a smile he had in these pages. And SILAS!! There is nothing more to say than Silas is the absolute best demon there ever was, and I would 100% ruffle his little white cat ears.
Finally, I really can't write this review without saying how quickly it brought tears to my eyes. There's something so healing about the way representation in young adult has grown from side characters to open discussion about sexuality. It's not a major plot point, there's no grand reveal or silly plot tied to it about secrets or hiding, it's just there on the page and accepted so easily. You can claw this book from my cold, dead, hands - I love it dearly, and I really, truly would recommend it to everyone.
Content warnings: forced institutionalization/confinement, violence (with swords!), body horror (light, in regards to demons), death of a parent/grief, misogyny (sprinkled throughout), panic attacks (briefly on page around 70% through), gaslighting (present throughout, done by the villain)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Misogyny
Minor: Body horror
hannahbailey's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
3.5
TW: death (of parent, child), blood, violence, grief, injury, body horror, forced institutionalisation, misogyny, murder, confinement, torture, panic attacks
There are lots of strong points to this book, including a well-developed main character. The fantasy setting and magic system were interesting and had potential, but they were never fully explained. Sadly what lost me was I felt the book was being pulled multiple ways between grimoires and libraries and sorcery and power. If the author had gone with one or the other, but kept the plot the same, I think this would be a much stronger novel. That said, the grimoires element was something I'd not seen done before and that was interesting enough to keep me reading. Another book I think would translate really well on screen as a TV series.
The love interest, whilst interesting at first, changed his tune too quickly and became a character used for comic relief throughout the novel. This felt strange and unnecessary to me. Although the book has a dark academia/fantasy vibe, it wasn't dark enough to require so many quips from the guy to lighten the mood. The situations were serious but not depressing, so the humour was unwarranted (and unwanted) for me. The trigger warnings do seem very dark, but the fantasy setting and YA genre disconnects them from reality and they are less horrific in the context of the book. This is still a very strong YA novel and a younger reader may not pull it apart as much as I am prone to do.
There are lots of strong points to this book, including a well-developed main character. The fantasy setting and magic system were interesting and had potential, but they were never fully explained. Sadly what lost me was I felt the book was being pulled multiple ways between grimoires and libraries and sorcery and power. If the author had gone with one or the other, but kept the plot the same, I think this would be a much stronger novel. That said, the grimoires element was something I'd not seen done before and that was interesting enough to keep me reading. Another book I think would translate really well on screen as a TV series.
The love interest, whilst interesting at first, changed his tune too quickly and became a character used for comic relief throughout the novel. This felt strange and unnecessary to me. Although the book has a dark academia/fantasy vibe, it wasn't dark enough to require so many quips from the guy to lighten the mood. The situations were serious but not depressing, so the humour was unwarranted (and unwanted) for me. The trigger warnings do seem very dark, but the fantasy setting and YA genre disconnects them from reality and they are less horrific in the context of the book. This is still a very strong YA novel and a younger reader may not pull it apart as much as I am prone to do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Torture, and Panic attacks/disorders
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
Graphic: Blood and Confinement
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Murder, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Torture
sammymilfort's review
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
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Minor: Child death and Vomit
noveltay's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
I liked this one more than her other books!! It was good, characters were loveable- even the one you weren’t supposed to love. It would have been nice to get more of an epilogue than we got, but also leaving the ending up to the reader is cool in it’s own.
My only real complaint was how long the chapters were, made it slower to read for me personally.
My only real complaint was how long the chapters were, made it slower to read for me personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Confinement
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I like how much of the early worldbuilding revolves around the grimoires and the propaganda Elisabeth was taught about sorcerers. The way Nathaniel leans into her negative assumptions without actually doing anything to hurt Elisabeth or anyone else means that she learns a lot about the kind of person he is by how he reacts to being misunderstood. It's a wonderful bit of worldbuilding-as-characterization and I love how it works out. He lets her think awful things without trying to defend himself, then when she realizes those assumptions don't match how he's actually behaving it gives her an opportunity to realize she was wrong about him. It's a dynamic that repeats itself throughout the book, gradually receding as they learn to trust each other and communicate more forthrightly. One of my other favorite things in the worldbuilding is how the narration assumes the reader has a starting point in that world, specifically of a person growing up in one of the Great Libraries. Once she leaves, Elisabeth learns some of the outside world's differences in a way that enhances the worldbuilding and teaches about her as a character. If she's startled that the world was one way then it implies that her experience of the Library was different in a specific manner. Immersive worldbuilding is a favorite of mine, and this perfectly fit the kind I like.
Silas is enjoyable as a character whose present form is unassuming but could absolutely fuck someone up if a different version of himself is let loose (Think Mogget from The Old Kingdom books by Garth Nix, but if he liked working).
I thought the first half was just fine (except for the worldbuilding, which was excellent) and then I loved the ending. I didn't enjoy the matrons speculating about Nathaniel's sexuality, and while the resolution of his identity came though his own telling, it felt a bit off.Nathaniel doesn't want to be treated as a stud for his bloodline (completely understandable) so he turns away hordes of eligible women. Their mothers are upset and speculate that he might be gay (because obviously it must be he doesn't want a woman at all, not that he doesn't want any of their daughters). It made the reveal that he likes men and women feel a bit like Elisabeth is the exception that proves the rule. On the one hand, I'm excited for a bi character getting a m/f relationship because his queerness isn't dependent on his partner's identity. On the other hand, it made it feel like he's bi so that the narrative can tease his dynamic with Silas. There's no jealousy from Elisabeth on their intimacy, which I appreciated, but altogether it left me unable to enjoy Elisabeth and Nathaniel as much as I wanted.
The audiobook performance (particularly for Silas) perfectly fits each character and really enhanced the story. The plot noticeably had distinct stages (not in a bad way). It's a long enough book to have several points of tension and rest, with the danger escalating in a way that felt appropriate to the world and to what the characters had already faced. There were a couple of points in the latter half where things had been so dramatic that I thought maybe it was about to pull a cliffhanger, but the ending is very satisfying and comes at an appropriate point in the pacing.
I enjoyed this and am very excited for a sequel if one materializes. It's listed as a series so I'm hopeful.
Silas is enjoyable as a character whose present form is unassuming but could absolutely fuck someone up if a different version of himself is let loose (Think Mogget from The Old Kingdom books by Garth Nix, but if he liked working).
I thought the first half was just fine (except for the worldbuilding, which was excellent) and then I loved the ending. I didn't enjoy the matrons speculating about Nathaniel's sexuality, and while the resolution of his identity came though his own telling, it felt a bit off.
The audiobook performance (particularly for Silas) perfectly fits each character and really enhanced the story. The plot noticeably had distinct stages (not in a bad way). It's a long enough book to have several points of tension and rest, with the danger escalating in a way that felt appropriate to the world and to what the characters had already faced. There were a couple of points in the latter half where things had been so dramatic that I thought maybe it was about to pull a cliffhanger, but the ending is very satisfying and comes at an appropriate point in the pacing.
I enjoyed this and am very excited for a sequel if one materializes. It's listed as a series so I'm hopeful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Gaslighting, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Gore, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Death
Minor: Mental illness
solouncapitulomas's review
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
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Child death