Scan barcode
fayesavanne's review
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: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Violence, Murder, Death, and Child death
Minor: Vomit, Child abuse, and Sexual harassment
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
4.0
This was such a fun read that was so nostalgic for me!! It reminded me of the books I loved to read as a kid (i.e. The Septimus Heap series) and I really enjoyed it. I listened to this as an audiobook, which was narrated by Emily Ellet whom I have heard narrate before. I love her voice which just added to the enjoyment.
Elizabeth Scrivener is an interesting and capable character that has a mysterious backstory where she was left on the doorstep of a great library and subsequently raised in the library. She is falsely accused of a crime and then transported to the main city by a magister Nathaniel Thorn and his butler Silas. This sets off a chain of events where they have to work together to unravel the mystery behind the chaos around the city. I loved watching them grow closer and also learning more about the characters and why their similarities brought them closer. There were also some great villains in this story, and it felt like a lot happened without it feeling too rushed or forced.
My understanding is that this is a standalone book for the most part, but that there is a follow up novella that continues the story but with a different and more lighthearted plot. I sincerely hope there is more in the works for this "series?" in the future, since it seems that the novella was published in 2023, roughly 4 years after the publishing of Sorcery of Thorns in 2019. Sorcery of Thorns has the closure to finish as a standalone novel, but my hopes for more books are still high since it has been revisited with the novella Mysteries of Thorn Manor.
I highly highly recommend this book if you want a fun story with loveable characters, a great villain, a unique magic system, and some nostalgic vibes. It was an absolute joy to listen to the audiobook and I plan on buying a physical copy!
Elizabeth Scrivener is an interesting and capable character that has a mysterious backstory where she was left on the doorstep of a great library and subsequently raised in the library. She is falsely accused of a crime and then transported to the main city by a magister Nathaniel Thorn and his butler Silas. This sets off a chain of events where they have to work together to unravel the mystery behind the chaos around the city. I loved watching them grow closer and also learning more about the characters and why their similarities brought them closer. There were also some great villains in this story, and it felt like a lot happened without it feeling too rushed or forced.
My understanding is that this is a standalone book for the most part, but that there is a follow up novella that continues the story but with a different and more lighthearted plot. I sincerely hope there is more in the works for this "series?" in the future, since it seems that the novella was published in 2023, roughly 4 years after the publishing of Sorcery of Thorns in 2019. Sorcery of Thorns has the closure to finish as a standalone novel, but my hopes for more books are still high since it has been revisited with the novella Mysteries of Thorn Manor.
I highly highly recommend this book if you want a fun story with loveable characters, a great villain, a unique magic system, and some nostalgic vibes. It was an absolute joy to listen to the audiobook and I plan on buying a physical copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
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: Sexism, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Death of parent
Moderate: Vomit, Physical abuse, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping
Minor: Classism, Gore, Grief, Blood, Body shaming, and Medical trauma
sydneylmeyer7's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review
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: Violence, Blood, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Child death
mald626's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Grief and Panic attacks/disorders
madalina0_0's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Violence
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Sexual violence
Minor: Physical abuse
literarypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
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 loved everything about Sorcery Of Thorns!!! The cover and the blurb enticed me so much and I am glad that I took the dive into this amazing fantasy!
First off I have to say the magic system in this book is perfection! I was so intrigued by it and everything that I learned about it made me more and more interested. I loved that every sorcerer had a mark representing their magic and each of their magic had different spells they could perform. Such a great magic system, a book with a great magic system has my full attention!
The characters, the characters were so amazing!! Each and every character was a good one and not one of them was unlikeable to me. Elisabeth was such a strong character, her story was engaging and I loved the change we saw in her from the beginning to the end. You could see a visible change in her and she continued to change even when the story ended. She also wasn't a stereotype of didn't drift toward any typical female stereotypes which I greatly appreciated Margaret Rogerson for! Nathanial was also a great male character and foil to Elisabeth. Learning his tragic story about his family and why he was so closed off to people made you understand him a lot more as the book went on. Even Silas was a great character, I loved learning about him and why he was so indebted to Nathanial and his family.
The writing and setting were superb, everything about this book was great! I look forward to reading the next short book based in this world and I have a feeling I will enjoy that as much as I did this one!
First off I have to say the magic system in this book is perfection! I was so intrigued by it and everything that I learned about it made me more and more interested. I loved that every sorcerer had a mark representing their magic and each of their magic had different spells they could perform. Such a great magic system, a book with a great magic system has my full attention!
The characters, the characters were so amazing!! Each and every character was a good one and not one of them was unlikeable to me. Elisabeth was such a strong character, her story was engaging and I loved the change we saw in her from the beginning to the end. You could see a visible change in her and she continued to change even when the story ended. She also wasn't a stereotype of didn't drift toward any typical female stereotypes which I greatly appreciated Margaret Rogerson for! Nathanial was also a great male character and foil to Elisabeth. Learning his tragic story about his family and why he was so closed off to people made you understand him a lot more as the book went on. Even Silas was a great character, I loved learning about him and why he was so indebted to Nathanial and his family.
The writing and setting were superb, everything about this book was great! I look forward to reading the next short book based in this world and I have a feeling I will enjoy that as much as I did this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
blingokitty's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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: Death, Blood, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Forced institutionalization