Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Sorcery of Thorns

this right here is a comfort read of mine. everything about this book, i quite literally love so much. i reread this recently in 2022 because i wanted to tab it with all of the colours i have, and it was a great decision, because i loved reading this again. this book feels like home.

margaret rogerson's writing is phenomenal. she writes so fluidly and amazingly that i can't help getting swept up in the world she has created and the characters she has crafted. every bit of description is literally exquisite. and the characters? i'm bisexual with a lean towards women, but nathaniel? oh to be elisabeth right now.

nathaniel thorn was by far by favourite. his lines literally made me laugh out loud sometimes. i use orange to tab funny/lol moments, so naturally most of those ended up on his lines. elisabeth is also rooted for - i liked seeing her opinions on what she'd been taught change throughout the novel, how she grew. and silas. don't even get me started. i heard there's a novella coming out about nathaniel and silas and i WILL be purchasing it. rogerson has made her way onto my auto-buy list, because her books are nothing short of perfection.

Content Warnings

onceuponabookcase's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

1.5

I've wanted to read Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson for quite a while now, so I was so excited when I was recently gifted it by a friend. Unfortunately, it was quite a disappointment.

Sorcery of Thorns had an intriguing premise, a plot that seemed very original, but it just fell completely flat for me. It had very little of what I come to expect from high fantasy, and a lot of it has to do with worldbuilding. There is magic because sorcerers have control over a demon. Magical books are sentient. When damaged, they become Maleficts, monsters. There are Great Libraries around Austermeer whose job it is to protect/guard these danagerous books. That's it. That's the world building.

We get no real history (When did sorcerers first start summoning and controlling demons? How was it discovered they could do so? When did the Magisterium form and why? What do they actually do?), no idea how magic actually works (Nathaniel literally mutters some words and things happen. That's it), why grimoires are sentient, or what makes them so ("magic" is not a good enough answer), why they become Maleficts, why there are still sorcerers if the world is convinced they are evil, and no answers to many other questions. Honestly, it's a poor excuse for worldbuiliding. It makes me wonder if the Rogerson thought more in depth worldbuilding as required because it's YA. Which is insulting to teen readers, and to the genre. You can have YA high fantasy that has fleshed out worldbuilding, such as the Girls of Paper and Fire trilogy by Natasha Ngan, the Shadow of the Fox trilogy by Julie Kagawa, the Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig, and many others. The worldbuilding in Sorcery of Thorns feels incredibly half-baked.

Worldbuilding aside, there was still a lot about this book that left me wanting. I didn't particularly care about either Elisabeth or Nathaniel. Other than the fact that she is an orphan that was left at the steps of a Great Library, has grown up around books, and wants to become a warden to protect the books, and that Nathaniel is a magister, is the descendent of a particular powerful and terrifying sorcerer, that his family died when he was very young, and he's been alone with just his demon companion, Silas, ever since, we know nothing about the characters. It's all surface. Which is why the romance wasn't at all believable. They just fell for each other out of nowhere, based on nothing.

Then there was the story itself. It was predicitable. I knew who the villain was going to be very early on, and they are a caricature of a villian, wanting power for power's sake. We've seen this villain so many times before. And despite the fact that a number of things happen throughout the story, for the most part, it's very low stakes and feels very unexciting. I kept reading because it was a gift from a friend, and because it's a very easy read, but I honestly didn't care about where the story was going. I wasn't emotionally invested in the story or the characters. Sorcery of Thorns' only saving grace was Silas, Nathaniel's demon servant. I liked what Rogerson did with Silas and the idea of demon servents, and I actually really liked him. But otherwise, Sorcery of Thorns was just a huge disappointment for me.

Clearly, Sorcery of Thorns wasn't for me, but it might be for you. Do read some other reviews before deciding whether or not you'll read it.

Content Warnings

More...