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rorikae'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
'Sorcery of Thorns' by Margaret Rogerson is a fun standalone fantasy full of libraries, magical books, and a dash of romance.
Elizabeth Scrivener grew up in a great library, surrounded by the magic of books. Her life is turned upside down when one of the books escapes, causing chaos that she is blamed for. The one person who can help her is Nathanial Thorn, a sorcerer. But Elizabeth has been taught to never trust sorcerers. As she and Nathanial search for the truth behind the attack on the library, she begins to learn more about him as she starts to question if what she has been taught about sorcery is all wrong.
Sorcery of Thorns is the perfect blend of fantasy, romance, and fun. As someone who loves books set in libraries, the setting and main plot of the novel were perfect. Add in likable characters, a fun if not too complicated plot, and a shapeshifting demon and this adds up to a page turning romp. The audiobook is fun and I would definitely recommend it. I'll be checking out more of Rogerson's books as it's clear from Sorcery of Thorns that she has a way of creating fun and engaging fantasies.
Elizabeth Scrivener grew up in a great library, surrounded by the magic of books. Her life is turned upside down when one of the books escapes, causing chaos that she is blamed for. The one person who can help her is Nathanial Thorn, a sorcerer. But Elizabeth has been taught to never trust sorcerers. As she and Nathanial search for the truth behind the attack on the library, she begins to learn more about him as she starts to question if what she has been taught about sorcery is all wrong.
Sorcery of Thorns is the perfect blend of fantasy, romance, and fun. As someone who loves books set in libraries, the setting and main plot of the novel were perfect. Add in likable characters, a fun if not too complicated plot, and a shapeshifting demon and this adds up to a page turning romp. The audiobook is fun and I would definitely recommend it. I'll be checking out more of Rogerson's books as it's clear from Sorcery of Thorns that she has a way of creating fun and engaging fantasies.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Forced institutionalization
haexelhasel's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Blood and Grief
katievallin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content
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
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
jaimc's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Gaslighting
sydapel's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
slow-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
3.0
Really wanted to love this a little more, as I was a big ol fan of Elisabeth's story and character arc (more tall women with sword skills in YA pls!!). However, I didn't feel like the world building was done as well as it could have been and Nathaniel was a little confusing as a love interest. Hoping for a second book though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Classism, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Torture
bookish_slagathor's review against another edition
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I'm always skeptical when it comes to YA novels and have a tendency to avoid them, but thanks to me buying this on a whim and my friend who also needed someone to read it with her, I finally managed to finish this book. And now I want more!
Margaret Rogerson has an amazingly beautiful and flowing writing style and a knack for bringing her characters to life. It was a joy to read her novel and I will be definitely looking into her other works after this.
Not to mention that this book has a capable female MC, the sweetest romance that I've read in the past few months (or maybe even in the past year) and an exciting story with strong feminist vibes to boot. Definitely something I would recommend getting your teen child, but also something I'd recommend for adults as well. It's just so good!!!
In any case, this book convinced me to try and be a tad bit more open minded when it comes to YA literature. Some books may surprise me with their maturity.
Margaret Rogerson has an amazingly beautiful and flowing writing style and a knack for bringing her characters to life. It was a joy to read her novel and I will be definitely looking into her other works after this.
Not to mention that this book has a capable female MC, the sweetest romance that I've read in the past few months (or maybe even in the past year) and an exciting story with strong feminist vibes to boot. Definitely something I would recommend getting your teen child, but also something I'd recommend for adults as well. It's just so good!!!
In any case, this book convinced me to try and be a tad bit more open minded when it comes to YA literature. Some books may surprise me with their maturity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Death, Gaslighting, Blood, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, and Murder
pinkfloydian's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, and Death