Reviews with content warning for Violence - Girl, Serpent, Thorn

This was so so so good. In the beginning it took me but to get into it but once I did I fell in love. The plot is so intricate and connected in a way that feel authentic. I felt like every twist and turn of the story was earned and I think my expectations for how the story would unfold were constantly shattered without feeling too far out of left field. The characters are so rich and complex, but you don’t feel like abuse or war crimes get excused. The romance is sweet and warm and I think well-paced. It’s kind of enemies to lovers, though I feel that oversimplifies their dynamic. I just I love this book. If you are a fan of fantasy or love sapphic books you have to read this .

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nerdysread's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative 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

4.75

I started this book as a buddy read but finished it before everyone else. It was just captivating. The story, the characters. It was not what I imagined, but it was really really great. Don’t stop at the blurb. It’s much more than that.

Three people who have their fates tangled together. Victims or monster? You’ll discover more by reading it

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esme_may's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I wish I had liked this more! The last hundred or so pages are well-paced and gripping, but I don't think the previous 200 are worth it. I loved the concept but I found it difficult to get invested, especially since the relationship isn't given much room to develop. I think this book needed to be a bit longer to flesh it out.

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sel_'s review

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adventurous reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved this book! I bought it without any expectations just out of curiosity and couldn't put it down anymore.

For anyone who likes fairy tales and the like, this is a wonderful read.

The characters are flawed in a way that makes them relatable and it shows that there is not simply good and evil but that the world is much more complex than that.

The story has a satisfying ending and all in all I think it's a wonderfully casual read with enough substance and suspense to keep me hooked.

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maisiemoo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

It took me so long to get into this but I think thats because I don’t read a lot of fantasy. By the last third of the story I was really engaged.

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btorsi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

dnf in 2020. recommitted and finished in april 2022. a ton of fun and kept my interest piqued the entire way through. the last 10% was double the fun of the rest combined, but i don't think it would be that fun without everything the beginning set up. if i hadn't read it all in a few days, i could definitely see myself getting stuck -- the whole selling point is the poison girl and

she loses the poison in the first half

. but sticking it out was the right choice because it is a wonderful book.

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zabeishumanish's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Expect this book to be about 40% sadder than you are initially expecting and that will give you a good sense of this book. The tale is well written and while there are the usual difficulties in following a high fantasy world the plot explains nearly all the questions are reader might have. Something I really liked about the book is how important stories and legends are to Soraya and how her love of legends helped inform the reader about world-building.

I appreciate that the book tackles such a complex issue as compulsive heteronormativity (without calling it that obviously), but by making the villain of the story her heterosexual option he was humanized to the point that he was no longer a fun villain. It is hard to hate such a dark villain when you can see him as just a broken human, and then I kind of hated myself for not being able to hate such a clearly evil man.

I read the book specifically because I wanted a sapphic fantasy, and while this does technically hit the mark I wanted so much more from this love story. It needed so much more gay.

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hyliansee's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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