Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - City of Thorns

Wow! This was a really good book! I was surprised. I loved the storyline, world-building, & characters. The plot twist was creative and I didn't see it coming. It does kinda end on a cliffhanger but I would still recommend this.

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crinkledmochi's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

i expected the twist at the end, but the story is interesting enough for me to want to continue.

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ariel790's review against another edition

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mysterious sad fast-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

Do not read City of Thorns, Book #1 of the Demon Queen Trials, without expecting to read #2 Lord of Embers, and #3 Garden of Serpents shortly thereafter. The main reason I say this? Well, the core mystery of the story - the motivation for the main character - is not resolved in Book #1. I went into this book knowing it was part of a series, but unable to read #2 or #3 at the moment, I was very disappointed that there was little to no resolution within this first book. Very unsatisfying.

From the very beginning, Rowan just wants to know who killed her mother. She is neurotically obsessed with finding answers that she's almost willing to do anything. Including aligning herself with a killer demon. She is given some leads that are chased, but doesn't really figure anything out. If anything, she is left with more questions than with what she started with. So, she plots with the demon to both their advantage.

Honestly though, I don't fully understand how their enemies didn't see Rowan coming from a mile away. Very obvious intentions, and single minded focus. She lacked depth, but still somehow other characters thought her more clever than she really was. I found this frustrating. Along with the antagonists being one tone as well.. kill or sabotage Rowan, even if the means or reasons are illogical.
Not the worst I've ever read, but the story seemed to go more for the AW! Shock moments over world building or character development. It felt very dumbed down, more like a YA masquerading as a adult romance. Overall with the 3 books it may be better.. I may read them if I can ever get my hands on them since I do like the theme and concepts... but as a start, such a shame.

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anastashamarie's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-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

2.75

🗝️ Boring mortal girl (who's NotLikeOtherGirls, gets mad when other women say they are NotLikeOtherGirls, and is also irresistibly beautiful to the immortals, of course) uses the "knowledge" she gained in her intro to psychology class to outsmart a centuries-old sex demon into letting her stay in the forbidden demon city and into paying for her student loans. Hijinks ensue, helped further by mortal girl's intro to psychology class and the fact that she looks like a famous succubus (even when she, by all accounts, couldn't seduce her way out of a wet paper bag in the moral world). Did I hit most of the plot points?

🗝️ My primary issue with this is that it is far too fast-paced in a way that ruins any tension, romantic or otherwise, that might have been created through the story. Totally awkward to sexy in a week? Enemies to lovers but without anything believable to make me think that they were enemies in the first place? A big, dramatic action packed event (that was only an hour long) that only spanned a chapter because it still had cut scenes? Maybe I'm spoiled by my long and leisurely fantasy romance series of yore but I just didn't buy any of the action or romance here.

🗝️ My secondary issue, as someone who has nearly-a-doctorate in a psychology adjacent field, is that the mentions of psychological manipulation play a huge role in the plot progression, and they very much read as if they were written by someone who has a generalist bachelor's in psych degree and who is too excited about it. (I would know, I was that person once upon a time.) This is probably more of a Me Problem, and it's probably not helped by me wanting things fleshed out more in general, but I found myself rolling my eyes multiple times and saying "okay, but that's not QUITE how that works."

🗝️ Despite all those things, I'm interested enough in the plot that I'll probably read the next one. They're quick, easy reads and the premise is fun. I feel like the characters could still have a lot of depth and I'm hoping that some of my issues with the pacing will level out as I read on.

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