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heabooknerd's review
4.0
THORNFRUIT was such an interesting fantasy read and the world that Felicia Davin has created is really unique. There's such a mix of varying cultures, religious and political practices, and differing acceptances of magical abilities. While THORNFRUIT only takes place on Laalvur we get lots of hints at the other cities and countries across the sea and I can't wait to see more in the rest of the series. My only complaint about world-building is that I struggled a bit to figure out all the timekeeping references but for the most part I got the gist. The beginning was a bit slow in pace but the second half really picks up and I read it all in one sitting because I couldn't wait to see what happened next.
I really enjoyed Ev as a lead; she's smart, tough, and levelheaded which is a nice contrast to Alizhan's more reckless, jump in feet first attitude. Ev has always felt a bit disconnected from other people and she's always wanted to see her father's homeland of Adappyr. She yearns to travel and explore but she's also cautious by nature. Alizhan pretty much crashes into Ev's life and they find themselves caught up in politics and machinations much deeper and dangerous than either expected. I enjoyed Alizhan as a lead as well but she does come across more naive and younger than she actually is. She's been very isolated most of her life and this has led to a lack in social skills which is where I think a lot of that immaturity comes from. But it was nice to see her learning and trying to grow personally. She wants to be better for Ev and her confusion over that is actually really sweet.
In addition to a unique fantasy world, we also get the beginnings of a romance between Ev and Alizhan though it's rocky at first because Alizhan's touch causes extreme pain. There's something endearingly awkward about Ev and Alizhan trying to work out their feelings and how they can be together and I'm looking forward to seeing their development.
I'll be the first to admit that some of the events that happen are pretty convenient in advancing Ev and Alizhan's purpose and there are a few characters who go from being the enemy to an ally really quickly, but overall I really liked the plot. A large part of the story is not resolved by the end of the book so you'll want to have the next one on hand.
Content Warning: References to abuse, torture, and forced abortion of a secondary character
I really enjoyed Ev as a lead; she's smart, tough, and levelheaded which is a nice contrast to Alizhan's more reckless, jump in feet first attitude. Ev has always felt a bit disconnected from other people and she's always wanted to see her father's homeland of Adappyr. She yearns to travel and explore but she's also cautious by nature. Alizhan pretty much crashes into Ev's life and they find themselves caught up in politics and machinations much deeper and dangerous than either expected. I enjoyed Alizhan as a lead as well but she does come across more naive and younger than she actually is. She's been very isolated most of her life and this has led to a lack in social skills which is where I think a lot of that immaturity comes from. But it was nice to see her learning and trying to grow personally. She wants to be better for Ev and her confusion over that is actually really sweet.
In addition to a unique fantasy world, we also get the beginnings of a romance between Ev and Alizhan though it's rocky at first because Alizhan's touch causes extreme pain. There's something endearingly awkward about Ev and Alizhan trying to work out their feelings and how they can be together and I'm looking forward to seeing their development.
I'll be the first to admit that some of the events that happen are pretty convenient in advancing Ev and Alizhan's purpose and there are a few characters who go from being the enemy to an ally really quickly, but overall I really liked the plot. A large part of the story is not resolved by the end of the book so you'll want to have the next one on hand.
Content Warning: References to abuse, torture, and forced abortion of a secondary character
dylan_tomorrow's review
5.0
As has happened before, I am at a loss for good words that convey my love for this book well. Yet, considering how criminally under-read it is, I will try nonetheless. I just blind-bough the sequel Nightvine without even reading the sample, so maybe that review will be better written :D.
I love so many elements of this book. The two leads, Ev and Alizhan and the tight friendship they form, plus their unresolved tension. How much I felt for those two and how much it hurt to see them suffer, how much it made me happy to watch them become closer! The fascinating secondary characters who become more important slowly but surely and who I came to love. The "bad guys", most perplexing of them the main antagonist who we get so see from many different perspectives.
At the core of this book is a bond between two girls, Ev and Alizhan on a tidally locked planet where the sun never raises nor sets, instead hangs in different elevations/angles in different places.
Alizhan is an orphan abandoned at birth and taken in by Iriyat, a member of the ruling council. She has magic powers (she can read peoples emotions and thoughts), something quite taboo in the city of Laalvur. In a cruel irony of fate, while she can read minds she cannot decipher facial expressions at all nor recognize faces well. Iriyat uses her as a spy and raises her as best she can.
Ev does not fit in. She is seen as too tall for a woman and people don't understand why she carries a weapon and has short hair. She a child of exiles from a faraway land. Her dad is rumoured to have murdered someone. No matter how often she asks, he never tells her why he was exiled.
From the first time they meet they are intrigued by one another. Ev anchors Alizhan, gives her something to hold onto in the crowds of too many minds that easily overwhelm her. She has a crush on Alizhan, who naturally knows that immediately. Alizhan cannot reciprocate because her touch is so painful people are knocked out by it and she cannot control this involuntary magic.
One day, Alizhan ends up being pursued by guards from two rivalling ruling families, carrying a mysterious book with a secret message. Ev helps her escape and together they stumble upon a conspiracy of powerful people abusing orphans with magical abilities.
The way Alizhan's powers are portrayed is a strength of this book. She knows people better than Ev because she knows their secrets. She is aware of sexual thoughts being an undercurrent in most minds, of wide-spread same-sex attractions, of everyone doing good and bad things, being good and bad. What she gleams from people's minds she uses to play them without them even noticing but also to be kind to them in ways they will never know. In general, I love how magic works here and how the book slowly reveals this as the protagonists learn more about how it works and how to control it.
Alizhan's mind reading is also utilized narratively wonderfully, as when we follow her 3rd person pov we get a kind of semi-omniscient narration of everything she perceives in minds of others. Often I thought a new section was being told from Ev's pov only to find out it had been told from Alizhan's pov all along. I love the fluidity of that!
Another great narrative feat is the third pov this story is told from. It follows a unnamed woman on her voyage on a ship to a guy she is to be married to against her will falling in love with a sailor and the fallout of that. At first, this strand of the story comes totally out of left field and appears disconnected to Ev and Alizhan's tale, but in time the reader figures out more and more who this woman is and why her story is told the way it is. At first this strand bored me, later I cared so much, and at the end it devastated me.
I love so many elements of this book. The two leads, Ev and Alizhan and the tight friendship they form, plus their unresolved tension. How much I felt for those two and how much it hurt to see them suffer, how much it made me happy to watch them become closer! The fascinating secondary characters who become more important slowly but surely and who I came to love. The "bad guys", most perplexing of them the main antagonist who we get so see from many different perspectives.
At the core of this book is a bond between two girls, Ev and Alizhan on a tidally locked planet where the sun never raises nor sets, instead hangs in different elevations/angles in different places.
Alizhan is an orphan abandoned at birth and taken in by Iriyat, a member of the ruling council. She has magic powers (she can read peoples emotions and thoughts), something quite taboo in the city of Laalvur. In a cruel irony of fate, while she can read minds she cannot decipher facial expressions at all nor recognize faces well. Iriyat uses her as a spy and raises her as best she can.
Ev does not fit in. She is seen as too tall for a woman and people don't understand why she carries a weapon and has short hair. She a child of exiles from a faraway land. Her dad is rumoured to have murdered someone. No matter how often she asks, he never tells her why he was exiled.
From the first time they meet they are intrigued by one another. Ev anchors Alizhan, gives her something to hold onto in the crowds of too many minds that easily overwhelm her. She has a crush on Alizhan, who naturally knows that immediately. Alizhan cannot reciprocate because her touch is so painful people are knocked out by it and she cannot control this involuntary magic.
One day, Alizhan ends up being pursued by guards from two rivalling ruling families, carrying a mysterious book with a secret message. Ev helps her escape and together they stumble upon a conspiracy of powerful people abusing orphans with magical abilities.
The way Alizhan's powers are portrayed is a strength of this book. She knows people better than Ev because she knows their secrets. She is aware of sexual thoughts being an undercurrent in most minds, of wide-spread same-sex attractions, of everyone doing good and bad things, being good and bad. What she gleams from people's minds she uses to play them without them even noticing but also to be kind to them in ways they will never know. In general, I love how magic works here and how the book slowly reveals this as the protagonists learn more about how it works and how to control it.
Alizhan's mind reading is also utilized narratively wonderfully, as when we follow her 3rd person pov we get a kind of semi-omniscient narration of everything she perceives in minds of others. Often I thought a new section was being told from Ev's pov only to find out it had been told from Alizhan's pov all along. I love the fluidity of that!
Another great narrative feat is the third pov this story is told from. It follows a unnamed woman on her voyage on a ship to a guy she is to be married to against her will falling in love with a sailor and the fallout of that. At first, this strand of the story comes totally out of left field and appears disconnected to Ev and Alizhan's tale, but in time the reader figures out more and more who this woman is and why her story is told the way it is. At first this strand bored me, later I cared so much, and at the end it devastated me.
hildea's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
4.0
rhidee's review
5.0
Loved the world and people
I loved both the new universe created in this book and the people who populate it. Needless to say I will be continuing on through the series.
I loved both the new universe created in this book and the people who populate it. Needless to say I will be continuing on through the series.
theduchess93's review against another edition
5.0
I was recommended this book as "Tamora Pierce but queer" and was NOT disappointed. I haven't been this captivated by a story in a long, long time. I immediately bought the second book, which I'm halfway through. If you like high-seas hijinks, queer relationships (romantic, platonic, and otherwise), magic, and well-meaning but corrupt female antagonists, this is the book for you.
craftygiant's review
4.0
A really interesting and enjoyable book. It's so good to read a story not only about female characters but with interesting, complicated, flawed, and likeable female protagonists. I enjoy Ev for the same kinds of reasons I love Wydrin or Vintage in Jen Williams' books; they are rounded, capable characters rather than just Strong Female Characters.
It's especially enjoyable to read this book as someone with chronic health issues both physical and mental because of Alizhan. Even though the nature of the barriers Alizhan faces are not explicitly any real ailment or neurotype on this world there are a lot of parallels and I felt seen.
Potential spoilers;
Alizhan makes other people uncomfortable because she is subtly different. She doesn't fully understand facial expressions or tone, she has difficulty knowing what to say, she doesn't understand why some things upset other characters. Her mind works differently than a lot of other peoples and for a lot of the book this hurts her. Some things hurt her that other people don't even consider. Later on she starts to get help actually dealing with this and learning how to live with it, learning coping mechanisms and ways to lessen the hurt. In many ways this felt like my experience of autism. I appreciate the author not explicitly calling it that but it made this one person very happy.
It's especially enjoyable to read this book as someone with chronic health issues both physical and mental because of Alizhan. Even though the nature of the barriers Alizhan faces are not explicitly any real ailment or neurotype on this world there are a lot of parallels and I felt seen.
Potential spoilers;
Alizhan makes other people uncomfortable because she is subtly different. She doesn't fully understand facial expressions or tone, she has difficulty knowing what to say, she doesn't understand why some things upset other characters. Her mind works differently than a lot of other peoples and for a lot of the book this hurts her. Some things hurt her that other people don't even consider. Later on she starts to get help actually dealing with this and learning how to live with it, learning coping mechanisms and ways to lessen the hurt. In many ways this felt like my experience of autism. I appreciate the author not explicitly calling it that but it made this one person very happy.
sandreline's review
4.0
The exposition and proper noun-ing at the beginning almost caused me to put this one down. But by the end I enjoyed it so much that I immediately started the next in the series.
This is not a Romance, it is a Fantasy with a romantic sub-plot. I think the romance elements worked quite well, not overshadowing the larger plot but still giving some nice fuel for character development.
I enjoyed the fantasy elements. They were interesting and mostly unique (I'm getting a bit of "Golden Compass" vibe, but I certainly don't think that's a bad thing). They felt fairly well-integrated and easy to understand by the end.
The writing is unobtrusive in a way that I really appreciate in fantasy novels. It's the type of reading that's easy and realistic, to the point that you forget you're reading. Each character felt unique and interesting in their own way.
I'm excited for the next book, and I'm guessing I'll devour the whole series in no time.
This is not a Romance, it is a Fantasy with a romantic sub-plot. I think the romance elements worked quite well, not overshadowing the larger plot but still giving some nice fuel for character development.
I enjoyed the fantasy elements. They were interesting and mostly unique (I'm getting a bit of "Golden Compass" vibe, but I certainly don't think that's a bad thing). They felt fairly well-integrated and easy to understand by the end.
The writing is unobtrusive in a way that I really appreciate in fantasy novels. It's the type of reading that's easy and realistic, to the point that you forget you're reading. Each character felt unique and interesting in their own way.
I'm excited for the next book, and I'm guessing I'll devour the whole series in no time.
nelsonseye's review
5.0
I really enjoyed Thornfruit. The world was interesting, though I would have loved a map, and I liked the main and secondary characters. I really liked Ev and Alizhan’s developing relationship, but I also liked Ev’s relationship with her parents, and Alizhan’s relationships with Mala and Djal and Kasrik. Even the villain’s perspective was interesting. The suspense was also well done and I really liked how the story unfolded.
siavahda's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes there are books that are hyped for months, that you hear about the moment the publishing contract is signed and anticipate for years before they're finally in your hands. And more often than not, in my experience, those books tend to be a let-down. (In fairness, it's hard not to be. Nothing can live up to that much hype.)
And sometimes there are quiet books, that seem to enter the world without a ripple, that you stumble upon by complete accident, that open up into jewels as you turn the pages.
Thornfruit is one of these latter books: I didn't hear about it before it was published, I wasn't anxiously waiting for its release - I didn't even have it recommended to me by a friend or one of the few book blogs I actually trust. I just happened upon it, with its beautifully elegant cover and its attention-grabbing blurb - and it was queer, too? Clearly something I had to check out.
And I'm so glad I did, because it's wonderful.
I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't talk about the plot. But Davin creates amazing characters - with an authentically diverse cast, which I was so grateful for (facial blindness! Ace rep! Non-white characters! And Alizhan reads as someone with autism or Asperger's to me, you can't convince me she's not on the spectrum, nope) - complicated, realistic, strong, clever, driven by very different and very human motivations. There were awkward moments! Do you have any idea how rare it is to see an awkward moment in fiction? It's as though writers forget that real people say or do the wrong thing sometimes, that conversations don't always flow as if scripted - but Davin absolutely doesn't forget. Not that these characters are constantly mis-stepping or anything like that - but they feel real enough to walk off the page.
And the world-building! It's intricate and interesting and so cool, and Davin never needs to info-dump the reader, just weaving in details of geography and culture so deftly you hardly realise you're absorbing them, until suddenly it feels as though not only could Alizhan and Ev walk off the page, but that you could walk in, too, if you wanted.
Look, what can I tell you? This is an absolute gem of a book, a hidden treasure I'm so glad I found, and I'm writing this because DAMN IT MORE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK, but I'm in a rush because I have to go grab the rest of the trilogy RIGHT NOW. Davin works magic with words, and if you have any interest at all in fantastic world-building and morally grey characters and fascinating magic, if you want your girls fab and bold and brilliant, if you want a story with a queer romance that isn't about queerness but is instead about adventure, and truths, and doing the right thing no matter how much it hurts - then go buy this book already.
Seriously, what are you still doing here? Go!
And sometimes there are quiet books, that seem to enter the world without a ripple, that you stumble upon by complete accident, that open up into jewels as you turn the pages.
Thornfruit is one of these latter books: I didn't hear about it before it was published, I wasn't anxiously waiting for its release - I didn't even have it recommended to me by a friend or one of the few book blogs I actually trust. I just happened upon it, with its beautifully elegant cover and its attention-grabbing blurb - and it was queer, too? Clearly something I had to check out.
And I'm so glad I did, because it's wonderful.
I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't talk about the plot. But Davin creates amazing characters - with an authentically diverse cast, which I was so grateful for (facial blindness! Ace rep! Non-white characters! And Alizhan reads as someone with autism or Asperger's to me, you can't convince me she's not on the spectrum, nope) - complicated, realistic, strong, clever, driven by very different and very human motivations. There were awkward moments! Do you have any idea how rare it is to see an awkward moment in fiction? It's as though writers forget that real people say or do the wrong thing sometimes, that conversations don't always flow as if scripted - but Davin absolutely doesn't forget. Not that these characters are constantly mis-stepping or anything like that - but they feel real enough to walk off the page.
And the world-building! It's intricate and interesting and so cool, and Davin never needs to info-dump the reader, just weaving in details of geography and culture so deftly you hardly realise you're absorbing them, until suddenly it feels as though not only could Alizhan and Ev walk off the page, but that you could walk in, too, if you wanted.
Look, what can I tell you? This is an absolute gem of a book, a hidden treasure I'm so glad I found, and I'm writing this because DAMN IT MORE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS BOOK, but I'm in a rush because I have to go grab the rest of the trilogy RIGHT NOW. Davin works magic with words, and if you have any interest at all in fantastic world-building and morally grey characters and fascinating magic, if you want your girls fab and bold and brilliant, if you want a story with a queer romance that isn't about queerness but is instead about adventure, and truths, and doing the right thing no matter how much it hurts - then go buy this book already.
Seriously, what are you still doing here? Go!