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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
This book was a very sweet retelling of the Goose Girl. I love the angle of healing from abuse/trauma and learning to trust and accept love from others. There were many characters that didn't receive adequate attention, though (as well as a few storylines!), so I'm pleased to see that there will be a companion novel released next year.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed this! I loved Alyrra as a main character, and the fact that she wasn't a fierce sword-weilding warrior, but a girl who wanted a simple life filled with loved ones was wonderful to read.
I also loved how little romance is in this.
It was quite slow-paced, which meant I struggled to get into it, but I'm so glad that I finished it. The setting was beautiful, but the fantasy elements were quite limited. Overall I would recommend this!
I really enjoyed this! I loved Alyrra as a main character, and the fact that she wasn't a fierce sword-weilding warrior, but a girl who wanted a simple life filled with loved ones was wonderful to read.
I also loved how little romance is in this.
It was quite slow-paced, which meant I struggled to get into it, but I'm so glad that I finished it. The setting was beautiful, but the fantasy elements were quite limited. Overall I would recommend this!
This book was good. Goose girl is one of my favorite classic retellings and I love seeing how authors rework old classics. This one was a little slow in the beginning and I wasn't sure I was going to like it but it gets better towards the end.
I really appreciated the fact that this is a modern retelling of a lesser known fairy tale but the plot didn't pick up until you're more than halfway into the book. The writing, although beautiful, did not engage me much and I found myself forcing to finish this book. However, I did love the thoroughness and depth of the main and side characters. Alyrra is everything you want a main character to be; she is kind, loveable, and has a hidden strength that makes you root for her from start to finish. However, right when Alyrra shines to her full potential and there is promise for more from the characters, the story ends in an underwhelming manner. Thorn seemed more like a set up for the next book as there were plenty of world building and side plots that were left untied. I wish I could love this book but it just fell flat for me. Hopefully Theft of Sunlight will be better.
DNF @ 50%, unrated due to possible bias.
Plot: Retelling of The Goose Girl. Less middle-easterny than advertised.
1. I think this book started out pretty well but lost me somewhere in the second or third chapter. Since the prose was fine and I'm always down for a good fairytale retelling I'm left wondering why this whole story left me feeling lukewarm. All I can come up with are personal greivances with the plot and characterization.
2. There really isn't much of a nuanced morality here. The good guys are kind and smart and everyone loves them. The bad guys are both terrible people and very dumb about it. I think the one maybe exception might have been the queen (wild card???) but I honestly didn't read far enough to see how that plot point might have panned out.
3. Alyrra is. Well. I was very interested in her for the first few chapters but then the switch happened and I'm just left feeling vaguely frustrated.
There is an episode of the Writing Excuses podcast where the authors discuss three axes of making a compelling protagonist- sympathy, proactivity and competence. I think that discussion has some merit, and I also think that these axes are subjective. I kept coming back to it when reading about Alyrra, because I didn't find her particularly sympathetic (I did, in the beginning, before I got distracted by how evil all the antagonists were and how universally loved Alyrra was- that kind of thing really puts a damper on my sympathy), she was about as proactive as table (there are just... so many ways where you can sabotage things but instead you are relying on the word of a woman who has shown herself to be laughably evil- goddammit Alyrra if you want to fuck off and live your own life I'm cool with it but commit to something), and her competence is more about character shillings than about anything she does. Add in the usual slow moving YA drama romance with courting gifts and acts of love and I'm just left feeling very disgruntled.
4. Thorn reminds me of [b:Renegades|28421168|Renegades (Renegades, #1)|Marissa Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494896884l/28421168._SX50_.jpg|48526305]. I know the two stories have virtually nothing in common plotwise, but there's something about the structure and the conflict and the way the scenes are written that's idk... eerily familiar. There are differences- I do think Thorn is paced better than Renegades ever was, and that Renegades is at least tries to be somewhat more nuanced about morality; but at the end of the day these two books are going to be piled atop each other on my mental bookshelf. So maybe the people who loved Renegades would like this one? Idk.
5. Oh and the cover is just absolutely gorgeous. I just want to make a note of that, because wow so PRETTY~
Plot: Retelling of The Goose Girl. Less middle-easterny than advertised.
1. I think this book started out pretty well but lost me somewhere in the second or third chapter. Since the prose was fine and I'm always down for a good fairytale retelling I'm left wondering why this whole story left me feeling lukewarm. All I can come up with are personal greivances with the plot and characterization.
2. There really isn't much of a nuanced morality here. The good guys are kind and smart and everyone loves them. The bad guys are both terrible people and very dumb about it. I think the one maybe exception might have been the queen (wild card???) but I honestly didn't read far enough to see how that plot point might have panned out.
3. Alyrra is. Well. I was very interested in her for the first few chapters but then the switch happened and I'm just left feeling vaguely frustrated.
There is an episode of the Writing Excuses podcast where the authors discuss three axes of making a compelling protagonist- sympathy, proactivity and competence. I think that discussion has some merit, and I also think that these axes are subjective. I kept coming back to it when reading about Alyrra, because I didn't find her particularly sympathetic (I did, in the beginning, before I got distracted by how evil all the antagonists were and how universally loved Alyrra was- that kind of thing really puts a damper on my sympathy), she was about as proactive as table (there are just... so many ways where you can sabotage things but instead you are relying on the word of a woman who has shown herself to be laughably evil- goddammit Alyrra if you want to fuck off and live your own life I'm cool with it but commit to something), and her competence is more about character shillings than about anything she does. Add in the usual slow moving YA drama romance with courting gifts and acts of love and I'm just left feeling very disgruntled.
4. Thorn reminds me of [b:Renegades|28421168|Renegades (Renegades, #1)|Marissa Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1494896884l/28421168._SX50_.jpg|48526305]. I know the two stories have virtually nothing in common plotwise, but there's something about the structure and the conflict and the way the scenes are written that's idk... eerily familiar. There are differences- I do think Thorn is paced better than Renegades ever was, and that Renegades is at least tries to be somewhat more nuanced about morality; but at the end of the day these two books are going to be piled atop each other on my mental bookshelf. So maybe the people who loved Renegades would like this one? Idk.
5. Oh and the cover is just absolutely gorgeous. I just want to make a note of that, because wow so PRETTY~
I usually really like fairy tale retellings but they do get old after a while, which is why I was pretty pleased to find a re-telling that was based on something a little off the beaten path, Goose Girl.
Khanani does a spectacular job of coming up with a beautifully created world, unique characters, and sub-plots that don't detract from the story, but add to the rich tapestry.
I really enjoyed this book and this series is definitely something i'm looking forward to continuing.
Khanani does a spectacular job of coming up with a beautifully created world, unique characters, and sub-plots that don't detract from the story, but add to the rich tapestry.
I really enjoyed this book and this series is definitely something i'm looking forward to continuing.
fast-paced
⭐️ awful/hated/didn’t finish/wish I didn’t finish
Unfortunately I couldn’t finish this book. The storyline felt like it was all over the place and I was constantly confused on what was happening. I also couldn’t grasp the motivations of the main character.
I read that this book was loosely based on a fairy tale and I can see where the author was trying to stick to that story and why the book felt convoluted to me.
Unfortunately I couldn’t finish this book. The storyline felt like it was all over the place and I was constantly confused on what was happening. I also couldn’t grasp the motivations of the main character.
I read that this book was loosely based on a fairy tale and I can see where the author was trying to stick to that story and why the book felt convoluted to me.