Reviews with content warning for Grief - Sorcery of Thorns

Thoughts
I liked this. I didn't love it like I thought I would but I did enjoy it.

Things I liked
- The Atmosphere: this was my favourite aspect of the book. I loved the descriptions of the library. There was a lot of details about how the libraries are run and about the books that are stored at these libraries. I also loved the descriptions outside the library. This gave me old time European vibes which I love. There is a street dedicated to Sorcerers which is so cool. I don't know I just really like the atmosphere. I think it was really well written
- Silas: his characterisation was phenomenal. I know a lot of people like morally grey characters. For me they're okay. I don't love them and I don't hate them. But Silas' character was done so so well. The way this book explores good and evil was so clever. I loved it.
- Found Family: one of my favourite tropes is found family and this book does it so well.

Things I didn't love
- The Pacing: I remember looking at the page numbers and thinking where is the story going to go from here? I was very confused. And the last quarter of the book felt like it was never ending. It was one obstacle after another, after another.
- The ending: for some people they will love it. But to give you context, I like endings tied up in a little bow all questions answered with this it is open ended so there are people that will LOVE that. I am not one of them and that is okay. It didn't taint my reading of it. It just wasn't my favourite.

Overall I did have a good time. I loved the atmosphere, the relationships and I loved being in this bookish setting. The exploration of good and evil gave the novel another level of complexity which was so fascinating to read. So this is a book I would definitely recommend.

Representation
POC (side character), Aromantic (side character), Bisexual (side character), Anxiety (main and side characters)

Content Warning
Absent Parents, Violence, Death, Grief, Panic Attack, Wrist Cutting

Content Warnings

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-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

4.5

Content Warnings

thecourtofreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

"when terrible things have happened to you, sometimes the promise of something good can be just as frightening."

this right here is a comfort read of mine. everything about this book, i quite literally love so much. i reread this recently in 2022 because i wanted to tab it with all of the colours i have, and it was a great decision, because i loved reading this again. this book feels like home.

margaret rogerson's writing is phenomenal. she writes so fluidly and amazingly that i can't help getting swept up in the world she has created and the characters she has crafted. every bit of description is literally exquisite. and the characters? i'm bisexual with a lean towards women, but nathaniel? oh to be elisabeth right now.

nathaniel thorn was by far by favourite. his lines literally made me laugh out loud sometimes. i use orange to tab funny/lol moments, so naturally most of those ended up on his lines. elisabeth is also rooted for - i liked seeing her opinions on what she'd been taught change throughout the novel, how she grew. and silas. don't even get me started. i heard there's a novella coming out about nathaniel and silas and i WILL be purchasing it. rogerson has made her way onto my auto-buy list, because her books are nothing short of perfection.

Content Warnings

syllareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This Review is not spoiler-free! If you do not want to get some slight information on how the characters and their journey utterly DELIGHTED me, please don't read it and instead, go find the book somewhere to enjoy it!

So! With that disclaimer aside, let's jump right into my review of this lovely book~

Short version: I love this???

Slightly longer version: I thought I would simply enjoy it as a nice palate-cleanser in between larger SF/F Adult novels but I got past a certain point and suddenly found I couldn't put the book down - and while I'm not 1000% on board with it, I still fell in love with both the book itself and its main characters and now I can't stop thinking about them help

And now to the actual, possibly more coherent review:

Sorcery of Thorns is a stand-alone YA fantasy novel (which surprised me, given that I am much more used to reading series with at least two books when it comes to YA fantasy) with a fast-paced, action-packed plot, sympathetic characters, casual LGBT+ rep, and a main character who fights demons (or, as the book calls this particular breed of demons, fiends) off with an iron crowbar, a lot of feisty determination and probably a good amount of sheer luck. The plot itself felt a tiny bit rushed sometimes (this is reason #1 why I distracted a few points from the overall rating) and would have easily filled a trilogy with its three major events as turning points for each book, BUT the Margaret Rogerson managed to still come to a fulfilling conclusion while giving the plot enough (if very carefully measured) time to do its thing.

The Characters:

Elizabeth Scrivener, local feral librarian, and booklover, intent on becoming a warden to protect high-level grimoires from turning into Maleficts or getting into the hand of greedy sorcerers, grew up in one of the big libraries her country has to offer. Reason number one to love her: she adores books with all her being ("Why wouldn't I love [this room]? It has books in it!" is an actual quote - from me, or the heroine of this book? The answer is, both), something that is both remarked upon more than once and gets brought up simply by how she acts around books and places holding them. Apart from that, she's also a pure delight with her witty, snarky banter with her friends, her love interest, and an all-powerful demon, and she packs a powerful punch or two, especially later in the series. Her compassion for books (and sometimes other people) is however still the thing that made me fall in love with this particular lady and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Nathaniel Thorn, local resident reclusive sorcerer, and disaster bi boy is the last living member of the Thorn family, an old lineage of sorcerers most known for their necromancy. His first meeting with Elizabeth goes well (she accidentally almost drops a bookshelf on him. Ah, yes....love), but it's nothing compared to his second: he gets tasked to escort her to the capital to be brought in for questioning (she might have, in need for a better solution while fighting for her life, destroyed a grimoire gone bad, which was not something the sorcerer-community appreciated). On the long way there she manages to bite him once, almost run away twice, and throws a fire poker at her magicked trunk, believing it to be him - naturally, this does not exactly endear her to him. By the end of the book, however, his complaints about her incorrigible, wild nature have melted into endearing pet names and quite possibly open adoration, so suffice to say, he comes around (and so does Elizabeth, which might actually be the bigger surprise, considering she has been raised to hate sorcerers with all her being and believed he was about to kill her on their journey to the capital - but then again, who can resist a lonely young man engaging you in sarcastic banter while also being surprisingly ready to protect you at a moment's notice?)

Silas, our third most noticeable character, was an utter delight. One of the aforementioned demons (though not a fiend - he's instead one of the more powerful ones, summoned to serve a sorcerer family by demanding a piece off their lifetime in exchange for granting them the possibility to harness magical powers from the Otherworld), he totters on the fine line between "will not hesitate to tear your heart out with his claws" and "might actually hesitate because his fingers will get dirty and also perhaps he has some feelings in that stone-cold heart of his, oh no". His relationship with Nathaniel and later Elizabeth delighted me more than I can possibly tell, his quiet nature mixed in with his obvious and bloodthirsty otherness was perfection, and his later shown devotion to his master and Elizabeth actually made me cry (I did not expect to cry! Why did this book make me cry! How rude---).

Katrien, friends with feral librarian apprentices, socially awkward wizards, and demons with impeccable manners, didn't have as much screentime as the other aforementioned disaster trio, but I still loved her for the amount of time we had with her. One of Elizabeth's only friends at the library, she doesn't hesitate to use magic to communicate with her (even though the use of such magic is forbidden), schemes with all three of these bastards to overthrow one of the most powerful magicians adored by the public (also forbidden, possibly) while having to be very careful about not getting caught, since the new Director of her and Elizabeth's old library is a vile piece of shit and likes to abuse his power whenever possible. The fact that her politeness is, to Elizabeth at least, usually a sign of her thinking about a thousand ways to fuck someone up, is just another mark in her favor! Since there is a throw-away line about her not being interested in anyone romantically, I headcanon her as Aro, if not AroAce, another fact that utterly delighted me.

The Plot

As mentioned before, the plot itself isn't trying to invent anything new - Elizabeth wants to become a warden, but when her mentor, the former Director of her library, dies during an attack and a Malefict (a grimoire gone bad, usually due to it being damaged in any way) escapes only to be struck down by Elizabeth through sheer luck and determination, she gets sent off to the capital for a hearing in front of the magical community. Upon her arrival, she and Nathaniel Thorn accidentally team up against a bunch of fiends, earning her a far better reputation in the public's eye, and gaining her access to one of the most influential sorcerer's mansion. This does, in fact, not bode well though, because Elizabeth finds out that said sorcerer, Oberon Ashcroft, is not only a misogynistic piece of shit but also responsible for the attacks on every library which had a Malefict going out of control. Trying to entangle this controversy while also having to survive being called mad, drugged through magic, and almost shipped off to a madhouse, Elizabeth finds an ally in, surprisingly for her, Nathaniel (and subsequently Silas), who is the first to believe her about her experiences in Ashcroft Manor. The three of them, plus Katrien providing information through a magical mirror Elizabeth finds, again, through sheer luck and also possibly two feral books fighting with each other, set off to get rid of the man which is what more than three-quarters of the book talks about.

Overall, Rogerson takes a well-known premise and works with it. I have no doubt that the reason I loved this book so much after initially just thinking I'd mildly enjoy myself is the way the characters are written and work with each other. There's so much chemistry between them, their personalities work so well with each other, and they're just really, really funny in a disastrous way that made me almost hit my head on the book multiple times.

Anything else I loved?

Why, yes! Glad you asked.
The book shows multiple times that a lot of problems could have been avoided if people in power just listened for once. Many of the influential sorcerer families shown somewhere could have helped our heroine and Nathaniel if they had believed Elizabeth about Ashcroft. Later on in the book, another one of the great libraries almost gets destroyed because its Director is unwilling to listen to a "tainted" Elizabeth since she's now affiliated with a sorcerer (namely, our bisaster boi Nathaniel). Generally, the book tackles the theme "Man should have listened to Woman but instead dismisses her claims as hysteria due to reading too many books (I wish I was kidding)" with Elizabeth's story really well - which might make it a bit uncomfortable to read for some people.
The realistic portrayal of ugly grieving and how emotions can generally manifest even in situations that are positive enough also made my heart clench a few times. Nathaniel is the obvious character for this, as he lost his entire family years before the incidents in the book and still has nightmares from that particular night, turning him into a social reclusive as his nightmares often make his magic spiral out of control. Elizabeth later on in the book has a panic attack because she can't handle being perceived in a positive light again after so long being shunned and dismissed as outright mad. Both instances were heartwrenching!

Anything else I didn't like?

As mentioned before, I would have loved more than one book! Don't get me wrong, the story still works, as I said, but I'm personally just a bigger fan of large series and more content? Sign me UP. Rogerson made it work (somehow? I actually don't know how, there was so much going on and yet it felt fine, what is this sorcery (pun intended)) but the book could have been split fairly easily which would have made some moments possibly more impactful! This is a very small complaint in the grand scheme of things though.

Number two is yet another personal thing: I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing. It worked well, and the dialogue was actually beautiful (I might have sent a friend numerous DMs from Elizabeth's and Nathaniel's banter alone) but some descriptions were too on-the-nose for me to work properly, and since I'm also generally a HUGE fan of purple prose (which is not what this book delivers), I was a bit biased from the start already. Again, it worked well for the book, it's merely reason #2 why this book didn't get 5 stars from me!

Overall: I am so glad I picked this book up! It was a blast, filled with a lot of humor and some great action scenes. 9.5/10, would read again just to get my favourite disasters back on the page (also, I feel like I need to mention this, but Silas? Nathaniel has two hands, please take one of them, thank you very much---)

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

- I'll be honest, I was not sure I would like this book. Reader, I loved it. It's a great mystery and slow burn romance, but at its heart it's a love letter to libraries.
- Elisabeth reminded me of Lyra from the HIS DARK MATERIALS books, not only because she was a foundling raised in an academic setting, but for her fierceness and sharp mind.
- The world isn't super fleshed out, but I thought it was a clever magic system and I loved what I did see of the wider world beyond the library.
- There's also surprise low key bisexual and ace/aro rep, which was such a treat.
- And Silas, what can I say about Silas. I loved the little demon, I did.

Content Warnings

lilifane's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I had my doubts about this book. I only knew it takes place in a library and has to do with solving a mystery. Which is kind of correct but then again it's not really what you expect when you hear this.
So I was a little disappointed in the beginning but soon got used to the actualy story and from then on had the time of my life reading it. So let me gush a little bit.
I loooooved the characters and was surprised by the represantation in this book. The main character, Elisabeth, is a tall girl. A really tall girl, bigger than most of the boys/men around her and that was SO cool to read. She's been growing up in a library for magical books and has some mysterious abilities that others don't have. At the beginning of the book she witnesses an attack on her library and tries to uncover the truth behind it. What bothered me the most about her for a long time was how ignorant and prejudiced she is at the beginning, especially for someone living in a library and spending her whole life reading books. I thought that was only a way to give her some room for character development, but in the end it actually made a lot of sense. I also feared this would turn into a damsel in distress situation where Elisabeth had to be rescued all the time, because she tends to get in trouble often... but luckily she is quite capable of rescuing herself thank you very much.
Then there are side characters that are bi, aromantic, disabled (there is a blind librarian and braille is hinted at). Most of this is only mentioned as side notes though, just to show that it's all a regular part of this world. And I liked that.
Another thing I really liked was the fast pace of the story (you can hardly take a breath because one thing happens after another and another and another and another). It's so action packed, so much is happening, but there are also some quiet moments that let you bond with the characters and fall in love with them. My heart was stolen by a demon called Silas, he's the most precious character of all.
I enjoyed the humor, especially Nathaniel's comments towards Elisabeth... which leads to the romance plot that I also enjoyed a lot. It was actually quite refreshing. There was no artificial drama, no miscomunication, no cheesy lovey dovey stuff, just straight forward friendly banter turned into fun flirting with a bit of doom from an approaching apocalypse sprinkled into it.
I loved everything that had to do with the library contents, the investigation, the mystery, but there was a little bit too much fighting for my taste. Soooo many fight scenes. The last quarter of a book feels like one long fight which was a little exhausting.
One last thing I should mention: This book is 100% predictable. If you have a feeling, you know how the story will proceed or how a problem will be resolved, you can be sure that's exactly what will happen. Really no surprises whatsoever. Oh, and you never have the feeling that a situation is hopeless or drags on for too long. There is always a way. And I also enjoyed this a lot, because everything that happens is prepared beforehand and it doesn't feel like information is being withheld just to surprise you or a situation unnecessary prologed just to annoy you.

Content Warnings

More...