Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Sorcery of Thorns

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

clairemadness's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

samchase112's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.25

Knowledge always has the potential to be dangerous. It is a more powerful weapon than any sword or spell.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! The demon-human relationship was so interesting, and Nathaniel was a freaking sweetheart. The book did go on forever; every time you think they're getting to the solution/final battle/end, there's yet another twist. It's almost like the author wanted to cram a duology or even trilogy into one book. But otherwise this was a fun ride and I really enjoyed the characters and world!

Reread: November 2021

I really enjoyed this quick reread! The world is so magical and wonderful, and the characters unique. I actually enjoyed how much things were sped up this time around. I got swept up in the story and couldn’t put it down! I just wish grimoires existed in our world :)

Read for the Intertextuals book club!

Content Warnings

onceuponabookcase's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

1.5

I've wanted to read Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson for quite a while now, so I was so excited when I was recently gifted it by a friend. Unfortunately, it was quite a disappointment.

Sorcery of Thorns had an intriguing premise, a plot that seemed very original, but it just fell completely flat for me. It had very little of what I come to expect from high fantasy, and a lot of it has to do with worldbuilding. There is magic because sorcerers have control over a demon. Magical books are sentient. When damaged, they become Maleficts, monsters. There are Great Libraries around Austermeer whose job it is to protect/guard these danagerous books. That's it. That's the world building.

We get no real history (When did sorcerers first start summoning and controlling demons? How was it discovered they could do so? When did the Magisterium form and why? What do they actually do?), no idea how magic actually works (Nathaniel literally mutters some words and things happen. That's it), why grimoires are sentient, or what makes them so ("magic" is not a good enough answer), why they become Maleficts, why there are still sorcerers if the world is convinced they are evil, and no answers to many other questions. Honestly, it's a poor excuse for worldbuiliding. It makes me wonder if the Rogerson thought more in depth worldbuilding as required because it's YA. Which is insulting to teen readers, and to the genre. You can have YA high fantasy that has fleshed out worldbuilding, such as the Girls of Paper and Fire trilogy by Natasha Ngan, the Shadow of the Fox trilogy by Julie Kagawa, the Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig, and many others. The worldbuilding in Sorcery of Thorns feels incredibly half-baked.

Worldbuilding aside, there was still a lot about this book that left me wanting. I didn't particularly care about either Elisabeth or Nathaniel. Other than the fact that she is an orphan that was left at the steps of a Great Library, has grown up around books, and wants to become a warden to protect the books, and that Nathaniel is a magister, is the descendent of a particular powerful and terrifying sorcerer, that his family died when he was very young, and he's been alone with just his demon companion, Silas, ever since, we know nothing about the characters. It's all surface. Which is why the romance wasn't at all believable. They just fell for each other out of nowhere, based on nothing.

Then there was the story itself. It was predicitable. I knew who the villain was going to be very early on, and they are a caricature of a villian, wanting power for power's sake. We've seen this villain so many times before. And despite the fact that a number of things happen throughout the story, for the most part, it's very low stakes and feels very unexciting. I kept reading because it was a gift from a friend, and because it's a very easy read, but I honestly didn't care about where the story was going. I wasn't emotionally invested in the story or the characters. Sorcery of Thorns' only saving grace was Silas, Nathaniel's demon servant. I liked what Rogerson did with Silas and the idea of demon servents, and I actually really liked him. But otherwise, Sorcery of Thorns was just a huge disappointment for me.

Clearly, Sorcery of Thorns wasn't for me, but it might be for you. Do read some other reviews before deciding whether or not you'll read it.

Content Warnings

naomidanae'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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

caryndi's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

I'm going to be honest: I almost noped out of this book after the first chapter because it seemed like it was going to be too high fantasy for me, but I'm really glad I didn't. While the prose was a bit more over the top than I prefer, I ended up really enjoying the world and the story.

Before I get into that, let me detour to say that it made me think sooo strongly of the The Bartimaeus Trilogy that for 0.1 second, I wondered if it was fanfiction with the edges sanded off. However, in the next 0.1 second I disregarded that idea because the world was just too different and the characters definitely their own. However, we had:

Magic boi Nathaniel
The "young person takes on bad authority figures" trope
A woman who was resistant to magic
A demon character who ended up befriending his master
The woman took a huge risk in her interactions with that demon (keeping this vague to avoid spoilers)

I love the Bartimaeus Trilogy, so anything that makes me think of it probably gets an extra half-star just from association.

Now, onto the actual book! The characters were wonderful. Elisabeth's journey was well written--I enjoyed watching her grow into herself and stay true to the principles that guided her even when that meant going against something she had previously believed. The ending of her arc was great. Nathaniel and Katrien were both great supporting characters and I enjoyed the way we were introduced to Silas and his abilities. Having books as pseudo-characters was an interesting take and I thought it was nicely done.

Story-wise, there was a nice mix of conflict between the big bad and various medium bads that kept the story interesting, and also tied together nicely.

There was also a romance storyline and while it wasn't my favorite, it was...okay? (I know, I'm surprised I think so as well.) It wasn't super well developed, especially on Nathaniel's end, but it definitely passed the "Sk8er Boi" test and was fairly satisfying as part of their character arcs. While it could have been done better, it didn't feel too abrupt, at least--it was definitely hinted at before it happened and worked well with the character growth. The one kinda weird thing was that the characters were like 17/18 so as an adult it was a little D: when I remembered that bit.

All in all, this was a fun read that was DEFINITELY better than doing my work and also a great world to get lost in for a little bit.

Recommend? Yes, if you like fantasy at all.

Content Warnings

More...