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ghostsversion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Phew I am on a roll baby. Anyways this was so great!!! I mean sure Soraya did a few things that might be stupid in hindsight but I mean she was very sheltered throughout her life so I understand. The subtle enemies to lovers with Parvaneh was simply <3<3. Also the way Azad was so manipulate even I was bamboozled. But maybe that’s the bloodlust talking idk Finally I have to say that I loved the fact that Soraya got her powers back towards the end. Just when I was thinking Oh her powers sure weren’t developed the author was like BAM Honestly I’m glad I finally got around to reading this. Very much worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
mrsjoellebell's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Violence, Abandonment, and Death
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Death of parent
deerlybeloved's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-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
4.25
Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a beautiful take on finding oneself and embracing what hurts us as much as it makes us who we are. It takes a girl with a horrid curse, and shows us what happens when you dissect that curse and how one can claim their own tragedies and make them into what they want; something miraculous.
Sapphic, chilling, and wonderful, I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a beautiful cast of Persian-inspired mythos, and feel a tension and edge-of-your-seat suspense that is rarely found.
Sapphic, chilling, and wonderful, I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a beautiful cast of Persian-inspired mythos, and feel a tension and edge-of-your-seat suspense that is rarely found.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Blood, Sexism, Violence, War, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Themes of murder, imprisonment, forced confinement, torture, and so much more are used in this book to express the lengths of cruelty of some of the characters.kbairbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A sleeping beauty retelling! With Persian influence?! Wow I really enjoyed this! I love how the romance was subtle but had a nice feel to it and that the parent wasn’t entirely useless and that a man wasn’t the one to step through and save the day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Torture, Violence, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
nerdysread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.75
I started this book as a buddy read but finished it before everyone else. It was just captivating. The story, the characters. It was not what I imagined, but it was really really great. Don’t stop at the blurb. It’s much more than that.
Three people who have their fates tangled together. Victims or monster? You’ll discover more by reading it
Three people who have their fates tangled together. Victims or monster? You’ll discover more by reading it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
zabeishumanish's review
adventurous
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Expect this book to be about 40% sadder than you are initially expecting and that will give you a good sense of this book. The tale is well written and while there are the usual difficulties in following a high fantasy world the plot explains nearly all the questions are reader might have. Something I really liked about the book is how important stories and legends are to Soraya and how her love of legends helped inform the reader about world-building.
I appreciate that the book tackles such a complex issue as compulsive heteronormativity (without calling it that obviously), but by making the villain of the story her heterosexual option he was humanized to the point that he was no longer a fun villain. It is hard to hate such a dark villain when you can see him as just a broken human, and then I kind of hated myself for not being able to hate such a clearly evil man.
I read the book specifically because I wanted a sapphic fantasy, and while this does technically hit the mark I wanted so much more from this love story. It needed so much more gay.
I appreciate that the book tackles such a complex issue as compulsive heteronormativity (without calling it that obviously), but by making the villain of the story her heterosexual option he was humanized to the point that he was no longer a fun villain. It is hard to hate such a dark villain when you can see him as just a broken human, and then I kind of hated myself for not being able to hate such a clearly evil man.
I read the book specifically because I wanted a sapphic fantasy, and while this does technically hit the mark I wanted so much more from this love story. It needed so much more gay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
merenguita's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Meh
I enjoyed parts of this book but overall I don't think it's that good... the main thing that bothered me was the main character, she is frustrating, the way she keeps falling into the same conflict over and over, and she confronts do or die situations with 0 plan I just rolled my eyes multiple times.
I think the set up is interesting and it's probably what kept me reading, but what did bother me is that some of the themes were described in a way that was too on the nose, the author really spelled them out and for me that's a bit annoying.
I will give props for having queer characters without it being a conflict, it just is part of the story and that's always welcome for me (Although the romance isn't that great either, too forced).
I enjoyed parts of this book but overall I don't think it's that good... the main thing that bothered me was the main character, she is frustrating, the way she keeps falling into the same conflict over and over, and she confronts do or die situations with 0 plan I just rolled my eyes multiple times.
I think the set up is interesting and it's probably what kept me reading, but what did bother me is that some of the themes were described in a way that was too on the nose, the author really spelled them out and for me that's a bit annoying.
I will give props for having queer characters without it being a conflict, it just is part of the story and that's always welcome for me (Although the romance isn't that great either, too forced).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Kidnapping, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent
plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While there was nothing inherently wrong with this book, it didn’t stand out to me as one especially captivating or memorable. I never got attached to the characters, and Soraya’s arc was one I’d seen multiple times before in some way or another, without any way to make hers stand out.
I went in expecting a sapphic romance, and while technically I did get one, it was more of an undertone than a focal point. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, as romance isn’t and doesn’t have to be central to every story. It was more of a misunderstanding on my part. I did like it, though.
Also, the antagonist? I saw that coming a mile away. Even if I didn’t guess all the details, the brunt of it was quite obvious. Nearly every fairytale I’ve come across tells you that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And beyond the reveal, it didn’t feel like any part of the story was particularly intense or any of the obstacles were truly fearsome.
Overall: good world-building, plain characters, and nothing really surprising throughout the book. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a fantasy that’s not quite so intense, or a very character-driven retelling. I do think there are people that will enjoy this book; I just ended up pretty indifferent toward it.
Representation
I went in expecting a sapphic romance, and while technically I did get one, it was more of an undertone than a focal point. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, as romance isn’t and doesn’t have to be central to every story. It was more of a misunderstanding on my part. I did like it, though.
Also, the antagonist? I saw that coming a mile away. Even if I didn’t guess all the details, the brunt of it was quite obvious. Nearly every fairytale I’ve come across tells you that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And beyond the reveal, it didn’t feel like any part of the story was particularly intense or any of the obstacles were truly fearsome.
Overall: good world-building, plain characters, and nothing really surprising throughout the book. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a fantasy that’s not quite so intense, or a very character-driven retelling. I do think there are people that will enjoy this book; I just ended up pretty indifferent toward it.
Representation
- full POC cast
- sapphic protagonist and love interest
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Death
Minor: Death of parent
Parent death refers to the protagonist’s father, who died prior to the story. There are only a few brief mentions of this.jojo_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Torture
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Bullying
rashellyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
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
At first, upon reading this, it took me a second to truly get into it. The writing was kind of slow during some chapters but then the plot would move too fast, the general writing of the book was difficult to grasp. But then I just got pulled into the plot with all the different twists and turns.
First of all, I was told that this book was an enemies-to-lovers story, and although that may be true, I don’t really see it. I think that’s because when meeting the love interest, I fell in love with her immediately. They’re relationship was strained at first but they quickly became friends. I would say that it’s more of a enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story.
Another thing I loved about Girl, Serpent, Thorn was that I fell in love with the antagonist. I hate him, of course, because he’s the worst but I’m getting major Loki vibes. And I’m in love with Loki. Melissa Bashardoust does a great job of making the reader feel bad for the antagonist. One chapter I would feel sad for him and then another chapter I wanted to strangle him.
Lastly, I liked that the author incorporated mythology, history, and her culture into the book. I’ve never been exposed to Iranian culture in this way so reading “Shah”, “Shahzadeh”, “div”, and “parik” was new and fun. And the character’s names are so beautiful I had to take a moment when reading them for the first time. Soraya, Parvaneh, Sorush, Azad, and so on.
The incorporation of poison, serpents, and thorns was almost as amazing as the underlining theme of feminism. Strong women, sisterhood, friendship, and lesbian love. I’m so here for it! The bringing down of the male protagonist to his knees, gay panic, the feeling of being dangerous. All of it, I’m here for it!! This is an amazing book and I highly recommend!!
First of all, I was told that this book was an enemies-to-lovers story, and although that may be true, I don’t really see it. I think that’s because when meeting the love interest, I fell in love with her immediately. They’re relationship was strained at first but they quickly became friends. I would say that it’s more of a enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story.
Another thing I loved about Girl, Serpent, Thorn was that I fell in love with the antagonist. I hate him, of course, because he’s the worst but I’m getting major Loki vibes. And I’m in love with Loki. Melissa Bashardoust does a great job of making the reader feel bad for the antagonist. One chapter I would feel sad for him and then another chapter I wanted to strangle him.
Lastly, I liked that the author incorporated mythology, history, and her culture into the book. I’ve never been exposed to Iranian culture in this way so reading “Shah”, “Shahzadeh”, “div”, and “parik” was new and fun. And the character’s names are so beautiful I had to take a moment when reading them for the first time. Soraya, Parvaneh, Sorush, Azad, and so on.
The incorporation of poison, serpents, and thorns was almost as amazing as the underlining theme of feminism. Strong women, sisterhood, friendship, and lesbian love. I’m so here for it! The bringing down of the male protagonist to his knees, gay panic, the feeling of being dangerous. All of it, I’m here for it!! This is an amazing book and I highly recommend!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia