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A review by ktread07
The Thorns Remain by J.J.A. Harwood
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC. Mild spoilers ahead.
Dark fairy tales where the heroine has to see through the splendor and magic in order to save the day? Sign me up!
This was my first JJA Harwood book and I am a big fan. The pacing was a little slow at first, but once I got about a third of the way in, I was hooked.
After the Dreamer was introduced, I was afraid that there was going to be more romance involved based on the description of the book. While the Dreamer does try to change for Moira Jean, they are still a problematic character and I would be uncomfortable reading a romantic "happy ending". I enjoyed how the story played out and how it was resolved.
There were a few things I felt were a miss for this book. The lack of chapters was hard; instead the book was split into 5 sections.
I felt the pacing at the beginning was so slow that it caused some more interesting parts to be glazed over at the end. What exactly was the Tithe? Why did Moira Jean not seem to care about what happened to everyone at the end when she was trying desperately to win her friends back throughout the story?
The biggest thing that bothered me, especially during the first third of the book, was that Moira Jean lives in a remote part of the Scottish highlands in the early 1900s...and she doesn't know ANY fairy lore? I would expect her village to be at least moderately well versed in the fair folk and at least somewhat superstitious. But no, only one old woman in the entire village knew what was happening and had to teach Moira Jean how to make deals with the fae.
Overall, it was extremely enjoyable. I give it a solid 3.75 stars. An entire star removed because the lack of chapters or more frequent, well defined sections really made me struggle.
Dark fairy tales where the heroine has to see through the splendor and magic in order to save the day? Sign me up!
This was my first JJA Harwood book and I am a big fan. The pacing was a little slow at first, but once I got about a third of the way in, I was hooked.
After the Dreamer was introduced, I was afraid that there was going to be more romance involved based on the description of the book. While the Dreamer does try to change for Moira Jean, they are still a problematic character and I would be uncomfortable reading a romantic "happy ending". I enjoyed how the story played out and how it was resolved.
There were a few things I felt were a miss for this book. The lack of chapters was hard; instead the book was split into 5 sections.
I felt the pacing at the beginning was so slow that it caused some more interesting parts to be glazed over at the end. What exactly was the Tithe? Why did Moira Jean not seem to care about what happened to everyone at the end when she was trying desperately to win her friends back throughout the story?
The biggest thing that bothered me, especially during the first third of the book, was that Moira Jean lives in a remote part of the Scottish highlands in the early 1900s...and she doesn't know ANY fairy lore? I would expect her village to be at least moderately well versed in the fair folk and at least somewhat superstitious. But no, only one old woman in the entire village knew what was happening and had to teach Moira Jean how to make deals with the fae.
Overall, it was extremely enjoyable. I give it a solid 3.75 stars. An entire star removed because the lack of chapters or more frequent, well defined sections really made me struggle.