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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
The Thorns Remain by J.J.A. Harwood
5.0
Sometimes you all of a sudden come across books screaming your name. I found this book via Twitter, placed a pre-order on Amazon and then I got an invitation from the publisher to get an arc. It had to be a sign. It had to be a sign that this was a me book, that I was gonna love it. However, when I got the book the release day was still a couple of months away so I made myself wait and two days ago it was finally time to dive into this arc.
For quite some time now we're mostly reading about the fair folk in romance novels. This book is in a way a romance and in a way it's not. But the fair folk in this book are at least a lot more like the fair folk you read about in myths and hear about in local legends. They're not human. They don't know much about human emotions. They don't really know what love is and how to express feelings and how to help people deal with their feelings. It doesn't mean they don't try.
Throughout the book we feel how our heroine is growing more and more helpless. How she's fighting for her friends, against the prejudice of the people in her village because she's acting strange, against the games the Dreamer is playing, against the deals he's trying to make with her. It's clear that things are not getting any easier for our heroine. On the contrary. The closer we get to the end of the story, the more pressing the situation becomes.
My favorite part of this book though is how our heroine is dealing with grief and pain and memories. I don't want to give too much away, because this is the kind of book you want to experience without knowing too much, without expecting too much, but throughout the novel we feel her love for the one friend who didn't return from the war. We relive her memories of him, their shared moments and we understand that some loves are worth hurting for.
It's not a light hearted YA novel, but it's an emotional journey with a touching, gripping and action packed finale. I'm glad I have this book pre-ordered and can't wait for my copy to arrive.
For quite some time now we're mostly reading about the fair folk in romance novels. This book is in a way a romance and in a way it's not. But the fair folk in this book are at least a lot more like the fair folk you read about in myths and hear about in local legends. They're not human. They don't know much about human emotions. They don't really know what love is and how to express feelings and how to help people deal with their feelings. It doesn't mean they don't try.
Throughout the book we feel how our heroine is growing more and more helpless. How she's fighting for her friends, against the prejudice of the people in her village because she's acting strange, against the games the Dreamer is playing, against the deals he's trying to make with her. It's clear that things are not getting any easier for our heroine. On the contrary. The closer we get to the end of the story, the more pressing the situation becomes.
My favorite part of this book though is how our heroine is dealing with grief and pain and memories. I don't want to give too much away, because this is the kind of book you want to experience without knowing too much, without expecting too much, but throughout the novel we feel her love for the one friend who didn't return from the war. We relive her memories of him, their shared moments and we understand that some loves are worth hurting for.
It's not a light hearted YA novel, but it's an emotional journey with a touching, gripping and action packed finale. I'm glad I have this book pre-ordered and can't wait for my copy to arrive.