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A review by princessrobotiv
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
2.0
I'm going to make a controversial claim about Sorcery of Thorns's sweeping popularity in the Goodreads community:
It's only as popular as it is because of its obsessive treatment of books and libraries.
There, I said it, and I stick by my intuition. I believe wholeheartedly that, had this book not been an ode to literature and libraries, it would have faced much harsher censure for the rest of its content. At least, I should hope that it would have, because its content was weak.
The first thing I want to mention is that I did appreciate the magic system, particularly the way magic usage was tied inextricably to bargains made with demons. I thought that this provided balance to the narrative and enhanced the worldbuilding. I also enjoyed most of the lore surrounding the construction of the Great Libraries as well as the care and conservation of grimoires, though I found the grimoires themselves too similar to the books in Harry Potter for my comfort.
In general, I had an overwhelming sense of reading recycled material. The two-way mirror and the grimoires reminded me of Harry Potter. Silas's character reminded me of Bleach and Black Butler. Thorn's character reminded me of Uprooted. Elisabeth's character reminded me of too many other YA heroines to list.
I was just so bored. I can't say that nothing happened in this book because there was stuff endlessly happening, every chapter, and yet it felt like nothing was happening. Nothing had any emotional weight. Catastrophic wounds were healed in days, injuries were avoided via magical intervention, deaths and banishments were overwritten within a few chapters, and the world at large was prevented from apocalypse with little to no consequences felt by the population as a whole. We were told the stakes were momentously high, and yet I never felt tension, apprehension, or fear.
The plot was one continuous contrivance: Elisabeth stumbles into revealing conversations at every turn; characters appear as if summoned to save her life; her unique magical "gift" transports her effortlessly into places that other masterclass, lifelong magicians have toiled for years or decades to access. These are all writing sins that are usually torn apart in other novels, particularly in the YA genre, and yet I see shockingly little of that criticism for this novel.
The prose was better than average, but I'm going to make another controversial claim: It wasn't as tight, as atmospheric, or as beautiful as it was in An Enchantment of Ravens, a novel that was rated far lower despite being (in my opinion) much stronger.
Obviously, much of this can come down to taste. This didn't work for me, but maybe it resonated for others.
I just find it . . . Let's say, convenient . . . That a book with heavy themes of book worship ended up so uniformly beloved within a community of book nerds. Just saying.
It's only as popular as it is because of its obsessive treatment of books and libraries.
There, I said it, and I stick by my intuition. I believe wholeheartedly that, had this book not been an ode to literature and libraries, it would have faced much harsher censure for the rest of its content. At least, I should hope that it would have, because its content was weak.
The first thing I want to mention is that I did appreciate the magic system, particularly the way magic usage was tied inextricably to bargains made with demons. I thought that this provided balance to the narrative and enhanced the worldbuilding. I also enjoyed most of the lore surrounding the construction of the Great Libraries as well as the care and conservation of grimoires, though I found the grimoires themselves too similar to the books in Harry Potter for my comfort.
In general, I had an overwhelming sense of reading recycled material. The two-way mirror and the grimoires reminded me of Harry Potter. Silas's character reminded me of Bleach and Black Butler. Thorn's character reminded me of Uprooted. Elisabeth's character reminded me of too many other YA heroines to list.
I was just so bored. I can't say that nothing happened in this book because there was stuff endlessly happening, every chapter, and yet it felt like nothing was happening. Nothing had any emotional weight. Catastrophic wounds were healed in days, injuries were avoided via magical intervention, deaths and banishments were overwritten within a few chapters, and the world at large was prevented from apocalypse with little to no consequences felt by the population as a whole. We were told the stakes were momentously high, and yet I never felt tension, apprehension, or fear.
The plot was one continuous contrivance: Elisabeth stumbles into revealing conversations at every turn; characters appear as if summoned to save her life; her unique magical "gift" transports her effortlessly into places that other masterclass, lifelong magicians have toiled for years or decades to access. These are all writing sins that are usually torn apart in other novels, particularly in the YA genre, and yet I see shockingly little of that criticism for this novel.
The prose was better than average, but I'm going to make another controversial claim: It wasn't as tight, as atmospheric, or as beautiful as it was in An Enchantment of Ravens, a novel that was rated far lower despite being (in my opinion) much stronger.
Obviously, much of this can come down to taste. This didn't work for me, but maybe it resonated for others.
I just find it . . . Let's say, convenient . . . That a book with heavy themes of book worship ended up so uniformly beloved within a community of book nerds. Just saying.