Scan barcode
A review by chidimmadesiree
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
1.0
1/5 stars
“Girl, Serpent, Thorne” is a young adult fantasy based off Persian mythology about a princess who’s touch has been poisonous since birth. Soraya has heard a fairytale told by her mother from a young age about a girl who was cursed by a div for the touch of her first born daughter to be poisonous for the rest of her life. That fairytale is the story of Soraya’s life and is the reason why she is locked up in the palace away from the public eye. Soraya is sick and tired of being hidden away and wishes to be free from the curse. When she learns about a div being imprisoned in the palace and meets a guard who seems captivated by her and is willing to help her at all costs she believes that together they can break the curse.
This book had so much potential. The concept seemed phenomenal for a fantasy novel and I really expected more. There was probably in total 20 pages where I wasn’t bored with this book. Even when events took place in the book the way in which it was depicted felt like if nothing was happening. I struggled throughout this entire book. When I thought things were getting exciting five pages later it went back to a very slow moving novel. The author would give us bursts of fun/excitement and then take it away as soon as it was given. I felt myself just wanting this book to be over.
The book had a very slow start where all we had were pages and pages of the main character, Soraya, moping about the life that she has been handed with the curse. I really disliked the main character she spent the whole book feeling sorry for herself, but never truly wanting to change it. She very much had a damsel in distress complex. She always needed help from either the div, her mother, her brother, or the guard. She was very naive and for some reason took everything someone said as fact. She never questioned anyone or their intentions until it was brought to her attention by someone else. I didn’t feel as if her “growth” was truly shown in the novel. I felt it was rushed so the plot could reach its conclusion.
The main romance in this book was so out of nowhere. Halfway through the book I thought people mistakenly labeled this book as sapphic since there was a male/female relationship up until that point. But no the author throws in a sapphic romance with the main character, Soraya, and the div, Parvaneh. If the romance was fleshed out and there was yearning I would be 100% for it, but there was none of that. I don’t get the purpose of promoting your book as sapphic if the relationship that took over the whole story in reality was male/female.
The main villain in this story was the guard, Avid, which I predicted from the start. It was supposed to be this big reveal, but Avid showed a lot of similarities to Hans from Frozen. He was very eager to help Soraya and she never questioned it. He was always willing to help her even with things that didn’t involve him in any way and any reasonable person would be at least a little hesitant. Soraya didn’t see that though and was very shocked when she realized he was the villain.
This book was just not for me. It had so many plot holes. It contained so many plot holes and decisions by characters that didn’t make any sense. By the end of the book I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters. It had a romance that felt forced and very rushed. And an ending where everyone lived happily ever after. Hooray! I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone and I fought myself to finish it instead of dnf’ing it.
-This book was sent to me for review through netgalley-
“Girl, Serpent, Thorne” is a young adult fantasy based off Persian mythology about a princess who’s touch has been poisonous since birth. Soraya has heard a fairytale told by her mother from a young age about a girl who was cursed by a div for the touch of her first born daughter to be poisonous for the rest of her life. That fairytale is the story of Soraya’s life and is the reason why she is locked up in the palace away from the public eye. Soraya is sick and tired of being hidden away and wishes to be free from the curse. When she learns about a div being imprisoned in the palace and meets a guard who seems captivated by her and is willing to help her at all costs she believes that together they can break the curse.
This book had so much potential. The concept seemed phenomenal for a fantasy novel and I really expected more. There was probably in total 20 pages where I wasn’t bored with this book. Even when events took place in the book the way in which it was depicted felt like if nothing was happening. I struggled throughout this entire book. When I thought things were getting exciting five pages later it went back to a very slow moving novel. The author would give us bursts of fun/excitement and then take it away as soon as it was given. I felt myself just wanting this book to be over.
The book had a very slow start where all we had were pages and pages of the main character, Soraya, moping about the life that she has been handed with the curse. I really disliked the main character she spent the whole book feeling sorry for herself, but never truly wanting to change it. She very much had a damsel in distress complex. She always needed help from either the div, her mother, her brother, or the guard. She was very naive and for some reason took everything someone said as fact. She never questioned anyone or their intentions until it was brought to her attention by someone else. I didn’t feel as if her “growth” was truly shown in the novel. I felt it was rushed so the plot could reach its conclusion.
The main romance in this book was so out of nowhere. Halfway through the book I thought people mistakenly labeled this book as sapphic since there was a male/female relationship up until that point. But no the author throws in a sapphic romance with the main character, Soraya, and the div, Parvaneh. If the romance was fleshed out and there was yearning I would be 100% for it, but there was none of that. I don’t get the purpose of promoting your book as sapphic if the relationship that took over the whole story in reality was male/female.
The main villain in this story was the guard, Avid, which I predicted from the start. It was supposed to be this big reveal, but Avid showed a lot of similarities to Hans from Frozen. He was very eager to help Soraya and she never questioned it. He was always willing to help her even with things that didn’t involve him in any way and any reasonable person would be at least a little hesitant. Soraya didn’t see that though and was very shocked when she realized he was the villain.
This book was just not for me. It had so many plot holes. It contained so many plot holes and decisions by characters that didn’t make any sense. By the end of the book I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters. It had a romance that felt forced and very rushed. And an ending where everyone lived happily ever after. Hooray! I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone and I fought myself to finish it instead of dnf’ing it.
-This book was sent to me for review through netgalley-