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A review by commedesenfants
Thorn by Intisar Khanani
4.0
Originally posted here: http://living-a-thousand-lives.tumblr.com/post/31118277275/thorn-by-intisar-khanani
The Cover
I'm torn with this cover. On the one hand I think the background is pretty it kind of reminds me of a surrealist painting with the two different landscapes fading into eachother and the somewhat creepy eyes at the top. On the other hand there is a pretty girl at the front. You know how I feel about (real) people on covers. For a selfpublished book, the cover looks pretty professional though.
The Story
Thorn is based on the Brothers Grimm's fairytale "The Goose Girl". Alyrra, later called Thorn, is the Princess of a small kingdom. Her family and the court either ignore or scorn her. That is until the powerful king of the neighbouring kingdom comes to Alyrra's kingdom and she is suddenly betrothed to his son. Alyrra is afraid but soon realizes that nothing that awaits her in the foreign kingdom could be worse than what she has to endure at home and she also realizes that the life of the prince lies in her hand. On the journey to her new home Alyrra is betrayed by one of her travel companions but she sees this as an opportunity to reinvent herself and live a free life, even if her freedom would mean the death of the prince. Alyrra has to make a difficult decision.
The Protagonist
At first I thought Alyrra would be this doormat character who is meek and lets everyone walk all over her. But soon I realized that her silence was the only way she could protect herself. I feel so terribly bad for her because what a horrible life it must be if you can't even feel save in your own home? Alyrra is not weak, she might be a but timid but that is to be expected by the way everyone at court disrespects her and made her feel worthless. As the story is told from her POV, however, the reader very soon realizes that she is very intelligent and caring, she is good at heart and actually really brave in so far that she would protect others when they need it. She is courageous and has a great sense of justice. Alyrra is not your typical spoiled princess but she is willing to work hard and doesn't mind getting dirty. I admire Alyrra that she never gives up, she doesn't let the people who treat her badly get her down.
The Heart Rate
We first meet Prince Kestrin in a rather unusual way that definitely left a powerful impression. He's rather mysterious and for the longest time neither Alyrra nor the reader knows if he can be trusted and what his motives are. He's very perceptive and eloquent, and it always seems as if he has an ulterior motive. I wouldn't describe him as a "bad boy" but he definitely has that alluring and mysterious vibe about him, and it doesn't hurt that he's a prince.
What I really like about Alyrra's and Kestrin's relationship is that it progressed slowly, no insta-love, hallelujah. They were both wary of eachother in the beginning but slowly they started to trust and respect one another and became friends. There won't be any mushy love proclamations while fighting for their lives.
People must think I'm so unromantic because it seems like I hate love confessions. I don't, I'm a romantic. I just don't like it when it gets cheesy or when those love confessions are out of place or said too early on in a relationship (hearing people who know eachother for a whole of a week or two tell eachother how they love eachother makes me cringe so much, it's the worst).
The Good
- Retelling: As I said, this is a retelling of "The Goose Girl" and the author did a great job. The main storyline is the same as the Grimm fairytale but what happens inbetween is entirely Intisar Khanani's work. What I also like is that this is not a case of what I like to call as "disney-ficaion" (don't get me wrong, I love love love Disney animated movies), i.e. this is much closer to the original tale when it comes to violence and the like. However, it is never gratuitous or only there for shockvalue but is always there for a reason. Don't worry, this is not a gory book but I'd say realistic (as realistic as it can be with magic and being a fairytale and all...).
- Sensitive topics: There is violence in this book but it also deals with the topic of violence. Alyrra is clearly physically abused by her brother and emotionally abused by everyone else at court (except for the servants).
There is also the question of "justice". What is justice and who makes the law? If the king is the law but does nothing to enforce it, then is it better to just sit there passively or actively acting out your own law?
- Falada: For those who read or know the original story, you know that Falada is Alyrra's white horse who can speak. In this story Falada becomes Alyrra's best friend, confidant and mentor in one. Their friendship is wonderful and Falada gives Alyrra great advice (which she doesn't always follow to my dismay), he is always urging her on to stand up for herself and helps her realizing her full potential. He would do anything for her and vice versa. So long story short: Falada is awesome.
- The Hostler Family: When Alyrra is assigned the job as goose girl in the foreign kingdom, she meets fellow workers of the court, the hostlers, they are a tight knit family who readily embrace her into their midst and accept her as their own. They were an amazing family who really cared for eachother and they cared for Alyrra even though she was a lady, they never judged her by her title and vice versa.
The Bad
Unresolved story: Don't worry, there is no cliffhanger here, the story at large wraps up neatly. But there are just some issues that are never really resolved. Like Alyrra's abusive brother who is one day going to be king. He never had to take responsibility for his abuse. While Kestrin and his father know about it, the only thing they did was to rescue Alyrra from her brother's clutches, which is great but they can't do that for everyone and I thought it would've been great if Alyrra and Kestrin had exposed her brother. Also there is another issue that has to do with why Kestrin was in mortal danger in the first place that was not fully resolved or rather I'd like to know how the story ends for that particular person. (I can't say more because that would be spoilery).
The Rating
★★★★☆
I'm usually a bit wary when it comes to self-published books. There are hidden gems but there is also a lot of mediocre stuff out there. "Thorn" is one of those rare hidden gems and it would be great to see it being picked up by a publisher so it can get more recognition. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was much better than a lot of books that got six figure publishing deals in my opinion (the world can be so unfair, especially the publishing world), and thought Intisar Khanani did a great job, the writing was good and the story engaging.
The Cover
I'm torn with this cover. On the one hand I think the background is pretty it kind of reminds me of a surrealist painting with the two different landscapes fading into eachother and the somewhat creepy eyes at the top. On the other hand there is a pretty girl at the front. You know how I feel about (real) people on covers. For a selfpublished book, the cover looks pretty professional though.
The Story
Thorn is based on the Brothers Grimm's fairytale "The Goose Girl". Alyrra, later called Thorn, is the Princess of a small kingdom. Her family and the court either ignore or scorn her. That is until the powerful king of the neighbouring kingdom comes to Alyrra's kingdom and she is suddenly betrothed to his son. Alyrra is afraid but soon realizes that nothing that awaits her in the foreign kingdom could be worse than what she has to endure at home and she also realizes that the life of the prince lies in her hand. On the journey to her new home Alyrra is betrayed by one of her travel companions but she sees this as an opportunity to reinvent herself and live a free life, even if her freedom would mean the death of the prince. Alyrra has to make a difficult decision.
The Protagonist
At first I thought Alyrra would be this doormat character who is meek and lets everyone walk all over her. But soon I realized that her silence was the only way she could protect herself. I feel so terribly bad for her because what a horrible life it must be if you can't even feel save in your own home? Alyrra is not weak, she might be a but timid but that is to be expected by the way everyone at court disrespects her and made her feel worthless. As the story is told from her POV, however, the reader very soon realizes that she is very intelligent and caring, she is good at heart and actually really brave in so far that she would protect others when they need it. She is courageous and has a great sense of justice. Alyrra is not your typical spoiled princess but she is willing to work hard and doesn't mind getting dirty. I admire Alyrra that she never gives up, she doesn't let the people who treat her badly get her down.
The Heart Rate
We first meet Prince Kestrin in a rather unusual way that definitely left a powerful impression. He's rather mysterious and for the longest time neither Alyrra nor the reader knows if he can be trusted and what his motives are. He's very perceptive and eloquent, and it always seems as if he has an ulterior motive. I wouldn't describe him as a "bad boy" but he definitely has that alluring and mysterious vibe about him, and it doesn't hurt that he's a prince.
What I really like about Alyrra's and Kestrin's relationship is that it progressed slowly, no insta-love, hallelujah. They were both wary of eachother in the beginning but slowly they started to trust and respect one another and became friends. There won't be any mushy love proclamations while fighting for their lives.
People must think I'm so unromantic because it seems like I hate love confessions. I don't, I'm a romantic. I just don't like it when it gets cheesy or when those love confessions are out of place or said too early on in a relationship (hearing people who know eachother for a whole of a week or two tell eachother how they love eachother makes me cringe so much, it's the worst).
The Good
- Retelling: As I said, this is a retelling of "The Goose Girl" and the author did a great job. The main storyline is the same as the Grimm fairytale but what happens inbetween is entirely Intisar Khanani's work. What I also like is that this is not a case of what I like to call as "disney-ficaion" (don't get me wrong, I love love love Disney animated movies), i.e. this is much closer to the original tale when it comes to violence and the like. However, it is never gratuitous or only there for shockvalue but is always there for a reason. Don't worry, this is not a gory book but I'd say realistic (as realistic as it can be with magic and being a fairytale and all...).
- Sensitive topics: There is violence in this book but it also deals with the topic of violence. Alyrra is clearly physically abused by her brother and emotionally abused by everyone else at court (except for the servants).
There is also the question of "justice". What is justice and who makes the law? If the king is the law but does nothing to enforce it, then is it better to just sit there passively or actively acting out your own law?
- Falada: For those who read or know the original story, you know that Falada is Alyrra's white horse who can speak. In this story Falada becomes Alyrra's best friend, confidant and mentor in one. Their friendship is wonderful and Falada gives Alyrra great advice (which she doesn't always follow to my dismay), he is always urging her on to stand up for herself and helps her realizing her full potential. He would do anything for her and vice versa. So long story short: Falada is awesome.
- The Hostler Family: When Alyrra is assigned the job as goose girl in the foreign kingdom, she meets fellow workers of the court, the hostlers, they are a tight knit family who readily embrace her into their midst and accept her as their own. They were an amazing family who really cared for eachother and they cared for Alyrra even though she was a lady, they never judged her by her title and vice versa.
The Bad
Unresolved story: Don't worry, there is no cliffhanger here, the story at large wraps up neatly. But there are just some issues that are never really resolved. Like Alyrra's abusive brother who is one day going to be king. He never had to take responsibility for his abuse. While Kestrin and his father know about it, the only thing they did was to rescue Alyrra from her brother's clutches, which is great but they can't do that for everyone and I thought it would've been great if Alyrra and Kestrin had exposed her brother. Also there is another issue that has to do with why Kestrin was in mortal danger in the first place that was not fully resolved or rather I'd like to know how the story ends for that particular person. (I can't say more because that would be spoilery).
The Rating
★★★★☆
I'm usually a bit wary when it comes to self-published books. There are hidden gems but there is also a lot of mediocre stuff out there. "Thorn" is one of those rare hidden gems and it would be great to see it being picked up by a publisher so it can get more recognition. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was much better than a lot of books that got six figure publishing deals in my opinion (the world can be so unfair, especially the publishing world), and thought Intisar Khanani did a great job, the writing was good and the story engaging.