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shahittosarmat 's review for:
Thorn
by Intisar Khanani
A retelling of one of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, "The Goose Girl" Khanani provides a darker retelling that is at times cruel and hopeful for readers, with a main character that at times splits between being a girl who can barley stand up for herself, to a girl who utilizes her kindness and intelligence as a weapon to help her best the odds.
Thorn is the story of the Princess Alyrra who is selected to become the bride of the prince of a distant kingdom. However, before she can arrive an act of magic has her switch places with the girl who was sent to serve her, causing her to swap places with the serving girl, in turn becoming a goose girl in the royal palace of the prince. From there Alyrra settles into her new life, becoming accustomed to the new freedom that she has. However, in turn, Alyrra realizes that her duty to the her friends and the subjects of the kingdom prevent her from fully escaping her former life.
I appreciated that for this retelling, Khanani was not afraid to go for some dark elements in this debut, and I appreciated the ethereal writing style that set the tone and pace of the novel. While I did have some issues with Alyrra as a main character and her lack of consistent character growth, I also wished that the author had been more concrete in building her cast of supporting characters and fleshed out the kingdom and the subjects as well. Since this is the first book in the series, I am interested going forward in seeing how the book and the characters will play out.
Thorn is the story of the Princess Alyrra who is selected to become the bride of the prince of a distant kingdom. However, before she can arrive an act of magic has her switch places with the girl who was sent to serve her, causing her to swap places with the serving girl, in turn becoming a goose girl in the royal palace of the prince. From there Alyrra settles into her new life, becoming accustomed to the new freedom that she has. However, in turn, Alyrra realizes that her duty to the her friends and the subjects of the kingdom prevent her from fully escaping her former life.
I appreciated that for this retelling, Khanani was not afraid to go for some dark elements in this debut, and I appreciated the ethereal writing style that set the tone and pace of the novel. While I did have some issues with Alyrra as a main character and her lack of consistent character growth, I also wished that the author had been more concrete in building her cast of supporting characters and fleshed out the kingdom and the subjects as well. Since this is the first book in the series, I am interested going forward in seeing how the book and the characters will play out.