A review by idiothan
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

3.0

it was good but i just needed more. it's hard to explain. i do know that i questioned a lot of the author's choices. why did soraya give up her powers in the first fourth of the book? why was she normal for most of the book? why turn azad human if soraya was just gonna get her powers back? but im sure there's reasons for it all so it's fine. however, i do wish that someone close to soraya had died. either her brother or mother or parvaneh, someone needed to die. i felt no strong emotion at the end except relief when her poison returned. most of my favorite books include a major character death because they make me feel a lot so they're memorable. i can see myself forgetting this book quickly. but all in all, it was a good read. really loved the concept of this mythical but still realistic world, it was executed really well and in a mostly non-confusing way. a lot of fantasy books get carried away in their alternate universe and it makes no sense, but gst was excellent in this way. and of course, i loved the subtle sapphic romance. i did feel mislead when soraya started spending a LOT of time with azad but i was relieved when he revealed himself. i really thought the love interest was gonna be laleh so i was surprised when soraya and parvaneh got together, but it felt right.