Wow this seemingly self-pub book was actually better than bad (it's good!).

It's not without problems, some I've mentioned in my musings. Namely how Hitomi is described.
It's got it's tropes, (looks 25, black hair... violet eyes!). Note however that there isn't any romance in this book. There are maybe hints of it, but overall Hitomi refeshingly doesn't pick up a dude.

HOWEVER, it seems she needs a dudes help to get out of a few of her battles, namely after Kol catches her, namely Val.
Which is something I hated about the book.
"Oh we are running awa-- NOPE captured!"
"OK this time FOR REALS runni-- NOPE!"
"Alright third times a charm righ-- NO!"
Though after the last time she basically depowers herself down to level 1. WHICH IS REALLY ANNOYING since it was really great until that point and then BAM. I mean dudes in their book maybe have a setback, but are rarely depowered. They just train up to the next Super Saiyan level or something. Or even they are so awesome they just win every fight as if they had godmode set to ON.
Still though, it was a refreshing break away from the dreck I've seen lately in YA and other books with female heroes.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original and weekly meme hosted @ The Broke and the Bookish! Each week, a new topic is put into place and bloggers share their top ten accordingly. 

 

This week's selection is Top Ten Books on my spring TBR pile: (in no particular order)

 

1. Where They Found Her: A Novel - Kimberly McCreight 

I have read 'Reconstructing Amelia' and really enjoyed Kimberly's writing so this book has been on my list far too long

1. Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles) - Lauren DeStefano 

I'll buddy read this one with Hooked on Books and this is a very interesting fantasy story on a freaking floating world.

1. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern 

I've read so many good things about this one and it's been on my tbr pile so long. It's time!

1. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman 

Although I wasn't very fond of Stardust I haven't given up on Gaiman: 'the graveyard' was highly recommended!

1. Red Rising - Pierce Brown 

I know - I'm in the minority of people who haven't read this one yet but I was waiting for the series to be complete. Now that they are and I have them all I can't wait to start them!

1. Thorn - Intisar Khanani 

Standalone fantasy with an interesting storyline.

1. The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien 

I have made up my mind - this is the year I will finally read Lord of the Rings. Or listen to the audio. Yep I think I'll start with the audio.

1. Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge 

I have most of Rosamund's books and I'm positive I'll like them, the problem is which to pick up first?

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo 

One of the highly praised books that made it to my tbr list. I'm reluctant to pick a book when I don't have the next one available, so I will read this one after I am done with the Grisha trilogy and the second book is released.

Today the Tiki Gods of Random Number Generators smiled upon me and I won Hunger For Knowledge's 2 Year Anniversary Giveaway. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! My prize was a $20 Amazon US gift card. In honor of HFK and all the other wonderful bibliophiles I've met in my own time here on BookLikes, I decided to spend it on books I wouldn't have heard of or considered reading if it weren't for my fellow Booklikers. Thank you all for sharing your love of books!

 

Happy reading, everyone! :)

Thank you Netgalley and Intisar Khanani for this ARC copy of Thorn!

Language is a weapon, Alyrra. You must learn to defend yourself with what you can.

The story of Princess Alyrra begins like the tale of any princess - she’s about to be married off to the prince of a nearby kingdom. Is he kind? Or is he cruel like her brother? And what of the king? These questions remain unanswered as a terrible curse shortly befalls the Princess and new challenges arise. Thorn faces many issues such as what it means to be trustworthy, loyal, just, and forgiving.

Let me just start by saying I was blown away by this book. I had gone into this expecting a typical romance between Prince and Princess while they face together a wicked enemy. Maybe some Beauty and the Beast elements (hence Thorn as in a rose bush’s thorn). While there are a vast variety of retellings included, namely the Goose Girl, the rest is mostly untrue.

Alyrra begins as a quiet girl, believed to be weak by most of her court. Even her mother and brother have little affections for her. As terrible as this sounds, I actually liked that her relationship with her family was poor (an understatement). Based off my many readings of similar genre books, this is not common. Lucky for her, she’s become friends with many of the servant - her family when none other existed.

A mysterious sorcerer curses Alyrra by swapping bodies with another female and of course she cannot tell anyone about what happened. Alyrra does not want to be reminded of who’s body she’s within so she takes on the name of Thoreena (which becomes Thorn) after reaching Menaiya, the neighboring kingdom. Here in the new lands, she flourishes. She’s able to have the kind of life she’s always wanted - one without responsibilities, the stares, and the dreadfulness of court. Thorn faces disputes over her new life, though. Should she ignore her duty to her people and those endangered by sorcerer so she can retain the little slice of peace she’s gained?

Thorn is essentially amazing and I’m willing to label her as one of the most outstanding women in literature. She’s quick on her feet and knows how to play the games of power and words like an expert (even if she’s rather leave the court behind and avoid the shenanigans). She able to quickly adapt to whatever her environment is which proves to be one of her greatest strengths. Thorn takes everything she’s learned from the palace, the stables, and some very unfortunate events to develop her own well-rounded ideas and uses what power she has left to obtain the best outcome for all. She tries very hard to be selfish, to live for herself, but compassion overruns her.

There is a boy but their relationship isn’t about romance, though one day it might be. Thorn’s reasoning could have been inspired by a cheap love, but it isn’t. She does what she does because it’s the right thing to do and she’s willing to die for what’s right. That’s the most empowering element to this novel - one I rarely see as strongly depicted as in Thorn.

Thorn is also a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Death is not shied away from. The terrible people and the terrible things they do are everywhere. Thorn is ultimately about how to deal with all the awful things that happen in life in the most honest way possible. Things that shouldn’t happen do happen. It’s thought-provoking and it hurts.

Part of the reason I am so surprised by the greatest that is Thorn is because the novel starts out weak. It suffers from the “all will be explained later” idea which, while everything is eventually explained, I was left wondering who various characters were in social standing and personally to Alyrra. This made me step back from the story, thus I took longer to become immersed into Khanani’s world. A simple explanation after the character’s name and introduction would have sufficed and solved any issues. The writing style is also not the greatest at first, but that changes as Alyrra changes. I grew to see the positives of the writing style and respected how Khanani chose to tell her tale.

Finally, there are a ton of great references in Thorn. I’m not sure all were intentional, but two really stood out to me. Such as when Alyrra says “You have no power over me.”Labyrinth anyone? No? Maybe? That’s okay; I have a major crush on the Goblin King and have watched David Bowie’s movie enough to know it word for word. Also, there is a talking Horse that befriends Alyrra and offers sage advice. His tale reminds me of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. Mostly because I just recently read it but similar traits exist in both Horses of the two books.

Overall, I would recommend this book for readers that like a strong female lead, classic retellings, a bit of magic, and a story not strictly about romance.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing style: 2/5
All around idea: 4/5
Final Score: 3.5/5

Well, Intisar delivers another great short story.

The Bone Knife hints at a much larger story, one that I am extremely keen to find out more about. The loving, supportive family unit Rae (our protagonist) is brought up in, is a delightful change to the broken homes a lot of new fictional characters are emerging from.

The two sisters are sweet and yet amusingly realistic in their taunting and teasing, but also their actions speak louder than words.

When an 'appallingly attractive faerie' arrives on their doorstep to conduct business with Rae's father, things begin to get interesting.

I loved the duelling dichotomy within the faerie character, the sinister and the alluring all wrapped up within a single package. It hinted at a far greater story in the first book of the 'Theft of Sunlight' series.

If you haven't tried anything by Intisar Khanani, do so today, her work is top notch and thoroughly engaging. I am still yet to read Thorn, but it is on my TBR list already. I look forward to more from this author in the coming years.