Thank you Readers First and Hot Key Books for sending me a copy of Thorn. All views and opinions discussed here are my own.
I didn't know that this was based upon a story called The Goose Girl, mainly because i've never heard of this story which meant I got to go into this blind, not knowing what was going to happen.
I really enjoyed this book and i'm so pleased that I did because i've been in a bit of a fantasy slump recently. I think it really brought me out of my fantasy slump because it was just such a good read and constantly kept you on your toes.
I really liked Alyrra and she never ones felt like a cliche of a character, when she easily could have done so. She isn't an all-powerful character, but her power is her kindness. She is a good person at heart and that is what wins her so many friends and confidants. Alyrra doesn't like other people being hurt and so she stands up for what she thinks is right, no matter the potential risk. Alyrra never wanted power or prestige, but if she has to take it to save others she will. I really liked her and am so glad that this is going to be a series! Just to add, I think the author did a brilliant job of showing Alyrra's response to trauma and the psychological impact of this. She's been constantly abused by her brother and belittled by her mother and this impacts how she sees all relationships. The violence in the book never felt to be gratuitous or there just for the sake of it, but used to develop the plot and the characters along.
I can't even go into what happened to Violet because that was just awful; those characters were so wonderful and really brought the story to life and so it was painful to see what happened to such a lovely person like Violet.
Her relationship with Kestrin was so interesting to watch, especially once it becomes clear that he knows who she actually is. I thought this was intriguing because he doesn't automatically reveal who she is, like I expected him to, but actually keeps her secret and accepts her position. I wish we got to see a bit more focus on him as a character, but this is Alyrra's story not his.
This was a slow build book but I actually really appreciated it in this book; I think it needed to be a slow build to give you a full picture of what was going on for Alyrra and build the tension up between Alyrra and Valka around what both of them were going to do and how they were going to deal with the tension.
I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend you give it a read!