I was really intrigued by the premise of this book - a retelling of the fairytale The Goose Girl, which I hadn't even heard of! - and so I was really grateful when Reader's First sent me an ARC to read and review. I was a bit uncertain with this book at first, and it took me a while to get into, so choosing a rating for this one was hard. But the last third of the book was really great and redeemed the slow start, so I settled on 4/5.
The story begins with Alyrra, princess of a small kingdom where she lives with her cruel family, her only friends being the servants. Then, on her way to be married to an unknown prince from another kingdom, a powerful sorceress places a spell on Alyrra, swapping her body and taking away her identity as Princess. Seizing the opportunity to escape the court life she's always hated, Alyrra takes on the role of a servant girl looking after the geese in the palace, whilst an imposter takes her place as the Prince's betrothed. Alyrra is happy as she's ever been, but how long can she hide from her duties when lives and kingdoms are at stake?
The plot of this book overall worked well, but I thought too much was left unexplained at the beginning which had me a little confused over what was happening and the motives of the characters. I think the author was trying to create mystery around what had happened in the past, but it was a bit too much for me as I was just a bit confused at what was going on! This definitely got better in the second half of the book where a lot more was explained and began to make sense. I wasn't really sure how the plot was going to end, especially as I was unfamiliar with the fairytale of The Goose Girl, but I think it was wrapped up nicely - although I would have loved a little epilogue to find out what happened afterwards.
I liked Alyrra's character and the relationships she formed with others. I liked most of the other characters too, although the presence of Falada confused me as his backstory and identity didn't really add much to the story other than being Alyrra's friend, which I felt could have simply taken the form of a human. The story behind Horses could have been more significant I felt.
The world Thorn is set in is interesting, but I felt the magic systems could have been more explained. There are mages, Fae, magical animals, sorceresses...I got a little confused about where these different creatures all stood within the world, so this could have been explained a little more clearly.
I liked the underlying themes which the book discussed, like inequality, domestic violence and sexual assault (slight trigger warnings here, although I didn't think it was too graphically described). These were important and it gave the book a little more depth, as well as giving more levels to Alyrra's character.
Overall, it's a book that I'd recommend reading, but I do think the start was too slow and I might have considered DNFing if I hadn't heard glowing reviews from friends. It's definitely worth sticking with it and I enjoyed the read overall!
The story begins with Alyrra, princess of a small kingdom where she lives with her cruel family, her only friends being the servants. Then, on her way to be married to an unknown prince from another kingdom, a powerful sorceress places a spell on Alyrra, swapping her body and taking away her identity as Princess. Seizing the opportunity to escape the court life she's always hated, Alyrra takes on the role of a servant girl looking after the geese in the palace, whilst an imposter takes her place as the Prince's betrothed. Alyrra is happy as she's ever been, but how long can she hide from her duties when lives and kingdoms are at stake?
The plot of this book overall worked well, but I thought too much was left unexplained at the beginning which had me a little confused over what was happening and the motives of the characters. I think the author was trying to create mystery around what had happened in the past, but it was a bit too much for me as I was just a bit confused at what was going on! This definitely got better in the second half of the book where a lot more was explained and began to make sense. I wasn't really sure how the plot was going to end, especially as I was unfamiliar with the fairytale of The Goose Girl, but I think it was wrapped up nicely - although I would have loved a little epilogue to find out what happened afterwards.
I liked Alyrra's character and the relationships she formed with others. I liked most of the other characters too, although the presence of Falada confused me as his backstory and identity didn't really add much to the story other than being Alyrra's friend, which I felt could have simply taken the form of a human. The story behind Horses could have been more significant I felt.
The world Thorn is set in is interesting, but I felt the magic systems could have been more explained. There are mages, Fae, magical animals, sorceresses...I got a little confused about where these different creatures all stood within the world, so this could have been explained a little more clearly.
I liked the underlying themes which the book discussed, like inequality, domestic violence and sexual assault (slight trigger warnings here, although I didn't think it was too graphically described). These were important and it gave the book a little more depth, as well as giving more levels to Alyrra's character.
Overall, it's a book that I'd recommend reading, but I do think the start was too slow and I might have considered DNFing if I hadn't heard glowing reviews from friends. It's definitely worth sticking with it and I enjoyed the read overall!