Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, YA Fantasy | Release Date: 4 August 2022 | Standalone | Pages: 457 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster | Review
“Dreadful things roam the shadows while the human world sleeps.”
Margaret Rogerson
Overview:
Margaret Rogerson has delivered yet another gem of a YA fantasy in Sorcery of Thorns, and I cannot wait to tell you all about it! When you insert eccentric books and massive libraries into a story, it’s always going to be intriguing. But this beautiful tale just goes above and beyond, to deliver something I think all bookworms need to read!
So what’s this story about? Elisabeth Scrivener has been raised in one of the Great Libraries (of which there are six), having turned up on its doorstep as a very young orphaned child. Her greatest dream is to become a warden, someone who can work with all of the magical grimoires which reside in the vaults. But her dreams turn to dust when a grimoire becomes a Malefict, and a catastrophic death follows… To prove her innocence, Elisabeth must pair up with magister Nathaniel Thorn, a sorceror of immense power. But this is easier said than done, as sorcery seems to be at the heart of a devastating scheme against the kingdom. Can Elisabeth actually trust Thorn? Why do the grimoires insist on talking to her? And can a demon ever be trusted to do the right thing?
The sleepy dragon from Dirty Paws Australia is guarding their very own tome in agreement!
Happiness Boost:
Like all good bookworms, I absolutely *love* libraries and stories that focus on the power of books. Would I like to come face to face with one of these grimoires? Probably not. I’m not going to lie, a lot of them sound pretty creepy! But these books have unique characteristics, and some of them are actually very mischievous. There’s one in particular I adore, because it likes to torment others by spitting ink at them. It just tickles my fancy for some reason, and needs to be a happiness boost!
Within Sorcery of Thorns, Elisabeth needs to learn how to navigate life without prejudice colouring her perception. And even though Thorn is part of this, we see it most addressed with Silas, his indentured demon. I love how Margaret tackles prejudice like this, because even though demons really are meant to be inherently evil here… There’s ways for them to be redeemable too. This YA fantasy really embraces characters being different, but even more importantly? It shows how to accept and *enjoy* being unique. Fitting in with a crowd by blending into the background is not the answer. And a heroine who can converse with grimoires is the perfect example of this!
There’s so many more happiness boosts I want to list, because I have just completely fallen in love with Sorcery of Thorns. But suffice to say, this beauty has a lot of sarcastic, dry humour which literally made me laugh out loud. It also has gloriously funny characters who merge into a brilliant ragtag team of warriors. Margaret just *delivers*, okay? Even statues come alive in this fantasy and I have been thoroughly, utterly enchanted by all of it!
Downside:
No downside for me! I have loved this story too much to hate anything about it.
Final Thoughts:
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson is a YA fantasy brimming with magic, eccentric grimoires and an indomitable heroine. I think if you’ve ever loved tales like Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, or Cornelia Funke’s Inkworld trilogy? This book is a must read for you. It really is. I can’t fangirl enough over it! If you love the sound of this beautiful book from my review? Just click any of the links below to get yourself a copy! Happy reading, glitterbugs!
You can order Sorcery of Thorns via these links:
