Publication
Date: June 4, 2019
Hardcover, 453 pages, Margaret K. McElderry
Genres:
YA, Fantasy
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth
has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one
of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of
sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron
chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather.
She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their
power.
Then an act of sabotage releases
the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention
implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in
the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel
Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a
centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames,
but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel
grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about
sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has
a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
My Review
If you love books about books and characters similar to
Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices trilogy, then this story is definitely for
you. It has magic and demons and cats and romance. It has everything a
booklover could want.
I adored Sorcery of Thorns. I actually tabbed lines
(which I rarely, if ever do) because it has so many beautiful sentences and
paragraphs about books. Rogerson’s quotes are great for readers. They just make
reading so much more magical. The quotes combined with the Victorian-esque fantasy
world really lend to the Clockwork Angel feel.
Like I mentioned, the characters of the book are super
similar to Tessa and Will, not in species, but in demeanor. Elisabeth is
totally Tessa Gray. She’s strong, brave, and loves reading. I very much enjoyed
her. And Nathaniel is a cinnamon roll more so than Will was, but he’s still pretty
similar in his tragic backstory—just no fear of ducks. Plus, Nathaniel is bi!
Though we don’t really get anything more than a brief mention of it. Boo…
The only character I didn’t really care for in this story
was the villain. He wasn’t super villainy. Actually, he was kind of
predictable, and he needed more substance, especially towards the end. Speaking
of the end, the chapters before the final chapters were somewhat hard to follow
at times. Maybe it was just me, but it was difficult to picture what Elisabeth
was doing when everything was going to hell. Despite this, the actual true
ending hurt me. It was very dramatic, in a good way. And the books! The
library! Not gonna lie, they made me cry. Books are such a generous creation.
All in all, Sorcery of Thorns destroyed me. It made
me cry. It made me laugh. And it ripped me to pieces. What else should I have
expected from a book about books? I loved it.
*Note: I purchased
a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.
Ooh nice! I still need to read this one. Heard good things and glad to hear that the reviews are still going positive! Lol. Can't wait to read this one. Love it when books make it into the books!
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
I definitely recommend it! XD
Delete