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Sorcery of Thorns (Sorcery of Thorns, #1)

Margaret Rogerson

Start date: July 1, 2019

Finish date: July 31, 2019

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What Members Thought

Jan 02, 2022 Elizabeth Aguilar rated it it was amazing

Sorcery of Thorns is slightly less whimsical than her debut, An Enchantment of Ravens but it feels almost more magical. Part of that may be that it's longer-- but in a way that feels right, not dragged on. The stakes are significantly higher for everyone involved and even those not.

I initially read for the plot and the hype, but fell in love with Elisabeth, Nathaliel, Silas, and even Katrien! I love that they all got an ending they deserved.

The slow-burn romance was everything!!! I want to cal ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

Sep 01, 2020 Colleen Scidmore rated it really liked it

Shelves: currently-on-google-drive, currently-on-my-kindle-fire

Elizabeth the MC has been an orphan to one of the Great Libraries in the Kingdom of Austermeer since she was a baby, never knowing her parents and growing up around books. And these are not just average books these are magical books. Grimoires to be exact and the have the power to turn evil in the wrong hands. Elizabeth didn’t have a lot of human companionship, books and book lice seem to be her constant friends. So she’s kind of an awkward girl. She has been taught all her life that Sorcerers a Elizabeth the MC has been an orphan to one of the Great Libraries in the Kingdom of Austermeer since she was a baby, never knowing her parents and growing up around books. And these are not just average books these are magical books. Grimoires to be exact and the have the power to turn evil in the wrong hands. Elizabeth didn’t have a lot of human companionship, books and book lice seem to be her constant friends. So she’s kind of an awkward girl. She has been taught all her life that Sorcerers are evil. But after someone has broken into the library, set free an evil and powerful Grimoire and murdered the Director she surprisingly has to work with the handsome but possibly evil Magister Nathaniel and his Demon Silas.

I have mixed feelings about The Sorcery of Thorns. Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. I love YA Fantasy so all the remarkable sorcery and the magical kingdom of Austermeer was perfect. and let’s not forget the best part of course...the books!

Things I liked:
-There was a strong start and action packed right way.
-I was in love with the concept of magic Libraries and Grimoires, they were wonderful and interesting (even the Grimoires that were turned to the dark side) and I loved how much Elizabeth felt for them and was actually in a way a part of them because of her being brought up with them.
-Silas captured my heart! He’s supposed to be this unfeeling, uncaring demon who only serves humans because of a bargain they strike. But there was more than that between him and his “Master” Nathaniel. There was a true friendship and affection no matter how much Silas pleaded to Elizabeth to never forget what he truly was his true nature shown through.

Things I didn’t like:
-The action packed beginning fizzled out right away and the story kind of dragged in parts
-The enemies to lovers trope Margaret tries to portray between Nathaniel & Elizabeth falls flat. It just didn’t have that fire I was looking for.
-I honestly wasn’t all that in love with Elizabeth’s character or Nathaniel. I felt no attachment to them.

Even with some of my dislikes I still enjoyed Sorcery of Thorns with the intricate world building and Margaret’s wonderful style of writing.
I know this is a stand alone, but there is a part at the end that leaves the door open for a possible sequel that I would love to see happen. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Feb 20, 2020 Tammie rated it really liked it

Shelves: stand-alones, fantasy-romance, fantasy, young-adult, favorites, fantasy-buddy-reads, owned-hard-cover

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. Eli 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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it was delightfully fun and heartbreaking as well. The idea of living books was wonderful. Long ago books were chained up in libraries, but not for the same reason they are in this book.

In the great libraries in this story, books can be dangerous grimoires that have been created by sorcerers. I loved how sometimes the books would turn into giant, out of control monsters, but I also loved how some could be a bit whimsical as well.

“The library possessed a life of its own, had become greater than Cornelius had ever intended. For these were not ordinary books the libraries kept. They were knowledge, given life. Wisdom, given voice. They sang when starlight streamed through the library's windows. They felt pain and suffered heartbreak. Sometimes they were sinister, grotesque- but so was the world outside. And that made the world no less worth fighting for, because wherever there was darkness, there was also so much light.”

As far as the plot goes, it wasn't anything new. For me, it was a bit predictable, and came secondary to the characters themselves. That being said, it didn't matter much to me, because I was so entertained by this book, that I had a hard time putting it down. Elisabeth was a plucky, mischievous heroine that I liked immediately. Her relationship with Nathaniel was deliciously love-hate, and I enjoyed the way their relationship evolved in the book. It was a fun romance, without being overdone. As much as I loved these two characters, Silas was most certainly the best character in the book. Who knew I, and everyone else could come to love a demon so much?

I was sad when I got to the end of this book; not just because of certain events that take place, but because such a fun read was coming to an end. And that ending! It made me want more, but I also liked the way it ended.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jul 24, 2019 Melanie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ace-rep, aro-rep, owned

Not surprised that I loved this as much as the first time. There is no part of this book that I do not love.

3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2019 Payal Banik rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, magic, demons, wizards, fiction, 2019

Simply Wow!!

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 01, 2021 Shelley rated it it was amazing

There are so many things I loved about this book it is hard to know where to begin. As a librarian, this book is the setting of my every fantasy come to life. A library of magically books that can turn dangerous if not taken care of or guarded, people who want to use what is in those books for personal gain no matter how dangerous, and the great people who are employed to guard them. Demons, and sorcerers, and grimoires oh my!

The story revolves around Elizabeth, who was raised in the great libra ...more

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Jan 28, 2023 Keri rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned, series-in-progress, 2022-12-from-my-shelves, fantasy, series-unknown-number-of-books, book-box, ya, wheel-a-thon-7, fairyloot, owlcrate

4.5 rounded down. The ending got it that extra .5 star, maybe even a whole star.

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