Sorcery of Thorns by Margret Rogerson - A Review

All Sorceres are evil. That is what Elisabeth has known all her life. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, she has grown up among the tools of sorcery - magical greimoires that rattle beneath iron chains. They transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather if provoked. Elisabeth hopes to become a warder, so she can protect the Kingdom from their power.

An act of sabotage releases the libraries most dangerous grimoire, and Elisabeth is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to except her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself tangled in centuries old conspiracies. The Great Libraries could gp up in flames, and the rest of the world too. 

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth questions everything she has bee taught.

Photo Credit: @Samsaraparchment

I am unsure of where I hear of Sorcery of Thorns before I picked it up to read, but it was included in the yearly library that I get given for Christmas. I picked it up in April as one of my Lockdown Reads, and now I am reviewing it. Hope you enjoy!

Our protagonist Elisabeth grew up within the walls of a Great Library, protecting the magical grimoires in the country. In my opinion, she is a pretty bland protagonist. In the first half of the book, she is used to give us a lot of information from others by overhearing. Some of this took the dynamic away from the story for me, and was even unnecessary in some places. As it was written in third person, I don't understand why we couldn't hear bits of information from Nathaniel's point of view.

I loved the bond between Nathaniel and Silas. Nathaniel went through a lot but his heart is still in the right place, despite how he has been raised. There was a bond between a young boy who needed a caretaker and a person who didn't know how to do that but tried his best anyway.

There are some very good story-building elements shown in this story, and the characters are very well developed. It is a very unique and whimsical novel. This is not just another typical YA story; the romance is slow burn, and the author is very much setting up the foundation of the relationship. It was brilliant to watch Elisabeth and Nathaniel grow to trust each other, become friends and watch as their feelings for each other developed throughout the story.

I did think that there were a few plot conveniences throughout the story, and some of the story is spoon fed to the reader. The plot twist is pretty predictable and not so surprising. Despite this, the story is still very good - it is engaging and suspenseful. This book is a must read, and I am excited to see what Margret Rogerson writes next!

Photo Credit: @ReadByRay

Thank you for reading today's blog post! Have you read Sorcery of Thorns? What did you think? Let me know, and come back next week for another blog post!