Hi everyone! Let’s talk about second chances today! Did you ever read a book you didn’t like, but then decided to try another book by the same author and ended up loving it? That’s what happened to me recently with Margaret Rogerson’s Sorcery of Thorns!
Elisabeth grew up in a library and has one dream: becoming a Warden, tasked with guarding the magical grimoires. Grimoires are spell books that can come alive and kill you if you’re not careful. But one night, disaster strikes at the library: an act of sabotage unleashes the most dangerous grimoire of all. And Elisabeth is implicated in the crime. The only person she can turn to for help, is her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Can the two of them, together with Nathaniel’s demonic servant, find the true culprit before the Great Libraries – and the world – go up in flames?
As you might remember, I recently read Margaret Rogerson’s debut novel, An Enchantment of Ravens. And it was okay. Just… okay… The world building felt unfinished and the romance between the two main characters lacked chemistry. So I was a bit nervous about picking this one up, but it was in my Fairyloot box (and honestly, that edition looks amazing, with its glittering sprayed edges!). So I sat down and started reading.
Who needs sleep anyway?
And it was so much better! The author clearly paid more attention to world building and took her time to explain everything. Sorcery of Thorns ended up being half again as long as An Enchantment of Ravens (450 pages versus 300) and I’m so happy for that! There was enough time to set everything up, without having the story drag on.
Yes, this book keeps you up way past bedtime, and during the day you’ll find yourself counting down the hours and minutes until you can continue!
I loved the idea of these grimoires that can transform into terrible monsters and devour you. It’s here that Rogerson’s imagination truly shines: every grimoire has its own “personality”. And the prose makes this world come alive, I could see the Libraries while reading!
Perfect cast
Then of course we have the characters. You might know I’m a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope and for banter, so this was right up my alley! Elisabeth and Nathaniel are great together. She’s a sheltered library orphan, while he’s a brooding sorcerer. I loved their interactions so much!
But my favourite character in this book might be Silas. He’s Nathaniel’s demonic servant and I adored their bond. I can’t really talk about Silas without giving away too much, but gaaaah, he was such a great character! But here’s one thing I can tell you: he can turn into the cutest white kitty you’ve ever seen. How’s that for a demon?
So yeah, I loved Sorcery of Thorns to bits. It was fun, it had libraries, potentially lethal books, demons and great protagonists. It won’t surprise you that this one gets a full 5 stars from me! And while Sorcery of Thorns is a standalone, I can’t wait to see what Margaret Rogerson writes next!
Young Adult Fiction
Margaret K. McElderry Books
June 4, 2019
464
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.
