Title: Sorcery of Thorns
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date: June 4th, 2019
456 pages
5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
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.
Review
Knowledge always has the potential to be dangerous. It is a more powerful weapon than any sword or spell.
Margaret rogerson, sorcery of thorns
Good evening, friends! I’m here bringing you my thoughts on the June OwlCrate book of the month! Sorcery of Thorns was spectacular, and I was lucky enough to read it during a buddy read with Treat Yo Shelf Book Club on Instagram. I absolutely adored this book and would recommend it to any YA Fantasy lovers out there.
We start off with Elisabeth, an orphan who has grown up in a Great Library, the home of dangerous grimoires. She has learned that sorcerers are evil, but she’s an inquisitive young woman and isn’t afraid to question those in charge. When her favorite warden is killed in a suspicious grimoire attack, she falls under suspicion as the saboteur – so she must work to clear her name. She meets Nathaniel Thorn, a powerful sorcerer who makes her question the library’s teachings. Elisabeth must determine who the real saboteur is, clear her name, and stop a plot that threatens to tear the very fabric of the kingdom apart.
My absolute favorite part of Sorcery of Thorns is any scene where Silas is in attendance. Silas is Nathaniel’s demon, very powerful and old from the Otherworld. Much of the book brings into question the morality of demons, and whether they can experience human emotions and feelings. No spoilers here in my reviews, but Silas is my favorite non human character of the year.
Elisabeth and Nathaniel share a slow burn love connection, but it’s all very tame and fitting for YA readers. This is a standalone novel, but I would love to read more about Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas. Especially after THAT ENDING. Y’ALL. The ending slayed me, and I was not okay. But it was amazing. I need more.
Outside of the fact that I love any book that is literally set in a LIBRARY, this book was amazing and please go check it out. This is my first book by Margaret Rogerson, but I definitely feel the need to pick up her backlist titles after reading Sorcery of Thorns. Her world-building and writing is just beautiful and so elegant.
Happy reading, bookish friends! 🙂
Baltimore Bibliophile 