Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson - Book Review

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3.75 out of 5 stars

Oh this book! I honestly have a hard time even rating this... it has sorcerers, grimoires, a library as it's setting, demons, magic, family dynamics, political intrigue, all of the above and yet... why.. why? Why did I at times feel like I wanted to DNF?? well lets get the review started!

You know how this goes, dislikes, likes, who should read, and wrap-up and I got to give you a little spoiler chat at the very end!

Dislikes:

This book for me has so many ups and downs. I feel it had a strong start and then about 200 pages in there was a turn that kind of left me baffled and more so baffled because it didn't quite get a conclusion for the strong mention of it. I am talking about the sexism remarks.. don't get me wrong it is so important for strong female characters to be at the forefront of many stories to come and I want to see their struggles in a male dominated world but if your going to pull the focus heavily in that direction I want to see it come full circle and it to be brought up again, fully realized when that female character is victorious in her pursuit despite the male characters interference. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience that full circle fully realized. It was touched upon and then quietly forgotten and so it just felt sort of pointless to be so hardly emphasized.

Then there was another high peak of great story telling, and then about 400 pages in almost towards the end there came a certain battle at Harrows.. it just kind of lulled endlessly there for so long to me. I wish that battle was cut in half because being only 50 pages from the end and wanting to DNF just didn't make any sense and yet there I was. Their was so much observing in that battle without much happening until the very end of it and I was bored, and I was frustrated and I just wanted the battle to end!!!!!!! This battle took me out of the story for a moment and had me ask what the point was.. which shouldn't have happened for an actually pertinent part to the story but that is what I felt!

Likes:

All above being said there was the rest of the book was like a 5 star read to me. I loved the library setting, loved that the books were alive in certain ways. I loved the magic system, the magic wielding sorcerers who sat in a sort of grey area until they were revealed. I loved the family dynamics, how most sorcerers came from an ancestor who achieved something great whether good or bad and how that effected it's later heirs, how they overcame or did not. I loved the politics of the library warderns against the so called evil sorcerers and how at the heart of the book it showed how deadly naivety and ignorance can be. The grimoires.. oh did they ever have personalities good and evil.. the maleficts they became. I especially loved their were to worlds the world and otherworld. I enjoyed the demons and they they to had their own cast system. But my favourite things were Silas and Katrien, but most importantly silas.. lol. Katrien was bold, determined and strong willed, I loved every part of the story that included her! Silas was the heart of the story and that ending brought me such joy! So...



Who should read this?

Lovers of YA Fantasy and some who love Adult Fantasy. I think this book is perfect for those who don't mind the flow of a YA book but I feel the darkness and depth of the magic system and world would also appeal to adult fantasy readers. I can't say the world building is as deep as would be in an epic fantasy but what little we did get of the world and all that inhabits it was truly fascinating and would be a good read for many!

Wrap-up:

This book was almost a 5 stars for me.. and the only reason it didn't reach that mark for me was because the things I didn't like took me enough out of the story to want to put the book down. I do however love that the story does completely wrap up and I would even LOVE a short about Silas. I will read more books from Margaret Rogerson because despite the parts I didn't like I did really enjoy her writing style! But what do you think?? Did you love this book? Did you hate it? is it on your TBR?? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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SPOILERS
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Oh man that ending when the hair draped down was sublime!!! Who else wants to truly see how Silas changed after realizing who he could truly be.. free...??? Let me know in the comments!!!