The Language of Thorns

Happy Halloween, everyone! 🍂🎃💛

I hope you all have a safe and spooky time out tonight! October was an amazing reading month for me! I was able to read fourteen books, and even though I had a few duds, I also had a few of the best books I’ll read all year!

Like always, you can click the links in each of the titles if you would like to read a more in depth review of each book and see the individual trigger warnings.

➽ The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson – ★★★★★
Epic fantasy at its finest. I read this in preparation for Oathbringer! I loved this series so very much, and I’m currently reading the next book and feel just as in love with it.

➽ Without Merit by Colleen Hoover – ★★★★★
This book has recently hurt some people, so I don’t want to spend too much time talking about it, but I will say that the depression and pansexual representation meant a lot to me. And again, if you feel like you could be suffering with depression, I am always here to talk.

➽ The Ghostwriter by Alessandra Torre – DNF @ 56%
I just couldn’t do this, which is so weird because I’ve loved so many of Alessandra’s other works. Many of my friends also really enjoyed this, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. This story is about an author who is dying, but before she passes away she wants to write one final story. And this final story will be about the truth of what happened to her husband, which no one else knows but her. Unfortunately, her illness is coming quicker than expected, so she is forced to hire a ghostwriter to help her. And dark secrets and mystery ensue.

➽ 27 Hours (The Nightside Saga #1) by Tristina Wright – ★★★
In my opinion, 27 Hours had so much good, yet so much disappointment, too. This book falls completely down the middle for me. The representation is beautiful and important, but a lot of the romance was too unbelievable for me, which I feel like the twenty-seven-hour time frame really did this book a disservice. Then there is the issue with the colonization that’s very hard to unsee once you’ve seen it, and finally, the only two white main characters in the book do most of the explaining to the main characters of color about what is right. It feels bad, like, really bad. Yet, I love that any marginalized teen could pick this book up and see themselves. That, is something I can’t even put a rating on, and I cannot emphasize how important that statement is to me. This book honestly has me feeling very torn.

➽ The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (The Grisha) by Leigh Bardugo – ★★★★★
Perfection in every single way. This story collection changed my life, and will without a doubt be in my best books of 2017 list. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic is a bind up of six fairy tales that take place in the Grishaverse, which is the same world that her Shadow and Bone series and her Six of Crows series take place! All of these are expertly crafted. All of these are so very lyrical and beautiful. All of these feel powerful and impactful. All of these are absolutely haunting.

➽ A Discovery Of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1) by Deborah Harkness – ★
Nothing offended me or anything like that, this book was just ungodly boring. I mean, there is a very alpha vampire in here that marks his territory and claims what he thinks is his, but, I mean, that’s just sort of expected in paranormal romance books about vampires, so it wasn’t anything that bothered me. A Discovery of Witches is pretty much just an adult Twilight.

➽ The Bloodprint (The Khorasan Archives #1) by Ausma Zehanat Khan – ★★★
This is the first in a series and a debut adult fantasy novel that is very diverse and truly celebrates the importance of words, and what happens when we take away basic human rights from people that are deemed lesser. This book is a good blend of magic and religion and everything in-between. This book has a very unforgiving learning curve, and a few of the aspects just didn’t sit well with me, but overall I did enjoy this one.

➽ Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire – ★★★★★
This is another amazing installment in the Wayward Children series and it starts out right back at Eleanor West’s magical boarding school. And this book heavily centers around one of my favorite characters from Every Heart a Doorway, Sumi! From race, to sexuality, to mental illnesses, to body representation, to physical disabilities, to religious representation, this series has it all. And it’s seamlessly woven and never feels exploitative.

➽ Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff – ★★★★★
Yes, I finally read it! And you guys were right, I loved it. This story reads like a dark version of Harry Potter, to me. From the boarding school aspect, to the magic, to how they travel through the world, to the professors and their different classes, so much of this book reminds me of the wizarding world. I can’t wait to read Godsgrave next month!

➽ A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1) by Libba Bray – ★
This was, hands down, the worst book I’ve read maybe all year. This book is extremely racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and loves to fat and slut shame constantly. This book, like Nevernight, is also set in a spooky boarding school setting, but nothing happens until the last 100 pages, and by that point I was too offended and bored to even care.

➽ The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones – ★★★
This is a story about a girl named Dee that is struggling with abuse and anxiety from her family. She lives in a boarding school and she can see demons. One day, she decides to make a deal with one. This was a super important read that talks heavily on parental abuse, and how it can be so much more than just physical. Abuse takes many forms, and even though physical abuse is shown here, too, this book also shows a very realistic depiction of having parents who are alcoholics. There are so many parents out there that truly pick the contents of a bottle over their families, and it’s something that’s not depicted much in YA, but this book puts it on display.

➽ Paper Princess (The Royals #1) by Erin Watt – ★★★
I needed something that would be a fast, fluffy, and immersive read that would make me happy, so I picked up Paper Princess and it totally did the trick! I really enjoyed it, even though there are a lot of problematic things that I listed in my review. This is a rags to riches story, about a girl who wants nothing more than to be safe and stable, who grew up on the streets and is now thrust in the limelight of money. Also, this book has a few pretty good steamy scenes. I totally recommend this if you’re looking for a sexy new NA read.

➽ Broken Prince (The Royals, #2) by Erin Watt – ★★
And I immediately jumped right into the next book, which wasn’t as good as Paper Princess! Plus, all of the problematic content and the glorifying of bullying and violence in general was at the forefront, so it really was just a much less enjoyable read. The series also derailed a little bit, into a territory that felt very much like I was watching a soap opera with my grandmother, but it was still an enjoyable ride!

➽ Twisted Palace (The Royals, #3) by Erin Watt – ★★
And then I just decided to binge the whole series, because why not? I mean, who has strict reading lists and TBR timelines for all your ARCs? Oh, wait, I do. But this series was such a mindless, but addicting, read that brought me so much happiness. I’m not even mad. And I know that a two star rating doesn’t seem that great, but I did enjoy this series and truly couldn’t put any of them down.

October was also a special month for me, because I was able to attend the Goodreads Power User Summit! I got to connect with so many readers, reviewers, and just book lovers in general and it was such an amazing experience. Plus, it was my very first time in San Francisco, and I hope that I am able to return very soon!

I’m not sure if November will be able to beat this month for me, but I’m going to try! I also have a special trip planned for November that I can’t wait to share with you guys! I hope you all had an amazing October, and I hope you’re all having amazing celebrations tonight for Halloween! Happy reading, loves. 🍂🎃💛

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The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic is a bind up of six fairy tales that take place in the Grishaverse, which is the same world that her Shadow and Bone series and her Six of Crows series take place! All of these are expertly crafted. All of these are so very lyrical and beautiful. All of these feel powerful and impactful. All of these are absolutely haunting.

And only Leigh Bardugo could bring me to tears while reading the sentence “I hope you stir the pot.”

These stories are also illustrated and Sara Kipin’s art took my breath away. This whole book is a gorgeous masterpiece from the dust-jacket, to the cover, to the spine, to the art that progresses throughout the story that eventually leads to full-page beautiful artwork, to Leigh’s perfect writing that will make you evoke every emotion ever felt. This is easily one of the top books published in 2017.

And my personal favorite in the whole collection, which moved me to a whole hot mess of tears, was When Water Sand Fire . If you can only read one of these amazing stories, please pick that one. It’s the longest, but the most fulfilling, and hopefully is the start of something beautiful.

I’m going to break down each short story with my thoughts, opinions, and individual star rating!

➽ Ayama and the Thorn Wood – ★★★★★

“This goes to show you that sometimes the unseen is not to be feared and that those meant to love us most are not always the ones who do.”

This story was actually heartbreakingly perfect. It surrounds a small kingdom, where the king and his wife have given birth to two sons, one that is loved and one that is not because of the way he looks. Meanwhile, a young girl in the village is treated like a servant to her family that only sees her beautiful sister. Their paths cross, and continue to cross, because everyone in the village believe both of them to be expendable just based on their appearance, but together they forge something more beautiful than eyes can see and together they can change the kingdom. And they teach that kingdom that the world can be so much more beautiful when you stop only looking physically.

➽ The Too-Clever Fox – ★★★★

“I can bear ugliness,” he said. “I find the one thing I cannot live with is death.”

This is such a beautiful story about perspective and how we are never as smart as we feel we are. Also, sometimes being smart has nothing to do with knowledge, but completely with the actions you take. This story centers around the cleverest fox in all of Ravka. From birth, he has been at a disadvantage because of his looks, but he compensates by being a witty and clever trickster. Also, this story reads so much like an actual fairy tale story that we would read in our world, even.

➽ The Witch of Duva – ★★★★★

“There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls.”

You can actually read this short story for free HERE thanks to Tor! And I can’t recommend you read it enough, because this short story actually shook my entire world. This is such a perfectly woven and absolutely haunting tale about a village who is mourning their lost girls, while also trying to endure very hard winters. And the ending of this story is beyond words, and turned me into a crying, melted, weeping, puddle on the floor. Also, this one should probably have a few trigger warnings for abuse (physical/sexual) and just violence in general, even though these things are very vague in the story they are still there, just woven in quietly.

➽ Little Knife – ★★★★

“It is dangerous to travel the northern road with a troubled heart.”

This is a lovely tale about beauty and owing it to no one but yourself. This is also a tale about never underestimating what greedy men will do for things they feel they are entitled to. This story actually reminded me very much of my favorite saint, Rose of Lima, and her life and the consequences of being so beautiful. And an unexpected love story will always be the best love story.

➽ The Soldier Prince – ★★★★

“This is the problem with even lesser demons. They come to your doorstep in velvet coats and polished shoes. They tip their hats and smile and demonstrate good table manners. They never show you their tails.”

Give me all of the Ketterdam tales, please. And this was a super twisted, yet amazing, retelling of The Nutcracker. And Leigh perfectly mixes what you would expect from a mash up of The Nutcracker and the streets of Ketterdam. And Droessen might be the best character debut in this entire short story collection. Like, I’d love a full-length novel just about him and his entire backstory. But yeah, this is such a creepy little tale that I really enjoyed.

➽ When Water Sand Fire – ★★★★★

“This is the problem with making a thing forbidden. It does nothing but build an ache in the heart.”

Be still, my everything. This story. Lord, this story. This story gave me life. This short story was so perfectly crafted and the tale was so perfectly woven into a simple masterpiece. This was easily my favorite story in the entire collection. Also, this is the story that features one of the best characters ever written in modern day literature, the Darkling. This story surrounds two girls who live under the sea. One is ostracized for being different, and the other is forced to sing alongside her, but when they sing they’re more magical than any other singing group. After a turn of events, they are taken above the sea where magic grants them legs to walk among humans. But soon our main character, Ulla, realizes the heart of sea folk isn’t much different than the heart of men. And that pain and hatred can find a way inside of all of our hearts, if we let it. And I just am praying with all of my soul and with the entirety of who I am that we will cross paths with Ulla again in King of Scars.

“I was not made to please princes.”

I gave The Language of Thorns five stars overall, because out of a possible 30 stars (5 stars possible for each of the 6 stories) this collection accumulated 27 stars (90%). But, like, throw away all of those stars, because this book is one of the best things that 2017 has produced. It’s beautiful, detailed, thoughtful, whimsical, and every single thing I look for in good fairy tales. I can’t recommend this masterpiece enough.