It’s always fun to read a book where the main character loves libraries, but I’m glad I don’t live in a world where books partially constructed of human flesh can turn into monsters when damaged. Unfortunately for Elisabeth, these are only the beginning of her problems once she leaves the library she grew up in and begins to experience the wider world. Elisabeth grows a lot as a character and also causes growth in the characters she is close to. Paired with the plot, this helped keep the story moving. But one of the things I liked the most about Sorcery of Thorns was how it gradually gave you the knowledge required to understand the mystery behind the story. Not everything is revealed right away, and as more details are revealed to the main character – and therefore the reader – it becomes possible to uncover what is really going on. The plot was complex enough to keep me interested, though possibly not quite intricate enough to justify the length of almost 500 pages. But to be honest, while the characters, action, and romance were all satisfactory, what sold me on this book was the libraries. While the books, called grimoires, were certainly dangerous, there is something appealing about books that can talk to you – even if they mostly complain. This was an entertaining fantasy story that will be rapidly devoured by most YA fantasy fans.
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 5 religious exclamations; 3 mild obscenities.
Violence/Gore: Report of man frequently whipping apprentices; report of some books being partially made of human body parts, a few brief descriptions of these books; character encounters a corpse; scene where a character fights a monster, about 4 pages; character jokes a few times about drinking orphan’s blood or similar exaggerated crimes; a few instances where a character hits or mildly injures another; report of necromancy; character thinks another is planning to murder her; report of necromancy of thousands of soldiers resulting in destruction of a large area of land and its associated creatures; a character is grabbed and threatened with death; extended scene (about 11 pages) where characters are chased by and fight monsters, resulting in monsters’ deaths; a few reports of deaths or murders, no detail; report of sorcerers bargaining years of their lives to demons in exchange for the demons’ service; a character invades another’s mind to read their memories, with the expected side effect of destroying their mind; characters are chased by a monster; brief scene where a female character is chased by men, injures one while defending herself; character magically causes walls to weep blood during a nightmare; report of character planning to raise his family members from the dead in an act of grief, and a few references to this incident; report of a young child seeing a family member violently killed; character mentions nightmares involving corpses; character is chained up in a way that hurts him; battle scene (about 11 pages) resulting in a few deaths and injuries, mildly detailed; characters summon a demon in exchange for part of their lives, about 3-page scene involving some blood; character kills a monster, no detail; two instances of violent deaths; battle scene, about 9 pages, resulting in injuries; about 3-page scene where characters fight monsters; character begins a magical action that will result in mass destruction; one instance where a character drinks blood to perform magic.
Sex/Nudity: Female character who is not fully dressed is glimpsed by a male character, no detail; character thinks another looks attractive; a man is considered a very eligible bachelor; character jokes about an affair; a character is told she was bathed and changed by a male demon while she was unconscious, she is told he has no interest in human bodies; characters speculate about the possibility of another being gay; report that characters pay to take advantage of patients at a mental hospital; a few instances where a character feels attracted to another; report of a character being asexual; character tells another he is bisexual; characters kiss; about 2.5-page scene where characters kiss, touch waist and back, a character opens another’s dressing gown (she is wearing a nightgown underneath); character declares love for another; characters kiss.
Mature Subject Matter:
False allegations of insanity; mental asylums; orphans; gender identity; death of parents.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
Characters get drunk at a dinner party; characters drink champagne at a ball.
