Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Reviewed by Sam!

What I drank prior: It’s Minda’s husband’s bday and I’m tryna fit at least two reviews in… I’m over a bottle of wine in… don’t ask me to count its embarrasing in this time of crisis.

Drunk Overview: This is a standalone novel in a world where magic spellbooks have personality. They have feelings and want to be cared for and whatever. So there are wardens that take care of special libraries to make sure these books don’t get angry and turn into super scary monsters. With me? Cool. Elizabeth accidentally maybe finds herself in the middle of a weird game where she’s accused of murdering the head librarian of the place where she literally grew up. Most of the other magic libraries are being attacked similarly (yo, I just spelled that word hammered be proud). She’s taken to the Big City by Nathaniel (a wizard??) cause he made goo goo eyes and she’s gotta figure out what to do. Also there’s silas, a demon butler. K? K.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: This was delightful. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that was a standalone and a fantasy and didn’t leave me wanting.

Characters: Our characters were pretty well fleshed out in a showing and not telling way. Nathaniel may have made goo goo eyes and took her to the city but he dropped her off and said basically “have a nice life” at basically the villain’s house. He would have ended the story there had the demon not intervened. We’ll get to him. Nate (may I call him Nate?) is #damaged but in a way that makes some weird sense. He’s super trope-y broken but also a literal actual gentleman. Not a YA gentleman where you get hot and bothered due to a chin lift. No… you get hot and bothered because of the CONSENT that he manages to obtain while not ruining the mood. While using CONSENT to FEED his desire. Yes, ladies and gentleman, it’s actually possible in literature to make this happen. Elizabeth is also an actual badass. She doesn’t have physical skill but has a brain the size of texas and a heart the size of brazil. SILAS has been adopted into my collection of children. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this character and the grey area he/they fall in to. CanNOT.

Plot: It was pretty slow. And not in the character development way, but more like the author wanted us to really understnad the implications before they made things happen kind of way. It was only slightly annoying but I was on audio so i could… sorta blank out for small bits and it be ok.

Writing Style: GOOD SEX SCENES GOOD SEX SCENES

World Building: I want to have a library like this more than you can ever imagine. Ginny is in the throws of developing an endless library D&D world and I recommended this book to her because there’s both libraries and monsters. So.

What to pair it with: This is like… a dark amber ale. The traditional flavors hit you right away but the lingering tastes lasts for far longer.

Rating: 3.5/5 shots

COMMENT DOWN BELOW: Reader seeking more enchanted library stories… please please gimmie some more.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam