Witches, wolf shifters, ghosts, and murder!! All are pieces I find very compelling. But for me, Thorns moved at such a slow pace, and the elements of mystery, magic, and fairytale lore never seemed to mesh together, that the promise of danger and excitement could never really take hold.

I really enjoyed this book! It gripped me right from the beginning, throwing readers into the action right away, not knowing what is happening or who anyone is. As the story continued, more and more questions arose, and I really liked the ending and felt that everything made sense and happened for a reason.
I would not classify this as a horror, as nothing really frightening or creepy happens, but there are definitely some unsettling themes to the story. All of the characters, even the narrator we follow, are deeply flawed and not necessarily all good or all bad. I found that incredibly real, and helped me get into the book even more. I do love when the people aren't clearly black and white, hero and villain. The setting was just the right amount of creepy without feeling cliche.
I only had a few minor issues with the book. First, the middle really seemed to drag on and I felt like nothing was happening and I wasn't getting any answers. I also felt like the magic system wasn't as explained as it could have been, and it almost seemed like I was thrown into the book expected to already know how everything worked. Finally, the romance subplot popped up out of absolutely nowhere, and I wish that if it had been included at all, there would have been some build up to it other than "surprise now they are kissing even though for some reason they didn't like each other a chapter ago."
Overall a really unique, creepy story that kept me questioning what was going on up until the end.

It's Frankenstein with magic.

The Path of Thorns is at once gothic novel and revenge plot and family drama; a little bit of everything. It is not, however, a fairy tale.

This book starts off incredibly slowly; it took me weeks to get through the first half, and a day to get through the second. I went in expecting a macabre and mythical fairy tale kind of story, a little absurdist, along the lines of Angela Carter. What I got was Frankenstein with magic. That's not a bad thing: once I adjusted my expectations to the book I was reading, I immensely enjoyed it. Asher is a tragic, understandable, ruthless, desperate main character. Not a heroine, but a woman attempting to escape the vicious cycle of family trauma. Her struggle is well plotted out and revealed at a steady pace, and the use of first person narration allows the audience to see what is coming while she does not. The exploration of cycles of abuse is extremely well handled. The characters are interesting, the worldbuilding is intriguing and dark. I would have enjoyed a more thorough exploration of the magic system and the world itself - the ending does leave room for a sequel, though it would not be necessary at all.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, but expectation and reality were two different spheres to begin with. 4/5

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4662673881

I loved this! A great, twisty gothic horror. I'd recommend this to fans of modern gothic à la MEXICAN GOTHIC, and anyone who likes old-school gothic stories like JANE EYRE or REBECCA or THE TURN OF THE SCREW.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dysfunctional family relations, murders, and mystery mix with witchcraft and wolf-men and ghosts in this story which is a glorious combination of Gothic horror-romance, magical fantasy, and dark fairy tales. An excellent, excellent story.

The Path of Thorns is a mysterious dark fantasy (due to magical elements), but it felt more like a psychological thriller. It is filled with family secrets, plotting revenge, and creative, complicated witch craft.. But it all comes downs to a sad story of wanting family love and a place to belong. I felt is was very slow and did not hold my interest well. It wasn't until ~1/3 way through the book before it got interesting through a series of casual reveals that made me perk up. Even then, I felt it dragged on. I did not like the half paragraphs full of questions: what if, how long, why would? Felt like a filler. I enjoyed the strong female lead Asher. She is smart, calculating, and a take charge type of lady. Her story is sad and you empathize with her. Overall, the story was a good one that is slowly drawn out.

Rating: 4.5

A gothic fantasy, full of secrets, mystery and suspense. The tale of a young, cunning woman - Asher Todd - who takes a position as governess to the three children of Moorwood family, and her ulterior motives for taking on this role.

I love a dark, twisted fairytale, and thoroughly enjoyed The Path of Thorns. A story where witches, werewolves and ghosts are more than just myths. I loved learning of Asher's past, and watching as she learns that she's not the only in town with dark secrets.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Animal death, Death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Vomit and Grief

Possessing little experience or skill, Asher Todd finds a position as a governess with the Morwood family. She soon becomes attached to the family: caring for the three children, assisting their father and using her knowledge of botany to restore the sight of their grandmother. Yet mystery surrounds the house, with tales of lupine creatures and strange ailments. However, Asher is plagued by her past and finds it harder to control it.

This book will be perfect for many but I am not one of them. I found the first third to be slow-going with minimal return. After reading some reviews, I found that others also found this so was encouraged to persevere. While the pace of the plot improved, the inclusion of many elements continued. This diversity paid off in the latter half of the book as there are many plot threads to pull together but the set-up was too confusing. As such, there was minimal emotional impact from the writing and the first-person narrative makes Asher feel like a reluctant narrator rather than a compelling protagonist.

All of my opinions need to be taken with a pinch of salt as I recognise that I am not an atmosphere-driven reader, which is relied upon in this book. Rather than building intrigue and suspense, I found the repeated references to past events to be monotonous and unfulfilling. Between the writing style and supernatural tone, I was the wrong audience for this one, though I did enjoy this portrayal of a historical setting.

The Path of Thorns is a dark and twisty fairy tale told from the perspective of Asher Todd, who comes to the Morwood Estate as a governess to the three children who reside at the manor. Miss Todd is a woman of many secrets and a mysterious past. She has ulterior motives for securing this position for herself and finds that she's not the only one with something to hide.

The Path of Thorns was the gothic fantasy novel I didn't know I needed. The book was eerie, mysterious, haunting, and left me unable to guess what would happen next. Full of dark magic and haunting tales within tales, I got chills in all the right places. I was drawn to Asher immediately and found myself relating to her. I feel like this book is what would happen if Jane Eyre met Dr. Frankenstein and they had a darkly magical love baby that was raised by the brothers Grimm. I also feel like this book would have made an amazing adult "choose-your-own-adventure" story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with a digital copy for review. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the author or publisher.

The Path of Thorns-Review
Author: A.G Slatter
Genre: Gothic fantasy retelling
Age rating: Young adult
Page count: 352 pages
Publication date: 28th of June

Thank You @titianbooks for sending me a physical copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion

So intriguing

Review;
When I got emailed about this book I wasn’t sure I’d like it especially because its outside my comfort zone when it comes to reading, but I really enjoyed it.
The story of The path of thorns revolves around Asher Todd, who has just taking up a new job as governess to the mysterious Morwood family. Little do they know she is on a path of revenge and discovery. Will she be able to go through with her plan?

This book really transported me to an eerie gothic world where everything could happen. Reader discover more about Asher as the book continues as well as discover the past of the Morwood family, it was doffenalt one of those books that is just so intriguing and you want to know what happened.

From page one Slatter creates a dark twisted atmosphere as Asher feels the eyes of a unseen beast watching her through the woods upon arriving to the Morwoods house. The characters are all compelling and have unique background for each of them. With distrustful locals, snarling maids, noisy sweet children and of course handsome groundsmen there is so much to read about. As they all fit into the plot which at time was predictable you see a dark and beautiful tale unfold.

I loved reading a book that is literally writing into the sourdough universe especially as it was my first. It doesn’t seem force but a natural blend to make a twisting story. While magic is feared this book tells the truth that people did what they had to get cures.

Rating;
4 Star

This wonderfully moody novel is a sort of reverse gothic: It opens with a governess arriving at a big house in a blinding rainstorm, with scary Things rustling in the undergrowth as she trudges up the walk to the house.. All fine and spooky, yet from the very start, it's clear that, ghosts and werewolves and witches notwithstanding, the spookiest thing in that house is our governess. She's got secrets to hide, preserved objects in jars to stuff beneath floorboards, questions to ask, things to learn. This governess has her own agenda, and she is <i>not</i> looking to make friends.

The plot unfolds in a swirling fog of deeply messed up family relationships: Although the governess leaves a rather remarkable trail of bodies in her wake (the body count is quite high in this book---the spookiness is not at all just vibes), the family she serves brings its own kind of horror that she cannot defend against. Children always want love from their parents, and when that love is withheld, an odd sort of curdled devotion can develop: There is nothing good to be gained from seeking to please, and yet the unloved child will continue to strive to please the unloving parent, hoping for some scrap of real affection no matter how well she knows that it will never come. No matter how powerful and magical and self-directed you might be, it is hard to remain proof against the possibility of love from unloving people.

This is a book about very bad mothers, and about the ways that magic and self-reliance (and the occasional werewolf pal) can--sometimes--help you escape them. But, in this world, that escape will leave a massive body count behind.

(Don't worry, the kids are all right.)

This haunting, atmospheric fairytale will have you reading it in one sitting. A mysterious story packed full of dark secrets and a bitter quest for revenge, that will leave you needing to unravel it page by page. This was such an immersive read and has left me craving more. If you enjoy witchcraft, secrecy, revenge, and a delicious hint at horror themes then you have to check this one out.

Big thanks to Newsouth Books Australia and Titan Books for sending me a copy of The Path of Thorns and having me along for the blog tour

I... have never DNF'ed a Netgalley ARC before. (And I have read some really, really bad ones.) But this book is incomprehensibly bad, emphasis on incomprehensibly. I quit after maybe twenty pages. The writing is incredibly difficult to read. Let me offer a two sentence example from the second page:

"And this afternoon, the very last of those vehicles finally deposited me at my goal before trundling off to the village of Morwood Tarn with its few remaining travellers - three brittle blondes, sisters, with not a good thing to say about anyone, nor a word addressed to me in several hours - and dispatches to deliver. Or rather, at the gateway to my goal, and there now remains a rather longer walk than I would have wished at such a late hour and with such luggage as I have."

I am usually not much of a quitter, but man. This one was literally impossible to understand.

I requested this completely on a whim, based entirely on the strength of the premise. It’s deliciously gothic – witchcraft, revenge, dark family secrets, revenge, ghosts, and lots and lots of murder – and I recommend it to anyone interested in fantasy with undertones of horror.


Asher Todd is hired by the Morwood family as a governess. Very soon, she becomes beloved by the children and indispensable to their grandmother, restoring her sight – but both the Morwood family and Asher have their dark secrets and hidden purposes.

First things first – I’m a sucker for a good mystery. I see that a character isn’t telling us everything and that the surroundings might not be as they seem and I must know more immediately. It is done well, the reveals are satisfying, and it made for a very easy, fast read. Whenever I picked it up, I couldn’t help but read chapters and chapters. The beginning is also fairly low-key, even slice-of-life as Asher settles into the household, which was even more of a draw.

But throughout, there is a strong undercurrent of wrongness. It’s very atmospheric and in the standard gothic vein, it’s clear that it will get fucked up when the secrets start coming out. Which it does. Oh boy, it does. I will not spoil any details but heed the content warnings with this one. It’s dark and full of sexism and injustice and characters willing to do anything to achieve their goals.

The one part I did not like was the romance subplot. There was no chemistry whatsoever and the characters didn’t really seem attracted to each other at all. At least it’s a pretty minor, easy to ignore part of the plot.

All in all, highly recommended if it sounds up your alley.

4.5 stars

When I picked up this book, I was attracted to the description, what sounded like a governess who was involved in a gothic atmosphere and finds something going on at the house where she works. And yet in this book, it is the governess who brings the "something going on" with her (though there was a lot happening in that house). Told in first person, we don't at first know exactly why Asher Todd has come to Morwood (she's not an unreliable narrator--she just keeps her secrets close). Waiting for her to reveal her secrets really kept me interested in the story.

Ultimately, this is a mother-daughter story; Asher has always obeyed her mother and will do even something truly terrible to fulfill her mother's wishes. But will she draw a line? That's the big question. Asher may be morally grey, but she does have her own set of rules and when that comes in conflict with what her mother wants, it's quite a volatile situation.

I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down because I wanted to find out what happened next. Asher is an interesting character and I enjoyed getting to know her. I would love to see what happens to her next.

When reading a fairy tale retelling, it's important to know how much it is inspired by a specific tale or the genre in general. This is the genre in general, with some specific Little Red Riding Hood nods. This is solid twists and mysteries, good character growth and development, and a really solid batch of villains. You need a good villain in a fair tale, and this has two that are genuinely scary. The language is a tiny touch more flowery than I normally go for, but feels tonally appropriate to the story. I'm kind of hoping for a sequel.

I wasn’t sure what to expect reading this one. It carried the fantasy genre in various places, but we were a bit into the book before the fantasy came into play. The Path of Thorns feels more historical or literary than fantasy, which is okay. There is a lot of day-to-day life to get through, with Asher taking care of the children and Asher caving to her boss. In that, it was a bit repetitive, and I didn’t feel like the story really picked up until we were almost 1/5th into it. But when you look at the book as a whole, it’s an engaging story. You want to find out what Asher is really up to and what her goals are in working for this family.

I liked the tales that were told either to the children or aloud. In the end, Slatter said she had used some of them in another book of hers. I thought they added another layer to the story, and I like how it ties her work together. Overall, this is an imaginative story with a bit of a gothic vibe, with just the right amount of otherworldly and mystery that keeps the reader engaged. Thank you, Titan Books, for sending this along.

A highly recommended read for lovers of dark fantasy, horror, gothic horror and ghost stories. The Path of Thorns is a well-written and beautifully executed novel. A must read!

The Path of Thorns skilfully blends fairytales and folklore to reimagine an equistitely detailed dark Victorian world. An beautiful and deadly world of witchcraft and ghosts, dark magic and desperate actions. A tale of unrequited affection with dark consequences, The Path of Thorns is rich with complex characters, a dark and twisted fairytale set in the dark fantasy Sourdough world.

Asher Todd contrives to organise a position as a governess at Morwood grange to educate the three children. Hired by elder Mrs Leonora Morwood, despite her son Luther Morwood running the estate. Asher is haunted both literally and figuratively by her past and a terrible plan to seek revenge and destroy the Morwoods.
Enacting her plan becomes harder when Asher reveals her skills as a cunning woman, a witch and healer. Soon, the struggling people of the Morwood estate and local Tarn rely on Asher for their care. Caught between her loyalty to the Tarn and her desire for revenge against the Morwoods, Asher’s hand is prematurely forced unleashing a dark tide of magic, regret, desire, and rage.

A.G. Slatter’s writing has been compared to Angela Carter’s and I can see why. This is a gothic novel that has just the right amount of hazy mystery to keep you guessing and wondering what exactly is going on. This a story you will reflect on long after reading it.

At times this can become rather confusing and complex due to the nature of the fairy tales being woven throughout the story. It’s a rather twisted and meandering tale which burns slow yet erratically.

This is so quite a strange book and I’m not completely sure if I enjoyed it but it did challenge my mind. There are some very dark and gothic undertones here which many readers will enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book to read and review in advance.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Path of Thorns by A.G. Slatter is a Gothic fantasy novel that is like what would happen if Jane Eyre had magical powers. The story revolves around Asher Todd, who has just accepted a new position as a governess to the mysterious Morwood family. Unbeknownst to them, she is there on a path of revenge. But once she gets to know her new charges, will she be able to execute her plan?

Here is an enchanting excerpt from Chapter 1:

"At last, an ending.
Or a beginning.
Who can say?
My previous three weeks have featured a long series of carriages; conveyances of varied age, cleanliness and distinction, much like my fellow passengers. From Whitebarrow to Briarton, from Lelant’s Bridge to Angharad’s Breach, from decaying Lodellan where fires still smoulder to Cwen’s Ruin, from Bellsholm to Ceridwen’s Landing, and all the tiny loveless places in between. A circuitous route, certainly, but then I have my reasons. And this afternoon, the very last of those vehicles finally deposited me at my goal before trundling off to the village of Morwood Tarn with its few remaining travellers – three brittle blondes, sisters, with not a good thing to say about anyone, nor a word addressed to me in several hours – and despatches to deliver."

Overall, The Path of Thorns is an interesting Gothic fantasy that will appeal to fans of Victorian London and magic. One highlight of this book is how transported me to an alternative Victorian London. The dialogue and descriptions made me really feel like I was in a different world. I did take off 1 star, because I didn't really feel invested in the main character's plan. I would have preferred a bit more action. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in June!