Really enjoyed this one, loved the vivid world building throughout. Very labyrinth-esque. Although I wouldn't be able to recommend this to everyone, I still really enjoyed it. Probably my first paranormal fantasy that I've enjoyed all the way through.

This book was dark in a good way. It combined magic with human fault, desire, and greed. It mashed together consumerism & obsession with just a touch of twisted whimsy. The take on corruption of magic (and people) while packaged in a self-discovery/coming of age box was so fascinating to read.

Maude (and other characters) make mistakes, choose the wrong path, and sometimes make things even worse. But there is well-meaning behind it, and it takes admitting what they have done wrong, sacrifice, and pain to hopefully fix what has broken.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“The problem with getting rescued by handsome princes, [...] is that boys are disgusting”.

“You are powerful, Maude, [...] I’m going to teach you everything–our deep lore–and one day you will be a thousand times more powerful than me or your nan. You will be the greatest witch of our times”.

“It was my fault, [...] I’m not supposed to behave that way. I’m nice”.

“You think that wearing black and hanging out in the drains makes you some sort of countercultural hero. [...] But you’re just a spoiled brat, messing with stuff you don’t understand. Dangerous stuff”.

Not my favorite that I have read this year. A slog that I had to struggle to finish, I didn't care for the modernity of the fae magic.

A Hunger of Thorns.

3⭐️

I have been in a BIG gothic fantasy mood right now so I was very excited to receive this ARC and I wanted it to be so good. It had witches, curses, fairtales, dark magic. I think the ideas were so interesting, but the execution lacked for me. The characters fell flat, especially Maude. She had so little personality. But she wasn’t alone. Most of the char haters felt like flat rock ne dimensional stereotypes. Odette was the mean girl “best friend” who, spoiler alert, was a terrible friend. Nan was the overprotective parental figure, Mam was basically a drug addict. Even her one good friend Rufus’s only personality traits were telling her how awful Odette is, and being a red head.

The writing was really beautiful, and it hooked me immediately. I had no problem picturing the woods and the cottage she lived in. However, some of the descriptions had me squirming and not in the good gothic writing kind of way. I found myself skimming some thinking, “what the hell?”

The world the author created was very fascinating. The idea of witches being punished for using magic, and magic being a purchasable commodity is neat. I wish they had explained it a bit more. I’m still not sure how magic is used commercially, I’m not sure what the detention camps are, and I’m not sure how her Mam died. I feel like the ideas were there, but they needed to be flushed out more.

I also felt like the moments of discussion of sexuality and sex were very out of place. They felt so intense for a YA book, and they came out of nowhere. Too much describing a teenagers sexual urges in weirdly vivid detail for my taste.

Overall the book felt both too long and too short. The vibes were great but too much time was spent on describing things and not enough time in developing a meaningful plot. I give it 3 stars for the vibes and the food times, but I wish it had given me more.

I absolutely adored this book. The audiobook narration was stellar. The writing was fantastic. It had such a fairytale quality that it allowed me to be easily transported to Sicklehurst.

I really loved the main character, Maude. She was so strong and resilient. I also really enjoyed Rufus. He was incredibly sweet and protective of Maude. I found the magic system very interesting. I love how Wilkinson would slowly reveal how it worked as well as the mystery surrounding Sicklehurst and Maude. It was so well done. I will happily pick up book two when it’s published. I can’t wait to see how Maude will take on her next adventure.

This story is an incredibly whimsical coming of age story about a young girl overcoming her perceived flaws and embracing her own magic. While the main character is wildly insecure in her relationships with herself and her friends, she is also brave and resilient which I find to be very relatable for a YA protagonist. A Hunger of Thorns is such a unique story with important lessons to be learned by its audience. This was such a fun read!

A witchy, atmospheric, book that is all about the vibes.

If I’m being honest this book isn’t for me, mostly because I don’t like the main character all that much, but I’m also a reader that doesn’t generally drop a book unless there is something I don’t like about the actual structure (writing) or something particularly awful happens in the book that I’m not okay with.
On that note, there was nothing else wrong with this book. I just didn’t vibe with the main character. Otherwise the ambience of the book was immaculate and the world building was really fun. It was an overall enjoyable read and I would totally recommend this to other people!

This novel was absolutely amazing! I couldn't put it down. The way that it transported the reader (i.e. me) into the lush world of magic and fantasy was truly wonderful. The descriptions that the authors uses to paint the world allowed it to be so vivid in my mind and was easy to picture because of that. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book.

This book did such a fantastic job of transporting me to the lush and wild world of faerie. Wilkinson's descriptions were so vivid! I'll definitely be eagerly anticipating sequels and recommending this to my teen readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Sunday y’all! I hope everyone had a great weekend! There have been so many great books that have come out recently, and I’m so excited to be a part of the tour for A Hunger of Thorns with TBR and Beyond Tours!

A Hunger of Thorns 3.5/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Maude is the daughter of witches. She spent her childhood running wild with her best friend, Odette, weaving stories of girls who slayed dragons and saved princes. Then Maude grew up and lost her magic—and her best friend.

These days, magic is toothless, reduced to glamour patches and psychic energy drinks found in supermarkets and shopping malls. Odette has always hungered for forbidden, dangerous magic, and two weeks ago she went searching for it. Now she’s missing, and everyone says she’s dead. Everyone except Maude.

Storytelling has always been Maude’s gift, so she knows all about girls who get lost in the woods. She’s sure she can find Odette inside the ruins of Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant built over an ancient magical forest—a place nobody else seems to remember is there. The danger is, no one knows what remains inside Sicklehurst, either. And every good story is sure to have a monster.

Content Warning: graphic descriptions of gore, violence, death

A Hunger of Thorns was such an interesting book. I really liked so many elements of it, but overall, there were so many times that I felt a little confused or that the fantastical elements were almost… too much for me. That doesn’t mean that it was a bad book by any means- I know that there are so many people who would completely love this book. Everytime Maude was doing anything in the Sicklehurst, be it battling the monster or figuring out the backstory behind the two girls who lived there and everything at the end with the boy and the birds were so confusing to me- I felt as though I was always running to try and catch up. I did really enjoy the interpersonal relationships in the book- Maude’s relationship with her grandmothers was so wonderful. I also thought that there were so many cool parts about this world that I wish we could have explored even more- like the resistance witches seemed so cool and I would have love to learn more about how Maude’s parents got in with them and what they did with them. I even thought that the settlement villages were an interesting concept and I wanted to learn more about them and why people would want to move to one. Overall, A Hunger of Thorns was a super interesting book that I think a lot of people would love, so y’all should definitely pick it up today! Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

When I started reading Hunger of Thorns I was in a bit of a slump, so it took me a little while to feel engaged with the reading. However, there was a point fairly early in the book that I felt hooked and from that point on, I had to know what happened next.

The main character, Maude, is the daughter of a witch, but has primarily been raised by her grandmothers (also witches). Maude and her best friend, Odette, spent their days running wild and weaving stories about girls on fantastic adventures. However, once Maude comes of age and loses her magic, Odette is quick to drop her and move on to new friends. When Odette goes missing, Maude just knows that it's up to her to rescue her friend. However, the journey is harder than she expected with unexpected twists and unlikely creatures along the way.

At the beginning of the book, I had a sense of empathy toward Maude. I found her to be an extremely likable and relatable character. Over the course of the story that changes a little bit, but ultimately I found myself having similar feelings toward the even of the book (although for different reasons). I enjoyed Maude's sense of independence when it came to finding Odette and appreciated the way she evolved over the course of the story. Several characters started off with more minor roles at the beginning of the book, but I really liked how they became more involved as the story progressed.

I appreciated the way that this book did have an element of romance, but it didn't overpower the entire story. Romance is mentioned several times, however the main focus of the story remains focused on the quest. There were several points where I expected the story to take a different turn, but I enjoyed that I was surprised in those moments. Similarly, the ending wasn't quite what I had predicted, but I was still happy with it. Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable story and I would comfortably recommend it to fans of YA fantasy, especially to those that want less romance and more adventure.

Maude used to have magic. But then it dried up, and she relies on her storytelling, which is magical in its own right. But when her former best friend Odette goes missing, she knows she’s the only one who can find her. Even if it means going inside Sickleurst, which her Nan has forbidden her from doing.

Here’s the thing, I prefer my heroines to be strong, assertive characters, and this was not Maude. I say (too much, probably) that I can deal with unlikable characters, especially if the storyline is good. But Maude just didn’t do it for me because she’s weak, flighty, childish, and selfish. She spent a lot of time ruminating. And she pined! Oh, how she pined! She continually gaslights herself throughout the entire book. It’s hard to cheer for someone that would make me walk the other way when I came upon them, who has no character growth. She still acts like the 11-year-old girl she often talks about.

For example, she repeats, over and over, questioning if Lyr lied to her. Or she gets home, calls Odette, and then 4 times after, says she should call Odette. Also, we had an entire section dedicated to her pee, and somehow, her pee reeked of ammonia so badly that it made her eyes burn. And like... what? Are you a cat? Rocky from Project Hail Mary?

However, I loved Winnie and Ginger; they were the stars of the book for me. Both strong, assertive women, they knew that things never ended well, but they still kept fighting, and they helped those around them, even Maude, who was often ungrateful.

Working with mettle was super cool, but was limited because we see things from Maude’s point of view, and she’s plum out of magical abilities. Sicklehurst and all its traps, creatures, enemies, and lore were so interesting. It’s foreboding and creepy. And I liked when the book started coming together. So yes, I have mixed feelings about this book.

I spent a great deal of time fretting over this review. It has so many positive reviews, and I am clearly an outlier. I didn’t hate it; I just didn’t wholly love it. So please take my thoughts with a grain of salt because this might be the book for you.

This book sounded really good, but unfortunately didn't do it for me.

The majority of our main characters were not likable. Odette was the worst. She was Maude's best and only friend, until Maude lost her magic. After that, Odette stopped being her friend. When Odette then goes missing, Maude knows that she is the only one that can save her, even though they haven't talked for the past four years. No thank you. One of the most toxic friendships I have ever read, and Odette is an ungreatful jerk. As for Maude, I wish she would have had more confidence in herself. This did get better in the last 20% of the book.

There is also a lot of botany in this book. Lots of names of plants and flowers and how their root systems work and what not. It was fine at first, but then it was just too much for me. It would be half a paragraph saying what plants she was seeing about every 3-5 pages. The book itself would have been shorter if some of that had been cut out. I get why it was there, a decent part of the story takes part in the forest, and because *spoiler*.

I did like the fairy tale aspect of it. I thought that part was done pretty well. Having to go on a quest to save the princess, fighting monsters, etc. The setting outside of Sicklehurst could have used more fleshing out. You don't really know the time setting of the story, and how the magic works in the world is kind of confusing.

All in all, the writing style was fine, and I found the book easy to read. I wouldn't mind picking up another of the authors works, but I probably won't be reading the next in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!~

Maude is the daughter of witches and an incredible storyteller. At a younger age, she starts to notice her mother being taken over by a darkness that scares her.. and one day her mother arrives home in a coffin. Maude is left in the care of her grandmothers and ends up losing her affinity for magic all together. Her best friend Odette, ends up losing her affinity for Maude when she can no longer spin magic for the two of them. The two girls go their separate ways.

See, in Maude's hometown, magic isn't really seen as such a good thing. The government has strict control over what's allowed to be done and what isn't. But when Odette goes missing years later, Maude wonders if she should make her way back to Sicklehurst, a place they visited in their childhood, but can't quite seem to remember whenever they aren't there. Will Maude find and save Odette?

I think this novel was a fun ride! I would have preferred if this took place in more of a past or future setting, as it took some of the magic away by having it take place in present day. I really like Maude as a character and loved learning about her storytelling capabilities and how they came to life and she had to live through them! I honestly could not stand Odette though, she really did not deserve a friend like Maude. I like how this story talks about sexuality and the questioning that comes along with it.

I will definitely be picking up a copy of this and hope to see more from the author in the future!

I really loved this book!! I cannot wait to read more by this author. Definitely a must read book for any fantasy lover.

Actual Rating: 3.5⭐

This is a unique combination of magic and science, the world building is compelling and fascinating. It felt magical with the fairy tale vibes but with a darker side like the danger and the eerie atmosphere which can be felt around the abandoned building.

I have to say it took me a while to understand the magic system but it’ll get easier once the plot progresses.
I really like the last half part of the book with the battle and the last scene of Maude connecting with nature itself and set everything right.

I have a hard time connecting with the characters.
It took me a while to warm up to Maude but I’m glad she’s making good decisions at the end and I can see she’s trying to heal and be the girl she wanted to be.

Overall, it’s a pretty good story – the plot itself is unique and magical, it also has a great writing style which describe the world building vividly.
If you’re looking for a magical fantasy young adult with witches and creepy atmosphere, you can give this book a try.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: graphic descriptions of gore, violence, death

I think this book overall had some great qualities and some that took away from it for me. The creepy, lush, dark, magical tone to it that the cover and blurb suggest were definitely there. It felt like a haunted fairy tale, and that alone earns bonus points for me. However, I felt that the story dragged on a bit and some portions felt a bit repetitive, where it did take me a while to push through reading at some points. I do think that this is going to be a bit of a polarizing book, where people will either love it or hate it. I definitely fall closer into the love it category, and recommend giving it a try, especially if creepy fairy tale is your preferred setting.

This was a beautifully written modern dark fairy tale. The atmosphere of this story was *chefs kiss*

The parts that I liked, i REALLY liked. The rest of the book felt overly descriptive and repetitive in the slower parts in between which made the story feel much longer. I enjoyed the difference in these well thought out characters and the dark fairytale parts were truly chefs kiss. I had so much fun in the fairytale parts that I was disturbed and on the edge of my seat. I'm excited to see where this series will go after the ending, this could have easily been a standalone so I look forward to checking out what more there will be for Maude.

A beguiling tale of lost innocence, betrayal and redemption. An adventure story that peels away the pretty cover on your fairy tales and exposes the rot underneath. Beautiful feminist exploration of what makes the magic within us and how we can tap into it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.