**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

DNF @ 40%

This was, unfortunately, a stylistic mismatch for me. There is nothing inherently wrong with this book or the writing of it, but there is a lot that simply doesn't work for me.

I was initially drawn in by the gorgeous cover. Then, the promise of a missing girl, lost magic, and an ancient magical forest had me all in.

The writing for A Hunger of Thorns is evocative of old school fairytale, which I like, and the odd drifting whimsy which I have seen in The Night Circus and Strange the Dreamer. I actively dislike that writing style, unfortunately. It is a molasses-slow pace that says a lot of words but ultimately moves the plot no where. Combined with a bit of a surprise portal fantasy aspect, which has always been a mixed bag for me, and I don't have any issue cutting my losses early. I cannot imagine giving a rating higher than 3 stars if I did continue and I keep finding excuses not to make progress in this book. The excuses are as severe as starting the next book in the Wheel of Time, which I have managed to read one book per calendar year. But the wheel weaves what it will and A Hunger of Thorns just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a DNF for me. By 14% I was already confused, annoyed, and bored. Any attempt at a plot is bogged down by superfluous descriptions of things that really make no impact on either the characters or the story (do I really need to know how Nan acquires her tea in bulk, how she brews it, how she adds what first or last for whatever reason?). I see the toxicity and borderline abusive nature of the "friendship" between Maude and Odette from a mile away and I'm not here for it.

There's apparently some attempt to throw in a "girl power, down with the patriarchy" message, but it's so hamfisted yet simultaneously sporadic that it just seems like a few seconds of preaching; it pops up when it's convenient, otherwise it's drowned out by Maude's effort to be a fairy tale equivalent of James Joyce (just more depressing).

Maude wants to be this girl that "rails against" what "nice" girls are supposed to do or not do; how can she fight against anything when she's little more than a doormat to everyone around her - her grandmothers, her school's head dude (was he the principal or the superintendent? Idk, idc), Odette, literally everyone. I already hate her, I came very quickly to hate Odette, the grannies are fine, and Rufus seems okay. That's it.

The constant back-and-forth from past to present is irritating. Please pick one portion of time in the story and stick with it. Some books can use this to great advantage; this is not one of those books. It's just annoying.

Also, where/when tf is this supposed to take place? Earth? An alternate Earth? England? Ireland? US? Today? The future? The fifties? You can't just throw in the trio of stereotypical means girls wearing gingham dresses and not expect me to question it. There's a power plant, so it's gotta be sometime after the 1880s. But nothing else makes sense in this book, so why should the setting, I guess.

Maybe it does indeed get better, but I'm at 18% and already have so many problems with it, so I guess I'll never know. I can't spend any more time on this one; I don't have the strength nor the interest to try.

I really enoyed this book. I think this book had elements of horror that really worked for me. I also ust thought this book really took you on quest/jounrney that focused on friendship and saving "your person" in life. I also thought the world was really unique and diffrent ad had some many elements that i did not expect. I also thoughtt his was either a great spring read or a early fall read. I really loved the main character. I love a good bookish side characer and tha occured. I also liked the seemless lgbtq+ elements in the read!! Def would go back and read more by this author in the future!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review*

I will be honest. I didn't like it as much as I wanted to like it, since it was one of my anticipated reads this year. The premise was really good. The execution though not so much. Even though I hate magical realism it didn't even try to change my mind. I still hate it. Not the point, I know.

I mean yeah, the magic system was really good but I would prefer it, if we could see a bit more about it. Maude's magic was to weave stories. If you used too much mettle (the substance that witches recognized magic) you would get addicted and actually die. See? The premise is really good. Bad magic, bad people, good magic, good witches. It's there. And it's not. The back to back stories between present and past, in the beginning was good (story weaving remember?) but then it became really repetitive and boring.

Did I like this book? Yeah, it was ok hence the 3.5 stars. Would I re-read it? No. Not my cup of tea, although I really loved the LGBTQ+ representation (lesbian grandmothers-I loved that aspect) and weirdness of this book. Would I suggest you to read it? Yeah if you like weirdness, you should definitely read it.

A Hunger of Thorns by Lili Wilkinson is a novel that encapsulates all the anger every woman has ever felt at the patriarchy. As the name implies, it is a prickly, sad, intense story. It is the type of story that makes you want to go out and fight every person who has ever held you back, told you that women should be more demure, or said that you would be prettier if you smiled more. In short, it is a novel perfect for today's political fights.

Like many authors before her, Ms. Wilkinson uses magic to embody women's knowledge and strength. In A Hunger of Thorns, there is no potent magic anymore. If that weren't bad enough, a council manages all those capable of using magic, even going so far as to create "institutes" wherein those witches do nothing but churn out the everyday, banal magical items approved by the council for societal use. All day every day, women face admonishments to act ladylike, to be nice, to compose themselves, and to remain neat and respectable. It is as sickening as you would expect.

As the main character, we follow Maude as she hunts for her former best friend, Odette. Most of the novel's action is Maude's search for Odette, but most of Maude's introspection circles around her continued admiration for Odette's wildness and the pang of loss she still feels at the rift in their friendship. Herein lies my issues with the story, however slight they might be. The magical world in which Maude finds herself is glorious in its danger and darkness, and the idea that Maude created this world through her supernatural abilities makes me like it that much more.

However, Maude has two trains of thought. Either she is mooning after Odette, searching the deepest, darkest parts of the supernatural world for a girl who stopped acknowledging her presence years ago. Or, Maude worries about following in the steps of her mother, a woman executed for using too much power and, therefore, too dangerous to allow to live. The latter obsession is something I understand. After all, losing your mother in any capacity at a young age is traumatic. In Maude's case, the people who killed her mother sent back her mother's body in a coffin, a vicious psychological ploy that would cow even the strongest revolutionary.

I struggled with Maude's obsession with Odette and insistence that she rescue Odette from her unknown fate. Odette literally dropped any pretense of friendship one random day, and the two haven't spoken to each other in years. Yet Maude decides that she doesn't agree with the rest of the town that Odette is dead and, therefore, the only one who can rescue her. It's a bizarre attitude, even when counting the fact that Maude is or was in love with Odette. It reeks of an abused person crawling back to their abuser, asking for forgiveness for making them angry, and it made me angry.

Despite this one issue, I enjoyed A Hunger of Thorns. While reading it, I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster, angry at Maude, furious at the men in power, happy with all the ways women flouted the rules and used their true power, sad at Maude's family history, and inspired to continue fighting against men and women who continue to espouse the belief that women are inferior to men. Mostly, my heart ached for Maude, and all the girls Maude represents, as they try to find the strength to remain wild girls amid all the pressure to conform to the "sugar and spice and everything nice" view of women.

This book is an enchanting story about witches, magic, and the complexities of friendship. The main character, Maude, embarks on a journey to rescue her best friend and discovers more about herself along the way. The author does a fantastic job world-building, though all the descriptions and places can be overwhelming. Nonetheless, the storytelling is engaging and will make you reflect on your own place in the story. This book is perfect for those who love a coming of age story, with representation and witches!

As the daughter of witches, Maude ran wild with her best friend Odette. When she lost her magic, she also lost her best friend. In time, magic became more about glamour patches and psychic energy drinks. Odette wanted forbidden, dangerous magic, and two weeks ago she went searching for it. Maude is the only one that doesn't think she's dead. She’s sure she can find Odette inside the ruins of Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant built over an ancient magical forest. No one else remembers it or what might be inside, and most stories about those kinds of places include a monster.

The world-building from page one is fantastic. The world not only has magic, it's been the cause of battles and constrained by laws and conventions so that it's become commonplace and sold in malls. The commercial lure of these charms, disposable and cheap, drives the business of the large magical companies. There's also a dark undercurrent, one that leads school principals to oversee magical children like Maude and all but herd them into desired paths. "But if you stay home all the time, stories never happen. Sometimes you need to break something in order for the story to leak through the cracks." I love that line, and how it perfectly encapsulates fantasy stories.

Maude for the longest time is caught up in saving Odette, even though they aren't friends anymore, even though she has no magic and doesn't feel brave. But she knows stories and the logic of them, and that someone needs to save the princess. Everyone has a gift, even if they don't realize it or know how to use it. She goes on her quest, making mistakes even though she should know better. She loses track of what she's meant to do, of how others have tried to help and failed. Her realization in the finale is quite a doozy, and I absolutely adored it. The individual responsibility is there, as are the talents of each person involved. Constraints choke off function and healthy responses, and there's no way to heal from the past just by sealing it off and pretending it was never there. It's such a great representation for so many things, tucked into a fantasy tale. Maybe endings aren't quite what they expected, but it fits and had me grinning in the end. The novel is beautifully written, lyrical and full of longing, grief, and the need to belong.

3/5 ⭐️
This book reminded me of the tone and aesthetic of Nettle & Bone but with the feminist message similar to When Women Were Dragons.
Overall, I enjoyed this story. I love the fairytale like quality ands it’s connection to nature. For me, the message about not reining girls in to be meek and quiet was slightly heavy handed. I also felt like it could have been stronger as a short story or novella rather than a full story. It felt like it should’ve been a short story.
It was cute and enjoyable and I would recommend this book to others.
Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Children's for providing an advance reader copy for my honest review.

Review Posted: April 3, 2023
Goodreads
Storygraph

I was really looking forward to this book, but honestly, I was disappointed every step of the way. I went in thinking that the concept was unique and different, but none of it was executed well.

The main character was one of the most obnoxious characters I think I have ever read about. Being inside her mind made me want to pull all of my hair out. I kept waiting for some growth, but it just never came. I also think the author wanted this to be a female empowerment story, but once again, it was just not done well. You can defiantly see the bones of the idea, but the way things were fleshed out and the way they progressed didn’t actually give that feeling.

The magic and world-building were also lazy at best. I found myself constantly confused and having to go back to the start to make sure I hadn’t missed reading information. The world and magic constantly contradict themselves and don’t actually seem to adhere to any of the rules that were originally set out. I am usually all for world-building that you have to figure out along the way, but there were just so many loose threads that were never explained in any form.

Also, why was every little thing described in agonizing detail? In the first three chapters, I kept wondering if the endless cats the author named would ever be important again or if all of the random characters the author names don’t ever show up again. So much of what I read was unnecessary and didn’t do anything for world-building, plot, or character development.

“Sometimes you have to break something in order for the story to leak out through the cracks.”

The story follows Maude, a daughter of witches, who grew up with her grandmothers. They live in a society where witches have to be regulated and are only allowed to use covenant magic. Magic, however, is wanted by all with small glamours to make you more beautiful or more reposed, herbal remedies, good luck charms, etc. Maude's Nan follows the covenant closely and peddles her magic in these charms and remedies, and she worries that Maude will do something that will bring the Auditors at their door and take her away. Just like what they did with Maude's mother. Auditors make sure you're upholding to the covenant. If you don't, you go off to a detention camp (which is conveniently also owned by one of those three corporations).

“Ahead of us, there were parties and kissing and glamorous and periods and all the other terrifying obstacles on the hard road to gray adulthood, every step crowded with grown-ups telling us to be nice, nice, nice. It was far more terrifying than any imaginary horror I could dream up.”

Maude once had magic, but for four years she has not. She's only been able to see the mettle- the magical threads that are in all living things. Maude also once had a best friend named Odette. Odette had this wild energy within her that could only begin to be contained by Maude's storytelling. So Maude would weave these magical tales to help calm that raging storm brewing within Odette. But then one day, Maude's magic ran out. She could still see the magic, but she no longer could weave the mettle. And that next day, Odette was no longer her friend.

“I was the one who had to make sure she always got found, who brought her back from the dark paths, who would sprout wings in order to rescue her from her tower.
But I didn’t.
I was too busy playing nice.”

Only now, Odette has been missing for two weeks and everybody thinks she's dead. All, except Maude. Now she must go against everything she's been told to help rescue Odette from a place brimming with magic.

This book was beyond my own imagining! It was dark and, at times, gross- all wrapped up in lush storytelling. The first chapter of the book had me captivated, but then we got to Sicklehurst... Oh goodness! What a ride! Redheads are immune to magic?!

If you love books on witches and aren't afraid of bugs, then this is the one for you!
If you want to see LGBTQ+ representation, then what are you waiting for?!
If you want to see a YA book properly talk about toxic relationships/friendships, then be sure to pick it up!

There comes to be a bit of a Swan Lake retelling mixed in, but it's on the light side. (I mean, Odette?!)

Overall, I was just blown away by the storytelling. What would YOU do if you were in a story? Would you be the hero? Would you try to be the narrator? Or would you be the prince/princess in need of saving? Do you even know?

Well, Maude has to find out who she is in the story. Because princes/princesses need saving all the time, and heroes get themselves mixed up in trouble. And she's too nice and good and polite for all of that. But storytellers? Now, that's different... They can rewrite the story.

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me access to A Hunger of Thorns!

This was a beautifully written story with witches and magic. It follows Maude as she discovers her magic and mourns the loss of the relationship with her best friend. If you’ve ever lost a friendship, you’ll relate to this. When she realizes that her friend has gone missing, she goes against all to rescue her. The story gets a little bogged down with descriptions at times, but the world building is well done. It was an enjoyable story.

This is an outstanding demonstration of a very in-depth modern tale of beautiful magic with a deeply moving plot. This story had me in all my emotions. I was cheering on the main character and crying with her all at once. Like i said, this sincerely deeply moved me in the best of ways.

Maude has never really had the perfect life, but her childhood was pretty good. She had a great friend, Odette, and years full of magic and story-telling. Creating dolls and monsters from within her own imagination and Odette's joy. But things get lost as one grows older. Children often lose their inner magic and even the best of friends don't always remain close. In this case, magic seemed to flee from Maude's grasp. In the rest of the world, it became something fake. Something easily bought and used by anyone and not very respected anymore.

Even though Odette and Maude are no longer close, Maude still feels a responsibility for Odette when her friend suddenly goes missing. A lost girl. But Maude knows she can find her. And, even more so, save her. She knows she can slay the dragon herself, however necessary.

This was inspiring and beautiful. Sad and yet, hopeful. I really enjoyed this.

Out April 18, 2023!

✨4/5 ✨
This book gave me Secret Garden vibes right off the bat. I live for any fantasy novel that includes witches, and this delivered. Maude's discovery and storytelling of her discovery of magic was fascinating. Sometimes when reading YA I don't connect withe the characters because of the age difference, but Maude made me feel young again and made me forget I'm a 31 year old muggle.

Wilkinson's book is a beautifully written story of a young girl who is coming in to her own. Maude's world revolved around her best friend, until that friend suddenly dropped her. Ever since she has spent her days mourning the loss of this relationship. When her friend goes missing, Maude goes against her family and society's strictures to try to rescue her. A talented storyteller, Maude realizes that the magic she wielded as a young girl has affected the area where her friend went missing, but it is a warped. This story is very atmospheric, and while it built the world, it also detracted from the story for me since it described a lot of plants that were completely unfamiliar to me. The side characters seems very interesting to me, and I wish the story had been told from one of their perspectives because I disliked Maude and her obsession with her friend. Overall, I did enjoy the story, but it will not be one of my favorites.

I've always enjoyed stories revolving around witches. I'm not sure if it's because of the magic aspect, or because they're misunderstood and each witch tale has a different spin to it but either way, I like reading them and each time I get the chance to read one before it's release date... well, that's even more good news.

However, there are good witchy tales, bad witchy tales, and some that fall flat somewhere.

Short Summary: A jaded daughter of a witch sets off to go search for her best friend in a place that nobody remembers.

Long Summary: Maude is the daughter of a witch, but in a land that is being rid of magic, all that remains are weak glamour spells and the old legends of great magic that used to roam around the land. Her mother was one of the few who resorted to seeking dangerous magic that made her part of a rebellion.


And her best friend Odette always hungered for the same dangerous magic, enough to leave Maude behind and break her heart. And now, she's disappeared and everyone thinks that Odette is dead.

Everyone except Maude.

Because apart from her, an acquaintance of her, Rufus tells her about the Sicklehurst, the place that everyone seems to forget except him and a few others. And perhaps the place that everyone forgets exists may be the answer to find Odette and to discover more about the dangerous magic that everyone fears.

But perhaps the Sicklehurst must be forgotten because as everyone says, curiosity kills the cat... and Maude may not be strong enough to survive the dangers of Sicklehurst and all its secrets.

Okay, this book was a slow start for me. Essentially, it ends up being predictable that Maude was in love with Odette and that there would be lost girls involve as well as an evil corporation, so while the concept of Mettle is pretty cool, the story itself ends up being mostly predictable. The ending itself is supposed to be a promise for more to come, but really, if I were to pick up the possible next book, It would only be because of Rufus.

Just him because all I wanted to do with both Odette and Maude was slap them in the face.


Overall: 3/5 Stars

This was such a a strange and beautiful book about the power of girls and the power of stories.

Maude is a 17yo witch who lost her power and uses stories to live out the adventures she craves while molding herself into "the good girl" that everybody wants to see. Her friend Odette takes the road less traveled and rebels against the rules, the society she refuses to accept, and even old friends. But when Odette goes missing in a placed cursed to be forgotten, Maude must find adventure in the real world if she's to save the girl who once was her friend.

The atmosphere is beautiful, the story is strange, and the magic is alive in the words on these pages. I adored the setting and the pacing. I struggled a bit with the lack of commitment to a time period. We know the setting is modern as there is WIFI, but the mayor wants to send the girls to finishing school to learn cooking and sewing and child rearing, which feels very old fashioned and not 2023. This decreased my investment in the struggle for feminine power as it felt really incongruent.

I loved Odette and Maude and Rufus and the grannies and history and the forest and the fairytale and the wild girls who came before. If magic and fairytales are your jam, this book is an absolute must read!

- DNF
- Written In Present Tense
- Pet Peeve

This is an unfair review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an ARC of Hunger of Thorns

I am fully aware that this is a personal pet peeve and completely my own bias. My dislike for this writing style has NOTHING to do with the story or the ability of the author to communicate and write effectively, therefore I will not be posting this review on any other platform.

To start off, I'm a mood reader and chose this book when I clearly was not ready to read it. I kept going, but know that the rating on this will reflect that I do not believe I was in the right headspace to read it.

A Hunger of Thorns is everything you want from an atmospheric horror YA book book deep magic and Alice-in-Wonderland-like Adventures. This book is perfect for those who loved Small Favors by Erin Craig and other lovers of ooey-gooey plant horror.

Like I said, I wasn't in the right headspace to appreciate the book for what it is: a coming of age story that is steeped in self-reflection and continuous flashbacks. I struggled to connect with Maude, the MC, as I really disagreed with her obsession with her toxic former friend Odette. But her struggle to come to terms with her obsession is the heart of the story and the angst from her self-discover is the heart of the story.

This YA would be a great book to read with book clubs and classes for the commentary it offers about friendship, love, and family. It is slow-moving so it would not be what I would choose for general audience, but for groups who will be able to appreciate for what it is.

I'm interested in potentially revisiting this book, maybe in an audiobook format, to ground myself in the atmospheric horror and angst of the character. Despite my rating for this book (at this time), I believe that this book is perfect for those that can connect with it. Wilkinson does a great job of delivering on exactly what it is and if you're in the right headspace and want to be vulnerable enough to appreciate this story, I can see where this book could be self-reflective for the reader as well as the characters.

Rating of 3 stars is not reflective of the fact that I think it is one of the better written books I've read in the last few years.

3.5 rounded up.

I wavered a bit on what I'd end up rating this one as I read. There's a section in the middle that reminded me a bit of Alice in wonderland but without the tempering effect of whimsy. I didn't enjoy that part, felt the book could've done without it, and it really dragged it down for me.

But the beginning and end I felt were stronger, exploring friendship, infatuation, family, making mistakes, taking responsibility, and girlhood. I wish I'd had a book like this as a teen when I knew I didn't fit the mold I was "supposed" to but didn't know how to be comfortable with that.

I kind of had a love/hate relationship with every character in the book, which I think shows the author's talent at characterization and making them 'real'. Except Winnie. Nothing but love for her!

"I cry out for every girl who was told to comb her hair and wash the mud from her face. To keep herself contained. To be ashamed of her voice, her hair, her flesh. To be quiet and good and nice. Girls are not nice. Girls are wild and fierce and powerful, and I will not let anyone take that away. Not ever again."

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the chance to read and review this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved the concept. I loved watching faerie tales come to life, and the lessons we learn from them.

As much as a loved this book there were a lot of parts that hurt and frustrated me though... but those parts were also part of the lesson:

It hurt seeing that Maude only saw herself as "The storyteller. Not the hero" and didn't believe that she on her own had value, that her talent, her magic had parameters. Even after seeing that in the Sticklegrass she can still access magic, she still believed that she "had nothing to offer". Her entire identity revolved around the obsession with a person, being accepted and no longer see as a "wild girl". It hurt seeing how long it takes her to have even a grain of confidence, and realize she can control these stories, because they are her own story. It hurt seeing how quickly others went to lengths to suppress her magic because it was wild, different, and didn't fit into the expected box.

A fantastic tale and lesson for anyone.

4/5