#AHungerofThorns #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

A Hunger of Thorns is a story of adventure, self discovery, and layers of heartbreak tied into a well thought out magical bow. Wilkinson’s words are so beautifully descriptive, they weave you into a world unlike any other. While this story is fairy tale reminiscent, it finds its own path through Maude’s interpersonal struggles and her ability to constantly find strength to carry on.

I truly loved this story. It was so easy to become immersed in Sicklehurst as Maude searched for Odette and clues to help her remember her past. The magic elements, while slightly intimidating to keep up with at first, felt so real and natural as the book found its groove. A wonderful read. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book to read and review. All of these thoughts and comments are my own.

I want to start off by saying that I didn’t think this book was bad. I just think maybe it just wasn’t the right book for me.

It was very slow pace for me. I noticed I had to keep my self on track and make myself pay attention because I felt like it just drug on. I don’t know if it was because maybe I got confused because it was set in a present time when it has more of a past time feel to it. If that makes sense. The magic aspect was cool though. I do think it’s an enjoyable book.

I haven’t dove into much of the fantasy genre but I’m trying and I’m still learning when it comes to the concept of how things in the fantasy genre work.

In all actuality I’ll more than likely buy this book and reread it. I think it has great potential and I’ll probably even pick up the second one when it releases!

3 stars for now!

This title will appeal to fans of fairy tale magic, strong female protagonists, and unreliable narrators. Wilkinson weaves witchy magic with distinct dystopian and horror edges as readers follow Maude, a daughter of witches without magic herself, on her quest to save former friend Odette from Sicklehurst, an industrial magic refinery with a dark corruption which has been contained by spells. A Hunger of Thorns possesses a unique magic system and asks big questions about magic as a resource and whether or not it--an innate power possessed by some--should be regulated and controlled.

While this book contained many great elements in theory, the execution fell flat for me at times. I was not very compelled by Maude, and at times the emotional beats of the story felt incredibly slow. Maude is an unreliable narrator, which will appeal to many. However, Wilkinson's prose, particularly her atmospheric descriptions, are fantastic.

Maude’s parents passed their magic on to her, and she spent her childhood using her storytelling magic to entertain her best friend, Odette. But when Maude’s magic left her, so too did Odette and some of Maude’s memories. But then Odette goes missing and is presumed dead, though Maude is sure she’s still alive. As she ventures into the abandoned ruins of a dangerous powerplant, some of her memories begin to return and she realizes that there’s much more to her stories than she thought.

This was a well-woven tale that had elements of familiar fairytales included in a unique way. I enjoyed the atmospheric setting of Sicklehust and how dangerous and fantastical it felt. The characters were well written, and I enjoyed the exploration of friendship throughout and how different it can look for people. I also loved how strong a character Maude was, as well as how her memories were incorporated throughout the story to flesh out her character and the plot.

There were a few things that I felt could have been explained a bit better throughout the work (e.g., more details surrounding the rules of magic, etc.), but overall, these didn’t distract me too much from the story. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and how she was able to tie the work together with so many interconnecting details.

Overall, I enjoyed this magical realism read and how much the author was able to make this feel like reading a fairytale. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book, which will be published in April 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I tried to get into this but between the ARC format and the story I wasn't able to. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity though!

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.

I found Maude’s obsession with Odette a little unsettling. At first, I related to Maude because of her longing for childhood - simpler times when you got to play in the woods with your best friends. I do love the writing style, Maude’s deep longing for the past was very well thought out and written beautifully.

The magic system was confusing and I believe it would have made more sense in a purely epic fantasy world. The mention of worldly day to day things threw me off.

Overall, the writing and descriptions are beautiful in A Hunger of Thorns. I know a lot of people will love this book.

Full of magic, angst, lore, environmental damage, lust, love, imagination, and daring, this was an intense but also fun and fast-paced read. Drawing on the bleak landscapes of abandoned industrial sites as well as magical traditions and plant lore, author Wilkinson creates a deep and complex world of witches and love--albeit one that feels overstuffed at times. The monsters and dangers are as real as radium poisoning, and the characters are created with skill and thought. The book is written, I think, for a YA audience, but older readers will appreciate it as well. The only thing that rubs me wrong is the author's thank you to a library for letting her "escape her toddler"--I'm uncomfortable when parents complain about their kids in such a public forum. What will her kid say when she reads that one day?

Thanks to PRH and Delecorte books for a chance to read an e-ARC of this book. I give it 3.5 stars.

This book is a strange twist on Sleepy Beauty and The Secret Garden with witches involved in every aspect of the story. For most of the book Sicklehurst seemed to have a mind of its own with no explanation as to why. Maude was magical as a little girl, and then she wasn't. Odette didn't have magic, but she practiced it somehow? The parameters of magical rules felt a little hazy throughout. I appreciated how the end of the story looped back to the beginning and Maude's past and the town's past, but for most of Maude's journey in learning about herself and Sicklehurst I felt confused. The writing is solid; only my ongoing confusion led to me skimming through pure descriptive parts to better understand the world. Where Maude and the whole society is in time and space is never touched on. I would've liked to have some connection to our world or at least known for certain this is an entirely fantasy world.

All qualms aside, the story itself is entertaining and magical with a strong fairy tale vibe. From early on someone is presumably locked in a tower. Sicklehurst gives the feel of a faerie land where girls can lose themselves and with vast vegetation in a space confined by a brick wall. Maude is steadily determined to rescue Odette, Winnie, Ginger, and others, yet she never knows how she can manage that until she tries. Strong female power essence in most of the book, especially the latter half, with no one expecting a man to rescue them. The story even passes the Bechdel Test and has a bit LGBT rep. I'd recommend this to someone who wants a unique fantasy retelling story with a beginning and ending that are intricately tied together.

I thought this book was ok. It was very slow paced for me, which I don't enjoy. Besides that, the book was very unique and I loved the magic aspect about it. The story really picks up at the end and that's when I started really enjoying the book. I would like to see the flashbacks/past separated in some way from the present text as I got confused sometimes and had to reread to be like oh its a flashback. Overall, I rate this book a 3.5/5 and would recommend this book to a friend

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with a digital arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A Hunger of Thorns is a really interesting and attention grabbing story! I really really enjoyed the story and characters so much!

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Maude, from a line of witches goes on a quest to find her missing childhood friend Odette, in an abandoned power plant?

I did not mind Maude, did not care for the atmosphere.

It's interesting that this book was compared to the Hazel Wood. I did not get a hint of that comparison, unfortunately.

This book was very interesting, I really enjoyed to story and the characters.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

(4.5 stars) This book was not was I expected, it was better! I’ve never read a book quite like this. I loved the story and character building, along with all of the witchy vibes it gave me! (I mean obviously, she’s a witch, but the vibes were immaculate) I thought I knew what was going to happen all throughout this book but left and right things were changing and I loved it.

*I received this as an ARC from NetGalley for my honest opinion*

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Delacrote Press for allowing me to read this book for an honest review!

This was a fun quick read with a really great premise. Our mc Maude is convinced her friend is not dead and sets out to find her and along the way is introduced to some harrowing adventures.

While the plot was solid I did walk away feeling like I wanted more. The start of the novel did give the impression that it would be set in a past fantasy time but is actually set in a modern day which seemed very off.

Other than that, the book was an enjoyable read!

I ended up DNF this one 11% in. This book just isn't for me. It sounded like something that I would enjoy, and it does has elements that I enjoy; but the execution just wasn't there. I enjoyed the concept of magic being a resource and being controlled and then having a main character that either doesn't have magic or their magic has disappeared. However, I felt like this would have been better if the characters had been aged up a bit. They just were a bit too young for me and then they read even younger.

"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."


4.5* wow. what a wild ride.
the vibes were immaculate??!
i am fascinated not only by the writing in this but the world the author created and all its characters. i loved every single one of them and i find it so hard to come across a book these days that manages to do that.. maude, our amazing MC, is a force to be reckoned with, and it was amazing to see her growth throughout the book.

i also feel the need to point out how crazy it is to look at this cover after reading the book, you see so much... highly recommend taking a few minutes to soak up all the amazing details hidden. the artist definitely understood the assignment.

While the story loses its urgency for a portion of the second act, this was overall one of the most compelling YA reads of the year for me. The darkness steeped in the fairy tale-esque setup struck a distinct and fascinating tone. I can't say I've really read anything else quite like this.

There's so much more brilliance at work here. The dynamic between Maude and Odette in particular rang brilliantly, painfully true. Maude has to be one of the most thoughtfully depicted and realistic fictional teenage girls I've seen in a while; her internal conflict between being good and being true to yourself will definitely strike a chord with older YA readers.

Wonderful. I'm thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to read this.

2 stars

This is one of those books when you finish reading it you wonder what was the point. The main character was a teenager, but has the naiveness and maturity of a toddler. The plot had potential, but it was executed badly. The book was extremely forgettable and something I’ll hopefully forget about in a month.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lili Wilkinson for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book had a really interesting premise and it was an intriguing read. I didn’t love that the book was set in modern times and it felt sort of jarring that it was.