Another book I read by this author, Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove, was an easy five stars for me. When I was offered the NetGalley widget for her newest release, I immediately downloaded it.

This novel takes place in the Gujarat Sultanate in early sixteenth century India at the time of the Portuguese invasion. The author blends aspect of this history with the immersive fantasy world she created. A flower-based magical system is an original concept for me. Flowers possess certain powers including healing, persuasion, hearing across vast distances, and poison among others. But my favorite was the black chrysanthemum that opens doors to other times and places.

When a handsome stranger arrives at Irinya’s caravan and offers ways to make their lives better and to buy their debt, some members are overjoyed. Others are skeptical. He persuades Irinya to give him a rare and priceless spider lily he says will win the war against the Portuguese. As you can guess, he disappears with the flower. Determined to set things right, Irinya goes after him and finds herself in places and dangerous situations she never imagined. The current sultan is on his deathbed, and two relatives are in line for succession – one for power, the other for the good of the people. Whoever possesses the spider lily will have the advantage.

This novel features the opposite of insta-love – a refreshing change for me. This sweet romance is more of a slow burn – seeing someone you’ve known your whole life in a different way. Characterization is strong, and Irinya’s family and found family caravan members feel authentic, warts and all. Pacing is a little uneven in places, but the ending moves as a brisk pace. I couldn’t look away.

This author is on my watchlist, and I’ll absolutely pick up her next release. Recommended for fans of unique magical systems, exciting adventure, and found family sprinkled with a little romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Due to St. Martins Press refusal to address the remarks made by their employee regarding Palestine, I will not be reviewing this book.

This in no way has anything to do with the author. But I refuse to support anything from SMP because of their refusal to address a major issue at hand.

What an amazing read! Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra is a standalone YA historical fantasy that asks the question: “What if India had magic when the Portuguese invaded during the 16th century?” I am a sucker for books like this that are full of history but rewritten to include other things. For this one, it’s magical flowers that turn the tide of an invasion. It is both beautiful and haunting.

Irinya is a flower hunter for her nomadic kul, inspired by her mother who was also a flower hunter before she disappeared into the Rann salt flats. Only seventeen, she uses her knowledge of flowers, and their thorns, to keep her family and friends safe. When her hunting partner Fardan finds the mythical and rare silver spider lily, Irinya knows it is the key to saving not just their kul, but their country as well.

This story took me off guard. At first, I didn’t like Irinya, and with the entire story told from her POV, that makes it hard to connect. However, I quickly found myself in love with her and rooting for her to succeed. She makes several questionable decisions, first giving the silver spider lily to a stranger who makes grand promises to running away from her kul and leaving all she knows and loves behind to save them. She goes on an epic adventure, and the story follows her through it all.

If you are expecting a romance, set that expectation aside. Yes, there is a touch of romance, but I’d classify it more as teenage longing and hope than true romance. Irinya is more concerned about setting right her wrongs then pursuing love. This plot focuses more on her adventure, the magic of the flowers, the danger she is in, the invading Portuguese, and the unrest in the sultanate. And y’all, I could not have asked for a better story than what this book delivers!

Overall, I really enjoyed Flower and Thorn. The magic system Mehrotra develops is seamlessly integrated into the history of the time period. I love seeing and learning about it through Irinya’s perspective. The story itself reminds me of one you’d find in One Thousand and One Nights or being told out loud by Scheherazade herself. It is lush in its imagery, evoking a sense of wonder as you read. Highly recommend for fans of fantasy!

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher.*

This is the second book I've read (and enjoyed) by this author. The story was unique, and I liked the characters. At times, the writing felt slightly juvenile, particularly the dialogue; however, it wasn't a problem that persisted throughout the entire book.

I like magical stories that have balance, where magic isn’t necessarily free but has some type of cost. In this book, use of the magical flowers comes with an associated risk or price equal to that of the benefit the flower provides. It was interesting, and it was actually pretty believable as far as magic goes.

Unfortunately, I never felt like I got a very clear picture of most characters in my head. Irinya (17) and Fardan (also 17?) were not as vivid as I would have liked them to be. They were skilled flower hunters and had obviously been close friends for a long time, with Irinya oblivious to the feelings Fardan had developed for her. The character I found most interesting was Imshan Kahn, whose motivations were never entirely clear and who seemed to straddle the line between kindness and selfishness the whole book.

Even though this book fell a little short for me, I look forward to whatever this author writes in the future. She has creative ideas that are different from a lot of what is flooding the YA market right now, and she doesn’t resort to filling her books with swearing, graphic violence, or sex.

Note: It is implied that the sultana and her handmaiden have a relationship.

This book really delighted me! Mehrotra's best book yet! The world was immersive, surprising, and real. We follow Irinya as she struggles to right her mistake, and re-claim a magic flower that has fallen into the wrong hands. She comes from a nomadic and hard pressed people, and at her core, she goes on this adventure for them and for her family and her memory of her mother. In that sense, while being a flashy and funny adventure book with a brash female lead, this book is also sweet, powerful, and moving. The support cast is also rich, fleshed out, and entertaining, I found myself smiling while reading Irinya's interactions with people outside her village on more than one occasion. I would absolutely recommend this book to a friend!

Overall a good book but drags a ton for me. I loved the little snippets of desi life that were accurate but it felt rushed in certain parts then dragged on forever in others. I couldn't really understand the motivation for helping the current queen at all?

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: Flower and Thorn has a medium to medium fast pace.

POV: Flower and Thorn is told from Irinya’s 3rd person POV.

Trigger/Content Warning: Flower and Thorn have trigger and content warnings. If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book. They are:

Gore
Violence
War and War Themes
Classism
Poverty
Sexism
Indentured Servitude
Drugging
Dead Bodies
Death of a Parent
Grief & Loss Depiction
Captivity & Confinement
Knife & Sword Violence
Murder & Attempted Murder
Physical Assualt
Sexual Content: There is no on-page sexual content in Flower and Thorn.

Language: Flower and Thorn had no swearing or offensive language in it.

Setting: Flower and Thorn is set in 16th-century India.

Age Range: I recommend Flower and Thorn to anyone over 21.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Since her mother disappeared when she was five, Iriniya wants to be a flower hunter. Flowers in India are magical, and because of that, they are increasingly rare. So, when her best friend shows Irinya where he found one of the rarest flowers, a silver spider lily, she promises to him to let it be. But, when Iriniya meets a handsome young man who claims to be working for the general fighting the war against the Portuguese, she feels compelled to tell him about the flower and get it for him. Soon, she discovers his promises are lies, and she has shattered the trust of her kul and best friend. Determined to win back their trust and set things right, Irinya starts a journey from the salt flats of Rann to the capital city of Ahmedabad. But, along the way, she attracts the attention of the Grand Wizer, Ishman Khan, and becomes embroiled in palace intrigue. Can Iriniya right the wrong she did?

Main Characters

Iriniya: I liked Iriniya. She made some pretty big mistakes at the beginning of the book (trusting the wrong guy, destroying the trust her best friend and kul had in her) that had tragic consequences. I agreed when she decided to right the wrongs against herself and her kul. Iriniya had some tremendous character growth throughout the book. The Iriniya portrayed at the end of the book was not the Iriniya at the beginning. I also liked how she handled adversity. She could think on her feet and anticipate what was asked of her. I only saw her hesitate when she had to leave the camel (her uncle’s prize possession). But, even then, she talked the time he could stay in the stable up from what the wizer initially said.

My review:

I have been looking forward to Flower and Thorn since I saw several blogs post early reviews. Not only were the reviews excellent, but I loved the cover. So, I was thrilled when St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books sent me a widget. Then, life happened, and I got behind on my reviews. Flower and Thorn kept getting pushed back on my schedule until this month (way past the publication date). I don’t want that to happen, but it does. Usually, my desire to read the book has faded by that point, but in this case, it didn’t. I was excited to read Flower and Thorn, and this book exceeded my expectations.

The main storyline in Flower and Thorn is centered around Iriniya and her quest to find the silver spider lily. The storyline was well-written and kept me on my feet reading it. I had no problem focusing on her adventures, even with all the background noise (the war with the Portuguese and the power play in the palace). The focus stayed on Iriniya and her quest for the entire book. The secondary storylines outlined in the book added to her storyline.

I loved the use of the flowers in Flower and Thorn. The author took everyday things we take for granted and added a mystical feel to them. Adding that these flowers are becoming an endangered breed and that levies were placed on flower hunters just added to the story. The flower’s uses were just as intriguing. They are

White Jasmine—cure sickness
Bloodread Hibiscus–mind-control
Sunflower—to find things
Bluestar—a cure for the hibiscus
Green Rose—used for communication
Silver Spider Lily—used to win wars
Chrysanthemum (Chrys in the book)—used to open strange doors (aka not real ones)
Sacred Lotus—Unknown (never really said in the book)
Almost all of the flowers (except the sunflower) were used in the book. Again, this was fascinating and frightening. The lengths that people were willing to do whatever (including murder) to get the last three flowers was scary.

I liked the bit of romance that the author threw in. Iriniya’s love interest wasn’t clear (at first, I thought she didn’t like girls or guys). But that wasn’t the case. It was more of her being so single-minded that she blocked anything romantic out. I won’t say who she ends up with at the end of the book, but I will say that I wasn’t surprised.

The end of Flower and Thorn was interesting. I liked that Iriniya’s backstory was almost fully explained (I did have some questions about who her father was). The author did leave enough of the storylines open for me to wonder if there will be another book. I would love to know more about certain storylines and people.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, NetGalley, and Rati Mehrotra for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Flower and Thorn. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

I loved this book, it gave me everything I wanted as a reader and more. I am a sucker for a cover and fell in love with the storyline and characters. Well written and kept me engaged :)

4.5 stars!

Having enjoyed Rati Mehrotra's Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove last year, I had my eye on her future releases. You can imagine, then, how honored I felt to receive an email from St. Martin's Press offering a free, advanced ebook copy of Flower and Thorn!

What was even better was the story within!

For one, I had a few small qualms with Mehrotra's previous book (mainly slower pacing, flat characters, and a predictable plot), so I was extra aware of whether these issues would repeat themselves in Flower and Thorn. And oh, how happy I was to be worried for nothing!

The characters were easy to connect to, intriguing, and sympathetic! Imshan especially had me captivated - What were his plans? What did he really think of Irinya? Would he keep his promises? A perfectly ambiguous, secretive character!

The plot had a few turns I wasn't expecting, keeping me engaged and wondering how everything would play out. And the pacing, while slower at the beginning, picked up in all the right places to keep me reading.

Beyond that, I loved the concept: Medieval India, on the cusp on being overrun by the Portuguese, has a secret - small groups of flower hunters scour the magical salt flats for mythical and powerful flowers. What a delight to read something so unique!

Mehrotra also has a special talent of making her historical fantasy sparkle with all the extra details that only someone deeply in love with a culture could include - the clothing, the food, the place names, the honorifics, the almost-tangible descriptions. Between the bleached grasslands on the edge of salty desert, to the dark green jungles full of hidden tigers, to the sculpted marble palace of a dying sultan, Mehrotra draws an exquisite picture of 1600s India.

As an extra treat, there's a sweet romance that slowly, slowly develops.

In all, Flower and Thorn is simply a top tier historical fantasy - fun, magical and unique, rich in detail and care, and sparking the desire to research more about this time period in India. Oh, and a great standalone, too!

I have read Rati Mehrotra’s work before and was really thrilled to get into this one! I do find myself enjoying this one a bit more than the first book and was surprised to see this one as a standalone, but overall, it had an engaging magic system we don’t see often

I really enjoyed Mehrotra's last book, but I just couldn't get into this one. The premise was cool and I thought the way it approached colonialism was very good, but the characters and their actions ended up annoying me rather than endearing me to them. I also thought the plot points were a bit easy to predict and not super engaging, even though the setting and worldbuilding was really nice. I think this book would definitely work for other readers, but I wasn't the right person for this book.

This story was amazing. I did slightly enjoy this authors debut a little more but her writing never disappoints me! I can’t wait for a physical copy!

Irinya comes from a long lineage of flower hunters. Her best friend finds a rare and priceless flower and swears Irinya to secrecy, scared that the flower will fall into the wrong hands. Irinya, being a naive and young girl, gets conned by an attractive imposter and sings like a canary about the flower. She sets out on a journey alone to retrieve the flower from this stranger but it turns out he isn’t who he said he was. This flower could save not only herself, her caravan and maybe even the continent.

The term “flower hunter” sounds a lot more interesting than it actually turned out to be. Because of overharvesting and overconsumption, the land is yielding less flowers then it used to. Each flower has its own magical properties and can provide its user with certain magical properties (i.e. jasmine to heal, or hibiscus to make someone talk). The flower magic could have used some more oomph. I was more interested in the political dealings of the kingdom than I was the magic. It seemed less important to everyone than it did Irinya.

It took me a really long time to make my way through this one. Irinya is not an easier character to like. She’s naive. She makes really dumb decisions from the start and just continues throughout the book. Why did she tell a complete stranger about the flower? Why in the world would she think leaving by herself to get it back was a great idea? She thinks first and acts later and never really learns her lesson. She just gets lucky time and time again. The romance felt like an afterthought, like he was chosen because there was no other character available.

On the young adult book scale this felt like it geared more towards a middle grade territory then it did a new adult territory.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Seventeen year old Irinya has knowledge of magical flowers, and uses this to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. A silver spider lily is their chance for a better life, but Irinya is tricked by an attractive impostor. To recover the priceless flower and fix her mistake, Irinya goes on a dangerous journey that she might not survive.

Irinya is part of a nomadic tribe roaming the Rann, a deadly place with salt flats and poisonous plants, some of which have magical properties. The flowers are purchased by intermediaries, as her people are in debt to them, and the flowers are then sold further up the chain to the sultans, who are trying to fight off the Portuguese from invading the Indian subcontinent. She doesn't know about the impostor until much later, and only knows that the silver spider lily is worth more than the debts of her people, and she needs to get it back to save them from further debt and terrorization. This leads her away from everything she has ever known, wandering into the cities and the politics of the ruling class.

The idea of myths, personal history and the flowers of the Rann are all interwoven. Irinya is used to being considered less than due to her status, but she has a sense of honor as well. She wants to do what's right for her people, but that soon encompasses all of India fighting back against the Portuguese. Those who are selfish and would use the gifts of the Rann for their own gain suffer the consequences of it, and Irinya does her best to do the right thing. She makes mistakes along the way and is caught up in a world much bigger than what she had known, but it's a fascinating story and one that kept me hooked until the very last page.

I was excited to read Flower and Thorn because I loved the author's previous book Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much and I found myself wishing I was instead reading the sequel to Night of the Raven.

Flower and Thorn has great component parts, but I was left unsatisfied wanting more. There is a beautiful magic system and vivid world building. The book shined when MC Irinya teamed up with Fardan or other friends from the kul. On the contrary I didn't enjoy the portion when Irinya was off on her journey alone or when things too often seemed to miraculously fall into place for her (despite dangerous situations and poor decision making). I had to be intentional about picking up the book to complete it, and but for having an ARC I wanted to review, probably wouldn't have finished. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was never fully invested in the story. I liked but didn't love it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved the story’s setting. It’s set in India at a time when the country is besieged by the Portuguese. The characters hope to use magic flowers as a weapon in the war, and hope to keep their existence secret from the invaders, though it isn’t clear if they can.

The story has some commentary on markets and unfair systems, particularly those that marginalize nomad communities. I thought the commentary on that was thoughtful and well-integrated into the story. Irinya hopes to help her people find a way to sell the magic flowers for a fair price, as opposed to the current system, in which a few powerful, wealthy individuals control the system.

I really liked Irinya’s character. She’s stubborn, willful, and deeply loyal to her people. She’s fierce and brave. Definitely my kind of heroine.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

First of all the cover of this book is stunning! It immediately drew me in, and after loving Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove I was excited to read this. Unfortunately I did not love this.

The plot is very unique with the concept of the magical flowers each providing some sort of magic to the user. They grow in unlikely places and skilled flower hunters must risk their lives to find the precious flowers to sell them to help their people survive. Our main character Irinya is very skilled at flower hunting as is her best friend Fardan. Fardan finds one of the most precious flowers, that might be the key to saving the kingdom from invaders if it gets to the right hands. If the flower falls to the wrong hands the consequences could be devastating not only to Irinya and her tribe but everyone in the country.

This book just wasn't for me. I found the pacing too slow and the main character to be too irrational when it came to making decisions. I am all for a strong, independent female main character, but Irinya tented to act first and think later. She made alot of decisions that didn't go well for her and doesn't learn from her mistakes throughout the book. Everyone forgives her poor choices easily and lets her continue on her journey. Understandably she was the one who had to be the hero, but from the beginning she didn't rely on anyone to help her. I tend to enjoy plotlines where the main character has a good support system to rely on and support them. There are a few twists within the plot, but like the flower hunters wandering around until they find a treasure, I felt as the plot did the same. It kind of meanders until there is a twist or an action scene.

Overall, I'm really sad that this didn't work for me. The worldbuilding was great and the magic system was very unique, but the lack of character development and slow pacing left me disappointed. I do think that YA readers are really going to love this. It does have a very sweet friends to romance element, and while it didn't work for me I think there is an audience that is very much going to love it.

You know how you feel after a really good meal? That feeling of satisfaction? Everything was perfect, or near to. Yeah, that’s how I felt after reading Rati Mehrotra’s new YA novel, Flower and Thorn.

Now in order to understand the depth of that reaction, it’s also important to know I’m a really hard-to-please reader. I’m forever questioning research, analyzing character, world and plot development. In other words, I find it hard to shut off the editor. Mehrotra silenced that editor almost from the outset.

So, what is Flower and Thorn about? The marketing blurb runs thus:

A young flower hunter gets embroiled in the succession politics of the Sultanate when she must retrieve the rarest and most powerful magical flower after giving it to the wrong hands.

Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily―said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat entire armies―Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.

Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive impostor.

Irinya’s fight to recover the priceless flower and fix what she’s done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she’s not sure she’ll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she’s left behind.

I do have to say that marketing blurb would not have won me over. The novel sounds more like a YA romance, and I feel about romance of any kind the way I feel about skydiving. A big hard no.

But while Mehrotra does unfold a romance, it’s really a backstory to the very compelling political and economic narrative she creates in a credible India under Portuguese conquest and control during the 16th century. The environmental descriptions are deftly entwined in character viewpoint, and the characters developed so vividly they are real and whisper in your waking moments to return to their world and walk their journey. Woven into that very rich history and environment, Mehrotra drops in rare, magical flowers which can only be found in the salt marsh/desert of the Rann, an area of 26,000 kilometres in the Gujarati region of northwest India.

And as with so many human stories, the flower-hunters of the Rann are essentially indentured slaves to the wholesalers who have a monopoly on their trade, wholesalers who reap all the profits. I was very much minded of the 18th century fishing outports of Newfoundland.

There is also Mehrotra’s handling of magic, in that it’s not easy, and it is rare. Everything has a cost. That appeals to me personally, because the caveats and difficulties around magic render the story more compelling. If you have to work hard for something, and then once you have it you’re aware this thing may cost your life, or the life or well-being of someone you love, that literary device then adds another layer of crisis to the plot and world-building. It creates a tension that’s strung to a high pitch throughout the story and keeps you reading.

As to Mehrotra’s writing style, it’s very approachable, very much in the voice of a storyteller, with evocative description, tight character point of view, and great tension. There is no exposition in her work. Every phrase, every paragraph fits together in a very skillfully-crafted package.

All things considered, I’d have to say Mehrotra’s Flower and Thorn is an excellent, escapist read, not unlike Naomi Novik’s many immersive stories. Rati Mehrotra has won me over. I’ll be looking for more of her work.

I cannot stop thinking about this story, these characters, their situations, their dialogues, and I am recommending this book to every fellow reader. With all my heart. Unreservedly.

The plot was done well, it was a solid and unique story. I loved the magical flowers and the magic system. It was well written.