Heart of Thorns, by Bree Barton
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Series?: Yes
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Length: 464 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: You guys I gave this 4 stars so idk what the deal is on Goodreads

Trust your heart, even if it kills you.

In the ancient river kingdom, touch is a battlefield, bodies the instruments of war. Seventeen-year-old Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood.

Not women. Demons. The same demons who killed her mother without a single scratch. 

But when Mia’s father suddenly announces her marriage to the prince, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Only after the wedding goes disastrously wrong does she discover she has dark, forbidden magic—the very magic she has sworn to destroy.

What I Liked: This book has a whole bunch of 1-2.5 star reviews on Goodreads but I really liked it! I thought it was a well-planned, unique, super interesting fantasy. It’s the first in a planned trilogy and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the series goes.

♥ Quin. This story is really about the ladies, but I looooved Quin. He is a graceful prince who actually wants to help his kingdom and actually wants to make changes there. Everything about him is just another piece of him, nothing about him defines him entirely. He’s bisexual, but the one time he’s asked about it, he answers very straightforwardly, with no further explanation.

“I prefer whom I prefer. Girls. Boys.”

He’s also a cook, can fish, can row a boat, and appreciates music. He’s a feminist from the start, but that’s not a trait he’s picked up, it’s just something that’s part of him. He is lovely, and I want ONLY GOOD THINGS for him in the next two books.

♥ Mia. She’s a tough girl, having grown up training to be a Gwyrach hunter. All she’s ever wanted to do is find and kill her mother’s killer, so when her father promises her hand in marriage to the royal family instead, she’s devastated. And girl is pissed. She’s completely against the marriage, and makes plans to escape the castle before the wedding with her sister.

One of the criticisms I’ve heard of this book is that it’s a typical trope of sibling love and sacrifice which just did not ring true for me at all. It felt like such a real picture of the love between sisters, particularly the love from an older sister. It’s not true for all sisters, for all siblings, but for me? I love my little sister (HI ELLIE!) so much that sometimes I think it could eat me alive. I will jump in front of a car for her, I will jump into a portal to close the gate between dimensions a’la Buffy the Vampire Slayer, if I’m broke I will still send her presents. Nothing makes me happier than making my sister happier. So the idea of sacrificing something to make my sister’s life better? I get it. I’m here for it. Let’s read all about it.

♥ ~Magic~. A world where only the women can possess magic? YAAAS QUEEN! I’m all about this. There’s a lot of talk throughout the book about how women are oppressed due to this, and how men want to hold them down and take that power away. Which, I mean, same.

♥ DAMN THAT ENDING. Should I have seen it coming?? I have no idea, but I TOTALLY DIDN’T!!!

What I Didn’t: ??? I have no idea what I didn’t like? I mean I rated it a 4 instead of a 5 so it was missing the final like…punch that would have made it a 5, but it’s not something I can even really describe.

⊗ I can’t say much about it, but there were parts at the ending that I found confusing. If you’ve read it, I’m talking like that last few pages.