Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a Persian inspired fantasy about a princess who has been locked away in her castle because of a curse which makes her touch poisonous.

Sounds interesting enough! Honestly, I did enjoy the overall feel of the book. It has got an interesting premise of ancient Persian mythology mixed with several of the fairy tales, and the plot and writing is quite easy to get into. However, I felt that this was one of those books that I read but won't remember for very long. I think there wasn't enough world-building, it felt very basic and I needed more. Apart from the main character, Soraya, the other characters were not very well developed and felt two- dimensional.

Soraya's character growth was something which kept me reading this book. I liked how her character grew from a sheltered and conflicted girl to a person who has come to realize her strengths and the power she can wield. And, even though, at times I was frustrated with her decisions I kind of understood where she was coming from. I can't say the same for the other characters though. Both Azad and Parvaneh had a lot to offer but they weren't utilized to their full potentials. Similarly, I think that the relationship between Soraya and her family wasn't explored to its full potential. The romance was okay but again it wasn't something which made me swoon.

Overall, this book stood somewhere in the middle for me. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. I will definitely look forward to what Melissa Bashardoust comes up with next.

Rep - Bisexual MC!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was such an interesting reading. It was my first book of Melissa Bashardoust and I really liked her writing stile; I was captivated from the first page. The story was inspired by Persian mythology and it was very original and well written. It revolved around Soraya and her curse: she didn't want this "power", her only desire was to be normal, human. And yet, as the story goes on, she realises that this curse was actually a gift and in the end she accepts who she is, finally feeling whole again. There were also other characters, whose stories were intertwined with Soraya's, twists and a subtle f/f romance. All in all, I recommend this book if you want to read somenthing unique and captivating.

'Girl, Serpent, Thorn' is a Persian-inspired fairytale about a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. Kept locked away in a tower, she dreams of the day a handsome prince will come and rescue her - but when someone does, it doesn't quite go how she expected.

The first quarter of this is a slow read and feels very trope-y, but then the story starts to take twists and turns and becomes much more fast-paced and enjoyable. I predicted several of the twists but still found the plot holding my attention. It helps that the setting is gorgeous, and the Persian-inspired elements are intriguing and give this a fresh feeling even when the plot treads over familiar ground.

The main character, Soraya, is the twin sister of the Shah - the ruler of the land, blessed with the protection of the Simorgh to protect his people from evil divs. Cursed shortly after her birth to kill every animal - including humans - that she touches, she stays shut in her room at the palace with very minimal contact with the outside world. As such, she's innocent and naive, coming across younger than her years and very vulnerable. She also has a great deal of anger and resentment - at herself, her situation, and the world. Whilst at times she's a difficult character to like, her immature emotional outbursts and naivety felt realistic and she grew significantly as a character throughout the book. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with her mother, Tahmineh, and how that changed as secrets were revealed.

With the exception of Soraya - and to an extent Tahmineh - none of the other characters felt quite as three-dimensional. I would love to read the full story of Azad, and equally the story of Parvaneh - two highly intriguing individuals who weren't quite utilised to their full potential. The childhood relationships between Soraya, Sorush, Laleh, and Ramin would also be interesting to know about in more detail - especially the dynamic between Laleh and Soraya. But the book would not have been as fast-paced and exciting if it had stopped to delve into side characters, and they all played their part.

Overall, this is a solid addition to the YA fantasy genre and worth a read for anyone looking for a story that's a little bit different. It takes a while to get going, but once you get past the first part it grows into itself and takes you on a journey.

3.5 stars, rounded down for the beginning (but the ending is a solid 4).

What a brilliant and rich fairy tale. Such beautiful and original world creation. Oh it was glorious to read and explore the wonder that is Girl, Serpent, Thorn.
How do I begin to explain this book? I suppose I can say that it seems I have been waiting my whole life for a tale such as this.
A poisonous princess, betrayal and dark brooding villains.... yup sign me up you got me hook line and sinker. Especially when you throw in areas of Persian mythology.
It was just so well crafted, each character was neither good nor bad, they were all the heroes in their own tales. But never really knowing that they could be the villain in another.
No one was fully good nor bad, their choices and their paths all came down to experiences and influences.
This isn’t your cozy twee princess gets saved by the prince... instead it demonstrates strong misunderstood women.
Women who make mistakes and must attone. Women who do give into rage and desperation. Who do rise up out of ashes.
It truly is an incredible read.

3.5 stars!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a beautiful Persian folklore-inspired fairytale about a princess who is hidden away from her kingdom because she is poisonous to the touch. I was very impressed with what this book managed to achieve in such a short number of pages. The world felt rich & magical and the story was reminiscent of the classic fairytales we all know. Perhaps the strongest part of this book is the world-building. I was seriously impressed with the world that Bashardoust managed to create & portray in a 330 page standalone novel. The world-building and folklore was incredibly rich & detailed, and I didn’t struggle learning the rules of this mythical world, falling into the flow of the story within the first 30 pages or so! This book had some great, well-defined and realistic characters - who are all flawed in some way, and who all go through some kind of growth by the end of the book - as well as LGBT representation in the main character, who is bisexual.

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading Girl, Serpent, Thorn and while the plot didn’t completely hold my attention and was somewhat forgettable for me, everything else about the story is so strong and well-developed, that I can’t deny the skill that went into crafting it.

This book isn't very impressive or immensely interesting, but it's not a waste of time either. It's one of those quick fantasy reads that you might forget the entire story of within the year, to you'll just remember that you enjoyed reading it.

Writing style: There's nothing special about the writing. It could have used more gradual world building and less info dumping, but overall it was balanced. Suspension was followed by cute moments, cruel scenes were followed by the MC finding her own strength... Some parts were a bit too detailed without really telling me anything important for my taste.

Characters: The characters do not have a clear personality but it is clear what they want and what they're willing to do to obtain it, which is a strange way to read about characters. I have no clue what anyone looks like, I have either forgotten the description that I've been given or the description was nonexistent or very lacking in detail. This is definitely a plot driven story and not a character driven story.

Story: A poisonous girl locked away in her palace, always hiding away from everyone which makes her incredibly lonely, finds friendship in demons and finds out that her curse has more to it than simple poison. Lots and lots of trouble ensues as she figures out who and what she is...
The story is definitely fun to read. It has many layers and I think the tale unfolded nicely. Some things felt a little rushed and could have used a little more depth but it was overall a well balanced story. It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but I also didn't feel like DNFing it so that's a good sign.

I'm giving this book three stars. It's an avarage fantasy book, a quick read, and I probably won't be recommending it to anyone, but it's good enough to recieve 3 stars.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was a thoroughly entertaining read with wonderfully written characters and an immensely interesting plot. The story never went the way one would expect it to go, and readers won't be mad about it.

(Review will be posted on other platforms closer to pub date.)

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is revolutionary in more than one respect and for that we should all be grateful. It’s a feminist fairy tale for the modern times, even though it’s set in ancient Persia, even though it’s full of magic and monsters.

The plot is influenced by Sleeping Beauty, but at every turn twists the the well known story into something new and unexpected, and extraordinary. The princess isn’t a damsel in distress, she’s a monster and it is she, who does most of the saving. “The evil witch” learns new tricks and gets a backstory. The prince? There’s no prince in this fairy tale; who needs him, when you have a group of women who love each other and would sacrifice everything for one another?

The titular girl (who is also a serpent and a thorn) is poisonous and her curse literally makes it so that anyone who touches her, dies. Not only is that terribly romantic and a great premise for a story, it’s also an incredible concept for a girl character. A young girl who doesn’t have to worry about men touching her without consent? A young girl who doesn’t have to feel afraid of men around her? It’s quite frankly groundbreaking.

The most obvious change between the folk tale and Girl, Serpent, Thorn is the moment the princess falls asleep. They both prick themselves on a finger and draw blood, but the first (original) one does it unknowingly, while Soraya soughts that ending out. And no, she doesn’t magically fall asleep for a hundred years, but it’s a close thing, with the way she loses a vital part of herself in that process.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn isn’t just a retelling of a fairy tale, though. It adds so much to the story, they’re more like cousins thrice removed. And what makes it the most unique, is the Persian setting. Bashardoust created a magical, rich gold world inspired by her own cultural history and the love she poured into it is visible in every little detail.

If you’re looking for a diverse feminist story with a cast of strong yet flawed women, and an intense sapphic relationship at the heart of it, you should definitely start reading Girl, Serpent, Thorn right this second.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a gorgeously written, lush fantasy about a princess whose very skin is poisonous to the touch. As such, she is kept isolated apart from her family. But her brother is getting married, and a confluence of events brings Soraya’s greatest desire into touching distance (pun not intended).

You know that feeling when you find a book that brings together all of your favourite aspects wrapped up in brilliant writing and worldbuilding, hands it to you on a plate, and then makes it sapphic? Nothing like it, and that’s what Girl, Serpent, Thorn does so well. It takes a trope that’s alright as a het trope and makes it gay.

(The trope I mean is human girl falls for someone supernatural. Yes, it is better when it’s sapphic, I won’t be taking any questions.)

So obviously that the book revolves around this trope is the best part of it. How many times have I read a het trope like that and thought it okay but would be better when it’s sapphic? Too many. It’s about time we got it for ourselves. (Side note: I can never go back to reading it in a het context now, I’ve been ruined for it.)

I didn’t actually make any notes while reading this book, so a lot of this review is just winging it (hence the obsessing over the trope so far). And that’s because I was just too absorbed by reading to actually write anything down. It’s been so long since I read a book like that, to be honest, one that I genuinely did not want to stop reading even for the second it took to write maybe ten words. It just wasn’t happening. So that’s how you know this book is amazing.

If there were any tiny (tiny) gripes I had, it’s honestly that Soraya doesn’t have nearly enough scenes with her love interest. I mean, that’s most of what I’m here for, and yet! But really that comes back to the trope thing - I’m so enamoured by it I want to see more, and more, and yet more. Secondly, the plot does kind of drop off a little it felt like around the halfway mark. I was still absorbed and couldn’t put it down, but it felt like a noticeable difference between the third quarter of the book compared to the first half and final quarter.

But anyway. The conclusion of the book alone was more than enough for me to rate this the whole 5 stars.

A wonderful Persian story based on a cursed princess, who dreams of being normal and free and how her choices could threaten everyone and everything she holds dear.

The character development of the main character Soraya from start to finish was intriguing, her struggles of her isolated youth and her dark side were reflected well and the reader does feel sympathetic to her plight and invested in her journey. Even the villain of the story was interesting and complex enough.
The Romance of the novel was not the main theme but a subplot (this worked well for the story).
The world building illustrated Persian culture and magic pretty smoothly. I enjoyed this book a lot more than i thought i would.

Checklist:
Fantasy ✔
Romance ✔
Plot Twists ✔
LGBTQ Representation ✔
Beautiful Cover ✔

Title: Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Author: Melissa Bashardoust
Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairytale retelling, Stand-alone, LGBTQ
Date Read: 25/03/20- 29/03/20
Review:

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust I received as an ARC from Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley. The book is due to be released on the 12th of May 2020. It is a stand-alone fantasy book inspired by a multitude of fairytales, mostly from the Persian culture.

The synopsis is as follows:

“A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse...

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming...human or demon. Princess or monster. ” - Goodreads

The plot I found at the beginning I was a little unconcerned about, I typically don’t like the fantasy trope of “deadly to the touch”, however, as the story progressed I found myself wishing Soraya would use her power and her strength against the people in her life.

I really enjoyed the process in which Soraya discovered and unfolded the mystery of her curse, enjoying that those around her would lie, as people naturally do in the world.

I liked the main twist of the book, as I was reading this book at the beginning I predicted I’d probably give the book a 3-star review but then I think the unexpected turn this book took was one of the reasons it went from a 3 to a 4.5-star review. The turn and the plot beyond it are definitely what turned this book around for me. I definitely believe that this is one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year.

Soraya was a very well written character, I cared for her which I find sometimes I lack care for many main characters in books. She felt real, she wasn’t perfect and she had flaws. What’s even better is she acknowledged her flaws and mistakes throughout the book, expressing feelings of compassion and guilt towards the bad guy was the icing on the cake for me.

She was incredibly thought out and likable for me. It was really nice to read from a Bisexual characters POV, which was really refreshing, though I am not a part of the LGBTQ community, I’m really happy that books are being more inclusive for the community and that they can find characters in which they can identify with themselves.

The writing in by Melissa Bashardoust was beautiful and in parts almost poetic. She had me empathizing with every character from good to bad, the details in which she wrote the complex relationships and the emotions of not just the main character was very realistic. When the characters expressed their feelings I understood where each and every one of them was coming from.

The Persian influences within the book were incredible, I loved it. Within the copy, I read there was an included section at the back explaining the inspiration of the book. Melissa Bashardoust explains the Persian language she included whether she used modern and archaic spellings and the Persian fairytales she crossed over with Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. This section I found very informative and I found I really appreciated learning about the original Persian folktales.

So in conclusion, I adored this book.

And I repeat this book comes out on the 12th of May 2020 and I 100% recommend you preorder it if you love fantasy books that have an alternative inspiration to just the classic Grimms Fairytales.

Courtney (ANerdyBookBirdy)

xx

With this beautiful cover, who doesn't want to read the book? I clicked on it just for the cover and I'm not ashamed! Mostly because it was a really good story. It's a Persian fairytale about a cursed princess who is poisonous to touch. It's not that kind of fairytale where the prince comes to rescue the princess. It has demons, it has blood and it has dark secrets.

The world building captivated me, I wished to be in that forest too. The characters are well defined with unique personalities. The story gives some retellings vibes but you will find out why at the end of the story (evil smile). The idea of the book is new for me so I really enjoyed my first book by Melissa Bashardoust.

Thank you NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

A book of journeys, from beginning to end.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn follows the story of Soraya, a girl cursed with poison running through her veins. A girl unable to love for fear of murdering those around her. The briefest touch from Soraya brings death upon the receiver. Soraya must learn to come to terms with her curse and the life that was bestowed upon her. The journey she makes to become accepting of her curse is one of love, betrayal, anger and so much more.

One thing I love about this book is that you don’t only receive the protagonists storyline/journey. The book is full of so many characters who are struggling with their own issues and through the novel you see them all fight their battles and come to terms with their struggles in unique ways.

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I first read the synopsis and it didn’t disappoint. Girl, Serpent, Thorn is rich in Persian mythology and those myths are depicted beautifully. Bashardoust takes on fairytales and mythology to create a wholly unique kind of fantasy tale and I am COMPLETELY enthralled.


I was kindly sent an e-ARC of this book to review via Netgalley from Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review. (4.5 stars)

The below review is copied and pasted from my review scheduled to be posted on my blog Monday 30th March at 8pm UK time.

I can only describe my experience reading Girl, Serpent, Thorn as a tough one. As my Goodreads reading comments will show you, it took me almost a week to make it through the first 30% of the book, and I didn't find my enjoyment of the book picking up until around the 50-60% mark. If I didn't feel obligated to review Girl, Serpent, Thorn, I likely would have DNF'd it. I try not to be too negative in my reviews, but, in a sense, it's my duty to be honest, and I'm not going to award a five star rating for a book I don't feel deserves more than three.

I want to make it very clear, before I start discussing this book in-depth (without spoilers, of course) that my issue is not with Bashardoust's writing style, the Persian influences or largely the plot as a whole. The thing that made this book so hard for me to get through was definitely its characters, who I'll try my best to get my feelings on across shortly.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn, as I mentioned, is a Persian-inspired YA Fantasy. I haven't ever previously come across a book with Persian influences before, and so I greatly enjoyed this aspect of the novel.  In the beginning of the book, I found it a little tricky to keep track of who was who and what was what, but this was only because I wasn't familiar with the terminology used. As the book went on, I found this problem disappeared for me and I could keep reading on without having to refer to my notes or go back and read earlier chapters to remind myself of events and titles mentioned throughout.

When the novel begins, we are introduced to our protagonist, Soraya. She has lived her entire life in seclusion, kept away from both her family and the rest of her people due to her poisonous touch – the result of a curse she has because of her mother. Soraya loves to tend to her private garden, as it is the only thing she can interact with and touch without it dying immediately. I found Soraya to be not the most enjoyable protagonist to read about, mostly because I found her rather whiny and annoying, and at times, much like a wet paper towel. I can safely say that Soraya definitely wasn't the reason I kept on reading right up until the end.

Relatively early on in the book, we are introduced to Soraya's two main love interests. Because I can't say too much about either of them without spoiling the plot for you, I will mention that Soraya is bisexual, and so she has both a male and a female love interest to choose from! If we were rating Soraya's love interests on a scale from 1-10 of how much I loved them (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest), the male love interest, Azad would be a definite 1 and the female love interest, Parvaneh, would be a solid 8, maybe 9 at parts in the book. As I commented on while reading the book to a friend, I would, at times, want to throw a brick at Azad, while I would happily read a spin-off/prequel novella about Parvaneh – she was easily the most interesting character throughout the book, and it was largely her scenes that kept me reading and entertained. I found Azad to be, dare I say, cringe-worthy in his earlier scenes and I didn't like the insta-love aspect between him and Soraya, although their relationship does develop into something more interesting as the plot unfolds (again, no spoilers!).

On the whole, I found the side characters in Girl, Serpent, Thorn to be underdeveloped. While this remark might not be entirely fair given that we don't see too much of them – save Soraya's mother, who has a few key scenes – throughout the book, it would have been nice to feel as though they were people we should care about, rather than wanting to skim ahead to when they weren't on the page so things were a little more interesting. 

In an effort not to be solely badmouthing (and "dumping" on) this book, I should note that I found the plot of Girl, Serpent, Thorn to be thoroughly enjoyable. While I haven't read Bashardoust's other novel, it is clear that she has a skill for engineering plot twists you don't see coming from a mile away, and I found her writing style to be entertaining, although I do wish the pacing was a little faster in places.


That's really all I can say on Girl, Serpent, Thorn without spoiling everything, and so I'll leave this review with my summary points of "you should enjoy this book if you like this"...

You should enjoy Girl, Serpent, Thorn if you like:

Persian-inspired stories
Standalone YA Fantasy
Deadly princesses!
Plot twists you won't see coming
F/f romances
Bisexual main characters

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton, Flatiron Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of Girl, Serpent, Thorn and allowing me to read it prior to publication!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.

I was totally sucked into this book by the cover; the flowers not the snake, we're ignoring the snake thank you. Sadly this was most definitely a case of the cover being better than the book; I really struggled to just keep reading this book and was so close to DNF'ing early on because I was honestly just so bored. The plot didn't really ever seem to go anywhere; like although there were some "twists" and "reveals" it never felt like there was a major focus of the book and it just stumbled along without ever really reaching a peak.

I didn't feel like there was any real worldbuilding to this book and for me it really suffered from the lack of this. I never quite knew what was going on, apart from the two fairytales that they mention over and over you don't really find out much about the world and so I just had no investment in it whatsoever.

The plot itself just wasn't interesting; I don't think this was helped by the MC, Soraya who is honestly one of the weakest main characters i've come across in a while. She never seemed to actually have a personality in this book; she spent most of the time moping around feeling sorry for herself and the other half being manipulated and dragged around. I never got a sense of who she actually was and she just felt very very bland. Both of the romances for her in this book were so weak; they were both a case of "insta-love" and neither were fully explored AT ALL. It was just like, here's love interest 1 and now here's 2 and off we go. She didn't seem to have a strong connection with either IMO it was just who was most manipulative at the time.

I also felt with wider characters too, there were no attempts to build relationships and the characters barely seemed to actually interact with one another in a meaningful way.

I just really struggled with this book which was such a let down for me as it did sound really intriguing. It's out 7th July 2020 so you can go and make your own mind up then!

I got this book off of Netgalley pre-release. This truly felt like reading an oldy timey fairytale and I really enjoyed it. It was a little predictable in places and a lot of the emotions are very surface level, so I didn’t connect with the characters emotionally very much. This didn’t lessen the readability in anyway for me, I loved Parvaneh and Soraya’s relationship development and I feel like all the characters had good arcs, as is expected in a fairytale. I also liked how a lot of elements in the novel were based on Persian culture and folklore and other mythology too.

This book was so difficult to finish. I have to say, it had a good start but, after a few chapters you see where the plot is going and it gets quite predictable. It's an easy read, and the story brings something new into the YA, as it takes inspiration from Persian mythology. I guess the main character was the problem. Soraya came across as super whiny, she doesn't fight back and she is not smart. Instead she gets so easily manipulated and it's like she is always complaining about her wrong life choices. I couldn't feel for her. At the end of the book I was exhausted from all the plot twists just because she has no determination at all. So... Yeah... Very disappointing one.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is an engaging and intricately woven story, rooted in Persian folklore and mythology. The novel follows Soraya, a princess who has been cursed to be poisonous to the touch. Due to this, she is forced to remain in hiding in the secret passageways of Golvahar palace, where her only joy is her rose garden. Although usually she has to watch her family come and go as they please, this time they intend to stay for the shah’s – her twin brother Sorush – wedding. As the wedding preparations begin, she finds out that there is a prisoner who may be able to help lift her curse as well as a handsome soldier who seeks her out. This begins a chain of events which will change Soraya’s life and force her to confront some of her worst fears but also find herself.

I think one of the biggest strengths of this book was how well imagined and explored all of the world building and mythology was. I really liked the fact that the original language and terms were peppered in and there was also a full and detailed explanation of them at the end of the book for readers who may not be familiar with them. I love finding new voices in the fantasy genre, especially non-western centric fantasy so this was a delightful adventure. I enjoyed the wide range of mythology touched upon in the book and how this was intertwined with Bashadoust’s lyrical writing, resulting in a gorgeous story, very reminiscent of older fairytales.

As well as the mythology, I enjoyed reading the journey of self discovery the protagonist, Soraya goes on. Having spent her whole life hidden away and unable to experience physical touch, Soraya feels utterly isolated and also resentful once the truth of her curse is exposed. I feel like her feelings are so warranted and I really empathised with her, as she goes from feeling like a monster to coming to some key realisations about who she is and how the curse doesn’t have to define her. I also thought the family dynamics explored were interesting even if I wasn’t a fan of the characters themselves, due to their neglectful attitude and behaviour.

If a reader were to go into this expecting it to be more focused on romance, I think they’d be a bit disappointed, as it’s more about the lore and Soraya’s journey and growth. Saying this however, there is romance in this book and it is definitely more slow burn and all about the tension which then comes to culmination in the latter half of the book. There are two ‘love interests’ both of them complex and flawed in their own ways, and I think it will definitely be interesting to see what other reviewers think about them both. I liked that they both mirrored Soraya in many ways and both helped her, sometimes even inadvertently, to come to some home truths. This isn’t a love triangle though so if you’re sick and tired of that trope, rest assured, it’s not present!

Overall Girl, Serpent, Thorn was an enjoyable read, even if I probably wouldn’t reread and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting fantasy read with diverse rep and interesting reworkings of some classic tropes.

I would like to thank Melissa Bashardoust & Hodder & Stoughton for my copy of the ARC. Due to this kind gesture, I have decided to leave an honest review.
This cover is absolutely stunning! It captivated me and it really pulled me into wanting to read the book. Boy, I couldn't believe how disappointed I was! I wanted to love it, but alas, it was not for me.

The story is a Persian folklore. A beautiful princess hid in a castle as she has been cursed with a deadly touch. Watching her Royal family go from palace to palace but Soraya has to stay hidden away. Now is the time for Soraya to have a normal life, but how far is she willing to go? And how many people will she hurt along the way?

The plot to start with was actually really good. It sooked me in and I thought YES THIS IS FOR ME! But then I started to get really bored, I got lost in the story but not in a good way. I didn't really get why things were happening and got super overcomplicated.

Soraya has a insta-love, you feel that they have a strong connection and you start to think wow, maybe they can actually save each other. Then it turns out she is bisexual and likes someone else, another insta-love, but then she goes chops and changes her mind between them? I didn't understand it? And if you had such a strong connection with the first, how did it end in the way it did?

I really actually liked Azard and Parvaneh at the start, but then near the end, Azard wasn't really making much sense. Soraya I could really leave and never hear from her again. She mopped around a lot, took so much abuse I was like what the hell? Even though you have a curse you are still a princess, stick up for yourself! Like what the actual?! The way her brother spoke to her when he thought he was going to die was horrendous and how she just got dismissed basically from everyone was a bit strange.

Now, this book was not entirely bad. At the start, I was really gripped, and I think this will be a big winner amongst a lot of people. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me as I feel the story could have been more powerful, Soraya going full dark mode would have been amazing! More of the Divs as these are meant to be full-blown demons.

I do think this book is going to be a hit! But for me its 2 stars.

Check out my blog https://mandyizzym.tumblr.com/ thank you!

"There's much you don't know, much I can't tell you," she said. "But trust me when I say that if I were you, I wouldn't shed my armour for the sake of a kind word or a gentle touch. That's my advice to you, from one monster to another."

Enjoyable, memorable, unique and darkly whimsical; Bashardoust's "Girl, Serpent, Thorn" is a retelling of the Persian epic poem "Shahnameh" mixed with the fairy tales "Sleeping Beauty" and "Rapunzel".