I made it 20% through this but I can't bring myself to finish it. I don't care about any of the characters, the writing isn't my cup of tea and it's put me in a slump.
It's a shame because I really enjoyed Bashardoust's first novel, but this one feels like it's written completely different and I find my mind wandering when reading it.

Inspired by Persian mythology, well you had me there. I was going to love this from that alone and I really wasn’t disappointed. This story is beautifully written, the world building is fantastic and the characters are just perfect, three dimensional and well developed. It’s a wonderful fantasy world, with great representation, the romance subtle and not the main plot, this was about strong women, not perfect but real imperfect and flawed strength. I absolutely loved it. I really do recommend you read this, you won’t regret it.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I love fairy tales, I love the patterns and rhythms and feel of them. I particularly love reading folk tales and fairy tales from cultures other than Western Europe. Their rhythms and touchstones are so different from those collected by the Grimms or Perrault, and I love seeing the similarities and the differences, and how those patterns weave around each other. This story, inspired by Iranian fairy tales, was wonderfully immersive and evocative, and really very magical. It felt like another of Scheherazade’s stories, with how perfectly it drew the world inside it.

The story follows Soraya, the twin sister of the Shah, who has been poisonous to touch her entire life. A single brush of her skin can kill a living being in an instant, so her family have hidden her away, trained her to stay alone and keep her gloves on at all times, and left her with only a garden full of roses for company. It’s said that she was cursed by a div – a wicked, magical spirit – in revenge for when her mother rescued a woman trapped by the div when she herself was a child. Soraya has believed that her whole life, even as she secretly wondered why the curse was for the first born daughter, not first born child – why was she cursed, but her brother kept safe?

This year, however, her brother returns to the palace with two pieces of news – the first, that he is getting married; the second, that he has captured a div and brought it with him. Despite warnings from her mother that divs only tell lies and manipulate, Soraya decides to ask the div if it knows how to break her curse, and that sets into a motion a chain of events that could destroy her country forever.

What surprised me about the pacing of the story is what I thought would bethe resolution happened earlier in the novel than I expected, just before the halfway point. This made it a little harder for me to predict the pattern of how the story would develop, and deftly put me in a different position as a reader. I wasn’t in the familiar rhythms of the fairy tale any more. The second half was an exploration of how different characters can follow similar journeys but reach different endings and resolutions for themselves.

I really enjoyed how the story explored the way personal choices and principles can lead to different endings, even if two characters are placed in identical situations. This made the latter half of the book fairly philosphical in that respect, as Soraya examines her own motives and those of her family, the divs, and the people in her life. She’s on a journey of self-discovery that addresses all the traumas that have built up over her life and helps her set her own definitions for her life.

One thing I did find frustrating with the story was how many times the characters found out another character had been lying to them. There were lots of hidden secrets, and a lot of moments of “ask them what really happened here”. I’d have preferred if there had been just a moment, perhaps in the middle, where all the secrets were revealed at once and then the second half is moving forward from that and building on that. The constant betrayals and second-guessing frustrated me, but it’s a fairly minor niggle with an otherwise fairly magical and wonderful book.

This is also a queer book, with WLW representation, which was a nice surprise as I was reading it. It’s another way in which this book subverts the tropes of traditional fairy tales, of being rescued and swept off by the prince, to live happily ever after. It sets itself up very clearly to trick the reader into thinking there will be this style of narrative, but then turns the whole thing on its head.

This is a great story, with a really relateable narrative character, that knows its source material but then takes the tropes and plays with them in fun, wonderful ways. I really enjoyed it.

Briefly:

A story inspired by traditional Persian fairy tales, which manages to all at once hit all the right tropes and subvert them into something exciting and wonderful.
I actually love the cover, but I’m surprised it doesn’t exactly reveal much about the setting of the book. It’s such a richly-described and immersive setting that it seems odd to entirely remove it from the cover.
I seem to have an uncanny ability to find WLW YA books, even when it’s not mentioned anywhere in the promotional materials or blurbs. I do find it unusual, in the same way I did with The Binding, that this isn’t promoted more.
I really enjoyed the information Bashardoust included at the end of the book, explaining the sources that had inspired her and giving the cultural background to the stories she included. It was really wonderful to be given not only a book that felt so closely tied to this culture, but an insight into the parallels it had within the real world.

Rating: 4/5 – Aside from my niggle about the way information was revealed at times, this was a really magical book and I thought Soraya was a marvellous leading lady.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC of this book!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a Persian inspired fairytale that centers around a princess who is poison to everyone she touches. In desperation, in a want so adeptly described I felt it too, Soraya (our poison girl) seeks out a demon to try and find the solution to her problems. When her choices lead to dire consequences to everyone and everything she knows and loves, she has to figure out who it is that she is and who it is that she wants to be.

This story was so rich with emotion. I swayed with Soraya. When she longed for her life with her family, so did I. When she longed to give in to the flame inside her, the anger and bitterness, I longed for it to. The love triangle isn't a triangle so much as it is a war Soraya has within herself over the two sides of the flame that burns inside her. The bi rep was well done and much appreciated, and though the romance in the book is important to the story and the way it plays out, it feels secondary overall and Soraya's journey from helpless to heroine

The story is filled with Persian mythology and culture, and the visuals provided by the author are all richly described, down to the clothing. I felt like a part of the story while I was reading, and really wish I could get a book two from this! I'd love to see where Soraya's journey goes.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fairytales, sweet Sapphic moments, and a burning desire to give into the dark.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is nothing like I’ve read before because of its inspiration from Persian mythology and it was so so interesting! I really loved the world Bashardoust created.

Our MC, Soraya, is someone worth following and I really enjoyed seeing her struggle between the light and the darkness, what’s right and wrong.

I am not going to lie, I guessed one of the big twists a few chapters in and the structure of the story is quite typical for YA but the author made it work really well. The only thing that surprised me was the pace - everything happens very fast, especially the beginning and that leaves little room for character development but this was to be expected considering this is a standalone. It was still a really good book, written really well otherwise.

This is a whimsical and fantastical Persian inspired fantasy and after finishing it, I totally get the cover now. The whole book is this balance of bloody thorns and monstrous hearts, mixed together with beauty and innocence and aching loneliness. It's based on quite a few threads of mythology like Rappaccini's Daughter, the Persian epic Shahnameh, and a bit of Sleeping Beauty mixed in. It also felt a lot like the Ballad of Tamlin I think? (Basically if you liked ACTOAR but wished it was gay; this is for you.) I also loved the exploration of the div (demon) lore.

I always crave more sapphic fantasy so I loved that about it! Soraya is probably bisexual (obviously no labels on page) and her sexuality wasn't a big deal?! It just was. And I loved that. Parvaneh is a Parik (type of demon) and Soraya has been cursed with poison running through her veins. Everything she touches dies. There's this comparison of: who really is the monster. And Soraya is so lonely and touch-starved, which makes her pretty naive but understandably so? I was disappointed that Parvaneh and Soraya actually have very little page time together. I feel their relationship could've been much deeper and it was hard to really feel for them when they barely knew each other.

Overall it's a fantasy both beautiful and monstrous, easy to read, and steeped in Persian folklore and culture -- with some super compelling plot twists too.

I was very intrigued by the premise of Girl, Serpent, Thorn. I love a good mythological retelling -- this one is heavily influenced by Old Persian tales. I didn't really understand the relevance of the title until the very end and it's partly explained in the author's notes at the back, so I highly recommend you read those to get a better understanding! I really liked the characterisation: a lot of people said they found Soraya to be quite underdeveloped but I thought the opposite. I also didn't see the plot twist coming in the first third, which I always appreciate!

I didn't realise that this was a queer romance, though. I'm not sure if it had been marketed that way or not as I first heard about this on Netgalley, but it didn't shine through very well. There's both m/f romance and f/f romance. I only realised it was meant to be queer around 70% in, which is far too late, in my opinion, so the romance didn't work for me.

Otherwise, Girl, Serpent, Thorn was a strong addition to the fantasy retelling genre!

From the moment I read the blurb, I knew I wanted to read this book. Girl, Serpent, Thorn is the story of a girl cursed from birth. Her skin is poisonous and if she touches someone, that person dies. Soraya lives hidden from the world, but as her brother’s wedding approaches, hope surfaces in the form of a demon trapped in the palace’s dungeon. So begins a journey as Soraya discovers how far she will go for freedom, and who she really is, girl or monster, in the process.

I read this book in a matter of hours. From the start, I was drawn in by Soraya’s character and the image the author evokes as we first meet her. As the story unfolds and we delve further into the world and the plot, I was even more captivated. It takes a lot of the usual expectations of the cursed princess story and subverts them. That the book is based on Persian culture, myths and fairytales, is also a refreshing step away from Western stories that fill up a lot of bookshop shelves.

While the core cast is very small, with only a few built up across numerous scenes, the secondary characters still come across strongly, as if they could step of the page. Even so, the weakest part of the book for me was the villain as I struggled to get under their skin and, despite taking up a large amount of page space, the impact they made on me was far less than some of the other characters, including one that only had about two lines!

Overall, I really loved reading this book. The writing was beautiful and the pacing was really well done, that is was easy to just keep turning the page. Girl, Serpent, Thorn a standalone which is both a blessing and a curse – I would have loved to see this story expanded on over multiple books, or even see Soraya’s story continue in a sequel, but there is something special about a fantasy book that works well on its own.

Soraya is the twin sister of the Shah, the king of her country. She should’ve grown up as a princess and member of court, but instead she was hidden away and most people don’t know that she exists. Soraya is poisonous to the touch, and anyone that she comes into contact with dies in seconds.

I loved this book!

Firstly, this book draws from Persian myths, which was an immediate plus before I’d even started to read! The world that Bashardoust built up was vivid, and I loved learning more about it. At the end of the book, Bashardoust includes an appendix of sorts, where she goes over what each element of the novel was based off of, and gives summaries of the original stories that went into the making of this book. I really appreciated that. It provided more context to what I’d just read, helped me understand what aspects had come from the myths and what aspects hadn’t, and also served as a pronunciation guide. I came away from this having learned something new!

I’ve been burned before by another book that had a similar premise to this one, there being a princess who’s poisonous to the touch, when it turned out that the princess in question was not in fact poisonous at all. This book follows through on its premise. Soraya is indeed poisonous. Any people or animals that touch her die within seconds. Following through on the premise is a very low bar, and it shouldn’t be notable that this book crosses it, but my relief when it did cross that bar was enough that I have to mention it.

Soraya is bi and - mild spoiler but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - this book hetbaits. I’ve only read one book before that hetbaits and it’s honestly such a glorious and underused trope. The summary implies that the ‘young man who isn’t afraid of her’ is going to be the romantic interest. He’s not, and we love to see it.

Nobody was perfect in this book. Everybody made bad decisions at some point, or made an assumption about someone that wasn’t true, or something else along those lines. They were all people, and they all felt real. I have Opinions™ about certain characters’ actions, but I understand why each of them did what they did. That kind of complexity is exactly the kind of thing I look for in stories. Even the villain was understandable to a degree.

Something that I really liked was the exploration of emotional abuse, and the tactics that abusers use to manipulate, isolate, and control their victims. I can’t go into much more detail without spoiling a large amount of the book, but Bashardoust handled this extremely well. The Darkling wishes he had what Azad has. But if emotional abuse is a trigger for you, then be aware that it’s very present throughout this book.

Also, the true romantic relationship in this book was lovely! Soraya needed someone who accepted her for who she truly was, and it was great to see her give that acceptance right back. I love these two a lot and I hope they live a long and happy life together!

In case it wasn’t clear by now, I recommend this to everyone. It’s well written, you’ll probably learn something new, it’ll help you learn how to spot abusive behaviours, and the main relationship was a joy to read!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher and author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review! I also got a copy in my Fairyloot box in May with a very pretty pink cover and artwork on the reverse of the dust jacket!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year so I had a lot of expectations placed on it, which is mostly my own fault, but i'm a little sad that I was a little disappointed with this book. For the first chunk it felt like it dragged too much, and I was a little bored and I didn't really feel anything for any of the characters, there was just no attachment to them for me. The second half, on the other hand was much better, I loved the twist (which I hadn't seen coming) and I liked the way it ramped up to be more action packed and interesting. I think overall the worldbuilding was also done very well, which helped with setting the story and making me want to know how it ended.

As a fairytale it works very well, it follows the same basic structure and tone (though I can't pretend to be super knowledgeable about this, i'm just going off of experience in reading the odd one) and does a good job of it. The writing is pretty and descriptive and the book itself is wonderfully diverse. I love the inclusion of a f/f romance and I will forever be excited that LGBTQ book are getting hyped up and also getting included in book boxes.

Overall, if the first half of the book had captured me just a little more, and if i'd felt more connection to the characters my rating would have been a 4/5 instead of a 3.5/5. But despite my own slight quarrel with the characters and the pacing, I still recommend this, especially to people who absolutely love fairytales because it very much has that vibe and we don't see all that many queer ones either, so this is a great addition to the genre.

Although I liked the premise of the story (a twist on fairy tales always gets me excited), this one just didn't work for me. DNF.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was amazing fantasy based on Persian mythology that revolved around cursed princess and her efforts of trying to free herself from curse. It was about good vs evil, choices and its consequences, accepting flaws than fearing it, finding beauty in imperfections, family, loyalty, love, and betrayal.

Writing was flawless, compelling and magical. It was written in third person narrative told from Soraya’s perspective. There was fabulous world building, interesting and mysterious character and gradual character development with a little bit romance.

As soon as I started reading this book, I knew I’m going to like this. The beginning was fantastic. A mother telling her daughter a story about a girl how she was cursed by a demon and birthed a princess with poison in her blood, a curse, whoever she touch will die. But it was not just story but reality of Soraya. Approaching marriage of her brother, a demon imprisoned in dungeon who might help in finding answers about her curse, and a boy who was not afraid of her curse, ready to help and understood her more than her family, put her in situation she never imagined she would found herself in and couldn’t come out of it without putting her family in danger. Her one question started a untoward chain reaction. It was interesting find out who was that boy, if demon will help her or not, how she would free herself from curse and save her family.

I loved this concept of girl alone in her room and garden craving for touch and love, deceived by a demon and found help from another demon to right the wrong she did, and save her family. Cover and title was perfect and made more sense after reading the book.

Lot of things happened in first half that described world, Soraya’s story, about her family and Golvahar, lies she discovered and range of emotions she felt in trying to get rid of her curse. Some things I could see coming like- Demon in prison was mysterious, she was keeping some secrets but I could see spark of relationship between them which we don’t see igniting until second half of the book. And mainly I knew, that new boy looked too good to be true. Something was off about him, no matter how convenient he sounded, and I feared for Soraya. I knew she was putting her faith in wrong place but I was curious to see what that boy wanted and when he would show his true color. When he did, I must say I was surprised. I didn’t expect what was revealed and I was not sure what would happen next. Second half was all about Soraya’s development, her conflicts, knowing love for first time, and many twists and turns.

Soraya was great. Usually when heroine shows weakness and self-doubt in half of the book, I get frustrated but here it felt right and real. Even though she was most powerful in realm, most deadly person, she felt low and fearful. She didn’t see her curse as untouchable power but a poison, and she feared for herself, for her family and people who might come near her. Her fear made her weak, small, and yielding. But hope of getting rid of this poison, crave for human touch, companionship, happiness and her family’s love was too strong that made her want to change that about her. When she faced worst consequences of her wish and choices, we see how misguided she was. I felt for her at this point. I couldn’t help but put myself in her situation and from what she discovered, her actions made sense. Her intentions were selfish but felt genuine. I loved the way she learned her lessons, kept fighting for her family even though she heard worst things from them for her mistakes, and how she found a way to make things right. Her guilt, anger, self-doubt, determination, a new experience of touch and love, it was all written perfectly.

All secondary characters specially Azad and Parvaneh were interesting and mysterious. I couldn’t tell whom should I trust and whom should not until second half of the book. They were all keeping secrets, told lies and will betray to achieve what they wanted.

World was best part of the book. All elements were well explored. There were maze of secret passages of Golvahar palace and Soraya’s beautiful rose garden, Persian terminology, different types of demons, their appearance and power, legends and stories, mythical creature, and spellbinding forest and mountain of demons. It was fascinating to read how author created world inspired by ancient Persia and its folklore. It all made more sense in author’s note.

F/F relationship was lovely in second half. It was for a short while but worked as breather in this tense and fast paced plot. Trust issues along with tension to save family made it interesting to see how they will confess their feelings to each other and when that moment came, I couldn’t help but smile ear to ear.

Climax was brilliant. With a surprising discovery, an emotional twist, and tense situation that left me without any hope. Even one last effort by Soraya didn’t work but then that magical effect and all that happened till the end was amazingly thrilling and exhilarating. End was perfect. My only complaint was I didn’t want it to end. I want more stories in this world.

Overall, Girl, Serpent, Thorn was fast pace and fabulous #fantasy with magical world based on #PersianMythology, and mysterious and interesting characters.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a book that I have been intrigued by since hearing about it and after having my friends Emily (A Short Book Lover) and Eleanor (Cosy Book Corner) rave about it, I knew I had to get on it and finally read it, and well let me tell you I wasn’t disappointed!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a book that is rich in Persian mythology and culture, and this is something I had no prior knowledge of, before reading the book. We follow Soraya, a princess who has been cursed since she was born. Soraya is poisonous and anyone who touches her dies. Seeking answers to how she can be free of this curse, Soraya seeks out a demon who holds the answers, whilst also gaining the attention of a young soldier who doesn’t seem to be afraid of her. However, when her choices lead to devastating outcomes, she must learn who she is, a princess or a monster.

My first thought of Girl, Serpent, Thorn was WOW! From the prologue, it had my attention and I was immediately captivated by this unique, magical world rich in Persian mythology and fairytale. As someone who loves a good fairytale, I was in my element and just wanted to keep reading, which is how I finished it in only a few days. It is truly stunning and honestly one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read it a good while.

Plot-wise, I can’t fault it. Everything moved at the right pace and I found myself becoming highly invested in the story. There were twists and turns in every chapter and there were times when I found myself gasping in what could only be described as a major shock. Girl, Serpent, Thorn isn’t afraid to leave you stunned and this can be seen as the main reason I couldn’t stop reading. As this is a standalone fantasy (which is very rare to see!) you don’t get much in the way of world-building, but that is more than made up for with the exciting narrative and character development that starts from the very beginning. Come to the end I did find myself wanting more, but I’ll admit that the ending does tie everything up neatly and I finished the book feeling very satisfied.

Soraya..what a character! I was drawn to her from the moment she was introduced. She was strong-willed and feisty, which all in all made her a very powerful female protagonist. I must admit I did find myself wanting her to keep her poison, as not only did it make her stand out but it made her one of the most distinctive characters in YA Fantasy today. Her inner struggles throughout the book made her seem all that more realistic, as we all go through that at some point, don’t we? That being said, I was more than happy with the choices she made and come to the end she was a powerful, confident character. If you want to see an example of amazing character development, then look no further than Soraya.

I’m going to mention the romance within Girl, Serpent, Thorn ever so slightly as I don’t want to spoil anything for any of you wanting to read this. I went into it knowing it was going to be sapphic and it was wonderful. Melissa handled Soraya’s sexuality with care and sensitivity, and even though it wasn’t outrightly discussed it was portrayed with all due honesty, and I admire that.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was an incredible read and is a contender for my best book of 2020. For a standalone fantasy, it exceeded all my expectations and I am excited to read more work by Melissa Bashardoust very soon.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a YA fantasy novel, and it's one of my favourite reads so far this year. I absolutely adored this book.

The main character, Soraya, is a princess, locked away in a palace because she has been cursed by a div to have a poisonous touch. The poison runs through her veins and everything that she touches dies. She has her garden and her flowers, but no friends or real human connections. Even her own mother can't touch her. When a captured div is brought to the palace, Soraya decides to talk to her, to see if she can tell her how to break her curse. The book has good pacing, and it didn't feel rushed or boring.

This book falls into the category of fairy tale retelling, drawing on Persian myths and fairy stories. The book itself begins with a fairy tale, and then stories and myths reoccur throughout the book. I found this particularly effective for this kind of story, where myths become reality within the pages of the book. And the mythology that Bashardoust draws from is so rich and wonderful. The world described in this book is beautiful, mystical and magical. Persian mythology is not something I've ever really learnt about but this book has sparked my interest in it.

I also loved the characters. Soraya has a journey from being shy and downtrodden, rejected by everyone around her, to realising her power, her anger and her strength. She is resourceful and determined, despite her circumstances, or perhaps because of them. And then there is Azad, a mysterious young soldier. After meeting him, Soraya is sucked into danger, discovering secrets and lies, betrayals and mistakes. When Azad was first introduced I assumed that he was going to be the love interest, in typical YA fashion, but damn, that twist! I won't give any spoilers, but this story was like a rollercoaster and I loved it! Speaking of love interests, Soraya is bi, and there are lots of lovely sapphic moments which I really enjoyed, involving my favourite character in the book (although I won't say more than that to avoid spoilers).

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a wonderful queer fantasy novel that you should definitely read.

Girl Serpent Thorn is a story based around the idea of fairy tales and myths and legends . It is about a princess who is kept hidden away by her family because her touch is poisonous and will kill. Sounds amazing? unfortunately the premise sounds great but the execution is poor. Apart from being very slow paced, it is also extremely predictable. I guess literally everything that would happen! The story is also very convenient. Cant find a key for a door in a locked tunnel that you have explored a million times??? There it is behind a big brick in the wal a few feet away with an actual 'x' on it!

and no I am not joking.

Maybe I am not the right audience for this book. Other reviews have been very positive but it definitely wasn't for me

I really liked the story the book told, there were a lot of twist and turns and there is an interesting plotline however the focus of the story is on the main character’s own inner battle. The story is a ‘fairy tale’ so it is quite predictable regarding some of the twists and plot points that happen and ends with a happy ending which I personally did not like. One thing I was quite disappointed with is the fact, I thought the main character would be more of a villain or be in the balance between good and bad, but I never felt like she ever was. Her actions did have bad consequences but the moral side of it, I never thought she was ever ‘bad’.

I liked how the three main characters of the book were connected through their actions and liked how the romance/relationship between them developed. I would have liked to see more of the other characters especially the mum character because she was important and there is not enough of her in the book for me to have an opinion on her.

I enjoyed the setting and the stories within the book, but I did find the world building lacked, it was wordy at the start and quite confusing which did not help during the second half of the book. I also felt like because the story is predictable in a way, I did get bored towards the end of the book mainly because I felt like the main character was always explaining/justifying her actions. However, I liked the writing style regarding the portrayal of the main character and her conflicting feelings at the start of the book.

3/5

I absolutely adored this book! I was hooked from the very beginning and was drawn in so quickly I didn't want to put it down but I also didn't want it to end.

You fully understand the reason for every character's actions which I thought made them more realistic to read. I constantly never knew what was going to happen next. The relationships discovered within this book were also brilliantly well done. From first reading about Soraya's family and how she had to live since she was a child all the way up until where she meets the people she finally thinks she can trust and confide in.

The plot was driven and the pacing was quick making it easy to read and enjoy but I also think such quick pacing did lead to some downfall in the book especially in terms of Soraya and Azad. Their supposed 'love' was confusing as if it was instant yet there seemed to be no actual emotional connection to which when everything is revealed the tension isn't as strong as it could have been.

I loved Soraya and Parvaneh's relationship and I wish there was more of it. Parvaneh was a very interesting character that like Soraya has made mistakes and is determined to make it right again. I wish we got to learn more about her and her sisters.

All in all, I was extremely excited to read this book and I was not disappointed by its outcome! It was thrilling to read and I'm very grateful I had the chance to read the arc.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn failed to make a long lasting impression. It has been a week since I finished reading, and I am still struggling to find anything to say about this book.


Don't get me wrong, this wasn't an awful novel by any means, but I am not swinging from the chandeliers yelling about it, or thinking over the novels events and telling myself it is a book I will re-read asap and buy pretty hardcover and paperback versions of.

The novel has an interesting concept, based on Persian Folklore, and I enjoyed the aspects that entwined the myth and legends of the Shahnameh. It is not a myth I am familiar with, so I really liked learning more about the types of demons and other mythical figures and seeing how Bashardoust incorporated them into her own fiction.

Sadly, while I did find it interesting, I often found it lacking in terms of descriptions and depth. I feel that while Bashardoust brushed on descriptions of appearance, and the politics of the different types of demons, it was just that - brief. She gave the reader enough to get by, which yeah, great, that's suitable, but it lacked any sort of depth or nuance.

I enjoyed the plot, however I often found it to feel rushed, like we were going through 3 novels worth of content stuffed in one. This had the consequence of relationships feeling rushed, like Soraya and Azad. I was like?? What is this almost insta-love?? Then obvs more of the plot revealed itself, and I'm not heartless so I felt for Soraya, but I felt it missed the true emotional impact that it could have had & that carried on throughout the rest of the novel. Again, I felt that the nuance was missing.

I wish we got to see Soraya interact with her family more. I felt her relationship with her mother was executed the best, but I'm sad to see we did not have more moments between her and her twin - when his absence from her life is something that greatly impacted her.

I really liked the relationship between Soraya and Parvaneh. Parvaneh was a good character, with an interesting, complicated and dark background which I wish was explored further, not just a recap of 'oh yes I did this thing' and 'oh it hurts me that you did that thing, but yes, it is now 5 minutes later and I will forgive you'. I really liked her & the other Divs.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story, which attempts to explore morally complex characters and themes. Ultimately, I feel like it often missed the mark by rushing through events and not developing the characters fully, but it was still an entertaining and interesting read even if it did not fulfil its potential.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was one of my most anticipated reads of this year, and it went above and beyond my hopes for it! This book is a mixture of Zoroastrian and Persian mythology, which is woven together into a lush tapestry of imagery and worldbuilding to create something spectacular. It’s something so completely unique, and left me longing for more of the world, the story and the mythology!

Soraya as a main character is one of my new favourite female characters. She’s morally grey, and spends a lot of the book having conflicted feelings about her life and her actions. She has spent her whole life locked away and starved of touch, human connection and her family. She watches them from the shadows, never getting to be a part of the world she has been denied but it bound to. Obviously this leads to her feelings about herself, her life and her family being extremely complicated. She loves her family, but years of being ignored and apart from them is obviously going to build up a lot of hurt and resentment. There is also a lot of mistrust and suspicion, and it felt realistic because family can be such a complicated thing. I love that this was explored and not overlooked, as it was such an important part of Soraya’s character and journey! I really enjoyed seeing Soraya’s growth and progression as a character. She starts so timid, and really grows into herself, and realises who she is and who she is meant to be. Soraya is bisexual/pansexual (I’m not sure which), and so that makes the theme of self discovery even more important. It’s powerful and beautiful and I loved being inside her head.

Sorays’s relationships with other characters felt nuanced and were also complicated in other ways. There was a contrast between her family and the new influences in her life – Azad, a guard who notices her, and Parvaneh, the Div (demon) captive who seems to know so much about her. Soraya has been starved of love, touch and attention for her whole life, and because of this, the romance seemed really natural to me. It’s not ‘instalove’ (which I am never a fan of!) it’s a desire to be seen, to be touched, and to have someone care about her despite her curse. It was really well written, and didn’t feel forced. Everything in this book felt like it was there for a reason. There were callbacks to earlier moments, twists and turns, foreshadowing and important information. It all felt very deliberate, and the writing style was gripping and gorgeous. It captivated me from the moment I started it, and I couldn’t stop reading it.

The setting was beautiful. Though we don’t see much of the world, as Soraya is hidden away, everything we do see is full of rich detail. Of course the Persian inspired setting comes through and Bashardoust weaves together unfamiliar terms and phrases (for those of us new to Persian/Zoroastrian culture and mythology) into the text in a way that flows perfectly and never feels clunky. It made me want to read up more on the things mentioned, despite being given a basic enough understanding for the text which led to a whole evening reading up on dakhmeh, and another on divs and language. There’s even a section o0f influences and further reading at the back of the book which I can’t wait to start on!

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. It was beautiful, magical and everything I was hoping for and more. It’s definitely one of my favourite books so far this year, and Soraya is such an incredible character. The world is complex and rich, the romance is perfect and it has excellent bisexual rep! I can’t recommend it enough!

Before I get into the actual review I just wanted to express my undying love to the main character, Soraya. She is an absolute gem. I love everything about her from the way that she was written to everything that she goes through; simply put I would die for her.

Now that that is established, the actual book was a treat!
I loved the Persian inspired fantasy, the world created is absolutely lush and just the world-building is so great and exciting. I believe that anyone who is a fan of high fantasy or Asian inspired worlds (or non-Western Fantasy in general) would find this novel to be great.
The characters themselves were amazing, I loved how flawed they were and how complex their relationships were. and I just found myself connecting instantly to Soraya and everything that she has to face and just found her anti-heroine stance to be quite refreshing.

On to the plot, I would describe that as medium-paced. There were bits where it felt like the book was moving too fast and others that felt like they were kind of slow but overall I believe that the author did a perfectly wonderful job of pacing the story and putting everything together to keep it both interesting and exciting. The plot-twist was kind of foreseeable but I personally believe that that is just a sign that the author had done a great job at building up the plot and leading to it so I simply did not object to anything!

Perhaps the one thing that I found myself uninterested in was the romance? it is f/f (which i'm all in for!) but I am usually not the biggest fan of romance in fantasy books and this simply was just another case of me not caring much for the romantic aspect as much as the actual fantasy; however, the pairing itself was great for those who do enjoy romance!

To wrap it up, I believe this is a perfect fantasy standalone and I'm glad I got to read it as I definitely believe we need more standalones in the fantasy genre!