I just could not get into this book. I really wanted to - the prose was dense, the author had clearly taken time with her worldbuilding, there were some lovely turns of phrase, and everything I had heard about it sounded just my cup of tea, because I tend to love Regency romance and portal fantasies.

Unfortunately, the book just ... didn't click with me. I usually try to read at least the first 100 pages of any given work, even if I'm having a hard time getting there, but with this one I couldn't get even that far.

Overall, it is a cute story that had its own charm which I genuinely enjoyed, but this one won’t be a love for a lifetime book.

I really, really loved the very complex concept in this book - the idea of mirror cities, urban fantasy police procedurals, and an alternate world with steampunk in it all rolled into one. However, I do feel like it needed one more good, thorough edit, because the coherency of things didn't really come together until roughly around the first half of the book. Nevertheless, this is a very ambitious story and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm definitely in for the next book in the "Split Worlds" series! If you're looking for a bold new urban fantasy series, "Between Two Thorns" is definitely something you should check out.

Sam is an average (ie normal) guy. Having gone out with some friends, he is stumbling, drunk through an alley on his way home when he stops to pee against a wall. Unfortunately for Sam, it turns out he interrupts a paranormal crime in process - two strange-looking men removing a body. And thus begins a strange, circuitous story.

Cathy lives in between worlds. She lives between Mundanus (aka - our present world) and Exilium. This in-between world is known as Nether and has reflections of Mundanus cities. Cathy doesn't live between worlds by choice. She ran away from her cruel family, but was discovered by her patron (Lord Poppy). Poppy ruined the charm that kept her hidden and now she's back with her horrible family and facing an arranged marriage.

Max is an Arbiter. He protects humans from the foul Fae once a city has been compromised. But lately things have been rough for Max. Four humans have gone missing in just as many weeks and he needs to investigate. It doesn't help that he's the only Arbiter in the area. Max might feel some remorse, but Arbiters are able to detach themselves from their work. Literally. Max puts his soul into a stone which hangs on a necklace. The necklace hangs around the neck of a gargoyle and that gargoyle then carries his soul.

And finally, William - Cathy's arranged husband-to-be. He's tossed into the mix.

Max needs help and Cathy turns out to be his best option. But can he trust her? She has her own agenda and Max doesn't understand why she wants to give up everything - a life of privilege - to run away.

This book ... this book is a hot mess. Author Emma Newman does a really wonderful job of giving her characters unique, distinct voices, and I generally liked the three worlds that we get to see. But the story is convoluted, and while it does ultimately wrap around and come together, it takes much too long to get there. Some serious tightening could really have helped. Did we honestly need William's point of view? What did he add to the story? Take him away and do we miss anything? No.

Cathy is an appropriate YA heroine. She's tough, gritty, and independent, even though no one seems to let her be so. She's a lot like any other female protagonist in YA books (I bet you can name a few without thinking too hard) and while I liked her, I would say that she doesn't stand out in any way from all the other YA female protagonists on the bookshelves.

My favorite character in the book is the gargoyle, carrying around a human(?) soul. More of the gargoyle and less of William, please.

I've read a couple of Emma Newman books (including, unfortunately, the third book in this series before reading this) but this has probably been my least favorite.

Looking for a good book? Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman is the first book in a YA series. It struggles to find its voice and storyline while setting the stage for a longer story arch.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Between Two Thorns gives us a promising story, but then it fails to deliver. Maybe this kind of urban fantasy is long gone and buried. Maybe I read this book at the wrong time. Maybe it was something else. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

The story itself is interesting, but I found it difficult to understand how the Nether and the Exilium work. Again - maybe it was my fault, but I felt like it was too confusing. The concept behind the worlds is cool, or at least it seemed so since I was left wondering how on earth they actually work.
I also believe the two main storylines - or just one? They kind of converge into one, but I still feel like they are two different things and, as the worldbuilding, too confuse and they don't make a lot of sense when put together. If we only had Cathy and her oh-look-at-me-I-am-such-a-rebel attitude and her problems with her family, her arranged marriage, and the Fae in general, it would be fine. If we only had Max (what does he do, exactly?), his gargoyle (yep) and far-fetched Sam, it would be fine. But no, let's mix it all together and bake a what-the-flying-f is happening in this book.
To top it all, Cathy is just a hateful character. I did not like her, I did not care for what happened to her, and I don't really know how she will evolve in the next books.
The other characters - and there are tons of them - feel all the same. If you ask me to distinguish between Nathaniel, Tom, or... I forgot his name. Cathy's fiancé. They all merge into one.

It had some nice points, tho. I liked how the families were named. I liked the little bit of mystery going around and about and the final confrontation. It just wasn't enough to get me hooked on this series, and after reading the synopses of the following books, I stand by my decision.

It is truly a shame that I did not enjoy this book as much as I could. I really love Fae related stories, but this one failed to amaze, or even amuse, me.

Once I got into this I really enjoyed it. The only thing I had a tough time with was keeping up with all the characters. But things are afoot, fae are plotting, people die, the fae-touched gossip and their magical police have a lot plot twists to sort through.. Excellent world and I am looking forward to seeing what Cathy and William, Max and his gargoyle and the whacked-out sorcerer get up to next.

My apologies; if I requested this book, it appears that due to family commitments I was not able to read it before the book was archived. I'm sorry it has lingered this long.

I read this book a number of years ago but remember it being a very creative book with a rich and vivid world. The story took a while to get going but it was a fun and intriguing world with a cast of interesting characters. It had a fairy-tale esque feeling to the story but of course with a much more dark plot. An interesting story but I haven't continued on with the series.