I was attracted to the cover of this book and, even though I'm not a fantasy reader, I thought I'd give it a go. I enjoyed the world I was drawn into by the narrator, Katy Sobey, and the storyline had promise. I was confused where it was in time, there were petticoats mentioned, then later on, the latest makeup styles.

I didn't enjoy it enough to invest in the series, but it kept me entertained for a few hours.

Narrated by Katy Sobey ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Lili Wilkinson ⭐⭐

The premise on the blurb was very interesting but unfortunately when it came to the execution of the book it was confusing in areas and overall lacking that something special that a book like this needs, dare I say it was missing something magical?

The writing itself was very beautiful and the narrator was fantastic.

Would I recommend this book? - yeah I would. I have a friend that loves these types of books so even though I didn't enjoy this my friend might.

Would I purchased this book for a friend or myself? - No

I thought the blurb to this one was super intriguing - it sounded like quite a unique premise and I was quite excited to listen to it.

Unfortunately for me this one didn’t live up to the intrigue that came across from the blurb - whilst the narration itself was fine, the story very quickly became difficult to follow and I found it wasn’t fully holding my attention or peaking my engagement. The narrative at times felt quite clunky and confusing with timelines and complex world building.

I also didn’t feel like I invested massively in the characters - the connection with her unlikeable best friend was frustrating and I just didn’t gel with it.

I persevered with the overall storyline, but in the end I just don’t think this one was for me. I think lots of aspects had a lot of potential, but just didn’t hit the mark for me personally.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my audio copy.

An intriguing, witchy YA tale. The pacing for me felt quite slow and the characters weren't overly likeable so I struggled to engage with this as much as I thought that I would.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

When I first started this book, I had trouble getting into it. But once it got going, it didn’t stop! The vibes were immaculate and I could vividly imagine everything going on.

I think a big part of this book that you need to keep in mind is that there will be character development. At first I found the main character Maude and her friend Odette extremely annoying but this is used later on. Thankfully, as I continued listening and I got past halfway in the book there was a lot of character development that I really enjoyed.

It explored the toxic friendship between the main characters and what I loved was seeing was both sides of the friendship and how neither of them were in the right, and they both had things to work on.

The story telling/ faerie tale aspect of this book has to be my favourite part, I loved the unique take on magic and the lore of this world, but I did find myself wanting MORE explanation on how the magic worked. It was so fun to follow Maude’s magic and how she wove stories as well as how the book steered us into plot twists that I didn’t expect (although there were a couple of obvious ones).

I really enjoyed this book and October felt like the perfect month to read it in with the spooky horror aspects!!

This book was a fun young adult fantasy, but lacked something essential to make it more than just fun. I liked the concept, and the writing was mostly good, if at times a little clumsy in the flashbacks. I thought the world building was done effectively, and the plot points made sense and were engaging.

My issue was mainly with the pacing, and with the climax of the story. The pacing just felt too slow for the story it was trying to tell. And for the climax, many things occured through convenience. Magic and rules established earlier on in the book no longer mattered in the climax, and it felt like the author was just giving the ending that she preferred, or thought readers would prefer.

Overall, a fun book, with a good message about wild young girls learning to be themselves, but nothing that pushed it abover 3 stars for me.

2.5 stars
Thank you netgalley for proving me with this ALC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought this book had great potential and gave me Alice in wonderland vibes, diving into a new world and a quest to defeat the bad guys and take back her friend, the fmc was likeable and the storyline too. However, i felt something was missing, like a huge chunk had been taken out of the book, the heart and soul of something raw and real, yet entirely fiction. There was a lot of descriptive words, maybe too much telling and not enough showing. That might be why i felt so much happened and yet not much all at once. This story really des have great potential, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

The narrator however was absolutely phenomenal! I LOVED her voice so much! It was so fitting and just clicked with the overall vibe of our fmc and i couldn’t have picked a better narrator myself.

Overall, maybe I am the wrong target audience. It definitely feels very young, bordering lower YA whic I don’t mind sometimes if the story hooks me. But i will say this, a lot of people will like it. I’d definitely recommend this to the younger audience for sure. I tried something different and it wasn’t for me, but im glad i did anyway 💗

"Be a wild thing once more, the ancient forest whispers to me now"

I am obsessed with the vibe of this book. When I tell you nothing quite speaks to me like a haunting witchy tale of wild young girls, this is the book I'm describing. The prose is gorgeous, the magical descriptions are utterly dreamy, and the worldbuilding is beyond intriguing. Most importantly, as my bold feminist heart requires, the feminine power and feminine rage are potently executed.

"Rage doesn't have to destroy. It can create things too. Great things. Rage can be a fire that inspires."

Maude was once a wild little thing, showing off her magic to her best friend Odette, the girl she longs for and obsesses over impressing. They spent their days weaving stories of heroic girls saving princes from evil dragons and monsters. That is until Maude lost her magic when puberty began, and her best friend dropped her.

From then on Maude was trying to be a good little girl. She did as she was told, she stayed small and unassuming and kept her head down. Odette on the other hand has always had a deep desire for magic, a dark jealousy of the power Maude possessed, and absolutely no plans to be a good little girl. Now her wild ways have led her down a dangerous path. She's missing, assumed dead, and Maude is the only one trying to find her.

She discovers that an abandoned (and oddly forgotten by everyone) power plant called Sicklehurst may be much more than just a place they played as kids. It was built on the remains of an ancient magical forest, and in fact, it may be hiding something much darker.

"I cry out for every girl who was told to comb her hair and wash the mud from her face. To keep herself contained. To be ashamed of her voice, her hair, her flesh. To be quiet and good and nice. Girls are not nice. Girls are wild and fierce and powerful, and I will not let anyone take that away. Not ever again."

I have to note that I listened to this as an audiobook, and my god, the narration adds a whole other level of entrancing dark fairytale vibes. There could not have been a better voice to fit this lush story, and I am so grateful to have heard the story performed so beautifully. There are some books that I just recommend having read to you, and this is that book, like a haunting bedtime story.

A huge thanks to Netgalley, Bolinda Audio and Lili Wilkinson for providing me with this audio arc and the opportunity to provide my honest review.

A dark and witchy read with mysteries to unravel and lots of dangers to face. I liked that Gran and halmeoni were such strong women in Maude’s life and that her friend Rufus was an unassuming, unusual and loyal character. As we move through the story we find out more bits and pieces about the past and uncover more of the mysteries around Sicklehurst and the town but the story seemed overlong and I struggled to pay attention to what was going on as it wasn’t holding my interest. Maude’s obsession with Odette is creepy and it didn’t make for a relatable main character and from the narration I had the impression that Maude was much younger than she was actually meant to be which threw me, especially before I had more context to piece together her rough age. All in all there were interesting elements to the book and the idea for the plot is creative but it seemed to have too many threads that some random plot points got discarded or tied up too easily.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

A hunger of Thorns - Lili Wilkinson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“This is one for all the wild girls who get lost in fairytales” - C.S. Pacat

This book follows Maude a young story telling women who’s daughter to a family of witches, Maude goes on a quest through mysterious and daunting ruins called Sicklehurst to find her childhood friend Odette, who has been missing for two weeks, expected dead. But what she finds in the ruins is beyond her wildest dreams.

This story was incredibly good! The storyline and character building was fantastic. It is jam packed with adventure, magic and friendship/love. I was gripped beginning to end, and found myself getting lost in the story. It was a good fast paced read and I was enchanted by the depth and passion that went into every detail!

I highly recommend this book to all those girls who grew up running wild and free, this one is 100% for you

Thank you for the opportunity to read it before publishing!!

Bolinda as always has one of the best narrators and voice actors! Every time I listen to any books by bolinda I know I would enjoy the narration.

Now to the book …..
It was quite disappointing, the book had loads of promise but I don’t think the writing style is for me. I enjoyed the magic system, and the modern-esk setting of the story.
The main character was the most annoying out of all the characters. I think this was the reason why I did not enjoy the book so much. The main character wanted to be the feminist hero, she did all the talk but no action …
It felt like the character just wanted to rock all the feminist and inclusion boxes as fast as possible instead of allowing them to show up more organically ….
I’m sure loads of people will enjoy the book, however it was not for me.

This book made me feel like I was in the middle of an enchanted forest with fairies, talking mushrooms drinking a magical cup of tea.

The narrator Katy Sobey was perfect for this one, with her beautiful voice making the entire story even more magical.

I loved every single character, they all had such personalities and the comical moments made me laugh out loud.

The world-building was detailed, the politics made it truly interesting and the magical system was lovely.

I truly recommend this book for those who love fantasy, especially the witchy fairytale kind of fantasy.
A perfect autumn read.

A special thanks to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio for giving me the honor to listen to this wonderful audio book ARC; and a huge thanks to Katy Sobey for giving this audio book the magical touch it deserves, and of course Lili Wilkinson for making this beautiful story.

An enchanting story weaved with magic and unwavering friendship. I loved the world this was set in and it was so easy to get swept up into the tale. Following Maude, she tasks herself with the rescue of Odette, her troublesome friend as she takes herself down a dark and dangerous path.

I loves the slightly dark and trepidatious turn this took and the undercurrent magic running throughout. A sense of foreboding and suspense that will keep you reading (or listening on) until it you’ve finished in a blink of an eye!

The audiobook was great and really brought the words to life and made it effortless to enjoy even more.

It was steady and consistent in its direction and I was more and more intrigued as it went on. Occasionally I phased out (my own fault) but was brought back again and back into the threads of the story. I felt like it could have finished a little earlier and was surprised to look over and see ‘3 hours left’ and wondered just what could happen in that time! But it was filled.

The characters were great, the plot cleverly built and the writing made for easy and entertaining reading!

Thank You for the review copy.

A Hunger of Thorn by Lili Wilkinson is as the blurbs says a witchy tale of missing girls who don't need anyone to save themselves. It is a wonderful amalgamation or rather culmination of finding one's inner self, friendships and storytelling.

And it is a perfect autumn read.

I found ‘A Hunger of Thorns’ a very interesting read, the narrator was really good and easy to listen to and follow. I would recommend reading it and look forward to reading more from Lili Wilkinson.

Rating 4 Stars