Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson Review

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Publication: June 4th, 2019

Genre: Fantasy Standalone

Format: ARC

Diversity: Bi SC & Ace SC

Goodreads

Summary:

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. When an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire, Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she's torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to, but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

My Thoughts:

I thought Elisabeth was brave and selfless, but having been raised in one of the great libraries with very little experience with the outside world, she starts off the story sheltered. The keepers of the libraries strongly believe that all magic is evil so thats all shes knows. As she gets to know the sorcerer Nathaniel and his demon servant Silas during their efforts to stop the attacks on the magical libraries she starts to question those beliefs. She even starts to question whether becoming a warden charged with protecting the libraries is truly what she wants. We really get to see some great character development. I do think her skills with a sword werent very believable for someone who's never trained, but I guess she does have other advantages helping her out. The whole booklice comparison was pretty funny. I just loved her connection and empathy for the grimoires.

I loved the slow burn romance. The way Nathaniel would call Elisabeth a menace was adorable. There was a lot of great chemistry and tension between them. Nathaniel has been through so much and as a result has cut himself off from almost everyone which makes me want to protect him at all cost. His demon servant Silas is the only person who's always been there for him. He's been taking care of Nathaniel since his lost his family at young age and thats brought them closer together. I absolutely adored their unconventional friendship. Silas is such a complexe character with his century old wisdom and insatiable hunger. The way he's upfront about what he is was refreshing and heartbreaking all at once. We also spend a bit of time with Elisabeths spunky best friend Katrien and I loved how she wasnt just there to support the main character but had her own thing going on. I do wish we had gotten to know Mercy better since she seemed like a fascinating character.

The world with its magical libraries and grimoires turned monster was fascinating. Sorcerers get their powers by summoning a demon and having it agree to serve them in exchange for the a certain amount of the sorcerers life. The demon can only obey one master at a time, but its never really explained if the ability to use magic is given to the entire family or if each member has to summon their own demons if they want magic. That would be difficult considering they need a demons true name to summon them and those arent easy to come by. Id love to know what happens to the demon when their master dies since technically they would be set free but it seems like they probably vanish to the otherworld. Its also not explained why some sorcerers have abilities like commanding an army of the dead, but others do not. Despite all that I still loved the concept.

The plot was a little slow when the characters was sitting around researching and waiting for the villain to make their next move, but it was realistic and it did give us time to get to know the characters. I loved how the villain actually thought they were being the hero. Those are some of my favorite villains. I do find it frustrating when a character waits too long to make a move and the enemy gets the chance to out maneuver them. I also had a difficult time wrapping my head around Warden Finchs actions, but I guess his jealousy blinded him to the truth. I noticed the time line was a little off. I think we went through 3 seasons in about 12 weeks. I was torn with the way things left off because I love a happy ending, but they arent always realistic. Overall I adored this book and totally recommend it. Now Im even more excited to read her other book Enchantment of Ravens.

*This book was received for an honest review