WHAT. A. BOOK!

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a must read of its own kind, and has totally upped the game for fantasy standalones, I'm telling you. This book has already checked off many boxes of the list of books I look out for, but after reading this, I had to frantically check off almost all of them as this is what a good epic fantasy looks like in a little bit over 300 pages! Yes. Just a bit over 300 pages!!

As a fan of all sorts of mythologies, fairytales and folklore, I love when fantasy worlds can introduce me to those I'm not familiar with, and spark my interest and passion to research more, and dwell more into those lush worlds and unknown tales. Girl, Serpent, Thorn just did that (and Melissa Bashardoust's list of recommendations that all made it to my wishlist!). Inspired by both Sleeping Beauty and Rappacini's Daughter, Bashardoust went a step farther and included so much of Persian folklore and mythology in this story that this didn't just felt like a retelling but a tale that could be as ancient as the ones she took inspiration from. The magic, the own stories included, the demons, the history! Just brilliant, fantastic and so beautiful that I don't ever want to read something not set in this world.

In the middle of all the epic, we meet Soraya - a cursed princess whose touch is so poisonous that her touch kills instantly. Hidden away and living in isolation, we see the protagonist's constant inner fights with what she is and what she longs to be. And there are two paths in front of her, two people at her side who might give her the answers and questions she seeks. At one side, a demon in the dungeons who despite following a purpose of her own, seems to have the right questions. On the other, a handsome soldier giving the answers she seeks, and who sees her for who she is, not what. This constellation already blew me off from the start, and kept suprising and knocking me over the more the story progressed.

At that point, I didn't mind the setting of a love triangle, I welcomed it. I watched the characters develop and connect with each other, wanted to know all about each of them, and wanted their tale to never end. Their individual bonds made the story even richer, always linking the right emotions with the atmosphere. The romance never felt too forced or quick, despite the nature of this book being a standalone. In fact, it all came so naturally and well-paced that I couldn't believe this book really made me feel all those things in the shortest span of time. However, as someone who feels tension very easily, I would have wished for 50 pages more if that meant we got some more scenes of a build up of connection as it left me craving for more.

And then this book gave me something I was never expecting to find in here. A complex and so well-developed villain that I partly found myself rooting for him, hoping for a redemption, and naming him my favorite villain right after the infamous The Darkling from Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1339533695l/10194157._SX50_.jpg|15093325].

Now one would think that an epic worldbuilding with so many mythological aspects, multiple complex and well developed characters, two romances that served the plot and came in the most naturally way, a brilliantly written villain are all elements of an epic series worth thousands and thousands of pages, but Melissa Bashardoust managed to perfectly pace this into one standalone.

You do not want to miss out on this enthralling fairytale that gives you all the epic you need.