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eggcatsreads 's review for:
The Price of Thorns
by Tim Susman
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Argyll Productions for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is one of those YA fantasy novels that I like to describe as “perfect for when you’re 13 and 31,” in that, this is timeless and I think this would be a perfect fantasy novel to read, no matter what your age. It can be really hard to find novels like this, where I believe I would have liked it just as much if I had been able to pick it up while I was in middle school, as I do now as an adult reading it. I have very few novels I consider like this - Sabriel by Garth NIx being the biggest one, with A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge another one with a similar vibe.
We follow a thief named Nivvy, as he unintentionally begins a journey with someone who may or may not be, or will become, an evil Queen. He works with her to help her steal her kingdom back, but along the journey discovers that her success may not be the best thing in the long run - even if it potentially grants him great acclaim as the one who helped her. A large portion of this novel is his growth from focusing on his own selfish interests, to those of helping others, regardless if it benefits him directly.
The magic system in this novel is interesting, as it works by using magical objects - and telling the story of the object. I thought that was an interesting twist, especially given a large portion of this novel is about storytelling and the importance of both telling a story, but also how it is told.
This book also had a really cool concept of people who are turned into animals, but still maintain many of their human abilities, called former-humans. I thought this concept was really cool and interesting, as many fairytales have people being turned into animals - but less focus on how they then continue to live their lives after being changed (or are simply changed back). The concept of these “people” being both a person and an animal at the same time, while still having their autonomy and respect they should be given, was really interesting. When the novel first began, I saw many of these “former-humans” as being worthy of pity and hoped that they would all change back by the end - but as the novel went on, and we saw how many of them were happy and content with their lives, I realized the issue was more complex than simply surface level.
I was honestly a little wary with the 500+ page count, but to be completely honest at no point did the story feel like it dragged or should have been cut short. The journey and character developments of each of the characters worked, and even if not everything was “fixed “ by the end, I would consider this book to still have a happy ending of sorts. This is a kind of YA fantasy with growth and character developments that I would recommend to practically anyone, as I think anyone who likes fantasy would enjoy the journey this novel takes them on.
This is one of those YA fantasy novels that I like to describe as “perfect for when you’re 13 and 31,” in that, this is timeless and I think this would be a perfect fantasy novel to read, no matter what your age. It can be really hard to find novels like this, where I believe I would have liked it just as much if I had been able to pick it up while I was in middle school, as I do now as an adult reading it. I have very few novels I consider like this - Sabriel by Garth NIx being the biggest one, with A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge another one with a similar vibe.
We follow a thief named Nivvy, as he unintentionally begins a journey with someone who may or may not be, or will become, an evil Queen. He works with her to help her steal her kingdom back, but along the journey discovers that her success may not be the best thing in the long run - even if it potentially grants him great acclaim as the one who helped her. A large portion of this novel is his growth from focusing on his own selfish interests, to those of helping others, regardless if it benefits him directly.
The magic system in this novel is interesting, as it works by using magical objects - and telling the story of the object. I thought that was an interesting twist, especially given a large portion of this novel is about storytelling and the importance of both telling a story, but also how it is told.
This book also had a really cool concept of people who are turned into animals, but still maintain many of their human abilities, called former-humans. I thought this concept was really cool and interesting, as many fairytales have people being turned into animals - but less focus on how they then continue to live their lives after being changed (or are simply changed back). The concept of these “people” being both a person and an animal at the same time, while still having their autonomy and respect they should be given, was really interesting. When the novel first began, I saw many of these “former-humans” as being worthy of pity and hoped that they would all change back by the end - but as the novel went on, and we saw how many of them were happy and content with their lives, I realized the issue was more complex than simply surface level.
I was honestly a little wary with the 500+ page count, but to be completely honest at no point did the story feel like it dragged or should have been cut short. The journey and character developments of each of the characters worked, and even if not everything was “fixed “ by the end, I would consider this book to still have a happy ending of sorts. This is a kind of YA fantasy with growth and character developments that I would recommend to practically anyone, as I think anyone who likes fantasy would enjoy the journey this novel takes them on.