Bree Barton

https://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2018/12/29/heart-of-thorns-bree-barton/

Arranged marriages never seem to end well, at least not in fiction. Mia is pretty sure hers will be the worst. She is slated to marry a prince with less emotion than a slab of granite, dooming her to a life of petty politics and boredom. All she really wants to do is hunt down the witches that killed her mom, three years ago, a hunt she's been training for her whole life.
Their kingdom has always feared the Gwyrach, show more an all female magical force that brings only death and destruction to the humans they touch. Mai and her sister, Ange, have been taught for a lifetime, that the Gwyrach are a ruthless enemy and must be stopped.
The only kicker is that all of Mia's training will be for nothing if she marries Prince Quin, as she'll have to turn in her sword for more ladylike weapons. But with magic creeping closer to the castle, Mia knows she has to take things into her own hands. As a last ditch escape plan, she attempts to fabricate her own death, breaking out of the castle and bringing her younger sister along with her.
Of course the lies we're told in childhood rarely amount to truth in adulthood, making for epically smashed assumptions and some serious adventure.
I'm pretty sure that Bree Barton's Heart of Thorns is everything I wanted from Disney's Frozen except a whole lot more deliciously sinister.
Heartstring-pulling sister dynamics, twisted kingdoms, and magic as metaphor for strong feelings all weave together to create this gorgeous, adventure packed story.
Gender plays a role in the force that is Heart of Thorns but not in a two dimensional, second wave Feminist way. Men and women alike, grapple with long held expectations of strength, softness, compassion, and resentment.
It's a beautiful story and it makes my therapist heart so very happy to see social constructs dealing with emotion, gender, and simply living, both broadened and fine tuned in such an elegant way.
I can't wait for the next book and I do hope you'll check this one out and join me in falling head over heels with Bree Barton. show less

To enthrall someone is to enslave them, little rose. You've robbed them of their choice. And without choice, what are we?

Well, I wanted my review for this to be better than it's going to be, but I just finished it and my brain is mush after refusing to sleep, so, well.

Interesting. This was lush as hell. This was beautiful. The writing was - different, to say the least, what with the science and the meandering, but I did like it a lot. It was especially strong with presenting quotes/memories, show more in one light at first, then twisting them with new context and making them shine with different meanings. That's some solid wordsmithery and control over the reader's pace and knowledge. (jelly.)

I loved the magic. It gave way to this sensory, lovely, often steamy (in many interpretations of the word lol) scenes and descriptions. Feeling what others are feeling around you - and intentionally, or unintentionally, controlling it - is something I've long wanted to explore in my own writing and this was a great introduction to it. It was balanced well with its "convenience" aspect. There were so many scenes that hit the perfect notes thanks to the magic. It had the makings of a fascinating magic system and an even more fascinating world that operated alongside it.

Let me emphasize...the "makings."

I guess that's where my main (only?) problem lies. The world started off very nice (look, I'll fall for ANY pseudo-European monarchy). It was perfectly studded with all these special elements of the environment. It gave very distinct features to even the deepest parts of the brush. But. BUT.

Culture, history, all that. Ugh. I get why this and Grace & Fury were packaged together for SPOTM voting, and I didn't care for it. Like, jesus, okay, I get it. Feminism. Hurrah. Everything sucks for women in literally every universe. Freaking revolutionary. (Not to pull this off the path, but this one at least did better in not making its female characters feel like raw meat and tools for ~ SEE, OPPRESSION ~.) I feel like the main concept - women were gifted with magic to stand up against their oppressors, to gain strength that they long deserved - is super empowering and accurate to some people. I've lost patience with the concept.

This is veering (I'M SORRY TO DO THIS IN YOUR REVIEW, BARTON) but eugh. I'm tired of reading about women being treated like shit because they're women, the same way I'm tired of any diverse characters being treated like shit just so they can overcome it. It isn't subtle when it's on a worldwide context like this. It's so boring... It's important to someone, but I feel better reading the 'after' stage of the revolution, thanks...

Anyways. That ending though. My eyes were glazed over (I admittedly am super tired okay) so I missed some stuff, but the final payoff was fascinating. Not sure where else it can go, but I haven't seen 'secret coded journal' done so nicely in a long while.

Will I continue? I guess I'll see. show less

This book ENTHRALLED me from the very beginning. I quite liked the pacing up until the point where they were in Refúj and then it seemed all the important parts were rushed and it felt like slow filler. The ending, while rushed, intrigued me and I'm excited to read the next book!

Action packed from beginning to end!

Must say I enjoyed this book slightly more than the first. The pace of this book is awesome & definitely didn't want to put it down. It's also action packed from beginning to end with some very unexpected twists.