Seven Deadly Thorns: Deluxe Limited Edition

Seven Deadly Thorns by Amber Hamilton was a FairyLoot read, consumed via Audible, another YA fantasy romance. Per the author, it began as a Snow White subversion where true love's kiss kills instead of saves. It follows Viola, who is forced into an uneasy alliance with Prince Roze as they try to escape his mother’s order to have Viola killed.

It is, undeniably, an easy read. The narrative is straightforward and very accessible. For me, though, it also tipped too far into familiar YA romantasy patterns, and too many small niggles built up over the course of the book. There is the flirty best friend whose homosexuality feels tokenistic referencing, the bookish and beautiful heroine, and the immediate positioning of that heroine between show more two men, all of which made the story feel more assembled from recognisable tropes than genuinely reimagined.

Stepping back from the romance structure, I also found the worldbuilding surprisingly light. The setting feels narrow, almost to the point of fragility. We are given only two countries, and Aragoa in particular never quite made spatial or social sense to me. Somehow all the surviving people appear to fit within the castle, yet there are still enough of them for Viola not to know everyone, even through school, while the story also wants to maintain a meaningful separation between royal and common life with some vague role for the 'caverns' as housing for the poor. I kept feeling the edges of the construction rather than settling into the world itself.

One of the things I had hoped for was a genuinely different angle in having the main character come from a common background. Even that becomes more complicated as the story goes on, in ways that felt less surprising once the fairytale retelling framework became clearer. This failed subversion also comes through in trying to awkwardly marry the concepts of an openly gay best friend, with emphasis on this not being permissible by the royals due to the need for heirs - that's a convenient hard reality in a world built of magic where queer norm wouldn't have been so hard, especially instead of opening space for prejudice.

I also struggled with the book’s treatment of violence. Killing often felt both easy and quickly brushed aside, and some of the imagery around death, especially toward the end, leaned into a romanticised “dying together” sensibility that I found more troubling than moving. Again, it leans into the fairytale tropes.

There were also smaller moments that pulled me up completely. The point where Viola “forgets” she is not wearing a skirt was one of them. I simply did not find that remotely convincing.

Overall, this felt to me like a very trope-forward, cosy YA romantasy, readable and undemanding, but one that too often falls back on the same old narrative habits rather than doing much to challenge them. show less

SEVEN DEADLY THORNS is Amber Hamilton's debut novel, and it shows. While there are elements that Ms. Hamilton writes really well, she relies a bit too heavily on various tropes. She also falls into the trap of utilizing convenience rather than intelligence to resolve her major conflicts. These are all issues she can correct through more experience, which is why I don't condemn her debut novel outright.

Even though SEVEN DEADLY THORNS starts strong, it suffers from an over-reliance on a convenient plot device. Once introduced, and after the main character discovers how to use the item, the rest of the story devolves into one coincidence after another. These coincidences just so happen to resolve any lingering conflict between the love show more interests and provide the answers to the remaining mysteries. I am not a fan of items providing a novel's resolution. I much prefer the characters to resolve the conflict using intelligence, strength, magic, and other attributes.

I also abhor when the resolution covers every single conflict in the story when a novel is anything but a fairy tale. Happily Ever After endings outside of a fairy tale are just a little too inane for my taste these days. Life is messy. Relationships are even worse. I don't want everything handed to characters on a silver platter. Unfortunately, that is exactly the ending Viola Sinclair gets. It's all just a little too easy.

Still, SEVEN DEADLY THORNS contains an interesting mystery and fun characters with good chemistry between them. I wanted to see more of the best friend because she is so vibrant and so in-your-face. Also, Ms. Hamilton's world is different enough to be a breath of fresh air to the fantasy genre. The idea of being locked into one space with limited resources and an existing hierarchy has so much potential for a variety of stories.

Ms. Hamilton might not have hit one out of the park on her first novel, but there is enough there to foreshadow what could be a successful career. There is promise in SEVEN DEADLY THORNS, areas where slight changes would improve the novel tremendously. There are enough hints of promise that I would like to see Ms. Hamilton write darker, more adult stories, ones that allow her to take her time building relationships, developing characters, creating her worlds, and diving deeper into the morass of gray morality, all areas I think she could do well, given what I read in SEVEN DEADLY THORNS. I don't know what Ms. Hamilton has next on her docket, but I am not going to discount it or her just yet. show less

I found this book so cozy yet exciting to read.
With all the haunted castle vibes, morally grey characters, curses, dark magic and academia settings. It just absolutely hit all the vibes I seek.
This book punched a hole through my expectations and has me silently pleading for the author to create more spellbinding novels that I can devour.
The balance between good and evil has never been so taut, this book offers us a carefully crafted vision of treacherous royalty, who cause chaos and inspire hatred amongst their kingdoms population.
A story about control and finding acceptance in yourself for things you have done.
Power corrupts those who seek to use it to rule without care. The only thing that can destroy darkness is light itself. Forcing show more people's hands and decieving them to despise the darkness has been a way of life for 2 decades.
A magical balance has been denied and has wrought death to the kingdoms doors.
In the face of everything you've been raised to be, there is always something that will ground and lift you up. With magic turned bad and a deadline ticking away, the truth threatens to divide the kingdom further.
I loved the whole no touching vibe, the tension between the characters was fragile and slow burny as hell.
I absolutely adored Waffles, he's the animal companion I'd wish for. Such fierce loyalty and emotional support that enabled Viola to cope in the only life she had ever known.
I was a bit puzzled each time I read certain characters names, I had to keep sounding out the pronunciation of the words in a hope it would enable me to read it seamlessly each time. Eventually I just ended up picking something and sticking with it.
This book offers a charming read to those who seek a cozy but mysterious journey.
I ended up doing one of my beloved double-enders to continue devouring the pages. I have currently been awake for 24 hours. Giving me enough time to swallow this book whole, and still able to muster the energy to review it. I don't regret a single moment.
The plot twists were not all that deep, and it read easily without giving me to much to process at once. I do feel the ending was a tad rushed for the time I'd put in to reading it, I feel the characters should have gotten a longer closing, than just that final epic battle scene.
Which admittedly was excellent.
Totally worthy of 4 shiny stars.
Would definitely recommend. show less

This book was interesting mixing several fairy tales and myths into a dark academia/romantasy tale. It was a unique take and was worth finishing. The FMC was smart and stood up to adversity, but was annoying when it came to her own self-confidence, while at times it was understandable, but this may have gone a bit better if she learned from things instead of shoving them down, The MMC was dark and brooding. Some of the book was a bit convoluted with this mix and the ending a bit abrupt and not quite 100% satisfactory, maybe 90%.