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sarahboudereads's review against another edition
3.0
Did not really understand the appeal, maybe I was too old for it or maybe the naive not like other girls trope wore me down, idk.
alivaster's review against another edition
2.0
A super interesting premise, but ultimately a slow book. There were parts where you thought that it was going to pick up, but ultimately you would find yourself in another slow section. I nearly DNFed the book because it just wasn't able to sustain my interest even though I wanted to like it.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part, but didn't love any of them. I think after being kept in the shadows and secrets in the first part of the book, I was really ready to jump more into adventure or discovery - which we got a taste of, but then what happened was a little predictable and disappointing to find ourselves back in another secret world.
POV and Tense: Written in third person past tense.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part, but didn't love any of them. I think after being kept in the shadows and secrets in the first part of the book, I was really ready to jump more into adventure or discovery - which we got a taste of, but then what happened was a little predictable and disappointing to find ourselves back in another secret world.
POV and Tense: Written in third person past tense.
emmacuttle's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
tdavidovsky's review against another edition
3.0
Whenever a fairytale includes forbidden and dangerous magic that needs to be hidden or repressed, it always feels like a metaphor—whether intended or not—for queerness. Therefore, when Soraya is introduced as a princess cursed to poison anyone she touches, queer subtext is definitely expected: Her magic is treated as shameful and monstrous; her family keeps her hidden away for both safety and political reasons; she never gets to have physically intimate relationships.
What’s refreshing is that Soraya is not queer coded like most witches and monsters in fairytales. She’s just queer. The same is true of some of the other monsters in the story. It’s hardly the first book to turn sapphic subtext into text, but it hasn’t gotten old yet.
Despite a few modern twists, Girl, Serpent, Thorn unfolds like a traditional fairytale. The book itself knows it’s a reimagining of old tales like Sleeping Beauty, incorporating many examples of what happens when stories are altered, reinterpreted, or twisted. Much of the plot hinges on lies, rumors, and betrayals. A mother is lied to and manipulated by demons, and the result is a curse on her daughter; a princess is locked in a castle, and her only access to the outside world is through the stories she hears; a boy falls in love with the rumor of a girl kept hidden away, and he falls in love with the idea of saving her.
Readers familiar with Farsi (and Arabic) fairytales will know that they don’t always open with: “Once upon a time…” Many of them begin with the words: “There was and was not…” The reader (or listener) is thus immediately forced to consider the ways in which the unfolding narrative, despite its fictional nature, may speak to some sort of core human truth.
Girl, Serpent, Thorn starts with the same words—"There was and there was not a girl of thirteen who lived in a city to the south of Mount Arzur..." From there, the book is driven by stories and the kernels of truth they hide. Soraya is surrounded by mysteries and conspiracies. Even the castle she calls home is full of secret passageways that she must learn to navigate. It’s up to her to wade through the secrets in order to find the answers buried underneath: How can she break her curse? Why has she been cursed in the first place? Can she trust the one demon willing to help her? Can she trust the humans around her? Can she herself be trusted to make the right choices?
The text also explores how Soraya herself both “is” and “is not”—she exists, but she also doesn’t. On the most basic level, despite being fictional and a fantastical monster that can only exist in stories, she’s still very human, and readers can relate to her, see themselves in her, or learn something from her that can be applicable to the real world. While she is presented as monstrous and poisonous, her rage and her spite both feel more than earned, and it never looks that much more terrifying that regular teenage angst. The target audience—young adults—should find that her internal turmoil, despite her extraordinary circumstances, actually looks rather familiar. For some, her strong moral compass means she falls flat as a character. The book promises horrors, and never fully delivers. Nevertheless it's important for Soraya to maintain her humanity. By doing so, she can be both extraordinary and ordinary, imaginary and real.
Within the text itself, Soraya also embodies the space between imaginary and real. As someone who is constantly walled off from the world, she may as well not exist, since hardly anyone interacts with her. She’s the proverbial tree who falls alone in the forest. At the same time, she is still in possession of great power, so her behavior has rippling consequences that can impact what happens in the outside world. In an early scene, she kills a butterfly with her poisonous touch. It makes a person wonder whether her actions can cause a massive butterfly effect. (They can and do.) Over the course of the story, she becomes more of an active character as she tries to break her curse, defeat evil demons, navigate uprisings, uncover secrets, and figure out who she can become.
What’s refreshing is that Soraya is not queer coded like most witches and monsters in fairytales. She’s just queer. The same is true of some of the other monsters in the story. It’s hardly the first book to turn sapphic subtext into text, but it hasn’t gotten old yet.
Despite a few modern twists, Girl, Serpent, Thorn unfolds like a traditional fairytale. The book itself knows it’s a reimagining of old tales like Sleeping Beauty, incorporating many examples of what happens when stories are altered, reinterpreted, or twisted. Much of the plot hinges on lies, rumors, and betrayals. A mother is lied to and manipulated by demons, and the result is a curse on her daughter; a princess is locked in a castle, and her only access to the outside world is through the stories she hears; a boy falls in love with the rumor of a girl kept hidden away, and he falls in love with the idea of saving her.
Readers familiar with Farsi (and Arabic) fairytales will know that they don’t always open with: “Once upon a time…” Many of them begin with the words: “There was and was not…” The reader (or listener) is thus immediately forced to consider the ways in which the unfolding narrative, despite its fictional nature, may speak to some sort of core human truth.
Girl, Serpent, Thorn starts with the same words—"There was and there was not a girl of thirteen who lived in a city to the south of Mount Arzur..." From there, the book is driven by stories and the kernels of truth they hide. Soraya is surrounded by mysteries and conspiracies. Even the castle she calls home is full of secret passageways that she must learn to navigate. It’s up to her to wade through the secrets in order to find the answers buried underneath: How can she break her curse? Why has she been cursed in the first place? Can she trust the one demon willing to help her? Can she trust the humans around her? Can she herself be trusted to make the right choices?
The text also explores how Soraya herself both “is” and “is not”—she exists, but she also doesn’t. On the most basic level, despite being fictional and a fantastical monster that can only exist in stories, she’s still very human, and readers can relate to her, see themselves in her, or learn something from her that can be applicable to the real world. While she is presented as monstrous and poisonous, her rage and her spite both feel more than earned, and it never looks that much more terrifying that regular teenage angst. The target audience—young adults—should find that her internal turmoil, despite her extraordinary circumstances, actually looks rather familiar. For some, her strong moral compass means she falls flat as a character. The book promises horrors, and never fully delivers. Nevertheless it's important for Soraya to maintain her humanity. By doing so, she can be both extraordinary and ordinary, imaginary and real.
Within the text itself, Soraya also embodies the space between imaginary and real. As someone who is constantly walled off from the world, she may as well not exist, since hardly anyone interacts with her. She’s the proverbial tree who falls alone in the forest. At the same time, she is still in possession of great power, so her behavior has rippling consequences that can impact what happens in the outside world. In an early scene, she kills a butterfly with her poisonous touch. It makes a person wonder whether her actions can cause a massive butterfly effect. (They can and do.) Over the course of the story, she becomes more of an active character as she tries to break her curse, defeat evil demons, navigate uprisings, uncover secrets, and figure out who she can become.
bookishpea's review against another edition
5.0
I went into this book blind. Before I knew the truth about Azad, I went to my fiancé to rant about this book.
I said, "There's so much tension between Soraya and Parvaneh I reallyyyy hope we get some WLW rep! She's way better than Azad."
I think I actually squealed when they kissed for the first time. I have never rooted for a couple so much!
This book was beautiful and while some of Soraya's luck was a bit too convenient, this is one of those books that I loved so much that I'm willing to overlook stuff like that. One of my best reads of the year so far!
I said, "There's so much tension between Soraya and Parvaneh I reallyyyy hope we get some WLW rep! She's way better than Azad."
I think I actually squealed when they kissed for the first time. I have never rooted for a couple so much!
This book was beautiful and while some of Soraya's luck was a bit too convenient, this is one of those books that I loved so much that I'm willing to overlook stuff like that. One of my best reads of the year so far!
estruch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gh0st_wolf's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
joannagalaska's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sopbia's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0