Thorn

This is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale with a bit of a twist, but the lesson is the same. It's relatively short and I read it in two sittings, an hour before bed one night and a few hours the next afternoon.It drew me in pretty much straight away. The language is poetic and simply flows over you. In fact, the language was my favourite part of the book, yiu could lose yourself in it. There is also an ever present undertow of deep longing that does wonders for making the pages turn.This isn't an action packed book, although there are plenty of intense scenes. I wanted everything to work out ok in the end for these two. I cared about them. This is a great little read if you enjoy fairytale retelling. Highly recommend.

A really different and compelling take on a well loved fairy tale that was a great, but sometimes consuming read, in that it required a higher level of concentration that some of my usual fodder. A great story, but not one that I will feel compelled to re-read in the near future.

I read this book in one sitting, curled up on a sofa in front of an open fire. Which, it turns out, is exactly the way it should be read. This is a fairy tale in the old tradition. No hint of Disney here, Thorn is a dark fable where the villains are not the characters but abstract concepts such as pride and avarice, and where the sins of man, or woman, have terrible consequences. Right from the start, the reader is drawn into the story. The characters are strongly depicted, the central romance tender and engaging, and the prose hugely atmospheric. The setting provides resonance, with winter seeping into almost every sentence, serving as both the backdrop and the emotional heart of the story. Having read the outstanding Compass Rose by the same author, this had a lot to live up to. It did not disappoint.

“Thorn” is a lesbian feminist fairy-tale with a vengeance, highlighting the power and vulnerability of women, the expectations of society and the literal battles, both emotional and physical, that women fight to be themselves.In true fairy-tale style, the evil ice queen rides a bear, leads a pack of wolves and exacts an awful revenge on anyone who dares enter her lands to take what is hers. Yet under the frightful cold exterior is a woman trapped by her own arrogant narcissism into one too many acts of cruelty which has been punished by the local witch. To escape she must lose everything she holds dear, and that which she cannot bear to lose.Our Cinderella is the wealthy merchant’s daughter fallen on hard times, reduced from the high life of the city to a small cottage and meagre living, sold off to the local lord for his sons betrothed to cement her father’s mercantile ambitions. Mourning the loss of her beloved mother, her father’s act of kindness on her birthday enslaves her to the evil Queen and life in the barren castle at the heart of winter.Full of passion, love and loss, one woman must lose everything to regain herself, the other must risk everything to become the woman society has repressed.Anna Burke’s second novel is so far from the first as to be incredible. From “Compass Rose”, Sci-Fi fantasy in a future drowned world, to a twist on a classic Ice Queen fairy-tale set in a medieval landscape. And yet the world-building, character development, complex interpersonal relationships and deeply entwined use of nature as both a proactive setting and physical presence are so strong in both that when you recover your wits and think about both books you can see the powerful similarities.The writing is exquisite. The imagination behind both books is awe inspiring. And even more when you reach the end and realise that without ever making a “thing” about it Burke has subverted the whole but having women take all the major characters; the men are ineffectual wanna-be’s in secondary roles.An epic romance, a dramatic adventure, an exploration of what women are capable of, both good, bad and ugly. And all wrapped up in a story worthy of a blockbuster Netflix fantasy. Just brilliant – Ms Burke is one to watch.

I devoured this book in one day. The book is a snappy 222 pages, and the pacing is excellent. I never felt bored or like the plot was moving too slow. Burke’s writing is beautifully descriptive without ever bogging you down. I cannot wait to revisit this beautiful love story.

This story is masterfully written. The imagery is timeless and I reread several passages, they were so beautiful. I tried my best to slow down my reading pace as the story unfurled and bloomed. The love is heartbreaking. Gothic, romantic, spellbinding.

Here is the fairy tale wrought fresh, sensitive, stinging with subtle, powerful emotion. In Thorn, the beast is known as The Huntress, a woman cursed for the carelessness with which she throws away life. She is an immortal embodiment of the hunt, the winter, the biting cold. And, riding an enormous bear and followed by a pack of gigantic wolves, she’s gloriously intimidating. I fell in love.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀But not instantly. And neither does Thorn’s Beauty, Rowan. Rowan is taken from her home by The Huntress after her father steals an enchanted rose. What follows are the quiet efforts of The Huntress to make Rowan comfortable, to understand this clumsy, awkward, weak woman and how it is that she isn’t really weak at all. Rowan is brave, intelligent, thoughtful. And The Huntress and Rowan bond slowly, their love is as thorny and as beautiful as the roses that surround them. It comes naturally, little by little, as The Huntress and Rowan give of themselves to each other. As they understand each other, the beauty and the beastliness inside both of them.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀With its thoughtful re-casting and turns of phrase so perfect and subtle they made a thousand tiny cuts in my heart, I can honestly say l loved Thorn. I loved it. I will read it again. I will recommend it to friends. It is what I always wanted Beauty and the Beast to be.

This Beauty and the Beast retelling should have been the original. This was far more interesting and darker than the Disney one.The elements from the movie the author substituted with wolves and bears were so scintillating (I was glad there were no talking furniture in this book). Another noteworthy mention was the everlasting winter. It’s summer right now in Australia as I read this book. Hot, dry and offensive. When a book can make you forget about the disgusting heat and believe in white, cold, forest-y snow with the smell of pine and wild animals lurking about? That is just genius right there.

I adore fairy tales and this one was done beautifully. I got the ebook plus audible narration for a steal through amazon so got to sample both options. The narrator did a great job and set a good tone for the story throughout and I don’t think they could have picked a better match for it. Once I switched to the ebook version I saw the use of italics to show differences in Huntress perspective (versus Rowan’s) but honestly that came across quite clearly in the first person versus third person POV choices.The author writes beautifully and tells an engrossing tale with warm texture throughout and made me continue turning the pages to see what happened, which can always be a potential hazard for a retelling. But this story felt fresh and new to me and I could tell even halfway through this would be one I would be revisiting from time to time when I need to feel another spark of magic.For: fans of Malinda Lo’s Ash and other fantastical magical things. Or anyone that wants to see extraordinary things are possible.