Book: Heart Of Thorns by Bree Barton

Published July 2018 by Katherine Tegen Books|438 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Heart Of Thorns #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

Inventive and heart-racing, this fiercely feminist teen fantasy trilogy from debut author Bree Barton examines a dark kingdom in which only women can possess magic—and every woman is suspected of having it.

Mia Rose wants only one thing: revenge against the Gwyrach—feared, reviled, and magical women—who killed her mother. After years training under her father’s infamous Hunters, Mia is ready. She will scour the four kingdoms, find her mother’s murderer, and enact the Hunters’ Creed: heart for a heart, life for a life.

But when Mia is thrust into the last role she ever wanted—promised wife to the future king—she plots a daring escape. On her wedding night, Mia discovers something she never imagined: She may be a Huntress, but she’s also a Gwyrach. As the truth comes to light, Mia must untangle the secrets of her own past. Now if she wants to survive, Mia must learn to trust her heart . . . even if it kills her.

I liked this one! I didn’t love it, for a few reasons, but there were also some things I really liked as well.

So…what didn’t I like about Heart Of Thorns?

For one thing, it’s pretty predictable. I mean, Mia is set to get married at the beginning of the book, but it’s not something she wants. And of course, Mia is the very thing she hates, especially after what happened to her mom. It’s predictable in the sense that she has to learn how to accept the thing she’s been trained to hate. I didn’t mind the predictability of Heart Of Thorns, but I can’t say I’m surprised by pretty much anything that happens in the book.

Wanting to protect her sister, I get. Finding out that her sister wasn’t who she thought wasn’t a surprise. Her dad maybe trying to help her out even though he doesn’t seem to care about her? A dead mother who had a secret, but left behind information Mia needed? None of that was surprising.

And I skimmed over the parts where Mia was reading what her mother had left behind. I don’t mind cursive/the handwriting-type font, and I get needing to differentiate between what her mother wrote and the rest of the book, but I found it a little bit hard to read, so I sort of skimmed and got bits and pieces. I wish it had been a little easier to read, but that’s just my preference.

I was curious to find out what happened to her mom, but I wasn’t really interested in that part as much as I wanted it to be. Maybe it’s because I pretty much skipped over that part of the book, and I did like everything with her sister…well, all of the stuff towards the end of the book. I was definitely surprised by the end of the book, which was less predictable than I thought it would be. Was it still predictable? Of course if was. But it was less predictable than I thought it would be, considering everything that had happened for most of the book. It’s took bad the rest of the book wasn’t like the ending. I hate it when books only get interesting at the end, and this book was no exception.

Mia definitely learns that everything she knew about the Gwyrach is not necessarily the case, and that was something I really liked about the book. It definitely highlighted how something that only women could do became twisted into something terrible- I did expect something more as far as a sisterhood goes, and it was that part of the book that really shows why the blurb describes this book as a feminist fantasy. I didn’t love it, and it wasn’t enough to warrant stronger feelings but it was something that’s giving the book a higher rating than what it would have received otherwise.

3 stars. I liked it but I don’t know if I’ll continue on with the series. I’m not dying to know what happens next, even if I am slightly intrigued. It’s was entertaining but predictable.