This is an outstanding demonstration of a very in-depth modern tale of beautiful magic with a deeply moving plot. This story had me in all my emotions. I was cheering on the main character and crying with her all at once. Like i said, this sincerely deeply moved me in the best of ways.

Maude has never really had the perfect life, but her childhood was pretty good. She had a great friend, Odette, and years full of magic and story-telling. Creating dolls and monsters from within her own imagination and Odette's joy. But things get lost as one grows older. Children often lose their inner magic and even the best of friends don't always remain close. In this case, magic seemed to flee from Maude's grasp. In the rest of the world, it became something fake. Something easily bought and used by anyone and not very respected anymore.

Even though Odette and Maude are no longer close, Maude still feels a responsibility for Odette when her friend suddenly goes missing. A lost girl. But Maude knows she can find her. And, even more so, save her. She knows she can slay the dragon herself, however necessary.

This was inspiring and beautiful. Sad and yet, hopeful. I really enjoyed this.

Out April 18, 2023!

✨4/5 ✨
This book gave me Secret Garden vibes right off the bat. I live for any fantasy novel that includes witches, and this delivered. Maude's discovery and storytelling of her discovery of magic was fascinating. Sometimes when reading YA I don't connect withe the characters because of the age difference, but Maude made me feel young again and made me forget I'm a 31 year old muggle.

Wilkinson's book is a beautifully written story of a young girl who is coming in to her own. Maude's world revolved around her best friend, until that friend suddenly dropped her. Ever since she has spent her days mourning the loss of this relationship. When her friend goes missing, Maude goes against her family and society's strictures to try to rescue her. A talented storyteller, Maude realizes that the magic she wielded as a young girl has affected the area where her friend went missing, but it is a warped. This story is very atmospheric, and while it built the world, it also detracted from the story for me since it described a lot of plants that were completely unfamiliar to me. The side characters seems very interesting to me, and I wish the story had been told from one of their perspectives because I disliked Maude and her obsession with her friend. Overall, I did enjoy the story, but it will not be one of my favorites.

I've always enjoyed stories revolving around witches. I'm not sure if it's because of the magic aspect, or because they're misunderstood and each witch tale has a different spin to it but either way, I like reading them and each time I get the chance to read one before it's release date... well, that's even more good news.

However, there are good witchy tales, bad witchy tales, and some that fall flat somewhere.

Short Summary: A jaded daughter of a witch sets off to go search for her best friend in a place that nobody remembers.

Long Summary: Maude is the daughter of a witch, but in a land that is being rid of magic, all that remains are weak glamour spells and the old legends of great magic that used to roam around the land. Her mother was one of the few who resorted to seeking dangerous magic that made her part of a rebellion.


And her best friend Odette always hungered for the same dangerous magic, enough to leave Maude behind and break her heart. And now, she's disappeared and everyone thinks that Odette is dead.

Everyone except Maude.

Because apart from her, an acquaintance of her, Rufus tells her about the Sicklehurst, the place that everyone seems to forget except him and a few others. And perhaps the place that everyone forgets exists may be the answer to find Odette and to discover more about the dangerous magic that everyone fears.

But perhaps the Sicklehurst must be forgotten because as everyone says, curiosity kills the cat... and Maude may not be strong enough to survive the dangers of Sicklehurst and all its secrets.

Okay, this book was a slow start for me. Essentially, it ends up being predictable that Maude was in love with Odette and that there would be lost girls involve as well as an evil corporation, so while the concept of Mettle is pretty cool, the story itself ends up being mostly predictable. The ending itself is supposed to be a promise for more to come, but really, if I were to pick up the possible next book, It would only be because of Rufus.

Just him because all I wanted to do with both Odette and Maude was slap them in the face.


Overall: 3/5 Stars

This was such a a strange and beautiful book about the power of girls and the power of stories.

Maude is a 17yo witch who lost her power and uses stories to live out the adventures she craves while molding herself into "the good girl" that everybody wants to see. Her friend Odette takes the road less traveled and rebels against the rules, the society she refuses to accept, and even old friends. But when Odette goes missing in a placed cursed to be forgotten, Maude must find adventure in the real world if she's to save the girl who once was her friend.

The atmosphere is beautiful, the story is strange, and the magic is alive in the words on these pages. I adored the setting and the pacing. I struggled a bit with the lack of commitment to a time period. We know the setting is modern as there is WIFI, but the mayor wants to send the girls to finishing school to learn cooking and sewing and child rearing, which feels very old fashioned and not 2023. This decreased my investment in the struggle for feminine power as it felt really incongruent.

I loved Odette and Maude and Rufus and the grannies and history and the forest and the fairytale and the wild girls who came before. If magic and fairytales are your jam, this book is an absolute must read!

- DNF
- Written In Present Tense
- Pet Peeve

This is an unfair review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an ARC of Hunger of Thorns

I am fully aware that this is a personal pet peeve and completely my own bias. My dislike for this writing style has NOTHING to do with the story or the ability of the author to communicate and write effectively, therefore I will not be posting this review on any other platform.

To start off, I'm a mood reader and chose this book when I clearly was not ready to read it. I kept going, but know that the rating on this will reflect that I do not believe I was in the right headspace to read it.

A Hunger of Thorns is everything you want from an atmospheric horror YA book book deep magic and Alice-in-Wonderland-like Adventures. This book is perfect for those who loved Small Favors by Erin Craig and other lovers of ooey-gooey plant horror.

Like I said, I wasn't in the right headspace to appreciate the book for what it is: a coming of age story that is steeped in self-reflection and continuous flashbacks. I struggled to connect with Maude, the MC, as I really disagreed with her obsession with her toxic former friend Odette. But her struggle to come to terms with her obsession is the heart of the story and the angst from her self-discover is the heart of the story.

This YA would be a great book to read with book clubs and classes for the commentary it offers about friendship, love, and family. It is slow-moving so it would not be what I would choose for general audience, but for groups who will be able to appreciate for what it is.

I'm interested in potentially revisiting this book, maybe in an audiobook format, to ground myself in the atmospheric horror and angst of the character. Despite my rating for this book (at this time), I believe that this book is perfect for those that can connect with it. Wilkinson does a great job of delivering on exactly what it is and if you're in the right headspace and want to be vulnerable enough to appreciate this story, I can see where this book could be self-reflective for the reader as well as the characters.

Rating of 3 stars is not reflective of the fact that I think it is one of the better written books I've read in the last few years.

3.5 rounded up.

I wavered a bit on what I'd end up rating this one as I read. There's a section in the middle that reminded me a bit of Alice in wonderland but without the tempering effect of whimsy. I didn't enjoy that part, felt the book could've done without it, and it really dragged it down for me.

But the beginning and end I felt were stronger, exploring friendship, infatuation, family, making mistakes, taking responsibility, and girlhood. I wish I'd had a book like this as a teen when I knew I didn't fit the mold I was "supposed" to but didn't know how to be comfortable with that.

I kind of had a love/hate relationship with every character in the book, which I think shows the author's talent at characterization and making them 'real'. Except Winnie. Nothing but love for her!

"I cry out for every girl who was told to comb her hair and wash the mud from her face. To keep herself contained. To be ashamed of her voice, her hair, her flesh. To be quiet and good and nice. Girls are not nice. Girls are wild and fierce and powerful, and I will not let anyone take that away. Not ever again."

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the chance to read and review this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved the concept. I loved watching faerie tales come to life, and the lessons we learn from them.

As much as a loved this book there were a lot of parts that hurt and frustrated me though... but those parts were also part of the lesson:

It hurt seeing that Maude only saw herself as "The storyteller. Not the hero" and didn't believe that she on her own had value, that her talent, her magic had parameters. Even after seeing that in the Sticklegrass she can still access magic, she still believed that she "had nothing to offer". Her entire identity revolved around the obsession with a person, being accepted and no longer see as a "wild girl". It hurt seeing how long it takes her to have even a grain of confidence, and realize she can control these stories, because they are her own story. It hurt seeing how quickly others went to lengths to suppress her magic because it was wild, different, and didn't fit into the expected box.

A fantastic tale and lesson for anyone.

4/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Randomhouse Childrens/Delacorte Press for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

This was such a fun read and completely took me by surprise. Maude is a magicless witch who spent much of her time as a child running around and crafting stories with her friend Odette. When Maude lost the ability to work with magic, Odette left her. Years later, Odette has disappeared and rumored to be dead. Maude is told that the last place she was seen was Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant that hides something dark and ancient. Maude can't help but follow.

This was a great read. Honestly, I thought I'd be annoyed with Maude (most of the recent teenage-age main characters I've read have done nothing but annoy me) but I really loved her character. She's desperate for approval and to be perceived as a "good girl" because nothing bad happens to good girls. As we find out, being a "good girl" is incredibly restrictive and damaging. I also loved Maude's relationship with her grandmothers. They were so sweet and although they did shelter Maude a lot, it was obvious from Maude's perspective that they loved her. The relationship that we're shown of Maude and her dead mom was rough not because it was badly written or anything but because of what her mom did to her (spoiler). Maude loves her mom a lot but from the beginning it was hinted at that the things she remembers of her mom were being viewed through rose-colored lenses.

Now, Odette and Maude's friendship was a turbulent one to read through. From the beginning, it's told to us that although Odette was Maude's first real friend and was there for her after the death of her mother, Odette was obsessed with magic. We're given glimpses into Odette's homelife through Maude and while it's sympathetic that she has a cold and emotionless mom who wants her to be this perfect daughter, I think it was hard for me to like Odette after finding out that she essentially stopped hanging out with Maude when she lost her magic. It very much was a toxic friendship both ways with Odette wanting to use Maude and Maude not being able to see who Odette really was. It was heartbreaking because best friendship breakups are painful, especially when it's been initiated by someone who you thought would be there for you through everything. All of that said, I do think that by the end of the novel, both girls have realized that they were both at fault but they both also realize that there's no real reason for either of them to go and pick at something that will no longer affect them. I think Maude put it like "we are no longer in each other's stories."

I do wish that there was more explanation about the rules of the magic system in this world and the lore that Maude kept hinting at that her mom had taught her. I found it super interesting and liked how Wilkinson described magic and the lines/strings of magic. It was so wildly cool and I would have liked to see more detail about that but I guess since we're in Maude's perspective, she really only knows so much. By the end, she is more curious about magic and mettle and about the lore she was taught. Since this is listed as Book #1, I'm hoping that in future books we get to learn alongside Maude.

Also before I forget, I feel like I should mention the gore in this book. It's surprisingly gorey. I mean some of the stuff that happens at Sicklehurst feels like something out of "Annihilation" but more pus and chunky blood. I'm not mentioning this because it's a bad thing, I really enjoyed the descriptions and body horror, but because it may catch readers with a weaker stomach. Personally, I loved it. It added a lot of character to what happened at Sicklehurst and created a lot of tension. It also took it up from just being another Fantasy YA.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It's not perfect but it's a fun and innovative story about magic and wild girls.

From the synopsis and cover, I was expecting to like this book, but I soon found out it wasn't for me.
In the first five chapters or so, this story resonated with some of my own lived experiences and I thought it would be a book I'd enjoy. But I didn't feel any connection to the characters and got distracted many times while reading.
Nevertheless, I though the world-building was interesting, something different and new from what I'm used to seeing in YA fantasy. A different plot/execution might have been more enjoyable to me.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

Promising story, but poor execution! The only thing that was captured perfectly in the story is the gothic creepy atmosphere. Should have probably dnf-d but I wanted to see it through. Would not recommend.

Thank you Delacorte press for the gifted ebook.

A Hunger of Thorns is a YA fantasy following Maude, a girl who lost her wild, uninhibited nature when she lost her magic. But when her old friend, Odette, is missing, Maude thinks she is the only one who can save her, just like she did in the stories she told growing up.
The first and second halves of this novel felt a little disjointed to me. Now I did put the book down about 50 or 60% in to come back to later because I was pretty bored, but not long after picking it back up it seemed better. When the plot really started moving, it almost felt like going on an acid trip (I mean this in a positive light). It was so crazy and horror-esque in ways that grossed me out and intrigued me at the same time. Once I got into it, I didn't want to stop reading. It was just a bit of a struggle to get to that part for a few reasons.
I don't always need likeable characters, but I disliked pretty much every character. I loathed Maude's connection to Odette despite how Odette treated her, and then how Maude sometimes reacted to Rufus really made me mad. She had no backbone with Odette through the whole thing, and I was hoping that would be an element of character growth we'd get from her because I feel it would have fit the story as well as the theme of girls being wild and free rather than quiet and perfect behaving little girls. I also felt that the build up to the climax just wasn't interesting enough most of the time, and the hints we got for where the story was going didn't give me the motivation to want to constantly keep reading.
The marketing for this story compares it to Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood, and I think that is a fair comparison. There is a lot to enjoy from this story, and I really liked how we got to see the changes in the area after everything settled.

I thought the summary of this book sounded enticing - hence why I requested it. And this book was ****good****. There were some aspects of it that I enjoyed, and I’ll talk a little about those below.

This feels a bit like a dystopian/modern day world, but with magic. Or limited magic. This is essentially a story of persecution of a group of people. Maude was a good character because she balanced between the two lines, and she had her foils who were giving her information — or refusing it.

There is a bit of a mystery in this as well, which is the main focus of the book.

Some of the parts of the book that I enjoyed were:

-the magic. I liked how Wilkinson used magic in interesting ways. I felt that it was a bit of a unique take on magic, and yet, somehow familiar.

-I like how we had a shift of memories as well, as truths are revealed you get more information via Maude.

-the queer aspect in this book was well done. It was simply there, and no explanations for it.

-darker side of magic — I can definitely see why it is comped to ******The Hazel Wood.****** It had a similar feeling to it.

-I liked the writing style. I found it went well with the tone of the story, which I also enjoyed.

The book was slow paced and a bit meandering, and I felt it didn’t really get to the point until towards the end, and by then I was slowly losing interest. While I thought Maude was a good character, I didn’t find her terribly compelling, at least not until towards the end.

This book is very focused on stories, and the truth behind stories. It was a solid read!

I enjoyed the ending immensely — and thought it worked with the overall theme of the book.

This book could have been good, but it wasn't. I think the concept was good, but the execution was lackluster. I think the author was attempting a "female power" type of book, but was more saying it instead of actually doing anything. The world building was flimsy at best and I had no idea what was happening a lot of the time.

Wow this one was amazing!! I loved the adventure that this book took me on with the characters and the story. I can not wait to get a print copy of this one as well as book two!! This is one of those stories that you take your time with so you can soak up the entire thing. Don't rush this one!!

AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 1 | Atmosphere: 6 | Writing: 3 | Plot: 2 | Intrigue: 7 | Logic: 4 | Enjoyment: 1
Total: 3.43

This book was definitely a book. That's an attempt at finding something positive to say here. The book modernity felt confusing to me, a strange balancing act between "is this modern or is this in a medieval time?" I recognize this was a different world than ours, but it still felt too far removed from the rules of the world as we know it that it was hard to hold onto anything. There is also a constant reference to redheads that felt really odd and unenjoyable to me. Additionally, the characters are all horrible? None of them are redeemable. This book was hard to get through as I wanted to fistfight all the characters, and didn't really feel any of them deserved a positive ending. I don't imagine I would read this again.

I cry out for every girl who was told to comb her hair and wash the mud from her face. To keep herself contained. To be ashamed of her voice, her hair, her flesh. To be quiet and good and nice. Girls are not nice. Girls are wild and fierce and powerful, and I will not let anyone take that away. Not ever again.

I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

First and foremost can we talk about this cover? It is sooo gorgeous and is part of why I requested to read the book in the first place! I am such a sucker for a good book cover. there is just so much going on while at the same time not being overwhelming... it just... is 10/10!

Anyways, after the intial chapter it started to become a faster paced book which is something I need in a book. I can't handle 10 pages describing the scenery, and I think the pacing in this one, as goldilocks would say was just right. I enjoyed the light and airiness of a magical witch story, and flowed very much like a fairytale which I also adored. This story is fun, and the characters are enjoyable.

Sadly this was a DNF. I just could not get into the story at all. It’s very slow paced and I kept getting distracted by other things. I’m sure others might enjoy this, but the writing style just wasn’t for me. All opinions stated are solely my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review!

2.25/5 stars! I think the premise of this story was phenomenal. That, and the beautiful cover, had me extremely excited to read this book. Unfortunately, the story didn't live up to its potential. The world-building explanation of the magic didn't feel fleshed out enough and the pacing was very slow. It just wasn't "fun" to read; it felt like work.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily