The synopsis sounded so good! I went into this with high hopes but sadly, this did not live up to them.

Maude loves with her grandmother’s. Her mother is dead and her former best friend is missing. Magic is controlled in this world. There is one place Maude thinks she can find Odette, Sicklehurst. An abandoned power plant build over an ancient forest that nobody remembers.

Maude is a snooze fest and frankly a little creepy. Not creepy Jan fun gothic way but creepy in Joe the stalker way. She goes on and on and on about the past and it just really drags down the story. Her magic if storytelling was a bright spot and really fun.

What I didn’t like is how much this book seemed to sexualize the young girls. These are teenagers and felt a bit gross to me. Odette accuses Maude of being obsessed with her and I feel she wasn’t wrong.

There are also some trigger warnings that should be listed:
Death of a parent
Death of a child
Death of a guardian

This book was so slow, and some of the deaths really felt not necessary especially something the mother did. That was just horrible and I wish I could erase it from my mind.

The book should have focused more on the magic of storytelling because that’s when the writing was the best.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an eARC copy of this book.

Thank you to Random House Children’s for the opportunity to read rate and review this arc which is available April 18,2023.

It’s a story of witches, magic, weaving stories and finding your friend because she’s an idiot for chasing the forbidden Magics.

It was okay. Nothing remarkable. Kind of predictable as all young adult fantasy seems to be. Maude is fierce. Odette is nonce. It’s feminist but not annoyingly so. I would recommend it to 11-13 year olds. Any older and your eyes will be well familiar with your brain and it’s wrinkles.

I really enjoyed this! It has all of the airy magical elements of a fairy tale set in a world where magic has been regulated and exploited by a corrupt and greed laced system. We follow our main character Maude as she goes on a quest to save her childhood friend, and find herself.

- It is "leisurely paced" - not so plot driven that you're diving into action every other page. There is a lot of reflection/ flashbacks and memories from the main character. The other characters are diverse and fleshed out enough to be relatable in their own way. Maude is 17 and the book is suitable for a YA audience, but I thought that the writing was really well done and this can definitely can be enjoyed by older readers as well.

-The highlight of the book for me was the world the characters exist in. I'm not sure if this world is purely fantasy or if it is meant to be a dystopian like setting. The world and 'powers that be' are interesting and unique. Magic is a regulated commodity, where the people that naturally hold it are reduced to soft magic and massive corporations have free rein to exploit it and use it to cater to the rich. We have magic auditors, detention centers for those witches who dissent, and a resistance that Maude's mother was a part of and ultimately died for.

-There is also a ton and I mean a ton of specific herbs, spell ingredients, magical lore etc. You can tell that the author has done research on the topic, and she uses a lot of terminology that might be really cool if you had an underlying understanding or interest in that sort of thing. As someone with very little knowledge of the topic, it sometimes got a little overwhelming/ repetitive as sometimes we are given lists of plants and spell ingredients with little explanation.

** Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC ***

Maude has spent her witchy childhood running wild through the woods with her best friend Odette. Her gift is storytelling, and she knows what happens to people who lose their way in the woods. So, when Odette goes missing after wanting to search for forbidden magic, Maude is positive she is the one who will save her bestie but can she face the monsters within herself and the forest?

Give me all the fairytale vibes forever! A HUNGER OF THORNS definitely has the magic of Sleeping Beauty, and Alice in Wonderland. The writing is exquisite. I always appreciate a book with strong world building that can draw you 'down the rabbit hole'. (Or in this case, into the forest)

What I loved: Twists. Any book with twists that I don't see coming or barely have time to see coming is an A+ in my book. I also love strong heroines working through themselves to help others.

What I thought could change: I did love the world building, but I think I would have liked it more if it had been a purely fantasy world. But that's me.

A HUNGER OF THORNS is out April 18, 2023 and is available for pre-order.


My thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I made it 50 pages into this book and had to DNF. It was not for me.

The writing is all over the place. Instead of moving forward with the story, Maude is constantly remembering parts of her childhood or explaining her magical world. It was very confusing to transition between so many different thoughts that frequently. Plus, every little thing is described thoroughly with too many similes and metaphors.

I also was confused why Maude even wants to find her “friend,” Odette. In the flashbacks, Odette seems very toxic and had abandoned her completely years ago. Sounds like an abusive friendship to me. Not interested in the rest of this story.

I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the magical elements in the story and the darker twist on the Sleeping Beauty theme (not sure if it’s an exact retelling, but I was getting Sleeping Beauty vibes). The detailing of the world was very thorough, and I loved the LGBTQ+ representation!

Although I enjoyed the magic system, the story itself just wasn’t for me. While the magic was a unique twist on witchcraft, the actual rules around it were a bit confusing (for instance, non-magic users being able to seemingly use magic when they shouldn’t, or non-magic users receiving “gifts” that stemmed from magic). At times, the pages were bogged down by over-explanation causing me to skim through the details. The jumps between past and present were oddly placed at times and I found myself getting pulled out of the story. I was becoming increasingly frustrated by the main character, Maude. I wish she had found her voice when confronting her toxic friendship instead of falling trap to the reality she believed to be true.

Overall, it was a very interesting concept, but the story itself didn’t grip me the way I wished it did. Although it wasn’t a top read for me, if you love complex magic systems, seeing how magic might be modernized in an urban society, LGBTQ+ representation, and sweeping fairytales and quests, then this may be for you!

Thank you so much to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Okay so this book. This book. Well I loved this book! I loved the way the story was weaved with such beautiful descriptions. That the main character, Maude, was naturally flawed and it took time and development for her to see it and to be able to move on. The story was so well written and well layered. The characters were in Sicklehurst were beautiful and untouchable in the way any magical creature should be. And what they went through on the daily made me ache for them. I really enjoyed this book so much! It actually is the first finished book I have put into my reading journal. I have told friends to be on the lookout for it when it publishes and I plan to own a physical copy of it.!

A Hunger of Thorns was absolutely fantastical! Wilkinson wrote a story that was so well written I found myself flying through the pages, unable to put the book down, pondering what would happen next. My favorite piece of this entire story was how believable the characters were.

The writing is clear and clean, and very immersive. The book hums along at a good clip, but the pacing makes sure we're given time to breathe between plot-intensifying moments. The story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the settings was noticeable and superb. I felt absolutely transported and I'm so incredibly glad I was able to read an arc of this story.

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

Let me just start by saying, I really really wanted to love this. Maude intrigued me as a character some of the time, but annoyed me at other times. I constantly felt like I was waiting for something... MORE.. to happen in the storyline. Everything just fell kind of flat? The storyline was .... basic, and slightly boring at times. There's something good there in the storyline and concept... but the author just didn't put in that final oomph to make it work. The execution was just lacking.


The cover of the book is gorgeous though!

I wanted to love this book so badly, but it lost me right at the start. Too much space was spent describing every object the characters interact with and I just couldn't find a thread to grasp onto to know what was actually happening story or character wise.

Although the writing style wasn't for me, (and maybe it would be better suited in audiobook format) I would still give it a chance because I do think there is merit in the premise!

So I DNF'ed this book 40% of the way. I really tried to like this book but could not at all. I felt lost, confused, and didn't know what was happening 9 times out of 10. The world was fun and creative, but wasn't done well. I don't even know what to say really, I just didn't like the book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NETGALLEY for the ARC

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!
This is a magical YA book with hints of romance/potential romance. When I first started this book I had a difficult time getting into it as it seemed it began in an odd location. But after literally the first (maybe second chapter) the pace seemed to pick up quicker and I had trouble putting it down. This book is a legit fairytale come to life. And I do not believe I have ever read a book like it. It felt as so much happened in such a short time period. I believe only a few days or so? And it was such an adventure! And I am utterly obsessed with the take on magic and what it became. I felt as if there were a few instances where I was lost, especially with the concept of mettle. It didn’t feel it was explained until quite later on, which might have been the intention just wasn’t my preference.

SPOILER: There were a couple of instances in the book that I felt were unnecessary. The first is Nan's death. Nan completely died for no reason considering Maude still ended up getting mettle poisoning. Another instance was how Odette and Maude decided to just stop being friends. I get that it may have been necessary for character growth, but I feel Wilkinson could have waited until Book Two where Maude "recaps" what has happened since the last book and say something like "It's been two months and I have not heard from Odette...safe to say we are not friends". It just seems like Maude went through so much for their friendship/for Odette in general for nothing besides character growth.
END SPOILER

This is definitely a unique, magic-filled book, and I can definitely say I enjoyed it. I can honestly say I was not sure I would expect it as much but I feel the concept of Sicklehurst and Maude's story-telling abilities is just a very interesting way to portray magic. I am under the impression there is a book two, (I could be wrong) but if there is a book two, I am very interested to see where Wilkinson will go with the story.

I do recommend this book if you like fantasy, fairytales, and magic.

Sadly this book wasn't for me. It's premise intrigued me but exicution just fell falt. I hope it does well even though I just couldn't get behind the book.

The idea for this book was really interesting, but the execution was...not my favorite. I normally love a thorough world-building, but in this instance it felt like so much was focused on the world-building that there wasn't much story there. The descriptions just got to be so much that I found myself skimming them while trying to pick out bits of the actual story. Don't get me wrong, I love the descriptions--they were so rich and well-realized, but there was just too much of it. I also wasn't too big a fan of the characters/their characterizations. I liked Maude's grandmothers a lot, they were probably my favorite characters in the story. But Maude felt...sort of inconsistent? She was just so incredibly naïve that I found her to be very young and childlike, but then she falls in love and suddenly we just sort of move on from that? It was hard to suspend my belief surrounding this character.
Overall, not terrible but not great. I think the pacing suffered a lot from how overly descriptive this book is and Maude was sort of a pain to read from, but I loved the idea of this book and think that this author definitely has some talent hidden in here--this one just didn't work for me.

Maude is a witch that has lost her magic along with her best friend, Odette. Everyone thinks Odette is dead but Maude believes her best friend is alive and missing, probably on a search for dangerous magic. Maude believes that Odette is inside Sicklehurst, which is a power plant that has been abandoned in an ancient magical forest that it was built over. However, she is determined to find her best friend in the mysterious ruins and ventures out.

I liked the friendship, fairytale elements, and Maude in this book. The writing is dark and very descriptive in the world building and scenes. I found this to be an interesting read, slightly different from what I usually go for!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to give this a read!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the advance reader copy.

I was really excited about this premise of this book, but I was let down my the execution. My biggest issue with this book is that I felt as though the author focused so much on the world building (which is a necessary part of any fantasy story don't get me wrong) that the story kind of got lost in the descriptions. I feel like there needs to be a happy medium between not being descriptive enough and being so detailed in your description that reading feels like a chore. And unfortunately, this book fell into the descriptions as chores more times than not for me.

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of A Hunger of Thorns in exchange for a fair and honest review"
I am teetering on how many stars to award this book. I am reluctantly going with 3, however, if percentage stars were possible I would give it closer to a 3.5 but my opinion is not high enough to bestow 4 stars, so 3 it is.
This was a pretty neat story overall. I definitely appreciated the uniqueness of the narrative and the original concept of this book. The writing was a bit unpredictable. Some parts flowed nicely with appropriate imagery whereas others were a little more haphazard and choppy. The character development was adequate. The world-building left much to be desired. The story was entertaining to an extent. The parts that were good were pretty good. The parts that were not were almost boring. It was hard to get into and stay interested. I found that I was able to put this down for days at a time without even thinking about it in between, a huge mark against it overall.
Pros:
The character development was decent. I found myself getting to know our main players and was able to envision them appropriately.
The imagery when describing any kind of plant was extremely in-depth. I almost felt like I was getting an education in botany and horticulture during certain parts of this book. If the same energy that was put into the plants was put into the characters, story, and world-building of this book, I would definitely be writing a more favorable review.
The epilogue was my hands-down favorite part of the book.
Cons:
While the character development was sufficient, it still left much to be desired. Another review made the comment that this book had "an unreliable narrator" and I couldn't say that better myself! Our main character/narrator was all over the place. Are we dreaming? Are we remembering the past? Are we in the present? Who knows? Definitely not the reader!
This book had very poor world-building. I don't feel like nearly enough time was spent taking us to where we needed to be for this story. First of all, where are we? I realize this was an imaginary place but it mimicked too many places to be able to put my finger on what I needed to envision. Some areas had me thinking we were in England, others in India, and others in America. It was hard to tell where we were as the world this imitated had pieces of several. I just couldn't pinpoint it. Not that that is necessary but it definitely helps the reader with being able to identify and picture a given place. That wasn't even the most frustrating part. WHEN are we? While most of the story had me wanting to think we were in an older, simpler time, there were random mentions of vehicles, the internet, and hoodies! It just didn't seem natural given the other impressions throughout the book. It was discombobulating.
In closing, give the rest of the book the same effort and energy as the plants were given, and we'd have a solid 4+ star book.

I'm going to give this story a very solid 3.5 star. This is a very stunning example of showing, not telling a story. The descriptions were so vivid, so rich, I could picture everything the author was describing from the very first sentence. It was such a very beautifully written book. However, in the midst of all these beautiful descriptions, I felt like the world building got lost, and I would have loved to know more about this war that separated witches from non witches essentially, and more about these schools or institutes. I really loved loved the characters of Maude's grandmothers. However I found myself very frustrated with Maude and had a hard time connecting with her and her incredibly naive personality. It made her so childlike and immature, and then suddenly she's in love, it was hard to grasp, and I spent a majority of my time wanting to slap the character then anything, that was the primary gripe about this book.

This book creates a fantasy world where magic is not only real, it's part of everyday life to the point that it's been commercialized. In the midst of all the magic are relatable plotlines of teenage friendship and loss, but with higher stakes that come with greater power. This book was interesting for sure, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around some of the finer world-building points - especially since the main character Maude has such comprehensive knowledge of plant names that she interspersed within her narration. I also found the character Odette genuinely unlikeable, even in Maude's memories, which made Maude's quest to save Odette less engrossing. Overall, 4/5 ⭐️

Best of the book: A believable portrait of what a society that has magic would look like in the age of capitalism.

Worst of the book: Graphic descriptions of rot, gore, and decay that turned my (admittedly squeamish) stomach.

#TriggerWarning #ContentWarning Parental death, parental neglect, memory manipulation/gaslighting by guardians. There are multiple scenes with blood, body horror, and death.

Maude has always been the sidekick to Odette. She spins stories and they play and Odette is the hero while Maude plays a supporting role. So when Odette goes missing, Maude is not sure what to do but knows she must finally step up to be the hero and rescue the princess. But does she have what it takes?

I loved this story. It seemed unique and was very interesting as I reflected back on it (once everything came full circle). I also loved that there were some really great parallels to life about people who think they are doing the right thing but actually holding people back and how there are different ways people can hold you back (family members, teachers, society, etc.). There are some great quotes throughout the book and the cover is beautiful!

However, I felt there were a lot of unnecessary descriptive pieces that I felt I had to slog through and the first half of the book was paced somewhat slow for me. It was also darker than my usual read and I found the main character petulant and needy. I realize that her transformation is part of the story but for the majority of the book I was frustrated with her 🤷‍♀️. If I did half stars this would be a 3.5, it’s not quite on the level of my typical four but the plot overall was really worth more than a 3. The last quarter of the book was the best, I found the rest a bit tedious. I would be interested to see how the next novel goes and if she’s able to keep the pace up through the whole story. Thanks to the author and netgalley for the ARC!