Girl, Serpent, Thorn. A f/f Persian fairytale retelling. An anti-heroine… This book had all of the elements for a mind-blowing story; however, it fell a little flat. That is not to say that the story wasn’t enticing and engaging. I feel that there was so much more that could and should have explored in the book. It was hard for me to get into the book after the prologue, and I never fully connected with the characters nor the story. I think the main pitfall was the mystical and magical words of the prologue. It gave me high expectations for this book, and it just didn’t work out for me. The pacing of this book was strange, and I had a hard time trying to like the characters.

I also want to say that the cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous.

I really enjoyed this book! I am so happy that I got an audio arc from Macmillian Audio and Netgalley to provide my sassy review, thank you for the audio of this book!

If you're a stickler on making sure you pronounce a name correctly you will want to check out the audio version of this book.

The Persian folklore retellings, use of Persian myths, and use of the Persian language were just beautiful and added so much more to this amazing story.

Having that added touch of all the Persian words sucked me more and more into the story.

At the end of the story, the author also explains #own story with her Persian ancestry. She also went more into detail of the actual Persian folklore which was fascinating to learn more about!

I adored this brand new fairytale! I devoured the audiobook in a single day. The story breath taking and beautiful, filled with stunning imagery and morally grey characters. I was not expecting the queer bit and was pleasantly surprised when and how it arrived within the pages of this story.

The audio book was absolutely fantastic. I adore this narrator and would listen to her again and again.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn was an inventive fairy tale re-telling. Ms. Bashardoust has a talent for descriptive world building and strong character development. I felt that I could easily envision the world Soraya lived in as well as the creatures living there. Soraya was a complicated character. Her story was not a typical one and it was done well. I liked the way the author developed each character and by the end of the book, you felt like you were sometimes in their thoughts.

Soraya has been hidden away for most of her life. She was made to feel as if she was an embarrassment to her family. Her touch was deadly. The impact of not being able to give or receive touch for your entire life is unimaginable. She was always on the outside looking in at her family as they went on living without her. Her twin brother, the ruler of their country, is preparing to marry. Soraya is feeling her isolation more than ever. She aches to be "normal" and able to live among others without fearing that she'll accidentally kill someone. This desire leads her down a path where the results may not be exactly what she expects.

I really love it when an author can take a fantasy storyline and blend it with real world issues and feelings. At the end of the day, people are all driven by the need to feel accepted and like they belong.

The narration of this audiobook is fantastic. Nikki Massoud is extremely talented and brings the different characters to life. She keeps the story flowing and the reader engaged throughout the entire book. Truly, I feel that the narration strengthened the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for the review copy of this audiobook. The opinions contained within this review are entirely my own.

The narrator for this story did a great job! This was a good fantasy book. I enjoyed that a girl helps to save the day & that two female characters fall in love! I enjoyed how Soraya embraces her thorns in the end and how this supports self-love. I do feel like the world building was a little lacking for my taste & did feel like the plot was a little slow at times. Overall though I did enjoy this one and would recommend it to other fantasy readers. This one gets 3.75 stars rounded to 4.

Finally a 5 star read this summer! I was sadly disappointed with my other most anticipated summer releases for this year but this one did NOT disappoint!
The narration was incredible. It sucked me in right away. I had previously granted access to read this book via ebook by Netgally but the Audio kept me engaged even though I knew what was going to happen and when. It's rare for an audiobook to do that for me but this one was truly amazing.

Summery in my words:
Cursed before she was born, Soraya has spent her whole life within the confines of her room, private garden, and in between the secret crawl spaces between the walls of her families castle. She lives in constant fear since everything that touches her skin dies.
After sneaking into the dungeons, Soraya meets a demon much like the one who cursed her mother's first born daughter (Soraya) so many years ago, she is told that her 'cursing' may not have come about the way she has been told, or even be a curse at all.
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, reigns true for our heroine. All her life she has been told exactly who she is and what made her that way, but was it or was it not all a lie.
As her twin brothers wedding approaches, Soraya must decide wether to remain within the shadows or step into the the light and be seen for the first time, in order to find out who and what she really is.
Princess or Monster.

I loved this book so much but then again I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings. This story is about a girl who is Cursed to be poisonous to the touch. When she finally ventures out into the world she tries to find a way to get rid of the curse. She doesn't know the full story about why she was cursed though and realizes she had it all wrong. She must fight to protect the ones she loves and destroy the man they fear most.

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan audio for my gifted audiobook copy.

After loving Bashardoust's previous novel, I can confidently say that she has a knack for reimaginging fairy tales - weaving their mythology into deeper and more complex relationships that captivate you from the first page. Soraya's lonliness is physical and seeing her grow, like a rose, was inspiring.

I enjoyed this so so much. I loved the Persian mythology and culture in the book, and learning about the stories that inspired the book (this was the first time I’d seen an author’s note used as a pronunciation guide, and a way to tell what inspired the story and give background on the languages and popular myths.
I read this in an audiobook format, and I loved the narrator. She had a soothing voice, that never droned on or became difficult to focus on, and listening to the correct pronunciations of the words helped immensely, and the accents the narrator gave the characters helped differentiate between them, and gave them even more life.

Girl Serpent Thorn is a dark and twisted fairytale about a very gray protagonist. She’s not all good, but she’s also not all bad.

I needed to keep reminding myself that this was YA. Soraya is really interesting and complex with unique powers, but I wanted more. I wanted a deeper execution of the characters and the story.

It was perfectly fine enjoyable, an interesting concept, but I just felt like it could have been taken further and developed more.

I enjoyed the narration of this audiobook.

Special thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn I love the cover that's what really made me persuade to read this story, it is fantasy, drama, love and so many mistakes that will make the heroine finally grow and become the characters she should be or supposed to be.

Soraya made so many wrong decisions during the story, I was just rolling my eyes, but at the same time, I believe and feel it was part of her process and also part of growing.

Many of the secondary characters were so crucial for Soraya growth, I really liked how much depth they add to the story and Soraya's character, helping her in some way or another to understand.

Overall it was a good story but I rated 3 stars because I had a very hard time getting into the story, the narrations were too weak for my taste and that really ruined the whole story and book for me.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy but I do recommend the paperback version instead of the audio.

The narrator did a pretty good job on this one. It was pretty slow though. I sped it up to 1.75 and it was just a touch faster than a comfortable listening speed.

The story was ok. I think a lot of younger people are love this story. It did seem a little rushed and a lot of dumb mistakes were made that should/could have been easily cleared up with communication.

The writing in the novel is quite lovely. It's so easy to fall into, and so easy to follow. And yet, that writing was not enough for me to love this book.

For starters, everything felt rushed. I wanted more.

I wanted more worldbuilding since outside of Soraya's immediate POV, we don't learn much about the world. I wanted more character development because no one but Soraya herself (and perhaps her mother) got any true advancement. And even then, I felt like Soraya didn't live up to her full potential and behaved childishly at times. Then again, I am biased because I wanted to see her go full evil and thought that's the direction the book would go in.

I would have also wanted the story to be longer. There were times where it felt rushed like it needed to be fleshed out and explored. There was so much potential for such depth and complexity. At times I got glimpses of it but it always felt like we would just as soon spring back to the surface.

Even the romances felt a bit shallow. There was no exploration there, no development in any way that I found necessarily enjoyable.  The MC's sapphic romance didn't deliver, and neither did her romance with the male love interest. I was disappointed on both fronts!

In the end, this book was actually a decent read. It was easy to get through and had good writing. The book also had some good plot reveals. Although to be fair, it had some painfully obvious reveals in there as well. Still, the novel was generally enjoyable, despite what some of the comments in my review may imply. Make of that what you will.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn has been one of my most anticipated reads for 2020 and unfortunately, fell short of my expectations. I don't know if I am just very tired and couldn't follow along as well, but I found myself 5 hours into the audio book and still not really invested enough to find out what happened :( The narration was wonderful and I know that this book will catch many, it just did not hold my attention.

Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC!

“Stories always begin the same way: There was and there was not. There is possibility in those words, the chance for hope or despair.“

Enchanting and well-written, right from the start. I loved the inclusion of Persian mythology, and was immediately pulled in by Soraya‘s story. I was kept guessing right until the end and will be looking out for other books by Melissa Bashardoust in the future.

I listened to the audiobook of this story, and while I loved the writing and story of the book itself, I wasn’t impressed with the narration. I found it particularly annoying that Soraya had a Persian accent when she spoke aloud, but her internal monologue had an American accent.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for approving my request to review via NetGalley their audiobook edition of ‘Girl, Serpent, Thorn’ by Melissa Bashardoust in exchange for an honest review.

This YA fantasy novel follows a princess cursed with poisonous skin as she tries to lift her curse and save her people.

I had already read this book prior to receiving the audiobook version, so it was nice to dive back into the world.

Nikki Massoud was the perfect choice for this book. She speaks fluent Parsi which allowed her to be confident with some of the words in the book. The characters were distinctive, which is so important in audiobook narration.

Both the narrative and audiobook are five stars.

My thanks to Macmillan Audio for approving my request to review via NetGalley their audiobook edition of ‘Girl, Serpent, Thorn’ by Melissa Bashardoust in exchange for an honest review.

It was published on 7 July 2020 though is currently only available in Canada and the USA. It is narrated by Nikki Massoud and has a running time of 10 hours, 6 minutes at 1x.

This YA/Teen fantasy was inspired by ancient Persian mythology. Its story centres on a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. Soraya has been hidden away by her family in a labyrinthine palace. When she is offered a way to break the curse it will take her down a dark path.

I was fortunate enough to have the ebook of ‘Girl, Serpent, Thorn’ at hand so I could could combine reading alongside listening to the audiobook. I very much enjoy this type of immersive experience.

Focusing on the narration: Nikki Massoud is an established actor with impressive television and stage credits. She was an excellent choice for this particular novel as she speaks fluent Farsi and was clearly confident with the Persian words in the text. I found her narration fluid and her voice rich. Each character’s voice felt distinctive and I found that she captured the voices of the younger characters effortlessly.

Nikki Massoud clearly loves the art of storytelling and this enthusiasm made listening to the audiobook a wonderful experience. For me the hallmark of an excellent narrator is their ability to conjure the setting, characters, and plot and so transport the listener into the narrative. I hope that she undertakes more audiobook projects in the future.

This was a 5-star book for me and also a 5-star audiobook in terms of performance and overall presentation. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this novel, especially the first half when the protagonist is learning her own history and that of her family. I listened to this on audio, and the narrator was great. It was also nice to be able to hear the pronunciation of some of the Persian words.

Soraya has spent her whole life hidden away. Poison runs through her veins, the result of a curse, making her touch deadly. When her brother, the shah, returns home for his wedding, Soraya catches the attention of one of his soldiers. Surprisingly, this young man doesn’t seem scared of her. With his help, Soraya begins to look for a way to get rid of her curse once and for all. But doing so could cost her everything.

Inspired by Persian history, mythology, and Zoroastrianism, Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a fairy tale about a princess who is cursed to be poisonous to the touch. It is a story of love, anger, betrayal, and revenge, with plenty of court politics, complex or morally gray characters, and mythological beings.

The early part of the book is very strong. It draws you into Soraya's world, hidden away and yearning for human touch, not to mention the fact that her brother (the Shah) is about to marry the girl she has loved since childhood. She is compelling, tragic, and you want to see her stand up for herself. But doing so might come at a cost and there are secrets that have been kept from her.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say much more about the plot, but I think this book has interesting ideas, asking questions about love and what it means to be human. The authors note at the end is also fascinating and makes it clear that the author did a lot of research and poured a great deal of love into creating this world. And there were many things I liked about the book, but it's not perfect.

As I said, the early part of the book is very strong and the pacing is great. But then it begins to really drag. The plot begins to feel repetitive and the switch to focusing on the internal journey of Soraya without much happening externally felt less compelling than I wanted it to be. The ending was good, but I definitely lost steam and interest through the middle. I like what this book was trying to do and thing there is a lot to like, but this probably could have done with another round of edits. That said, I appreciate that the author is giving us a queer princess who learns to accept that even her barbs are a part of her and can be beautiful.

In terms of the audiobook, the narration is good, but not a standout. Since we only have one perspective character, that ends up being fine. I will say there was an odd echo effect, but I listened to this as an advance review copy through Netgalley and the sample of the finished copy on Audible doesn't seem to have that problem. That may have slightly affected my experience and listening to it as anything above 2x speed was incomprehensible. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an audio review copy! All opinions are my own.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a magical story filled with secrets, lies, alliances, and deceptions. It is full of complex characters and plot twists, some that I could predict and several that I did not.

I felt that the narration was very well done and enhanced the overall story for me very much. The accents really helped to draw you into this fantasy world. The pace was good, though I did speed it up just a little since I am an avid Audiobook listener.

Soraya was a fantastic lead character in this YA Fantasy novel. You could feel her loneliness and her feelings of abandonment from her family and only true friend. She was hidden away, shamed, and forced to do the only thing she thought she could to free herself from her poisonous curse. But she only found herself to be deceived once again. She is so strong though, and continues to fight in any way she can to free her family from the true Monster.

I felt that a large part of this story was about acceptance, and I was happy to see Soraya discover her place in the world and her purpose. I also liked how the roses in the beginning of the story come full circle at the end. I did feel that the story dragged just a little in the middle for me, but overall felt I had been totally transported to another world and those details in the middle were a necessary part of that.

The Authors note at the end of the book was a great insight in to the inspiration of Persian Mythology and fairytales for the story. Those elements of the story gave it something unique and special.

Thank you to Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for my copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.