I love a good psychological thriller, and The Thorns definitely had all the ingredients of stories that have hooked me in the past—a blinding girlhood obsession that continues to haunt a woman into her adult life.

Bethany Sloane, now a bestselling author living a seemingly normal life with her husband, cannot escape her traumatic past. After being abandoned by her mother at a remote African boarding school at thirteen, Bethany desperately sought the approval of her enigmatic dorm mate Stacey. Years later, Stacey reappears and once again drags Bethany into a series of twisted games that had once defined their controlling childhood friendship.

While it did take me a while to get hooked into this story, I did end up enjoying the ending—and I didn’t end up predicting the few major twists which is always a fun surprise. The POV time switch was a good setup to keep a compelling tension between Bethany's childhood and adult life, but the plot did feel disjointed and meandering at times. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, whose motives all felt unclear even by the end—especially Bethany's heroine in her own novels, who could have been a character herself. Also, without spoiling too much, the implied romance that was hinted at very subtly between two characters wasn’t really fleshed out at all and felt like it explained so much??? But then felt like it was just brushed away very quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this book.

I thought this was an interesting read. It was good, but I was not necessarily hooked. There was just a little something missing.