I devoured this book, I read it in one sitting and ended up sleeping at 5am.

A Beauty and The Beast, romantasy why choose retelling is completely up my alley and it delivered exactly what was promised.

There is magic, a cursed land, Princes who are lost in their own fear and anger and a mystery to unravel.

There is plenty of plot to keep the story moving forward and the reader engaged whilst still giving the strong element of romance and allowing plenty of time to explore the blossoming relationships featured in the book.

This book sets up strong bonds between not only Rosalina and all of the princes but shows a glimpse into the bonds between the princes aswell which I’m excited to see how they grow and are revealed to us.

Actual review to come soon!!
Having read this previously, I was excited to see if there were any updates. The bonus chapter from the Prince of thorns was greatly appreciated and I am definitely intrigued by the bond between him and Kel!

One of my best reads!! I inhaled the book and I couldn’t get enough.
I finished it in a day. Yeap. I couldn’t put it down.
I am a true sucker for why choose but throwing a “Beauty and the beast” retelling had me begging for it to never end.
Compelling, amazing characters, mind blowing world building. What else do you need?! Spice? Oh it had THE spice like I was blushing and turning the pages with hungry eyes…
Elizabeth and Helen wrote an amazing book.

3.75⭐️. This is a RH beauty and the beast retelling. It starts out almost exactly like the fairy tale, and then veers off course into its own later on in the book. The storyline was very simple, with a lot of unanswered questions. I have a feeling the next book will be much better, much more informative, and really let the story come into its own. I was a bit confused that the only real spicy scene in a RH wasn’t even with the FMC. I also wish the Prince of thorns and his part in the story was explained a bit more before the end.
I did like the different characters of the princes. They all seem to have their niche and mysteriousness and I found myself rooting for all of them. Was it a fantastic read? No. But it definitely gave enough of the fluffy fairytale vibes and cliffhangers to make me want to read the next one.

Bonded by Thorns is a spicy, magical Beauty and the Beast retelling with a delicious fae twist, and it hooked me from the very first chapter. I loved the mix of fairytale charm, swoony romance, and darkly enchanting worldbuilding — the Enchanted Vale was atmospheric, dangerous, and utterly addictive to escape into. The four beastly princes each had their own personalities that kept me guessing (and swooning), and watching the slow-burn tension build between them and the heroine was so much fun.

The story leans heavily into fantasy romance tropes — enemies to lovers, forced proximity, multiple love interests — and if you love fae romances with a touch of spice and drama, you’ll eat this up. I did find a few pacing moments a little uneven, and the cliffhanger ending left me desperate for book two, but that’s part of the ride with this kind of series.

Overall, this was enchanting, addictive, and full of tension — a fairytale for grown-ups that’s equal parts romantic, magical, and wickedly fun. I’ll definitely be continuing the Beasts of the Briar series!

I will not lie. I knew nothing about this book and solely started reading it because of the absolutely beautiful cover, and I AM SO HAPPY I DID! What is better than a fae based beauty and the beast retelling? Well my friends that is a fae based beauty and the beast remix with a whole hoard of beasts!

🖤 Bonded by Thorns (reread) 🖤
Coming back to this book honestly made me love it even more! I was already obsessed the first time I read it, but now that Sourcebooks picked it up for publication, I couldn’t be happier—it deserves all the hype!

Here’s what I wrote in my original 2023 review:
✨ “The perfect retelling. Perfectly paced, with most of the story told through Rosalina’s eyes, and just a sprinkle of chapters from the princes’ POVs that gave us a fascinating glimpse into fae minds. The spice was light but well done—I loved Farron and Day—and I knew book 2 would turn the heat up!”

And now, after rereading, I can confirm:
🖤 Farron and Dayton? Still my faves.
🖤 Cassian is morally grey perfection.
🖤 The stakes keep climbing higher with every book.
🖤 This series is so worth the hype.

I first found this series because of Tik Tok and MAN did I eat this up! At first it seems like a classic retelling of Beaty and the Beast, but then it drastically changes to mysteries surrounding the kingdom, characters, the castle, and possible why choose romance. Absolutely LOVED this book and cannot wait to get my hands on the others in the series. New favorite book!

3.5 ⭐️s for me

When I initially read this book I was in love with the easiness of the read. It definitely is not for everyone but I would definitely recommend to certain people that work looking for a read like this. As I have read the other books in the series I felt like they have gotten even better. This is a good start to the series and introduction into the world building aspect. I love the little twist on Beauty and the Beast, making it multiple men 👀 There are definitely some drool worthy MMCs in this series.

Amazing why choose romantasy with fabulous characters and the romance has beautiful tension. The male leads that have been introduced are interesting and I cant wait to see each relationship development!

3.5⭐
3🌶️

.Reverse harem
.Enemies to lovers
.Forced proximity
.Hurt/comfort
.Multiple POVs

It took me a while to get into this book. I’m not sure why, but it didn’t capture my attention as much as I’d hoped. The characters and plot were interesting enough, but the first 75% didn’t fully hook me. I considered DNFing several times, but the mysteries kept me going, and in the end, I’m kind of glad I stuck with it… maybe? It finally caught my interest, but I’m still not feeling the romance.

Rose is an ok heroine, though she makes some frustrating choices. I wanted to shake her awake a few times, but I can see her growth, so I expect her to become more of a badass in future books.

Ferron is my favorite so far. Nerdy, tender, and adorable. Honestly, I wanted him to be the first to end up with Rosaline.

Kel comes second. He’s the typical brooding, self-sacrificing hero. I’m not sure how I feel about him yet, but his softer moments with Rosaline were nice.

Ez is still a mystery, and I don’t care much about him for now.

Day is my least favorite, just a drunk flirt who hasn’t added much to the story yet, though I hope he’ll have some character development later on.

Caspian gives me serious Rhysand vibes, so I’m very curious about him. He has the potential to become my favorite character.

Now I’m at a crossroads. I’m not sure whether to continue or take a break. If I stop now, I doubt I’ll ever pick up the next book, so maybe I just need to push through and go straight to book two.

This book is utter brilliance. I love Rosie and her four princes so much. In many why choose books I get lost with the men but Elizabeth Helen did an amazing job making each one unique. Not just in looks but in personality. I love the beauty and the beast retelling aspect. I love the chemistry Rosie has with everyone( is it wrong how badly I love Caspian?) Bonded By Thorns is perfect in every way.

The Beasts of the Briar series is a magical tale where our heroine, Rosalina, finds herself at the mercy of the four princes of Castletree. To earn her freedom, she must help them find their fated mates and break a beastly curse.

I absolutely loved Bonded by Thorns! Elizabeth Helen have created something truly unique and it was beautiful to read. Picking up this book felt like being transported to a whole new world and the imagery is spectacular.

Rosalina is such a strong FMC and she just keeps growing. Her confidence only gets better throughout this book, and it’s amazing to see.

I can’t wait to see where this series goes. The cliffhanger was a big one! 10/10 would recommend.

5⭐️ 3🌶️

🖤Spicy Beauty and the beast Romantasy retelling
🖤RH/Why choose and they’re all princes 👀
🖤Immersive world building
🖤Enemies-to-lovers
🖤Fated mates
🖤Forced Proximity

(Spoiler-free as always) If you’ve ever thought, “Wow I wish I had a well written fantasy with a cool beauty and the beast retelling but I also wish it was spicy and that there were more than one prince?” SAY NO MORE. This book (and series) quite literally has it all. And really, who are we to NOT ask for all of our dreams and desires into one book and series?! WHY CAN’T we have it all?
Okay but seriously, this is in incredible read. Un-put-downable. Make sure to have all the rest of the books ready and ordered to read after this first one because you’ll want to jump into the next one asap.

Thank you to Elizabeth Helen, Bloom
Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

This book came in swinging with… nothing. Rosalina starts off as the human embodiment of a wet paper towel—letting her abusive ex (who, casual reminder, carved his name into her arm??) hang around like it’s no big deal. She’s ready to marry this guy and I’m just over here screaming “BABE, HAVE SOME DIGNITY.”

Then she stumbles into fae land and suddenly she’s Wonder Woman. Brave, loud, ready to throw hands with literal fae princes. Like… ma’am, where was this energy when you were tolerating Captain Red Flag back home? The whiplash was real.

And the writing? Oh lord. Nothing takes me out of a fantasy faster than pop culture references every five pages. I half expected a side character to yell “YASS QUEEN” and that would’ve been my villain origin story.

The romance was the biggest letdown. Reverse harem? Barely. Spice? Where? It was all vibes, no execution. The princes had potential, but Rosalina… girl. She’s 25 but acts like a teenage pick-me, and not even the fun kind.

And yet—plot twist—I read the whole thing. Couldn’t stop. It’s the kind of cringe that’s so bad it circles back to entertaining. Do I regret it? Probably. Am I still side-eyeing myself for continuing the series? Absolutely.

Bonded by Thorns is like eating Taco Bell at 2 a.m.—you know it’s bad for you, you might hate yourself later, but in the moment… you’re not putting it down.

Another day, another binged book. This is a Beauty & the Beast retelling and I loved the parts where I could picture the animated film in my head while reading. I have to admit, I’ve put off starting this series more than once because I’m not the biggest poly/RH fan, so far I am enjoying this! It’s more hinted at in this book, with some slow burn vibes. I like the relationships being developed not just between Rosalina and the beasts, but amongst the males themselves as well. I already love Farron and Dayton, and I think Ezryn and Kel will end up being incredibly lovable in their own ways too.
There is definitely some mystery surrounding the Briar and its people. We also get the King of Thorns who is a villain but also a major question mark in my mind. I’m eager to learn more about his history and to see the role he plays moving forward. The ending gives you with a slight cliffhanger and more questions. It definitely has me wanting more.

This by the end of the book really surprised me!! I was worried in the beginning it was a little too similar to Beauty and the Beast but as you proceed through the book the lore and world building really kicked in.

The FMC was giving pick me in the beginning but by the end I love her and she deserves the world and her town can go and suck on lemons.

Parts of this are really dark I.e. domestic abuse (not from love interests) and suicide ideation but it is glossed over.

I can’t wait for this harem to harem and I’m excited to read the next book!

Beauty and the beast but with multiple beast princes! I absolutely love this series. Rosie is broken before finding the enchanted vale and finds herself and her strength as she works with the 4 high princes to save the kingdom and undo the damage done by years of a curse and attacks from the below.
I highly recommend the Beasts of the Briar series to anyone who likes Beauty and the Beast and doesn't mind a sexy story with multiple love interests.

3.5 stars for this one. I actually enjoyed this. It's more of a slow burn and the potential relationship dynamics has me considering reading the other books. I honestly expected to dislike this based on the fact that I don't tend to love Why Choose books, but this was a pleasant surprise. Once you get past the first third of the book which is basically a rehashing of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Social outcast works in a bookstore, her ideas are constantly shot down and too progressive, she catches the eye of the town's golden boy, and calls her dad "Papa." Sometimes the quotes were straight out of the movie. Anyway once she ends up in the fae castle, it got a little more interesting. This is where it diverges a bit from the original story because she has 4 princes instead of 1 to deal with. She slowly finds some common ground with all of them and starts to get to know them. I found some issue with how outspoken and snarky she could be, despite how demure and quiet she's portrayed in her home town. It just seemed far too quick for that much character growth. Once the relationships started being explored and fleshed out (ha!) I liked the idea of them all sharing or being more poly-amorous than just all the guys taking turns with the girl. The Prince of Thorns showing up and adding something else different to the mix also made it interesting.

Small complaint with the ARC is that it doesn't include the novella being published with the story in the Bloom paperback editions.

This story wasn't bad. I honestly expected it to blow me away, but I thought it was just okay. Don't get me wrong I liked the characters, well everyone except Lucas and Quellos. I liked the mystery, suspense and the steamy scenes within the story, however, when it came to the story itself, it dragged and there wasn't anything significant that happened. I was left with as many unanswered questions I had in the beginning at the end of the story. There was a lot that was unsaid between the main characters, and I think Kel took the cowardly way out when it came to the end of the story with Rose and I'm hoping that the next book isn't about Rose and Lucas because I'm over him. I was over him from the moment he came into the story. I will read the next book because I want to know what happens between the main males and female character., but I really need the next book to pick up the pace and give me a lot more than this one has. I'm hoping the next book will change my feelings about this series, but I guess only time will tell. I just know that I need more. I was disappointed because it was stated that Prince of the Area would be included with the story, but it wasn't.