A New York Times bestseller! “A bewitching gem…I absolutely loved every moment of this story.” —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series “If you loved the Hogwarts Library…you’ll be right at home at Summershall.” —Katherine Arden, New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale From the New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of … Nightingale
From the New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of Ravens comes an “enthralling adventure” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about an apprentice at a magical library who must battle a powerful sorcerer to save her kingdom.
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather.
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire, and Elisabeth is implicated in the crime. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
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I’m giving this a generous 4 stars, even though it was a little closer to 3.5 for me. This was a wonderful premise and world, I just think the narration was a little heavy-handed when making a point rather than letting the characters be at times, so there was nothing wrong with it except I wanted just a little more depth. I also would have liked more time spent in the libraries themselves, but this was still an enjoyable story.
Happy to have received this book with my Owlcrate subscrition since I would really have miss a great story.
Sorcery of Thorns was the first by Margaret Rogerson that i was reading and I wasn’t dissapointed.
Its the story of a girl, Elizabeth, who has grown up in a library full of magical grimoires that have a life of they own. And can be quite dangerous. One of them is going to escape after an act of sabotage and she gonna have to turn to the sorcerer Nathaniel and his demon servant, Silas, to stop this conspiracy.
I enjoyed this so much! In the current YA fantasy market, this was unique. So different than a lot of what’s out there. I loved our lead character, Elisabeth. Finally a female lead I didn’t want to brain for being either annoying or TSTL. She was tough and determined and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then there’s Nathaniel, whose one-liners were hysterical, and Silas, who I just wanted to hug.
And the books! They’re alive! They talk and have feelings, and I just loved the world this author built around these libraries and grimoires. I’ve never seen anything like this before in any book I’ve read, and it was so fun!
The plot itself was kind of so-s0, and I never did understand the motives of the villain. But I just loved everything else about this so much that I don’t even care.
I was intrigued by the unique premise of the book so I decided to give this a shot, and I was not disappointed one bit. The author possesses some fantastic world building skills, and, amongst the beautiful prose, I found myself rooting for the characters. The ending payoff was especially satisfying, although I was disappointed find this is to be a standalone novel. I would love it if we readers could get a chance to revisit this world somewhere down the line. I recommend this book to all fantasy lovers out there
I really liked this book. It was one that I wanted to read slowly in order to savor it, but I couldn’t put it down. Wonderful strong female character, interesting and unique premise, and page-turning action. It’s a Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix meets Clare’s The Clockwork Princess meets Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty.