Antonia Bernardin

The 42nd book I read this year was A Thorn Among Roses by Hayley Anderton, I read this as part of my podcasts (Lazy Book Lovers Podcast) May-June buddy read, where we choose an indie author’s book to read together and then discuss on the podcast. This book is a sapphic retelling of beauty and the beast!

A brief summary

Alana’s parents fall in battle against deadly magical beasts that threaten her kingdom, so she’s left with no choice but to beg the banished witch in the woods, despite her family’s and her kingdom’s hatred of magic, to cast a spell on her so she can fight the beasts. The witch warns her that the cost would be high but Alana pays it because it is her duty. She wins and as she retreats back to the people she saved, the curse begins to take hold. Her armour sinks beneath her skin and thorns protrude from her body. Instead of thanking her, her people are replaced by her. Alana is left to crawl into her now empty castle, where she begins a life of solitude. Three years pass before intruders on the grounds break Alana’s solitude, they are bright, cheerful people and among them. is a beautiful witch, empathetic and full of life. She strikes a bargain with Alana, room and board, in exchange for breaking her curse. Alana is forced to confront whether she has truly become a beast, how much of that is the witch’s curse and how much of that has she inflicted on herself? True love’s kiss could free her, but does she deserve something so precious is the first place?

My thoughts

I thought this was a super interesting take on the beauty and the beast story. The book was short so the pace of it was great and it didn’t long out a lot of the beats of the story as their relationship built. The tense it was written in is a little unusual, so that style took a moment to get used to but it did make you feel like you were very much in the MC’s brain with her as things happened. This author has a bunch of other books on KU that I’ve now popped in a wish list so I can give them a try!