Book Review
Title: Heart of Thorns
Author: Bree Barton
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance
Rating: *****
Review: So I didn’t know much about Heart of Thorns before I picked it up all I knew it centres around a world where only women have magic and they are called Gwyrach. Our main character Mia Rose has a vendetta against a Gwyrach who killed her mother and she has trained with her father to be a hunter. The opening of the novel was interesting, and I can wait to see where the characters end up.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Mia is now betrothed to Prince Quin and she doesn’t want to marry him and contemplates leaving but she can’t leave her sister Angie behind. Mia has been trained as a Huntress, so she harbors a hatred for Gwyrach, but she is conflicted when she sees Hands in the King’s hall that belong to a child. King Ronan is cruel and cuts off the left hand of all Gwyrach that are captured and killed. He has also plunged the kingdom into a state of decline by shutting the birders and stopping all trade with the other kingdoms. Mia’s father won’t tell her why the marriage was arranged but he does say he is protecting her making me think there is something more to Mia than meets the eye. Ultimately Mia agrees to marry Quin and her father presents her with her mother’s journal. However, things don’t go to plan when Quin is almost assassinated on their wedding day and Mia saves him using Gwyrach powers. Despite denying it the pair flee together pursued by the King’s men and the Hunters. The story takes another interesting turn when Mia’s best friend Dom killed 2 Hunters and puts everyone off their scent giving them a chance to escape. During this time Mia realises that her mother was possibly in love with a Gwyrach, the same one who killed her.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Mia is beginning to see she was wrong about Quin, but he is hiding some secrets as well. Mia and Quin travel as far away from the King as they can, and they begin getting to know one another as they are going to be stuck together for a while. Mia and Quin seem to have more in common than either of them believed at first. However, the map they are following only Mia can read yet she doesn’t volunteer this information as she doesn’t fully trust Quin yet, especially since he believes her to be dangerous which she clearly is. As they enter the Twisted Forest on their way to the Gwyrach Haven, Mia is fighting with herself, she has always believed that Gwyrach aren’t human, but she doesn’t feel like a demon born of the Old Gods. Yet, she worries for her father and sister she left behind in the River Palace and knows that they can’t go back until they know the truth about what is happening.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Mia and Quin are seemingly led somewhere safe only for it to be a trap, but Mia manages to gain some form of control over her power and get them out of that situation. However, the need to get to the refuge her mother’s journal spoke about soon but with the journal in the hands of those hunting them they don’t have their map. Mia, however, gets a feeling inside leading them to where they need to be. Just before they reach their destination we finally get some development on Mia and Quin’s relationship as he admits he was afraid of her but isn’t anymore as she doesn’t use her power against him, in fact, she has only used her power to help him. Despite all the legends he was told, Quin believes that Mia isn’t evil and believes that she shouldn’t think of herself that way either, but they haven’t even kissed yet and I dying for that scene. As they arrive at their destination, Mia can’t guarantee Quin’s safety as this place is meant to be a safe haven for Gwyrach and she is bringing a person who isn’t a Gwyrach and a Prince of the Kingdom intent of wiping them all out, so she isn’t sure what is going to happen but for the first time since they fled the River Kingdom, she has hope.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, Mia and Quin are taken into the haven where she finds people she considered family, that she hasn’t seen since before her mother died, she is also reunited with Dom. As she learns most of the women within the haven are Dujia or the correct name for Gwyrach and that the men that live there are all related to the Dujia in some way to be deemed safe which is the only reason Quin was allowed the enter. She learns her mother was without protection when she died because her killer was someone she trusted, someone she loved, and Mia is more determined than ever to avenge her mother’s death. Dom’s friend Pilar is tasked with taking Mia to Zaga who will hold the answers Mia seeks if she is ready for them, but Mia greatly distrusts Pilar as she was the assassin at the wedding only she wasn’t aiming for Quin, she was aiming for Mia, because of her views on Dujia. When Mia meets with Zaga she wants to control her magic and has to learn but her quest for revenge may be stopped in its path as the 3 laws of Dujia prohibit Dujia using their magic to hurt or kill each other, which means if Mia goes after the Dujia that killed her mother and got her revenge she will be breaking the First Law.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Mia is struggling to think with her heart and not her head as this is the easier way to see, feel and control magic. While Quin remains a constant presence at her side, a slight love triangle emerges as she learns that Dom also might have feelings for Quin, while I loved. However, when Dom’s mother presents her with her mother’s journal we know Mia is going to learn the truth of who and what her mother was. We also know that she might be leaving the Fire Kingdom for the Snow Kingdom where Dujia are treated like Queens, but Mia knows that she has to go back and save her sister from Tristian before it is too late. Upon reading her mother’s journal, Mia learns several uncomfortable truths, that her mother loved another woman who led her down a dark path, breaking the Second Law and basically forced her to marry a man she didn’t love; Mia’s father. She talks of their life together and how she feared she might not be able to love Mia once she was born, but as time went on he appeared less of a monster to her as she enthralled him almost constantly. She was torn between hating him for what he was doing to her sisters when his kindness and the gift he gave her Mia made it difficult for her to hate him. When Mia was born her mother knew that was special and that she loved her with all of her being. As Mia prepares to go back to the River Kingdom and save her sister she learns more about her mother. However, it is Quin who reveals accidentally that he saw her mother’s body when it was taken to the Crypt and a memory returns to Mia and it seems like she killed her own mother after her father twisted her emotions with his hate for the Gwyrach. Mia is also hurting because she is truly feeling things for the first time in her life and while she has used this to heal she feels betrayed that Quin is content to get drunk, dance and flirt while her whole life is falling apart.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, a small consisting of Quin, Dom, Zaga and Pilar along with Mia head back into the River Kingdom to rescue Angie. However, making camp for the night things start to change, first Mia and Quin confess that they love each other but this is made complicated when they happen across Karri, who is about to be raped, while Mia saves her from this Pilar quickly put an arrow in her and while Mia tries to heal her as she did in the past she accidentally ends up killing Quin’s sister. Almost as quickly the Hunters are upon them and they are all being taken away presumably to be killed. I can’t say much about this ending but Holy Hell it killed me, and I pray to God there is a sequel because it can’t end like that. The relationships between the characters and the questioning of the one’s decisions and emotions and what they really mean take centre stage in this novel and it will break your heart in the best possible way. I am just hoping that there is a sequel because so much happens and that can’t be the end of everything, especially when I need more from these characters right now.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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