Sorcery of Thorns

🌟🌟🌟🌓 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. 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.

I told myself I wasn't going to read this book because of the insane amount of hype but then a reviewer I follow said that it actually deserved the hype so I thought....why not. 
In the beginning I assumed that this book was going to be about fairies because I was aware of the author's other book which I believe is called An Enchantment of Ravens. I was dead wrong. This book was nothing like what I expected. I enjoyed the magic system even though it is not delved into in much detail in the book. I especially enjoyed that the book centered around magical libraries and the books that had the potential to be extremely dangerous to come into contact with. 
I thought that the Elisabeth was interesting and I found her to be relateable albeit slightly annoying at times. I think that readers will love her because of her love of books because they will see themselves in her.  I also liked Nathaniel as a character  and I think that I might have preferred him as the main character. He seemed to have more growth and depth than Elisabeth who went through so much but appeared to remain the same throughout the book. I think that the majority of my issues with characters pertain to the villain. It was obvious who the villain was going to be and the character was just....blah. I just plain didn't care about the villain which is depressing because I love a great villain. 
I know that there was something that I didn't like about the book while I read it but it was hard to pin down. I think what it came down to was that I didn't feel the chemistry between the love interest and main character, there were no high stakes, and there was something off about the pacing. Frankly, I think the author should have cut out the romance all together because it seemed forced as well as the love interest's sexuality. We get one sentence during the book where the love interest basically says "oh yeah, I like guys too" which felt shoehorned in to me. It seemed like the author just wanted to say that she included representation. 
The stakes in the book raise in certain ways like the amount of tension but it seems like people aren't really in danger. If you don't like books where characters don't stay dead, I would recommend that you don't read this. However, if you enjoy the movie Pagemaster ( I know I do!) and love books about books then I think that you will love Sorcery of Thorns.