Thorn

Author: Intisar Khanani

Publication Date: March 24th, 2020

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Synopsis: A princess with two futures. A destiny all her own

Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.

When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl.

But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.

With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for.

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I love fairy tales. I love them when they are completely new fairy-tale like imaginings, and I love them when they are retellings. I’ve been a fan of the rest of the books that Intisar Khanani has written, so it was, of course, no question that I would love Thorn, as well.

Thorn was such a great book – not only was the setting so wonderfully imagined, but the characters and the plot all worked together to deliver such a beautiful story. While it is based off of the story Goose Girl from the Brothers’ Grimm (and I’ve never read this before so I’m not familiar with it), I did truly enjoy it. It was different – I haven’t read anything with this kind of story arc before so it really captured my attention.

I absolutely adored how this book was written – it was so captivating and I felt like we really got to know the characters in depth, especially the main character, Princess Alvrra. Because of that, so much seemed to be added to the book – and the character development was so much deeper than I expected (even though I’ve grown to love the way that Intisar Khanani writes her characters).

Not only did the book have its emotional ups and downs, but it was written in such a way that it really made me feel the emotions, you know? The sad parts were really sad, and I was giddy with excitement with the happy parts. I love books that give me such a strong emotional feeling – they make me happy and sad, and I feel like I can better relate to the characters telling the story.

This is such a great addition to the other books that this author has written – if you haven’t read any of those, now is a great time to start, and Thorn is a great book to begin with!

Note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters.

Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. Intisar’s debut novel, Thorn, was picked up by HarperTeen and will be re-released in Winter 2020. In the meantime, she’s hard at work on the remaining books of The Sunbolt Chronicles.

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Pre-Order Promotion

On March 24th Thorn will be releasing from Hot Key (UK) and HarperTeen (US/CA)! To celebrate, I’m offering some amazing Thorn goodies to everyone who …

• pre-orders/orders a copy of Thorn before March 31st at 23.59.
• OR requests it from their library (library hold / suggested purchase) before March 31st at 23.59.

Here’s what’s up for grabs:

Physical goodies (US/UK):

• A Thorn Bookmark
• A set of Chibi Stickers featuring Thorn characters
• A Signed Bookplate

PLUS Digital goodies (worldwide):

• A PDF of Brambles – a Thorn prequel short story so you can jump into Alyrra’s world now!
• A PDF of The (Annotated) Goose Girl – the original fairytale with annotations from yours truly in the margin
• A coloring page of three Thorn-themed bookmarks

All you need to do to enter is send a proof of purchase (or screenshot of your library hold), your name and address to khananipreorder@gmail.com. T&Cs apply!

UK entrants: Hot Key Books rocks and can mail you physical goodies as well as the digital. Check it out here: http://hotkeybooks.com/thorn-pre-order/

Non-US/UK entrants: I really, really wanted to offer you the physical goodies, but postage is a bear. If you would like to cover the cost of an international stamp ($1.20), I can absolutely mail you the goodies as well. E-mail in your proof/screenshot for your digital goodies, and I’ll link you up so you can do that.

Original link: http://booksbyintisar.com/thorn-pre-order/

The universal book link for purchasing Thorn is: www.books2read.com/thorn

1^st Prize: Win a book of your choice from Bookdepository (INT*)

2^nd Prize: Win a THORN swag pack (stickers, bookmark, and a signed bookplate) [INT]

T&Cs:

– Bookdepository: Open INTERNATIONALLY, *where Bookdepository ships to (https://www.bookdepository.com/help/topic/HelpId/3/Which-countries-do-you-deliver-to#helpContent).

– Swag bundle: Open INTERNATIONALLY.

Starts: 24^th March 2020

Ends: 7^th April 2020

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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