scijessreads

The Thorns Remain – In all honesty, I was not familiar with the fairytales and folklore that this novel was based on. Coming in, I thought that it would be a fantasy/fairytale about how a fae helped Moira Jean find her friends, and maybe they would fall in love (I have been reading a fair number of fantasy romances lately, so…). But what I ended up reading was so much more, and infinitely better, than I had initially expected.

Moira Jean and her friends are working to get by, daily, in their small village. She is mourning the loss of her love, Angus. She feels like she has to stay in the village for her mother, and no longer dreams of leaving as she once had. In a moment of fun, she and her friends dance by the fire in the woods, and then everything changes.

To win back those that she lost, Moira Jean has to enter into a series of bargains with The Dreamer. He offers her everything, promises to take her away, and in the process, steals from her life in a game that only The Dreamer really knows the rules of. In her journey, Moira Jean learns how quickly those she thought friendly can turn on her, and how far a dark Lord will go to convince her that he is the only thing that can save her. When in truth, maybe Moira Jean is really the only one that can save herself.

This is dark, and the end is more bittersweet than anything, but also hopeful. And maybe that sort of ending marks some of the best fairytales.

*I received a free ARC of the book from NetGalley and the publisher. All reviews and opinions are my own.