A high fantasy with violence but all about family | Princess of Thorns

Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

Published: December 9th 2014 by Delacorte Press

Genre: YA high fantasy

Goodreads summary:Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

REVIEW

This book IS NOT a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, it's a continuation of the story. We see Sleeping Beauty at the beginning… And she doesn't really have a happily ever after. It broke me. I might be traumatized because DISNEY YOU LIED TO US, IT IS NOT OKAY. No but seriously, the prologue was so sad and brutal, but it worked and threw me in this story right away.

WHAT I LIKED

1. It features a strong sibling relationship. Aurora and Jor's mom died when she was seven and he was four so of course they love each other more than anything else in the world because FAMILY. It was so beautiful, because for Aurora, no matter how dangerous, all she wanted was to save her brother. I totally respected her for that. You know what matters, girl.

2. We got two points of view, but both were necessary for the story, it wasn't just about being the points of view of the ship, you know? Aurora had her problems like saving her brother, her kingdom, and she's kind of cursed. She's also super badass and actually better than Niklaas. It almost never happens so I was pleased. Niklaas is also cursed and wants to marry Aurora to break it. I loved that aspect because it was a retelling about the princes turned into swans. It was pretty cooled because I thought I would have Sleeping Beauty but then I got another fairy tale. I totally approved.

Alan Rickman

3. But the thing is, Aurora was posing for her brother Jor. I know "a girl disguises as a boy and everyone believes it" is a total trope, but I really liked the was it was done here.

4. I really enjoyed the romance and for the most part it wasn't a priority, because Niklaas thought Aurora was a boy. And after that, they kept fighting each other. But they were perfect together and I was so happy about the ending. Aurora cursed also got in the way a lot, oh my! It was sooooo sad.

5. It was violent and didn't try to hide it. So yes, Jor was tortured and it was awful but sadly... It is how it happens when you're captured. I think that's why it got compared to Game of Thrones. 

6. The world was really interesting, with different kingdoms and a lot of different creatures (ogres, fairies…).

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

1. It's a very typical plot so nothing really surprised me. But it was still really enjoyable to read.

2. It was really info-dumpy at the beginning, so I totally got lost. But at the same time, I didn't understand how this world came to be and I wanted more information about fairies, ogres and everything, because it had so much potential. For example, Aurora and Jor are briar-born. Okay, but what does that really mean? I'd have loved to know more.

 3. The point of view of the ogre queen confused me, because she used "we" to speak and sometimes, I didn't understand why it was important to have it there.

 Overall, it was a great book about the importance of family, it was one of my favourite aspects of the book. It was an enjoyable read but it wasn't thrilling, it missed a spark and that's why I can't rate it higher.