Seven Deadly Thorns
Former adversaries have one week to undo a queen’s vicious decree in Seven Deadly Thorns, Amber Hamilton’s scintillating enemies-to-lovers romantasy novel.
What remains of the kingdom of Aragoa is confined to its castle and adjoining caverns. Both are surrounded by a life-taking mist—a twenty-year remnant of the war with neighboring Castelle. Viola, who was raised here in a cavern orphanage, conceals her meiga, or witch, heritage while attending an elite school, where she is irked by Aragoa’s prince, Roze.
The persecution of those suspected to be meiga increases after the death of the king, and the queen orders Viola’s assassination. Roze, her would-be killer, instead promises to protect Viola by declaring her his betrothed—if she helps him investigate. So begins a fevered pursuit of the truth—and unexpected romantic chemistry between Roze and Viola.
In this reversal of “Snow White,” wherein darkness is coveted instead of beauty, Viola is an intriguing and contrarian heroine, “born with shadows in [her] bones.” Though she proclaims to loathe Roze, she can’t help but notice that he smells of spice, winter, and poisoned apples. As his motivations are revealed, the boy she once wanted to eviscerate becomes the man whose life she’d protect with her own.
Both familiar and deliciously inventive, the novel contains nods to “Beauty and the Beast” and “Sleeping Beauty” in its story of hidden passageways, concealed libraries, banned magic, underground societies, a pet gargoyle, and buried inheritances. Its LGBTQ+-affirming societies are complicated by the royal need to produce heirs, and its themes of loyalty and forgiveness are handled with care. Though the alluded to religious system is not explained herein, the story’s revelations are many and involving. It works toward an illuminating ending that generates interest in future series entries. This volume’s flower-patterned fore-edge paintings and gilt cover art will appeal to genre collectors, too.
Forbidden passion sustains two teenagers through a perilous quest for the truth in the sultry romantasy novel Seven Deadly Thorns.
Reviewed by
Michelle Anne Schingler
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