Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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 hesitated before starting Sorcery of Thorns, because I had such neutral feelings about the author's first book (An Enchantment of Ravens). The story was enjoyable, but "didn't wow me like I thought it would." I had no such problems with Sorcery of Thorns, and really liked the world Rogerson created. It was a world that revolved around sentient books and libraries with secret passageways, sorcery and demons, and a girl that defied the odds to save the day (she just had to save herself many, many times before that).

Let's start with my main quibble: We only see two sorcerers. Nathanial is the main sorcerer in this story along with his demon, Silas. There's another sorcerer and his demon, although their presence is more malicious and villainy. Where was everyone else? They had a council or something, right? Why didn't they play a larger role within the story? The world is literally falling apart, and there is only one sorcerer trying to save the day? If other people had magical powers and demons, they should have been front-and-center trying to fight back the baddies. Their absence was a gaping hole in the story that I couldn't ignore. Especially when the people living in Nathaniel's neighbored were all sorcerers.

Moving on! I love the cover for this book! I'm not sure why it's called Sorcery of Thorns, because the only Thorn we see is Nathaniel, and he isn't the main character. Yes, he's an essential element of the story, but he's not always around. I guess we learn a lot about his family's history, but it seems weird that his name is predominately featured while Elisabeth is neglected.

Elisabeth is constantly having to save herself from this or that situation. She eludes an enchantment, gets blamed for something she didn't do, survives confinement, escapes imprisonment, saves a sorcerer, befriends a demon, fights fiends, pretends to be bespelled, challenges her beliefs and teachings, and cleverly solves the mysteries surrounding the attacks on the libraries. Nathaniel who? She does have help from friends, but essentially saves the day all on her own (although I wish she'd dealt with more inner conflict and turmoil). Everyone else is either too far away, too incapacitated, or too bound to something else to offer much assistance.

I really liked Nathaniel and his relationship with Silas, and I think this book would have benefited from having alternating POVs. It would have been interesting too see this story through Nathaniel's perspective, since he kept himself at a distance (emotionally and physically) whenever Elisabeth was around (slow-almost-nonexistent-burn romance). I think seeing inside of his head would have brought more clarity to the story, and allowed us to view the happenings from a sorcerer's perspective.

I also wish the bad guy had been more nefarious, but he was just mildly unsettling. His demon was more calculating and disturbing, and I would've liked to see her go up against Silas. I felt like a lot of details were glossed or skipped over (like how someone was captured, or how they got from here to there), and things would just progress. I wanted to know what happened in those gaps of time. The ending leaves you with a big, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

I do think I enjoyed this one more because I listened to the audiobook. I don't think I would have had the patience for it otherwise. Having a due date also helped (borrowed from the library). The narrator was fantastic! I feel like this one was a solid 3.5 stars, but will round up until Goodreads develops a half-star rating.