Bitterthorn
Author: Kat Dunn
Published by: Andersen Press
Pages: 358
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★★
Published by: Andersen Press
Pages: 358
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★★
A lost soul.
A darkly alluring witch.
A terrifying secret.
Once a generation, the Witch claims a companion from the town of Blumwald, never to be seen again. Now that time is near once more…
Mina, daughter of the duke, has lost all hope of any future in Blumwald. So when the Witch appears, Mina offers herself up – though she has no idea what fate awaits her. Stranded with her darkly alluring captor, the mystery of what happened to the previous companions draws Mina into the heart of a terrifying secret…
A darkly alluring witch.
A terrifying secret.
Once a generation, the Witch claims a companion from the town of Blumwald, never to be seen again. Now that time is near once more…
Mina, daughter of the duke, has lost all hope of any future in Blumwald. So when the Witch appears, Mina offers herself up – though she has no idea what fate awaits her. Stranded with her darkly alluring captor, the mystery of what happened to the previous companions draws Mina into the heart of a terrifying secret…
My thoughts:
I read Bitterthorn for a monthly book club in Bath. I read the first chapter before buying it, liked the writing style, and I thought the concept would be interesting. I expected a fairy tale with a twist, and interesting character development given Mina's voice and tone in the first chapter. Instead, I received an odd mishmash of fairy tales and somehow unbalanced character developments.
Mina didn't seem to really develop. There is development in the emotional department, but it didn't feel like it was maturing over the course of the novel.
Generally, I tend to really enjoy fantasy books, but it has been a long time since I read a young adult novel, so went in with relatively high hopes for this one. However, the fantasy element in the book isn't that prevalent, and many of the more intriguing fantasy details of the plot could have been expanded on and developed so much more.
After such a slow start, the ending of the novel felt the opposite. It wasn’t an organic transition and I would have preferred for the pivotal moment to have occurred a bit earlier. That way, the follow-up of the main revelation could have been explored in more depth.
There are many ways in which Bitterthorn feels like more of a Beauty and the Beast retelling type of fantasy thanactual fantasy. I noticed a lot of similarities to the Disney version, as well as themes reminiscent of Red Riding Hood and those kinds of fairy tale stories.
The novel has just enough intrigue to hold on to you because you anticipate something will eventually happen that will be interesting and exciting. Unfortunately, while something does eventually happen it's a little underwhelming.
For a large chunk of the book, nothing much really happens. The plot dragged on through the first half and even though I enjoyed some of the slow build elements of Mina exploring the castle and gradually feeling more and more drawn towards the Witch, it really was just too slow.
Overall, I liked the concept, but found this to be poor in execution. It's a fast read, but I wouldn't recommend. I can think of better fairy tale retellings and much better gothic fantasy reads instead.
Overall reaction:
I read Bitterthorn for a monthly book club in Bath. I read the first chapter before buying it, liked the writing style, and I thought the concept would be interesting. I expected a fairy tale with a twist, and interesting character development given Mina's voice and tone in the first chapter. Instead, I received an odd mishmash of fairy tales and somehow unbalanced character developments.
Mina didn't seem to really develop. There is development in the emotional department, but it didn't feel like it was maturing over the course of the novel.
Generally, I tend to really enjoy fantasy books, but it has been a long time since I read a young adult novel, so went in with relatively high hopes for this one. However, the fantasy element in the book isn't that prevalent, and many of the more intriguing fantasy details of the plot could have been expanded on and developed so much more.
After such a slow start, the ending of the novel felt the opposite. It wasn’t an organic transition and I would have preferred for the pivotal moment to have occurred a bit earlier. That way, the follow-up of the main revelation could have been explored in more depth.
There are many ways in which Bitterthorn feels like more of a Beauty and the Beast retelling type of fantasy thanactual fantasy. I noticed a lot of similarities to the Disney version, as well as themes reminiscent of Red Riding Hood and those kinds of fairy tale stories.
The novel has just enough intrigue to hold on to you because you anticipate something will eventually happen that will be interesting and exciting. Unfortunately, while something does eventually happen it's a little underwhelming.
For a large chunk of the book, nothing much really happens. The plot dragged on through the first half and even though I enjoyed some of the slow build elements of Mina exploring the castle and gradually feeling more and more drawn towards the Witch, it really was just too slow.
Overall, I liked the concept, but found this to be poor in execution. It's a fast read, but I wouldn't recommend. I can think of better fairy tale retellings and much better gothic fantasy reads instead.
Overall reaction: