BOOKS | Review: Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson

Name: Mysteries of Thorn Manor (Sorcery of Thorns series #1.5)

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Date published: January 2023

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 186

Rating: 5/5

Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the city’s most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estate’s wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manor’s occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another...?

With no access to the outside world, Elisabeth and Nathaniel have to work together to discover the source of the magic before they’re due to host the city’s Midwinter Ball. Faced with a house filled with unexpected secrets, the couple will have to lean on their connection like never before to set things right before it’s too late...

- From Goodreads.

The characters were still as delightful as ever in this and I loved them just as much as I did when I read Sorcery of Thorns. I really adore Nathaniel and Elisabeth's relationship and how good they are for each other, and I love how unique a character Silas is but how well he fits in with them, like a strange family. It was also wonderful to see Mercy again and to get to see more of her.

I loved that we got to see more of the house and how it came alive with magic. It was so inventive and had such a lot of personality and was a great way for the author to show off her skills with description. It really made the plot a lot of fun.

It was so sweet how part of the plot was so fairy tale influenced, it was perfect for the enchanting atmosphere of the story and was a lovely way to continue Elisabeth and Nathaniel's story and see how their relationship had progressed. They have such a wonderful dynamic together and I could read endless stories about them.

I also loved that the story made time for less light-hearted things, like their complicated but strangely endearing relationship with Silas and how they were all still recovering from what had happened to them in the first book. It was such a short story with a simple plot, but it still had a lot of depth to it.

I would definitely recommend reading this if you enjoyed Sorcery of Thorns, it is a perfect follow up and is such a quick, fun read.

BOOKS | Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

 Name: Sorcery of Thorns

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Date published: June 2019

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 456

Rating: 5/5

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.

- From Goodreads.

Sorcery of Thorns was an extraordinary story that felt like a gothic romance version of Howl's Moving Castle and I loved every moment of reading it, learning about the characters and the world and discovering the plot as it unravelled. 

Elisabeth was a truly wonderful main character and I fell in love with her from the very beginning. She was easy to believe in and relate to, and I really became emotionally attached to her. I really adored Nathaniel too, he was incredibly well written and I loved every moment he was on the page. The two of them together just worked so well and they were a really brilliant couple. Silas was a great addition, a very compelling character and always intriguing to read. I also liked the female friendships and relationships in the story and how they were important to Elisabeth and how she never forgot about them and they remained a presence throughout the story. Every character in this book was well-rounded and felt real and equally fascinating.

The world was so detailed and felt so real and vivid. The ideas that went into it were exciting and interesting to learn about, like the libraries and grimoires and sorcerers, and following Elisabeth in this world I really felt the emotions that the world evoked in her, whether it terrified her or overwhelmed her or made her feel in awe.

I felt the author dealt with the themes that came up in the book very well. Both Elisabeth and Nathaniel had to deal with grief and horrible situations that brought on things like panic and nightmares and it seemed like it was all addressed well and the characters were allowed to experience their emotions and support each other. It was strangely comforting to read because although the characters went through terrible things, they looked after each other and recovered and the end of the story felt very hopeful.

Overall, this was a really marvellous and well crafted book that I was absolutely enchanted by. Everything about it, the mystery, the romance, the magical atmosphere, was just done perfectly.