Thorn (Dauntless Path)

The media could not be loaded. I really enjoyed this book, the twists and turns. This takes an intricate and unique look into the fairytale and how a persons outlook and decisions affect their life. Also the political aspects of the story were handled deftly. I especially liked the princess' growth. The princess has a passive personality in the beginning, she grows a spine along the way. Beautifully done.

This is the first book in the Dauntless Path series. So underrated. The later books are even better. I am obsessed with this world.

Anyone who's read the goose girl stories as children, will I think, be intrigued by Intisar Khanani's take on it. Thorn is not your usual Goose Girl fairy tale. It is a masterclass on how fairy tales can be re-told. While the Books of Bayern series are pretty good, despite reading those first, Thorn is the Goose Girl re-telling I fell in love with.It doesn't pander to the usual strong heroine stereotype. It doesn't gloss over the heroine's faults, it doesn't give you a heroine struggling with her appearance and the whole "I look ugly/mediocre but everyone knows I'm really pretty" tripe that so many books do. It also doesn't give you a love triangle - even though with two women and a man as the main characters of the story - it could easily do so.My love for this book with its poetic, lyrical prose and well written characters, is complete. I will admit the book has loose ends, however in the author's defense, the book can be read stand-alone, but was originally supposed to have a sequel.Give it a go. If you like re-told (slightly dark) fairy tales with unconventional endings, you just might find yourself falling for this book.

Thorn by Intisar is a fairytale retelling of "The Goose Girl"I love retellings but what makes me like it is how much of the original storyline was maintained, characters and their names were retained or not. Thorn has followed the original storyline, retained the names of characters and yet managed to weave a beautiful story of it's own.It is a story of Alyrra who doesn't quite like the royal life subdued by her violent brother and cold hearted mother. She loves being with the kitchen and stable staff helping them in the chores.She finally gets a chance to leave behind all this and marry a Prince from a powerful kingdom even though she doesn't understand why they chose a plain princess as herself. On the way to the future kingdom her identity is stolen and instead of being a princess, she is now a Goose girl shoveling goose and horse dung. The Prince (Kestrin) who she is supposed to marry is not what she expected.She is happy as a goose girl inspite of the difficult life as she had always longed to escape the confines of the royal life. She learns a lot about the kingdom and how the common people were suffering. Alyrra knows if she keeps quite about her identity Kestrins life will be in danger and if not then the magic will take hers.She must choose the right path.The book is well written and has a great story. Not your typical prince saves the princess. Well defined characters, magic/fantasy, identity theft, friendship, loyalty, and wee bit of budding romance.There is so much character to Alyrra, she is my favourite in the book. I loved how her character developed. There are brilliant dialogues throughout the book. Definitely buying this book. Thank you for the ARC @booksbyintisar @harperteenComing in March.P.s. was not sure of the pics so added all three.#epicreads #thorn #goosegirl #retelling #fairytale #falada #magic #fantasy

Well… I was looking forward to this one since I adore retellings but this just fell short in every aspect.Tw: domestic abuse & sexual abuse.This dark YA retelling of the Goose Girl was an enjoyable read but the pacing was quite slow and stretched out which took me a long time to get into it.In a freaky Friday-ish incident, Princess Alyssa identity is switched with her friend turned nemesis, when she was on her way to her betrothed’s kingdom. Alyrra takes this as an opportunity to live a simple life, far away from the dirty politics playing and the treacherous royalty, taking up the role of the goose girl.This is a magical tale of love and bond amongst people and animals, found family, justice and doesn’t have much romance as such which works out really great.We do have great character development of the protagonist who was quite strong already, but grows even stronger and takes some hard decisions to protect her people, even though it means giving up the life she wanted for herself.

A long and convoluted 'the goose girl'. Loved the sunbolt chronicles so this was really disappointing​.

I loved this book - my first introduction to this author - and it inspired me to go on and gobble up all her other published works. It's not only a wonderful story, it also got me thinking about ethical decisions, and how difficult it can be to do the right thing in a complex world. If you like strong, intelligent lead characters, a well-crafted fantasy world and books that inspire, be sure to read Thorn.

Brilliant author, great story. Well writen, inspired prose. Characters believablle. There is breadth and depth in this author. Strongly recommend.

I don’t often re-read books, there’s just too many books to read! But as I received the third book of this trilogy I knew I needed to refresh my memory of the story line. As I skimmed through the first part I fell in love with the prose again to read more carefully and hardly took my nose out of the book until it was done.Khanani crafts a carefully restrained love story in the midst of a battle for truth over lies while examining the themes of leadership and justice. Using a wide variety of characters she shows the way in which victims of justice resort to villainy or rise above their circumstances through integrity. Is redemption possible? So looking forward to revisiting book two and diving into book three.

I stumbled upon this book quite randomly and was drawn in because of its lovely cover (am always a sucker for a nice cover) and since I have been watching a few German Brothers Grimm adaptations lately, I was eager to give this reinterpretation a go.Boy was I glad I did. I LOVED every second of it. This is an out-and-out page turner that I could not put down. Thorn is written in first person perspective which is never my favourite tense as it all hinges on how likeable the narrator is. Get an obnoxious or unbalanced narrator and book enjoyment is all over, red rover. Luckily, Alyrra is quite likable despite starting out quite passive and mousey. In her coming of age of sorts, she slowly finds her feet and voice.You definitely don't need to know the story of 'The Goose Girl' before reading this novel as I wasn't familiar with this story at all. Thorn is set in a vaguely middle eastern fantasy world where the magic is very naturalistic and at times understated, but easy to follow. Alyrra, the heroine lives a very lonely life, tormented by her brother and shunned and unloved by her mother. When a king of a much larger kingdom comes proposing marriage to his son Prince Krestin, she has no choice but to accept the forced marriage as a political alliance between the two kingdoms. It is on her way to Menaiya that she is betrayed and is taken hostage by a terrible curse, losing both her body in a switcharoo to her frenemy and companion Valka and the ability to fight for it back. Behind Valka is the infinitely more dangerous 'Lady' who is bent on royal revenge.Alyrra aka Thoreena aka Thorn eventually blooms in Menaiya as a goose girl in the fields, gaining a freedom and friendships she could never have imagined or received as a royal. I loved her cat and mouse battles with Kestrin, who suspects his betrothed is not the gem he believed she was, and that this dirty goose girl is far worth more than the pittance she works for. Theirs is not a straight out bickering romance as it is a journey laced with lies, betrayal and secrets that both repulses and draws them to each other. I love where it takes them, to the deepest, darkest depths of the heart and how they emerge at the end, with their 'kinda happy ending' but not without emotional scars which need time and each other to eventually heal.The characters in the book are memorable, no matter how fleeting or full their role was and felt fleshed out and <i>alive</i>. I was even bawling at one stage. The story, from the 'fish out of water' sub-plot to the magical climax builds gradually and yet feels like break-neck speed. Author Intisar Khanani is simply hugely talented who got the pacing in Thorn damn well near perfect. Not a word is wasted although when I finished the book it felt like the party had finished too quickly and before I was emotionally ready to let go...like a child unwilling to leave the beach when their parents say it's home time. Just one more hour, half hour, ten minutes! There were questions still to be answered, more story left to explore and characters I wanted to know better. You could say that the one flaw in this book is that the explanation and role of magic and magical characters could have been expanded as many things are glanced over or mentioned only in passing. Who is in the Council of Mages for example? Is the punishment really death? What about the meaning behind the cloth Alyrra's mother gave to her? How does 'Wind' work? ...So many more questions. As a young adult novel it would never need to go in depth as Tolkien or Martin but I wanted more detail, more world-building. Maybe the editor was too ruthless, damn you.Honestly from the prior reviews I came into this book with expectations of a good read but how much I was blown away I did not expect at all. I will definitely seek out more of Intisar's books and the companion series to Thorn as well.Rating: 5 thumbs. There is power in fingers!Re-readability: yes!

Está muy bien escrito y aunque sea un cuento y en teoría ya sabes cómo va acabar le da unos twists muy agradables.