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Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Young adult

Girl, Serpent, Thorn

by Melissa Bashardoust

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Quick Take

Rebel against “happily ever after.” This is a dark, feminist fairytale made for real, flawed people.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Feminist

    Feminist

  • Illustrated icon, Action_packed

    Action-packed

  • Illustrated icon, LGBTQ_themes

    LGBTQ+ themes

  • Illustrated icon, Magical

    Magical

Synopsis

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming... human or demon. Princess or monster.

Why I love it

There is nothing I love more than stories about monsters, but most especially, stories with romance and monsters. I love when a narrative digs into what it means to be monstrous, when a girl convinced she’s a monster learns to embrace her own power. There is an alluring kind of beauty that comes alongside monstrosity.

Soraya has spent her entire life locked away because of a curse that turns her touch deadly. She lives in perpetual fear of becoming a monster. A series of catastrophic mistakes sees her brother usurped from his throne by a demon who wishes to make her his bride, and Soraya trapped. To save her family, she must reconcile the parts of herself that are just as monstrous as the demons she’s surrounded by.

This book is a Gothic wrapped in a fairytale. As it unfolds, more layers of mastery are shown as myths are seamlessly woven into a story about a girl on a journey of discovering who she is after being surrounded by lies. A story about beauty and terror and monstrosity and how achingly human it is. The prose is sharp, and it lingers, poignant and purposed, long after the book is finished.

LGBTQ+ themes
Gifted & Talented
Oathbound
Liquid
Our Infinite Fates
We Could Be Rats
The Bones Beneath My Skin
Sister Snake
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
I Might Be in Trouble
The Last Hour Between Worlds
High School
The Pairing
Under Your Spell
The Stars Too Fondly
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
Spitting Gold
Darling Girls
The Haunting of Velkwood
The Other Significant Others
Interesting Facts about Space
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love
Alice Sadie Celine
The Future
Let Us Descend
Stars in Your Eyes
Masters of Death
Just Kids
Pageboy
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
The London Séance Society
Really Good, Actually
The Light Pirate
Kiss Her Once for Me
Foul Lady Fortune
Siren Queen
Yerba Buena
Love & Other Disasters
Afterparties
Razorblade Tears
One Last Stop
Honey Girl
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Red, White & Royal Blue
Wayward Son
This Time Will Be Different
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
LGBTQ+ themes
View all
Gifted & Talented
Oathbound
Liquid
Our Infinite Fates
We Could Be Rats
The Bones Beneath My Skin
Sister Snake
The Three Lives of Cate Kay
I Might Be in Trouble
The Last Hour Between Worlds
High School
The Pairing
Under Your Spell
The Stars Too Fondly
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
Spitting Gold
Darling Girls
The Haunting of Velkwood
The Other Significant Others
Interesting Facts about Space
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love
Alice Sadie Celine
The Future
Let Us Descend
Stars in Your Eyes
Masters of Death
Just Kids
Pageboy
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
The London Séance Society
Really Good, Actually
The Light Pirate
Kiss Her Once for Me
Foul Lady Fortune
Siren Queen
Yerba Buena
Love & Other Disasters
Afterparties
Razorblade Tears
One Last Stop
Honey Girl
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Red, White & Royal Blue
Wayward Son
This Time Will Be Different
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo