Girl, Serpent, Thorn: My Least Favorite of 2021 So Far

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Pages: 336
Goodreads

A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse...

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.

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I think this might be my least favorite book of the year. Yeah, unfortunately, this one just did not do it for me.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn suffers from being too short. I understand it is a standalone, but I don’t understand why it’s so short. It has an interesting premise and world, but both of those end up being flat because of how short this book is. There’s just not enough time to really flesh everything out. Plus, you’d think such a short book would mean it is jampacked with action, but nope, this is sloowwww. Most of the book is about how terrible the MC’s life is. The rest is just very convenient plot points: an important fire that protects the kingdom is protected by 2 guards; oh they need a key to unlock a door? Here’s a loose stone that the MC remembered from a decade ago that just so happens to hold the key you need. Ugh, everything was all just so convenient. 

Oh, and is there a romance, you ask? I suppose you could call it that. It is so much an insta-love that it’s a bit cringe – but I gave the MC the benefit of the doubt, I mean she has been neglected of touch and people for her entire life. It makes sense for her to fall for the first person that shows her attention (I guess?).  But then the second love interest comes in and it’s just even more insta-love. Look, I can handle insta-love if its done right and makes me swoon, but this book had two shots at it and failed miserably. The first was “this person is nice to me, I love them” and the second was “we had one conversation, I love them“.

Ultimately, I struggled hard to get through this book. In fact, I would have DNF’d it but I was buddy reading it with someone and didn’t want to give up on them. The premise is so interesting, I just think there were so many better directions that it could have gone than the one that we got. Soraya (the MC) is such a bland character, the love interests are disappointing, and the plot is so slow (somehow, in a 300 page book). I know so many loved this book, so I’m sad I didn’t like it with y’all, but I am happy to be removing this one from my shelves after sitting on them for so long.