I loved this book! I bought it without any expectations just out of curiosity and couldn't put it down anymore. 

For anyone who likes fairy tales and the like, this is a wonderful read. 

The characters are flawed in a way that makes them relatable and it shows that there is not simply good and evil but that the world is much more complex than that.

The story has a satisfying ending and all in all I think it's a wonderfully casual read with enough substance and suspense to keep me hooked. 

It took me so long to get into this but I think thats because I don’t read a lot of fantasy. By the last third of the story I was really engaged. 

This was so beautifully written. Reminded me of the tale "Rappacini's Daughter" by Hawthorn (the author mentions it as having some inspiration). So if you loved that story and you love beautiful sapphic representation-- you'll love this one. 

I mean it was fairly okay??? Like I lowkey hated the main character, but I loved the resolution???

Soraya was so infuriating, and I DESPISED the back and forth "I love you and I hate you and I LOVE you but I have to remember why I hate you" like girl??? We are only here for Parvaneh, not flying snake boy with daddy issues. Have some taste.

Also we're going to completely ignore how long this took me to read lol

 5 ⭐ CW: violence descriptions of blood and corpses, parental neglect, isolation, murder, relationship abuse

"He must have already known what Soraya hardly understood--that the price of humanity was vulnerability."

Girl, Serpent, Thorn is the second book I've read by Melissa Bashardoust, and this one did not disappoint. Bashardoust has a knack for making you feel like you're in a fairytale and the relationships are so real and complex. Plus she always finds a way to subvert a trope.

I loved everything about this book. The cover, the descriptions and imagery, the fact that the emotions are relatable AF. Bashardoust based her story on the the Persian story the Shahnameh, and was nice to see the incorporation of how oral storytelling is told, for example starting a story with "there was and there was not," similar to the "once upon a time."

Soraya is beautifully complex, and has some really great growth (*cough* pun. IYKYK) throughout the novel. At first it starts off with your typical cursed princess forced into isolation, but that is where it stops.

I really appreciated the way Bashardoust handled the complicated feelings Soraya had for her family. She had a right to be angry and hurt, but her actions had consequences. I also liked how she handled the abusive nature of the Shamar toward Soraya. I could see this being one of those things where people might like the idea of this villain, who is relatable (to an extent), but make no mistake, he is abusive.

The twist at the end! I didn't see that coming at all!!! It was beautiful.

We have Bisexual representation here! Which makes this a great start to my Pride Month. Anyway, read this book. 

While there was nothing inherently wrong with this book, it didn’t stand out to me as one especially captivating or memorable. I never got attached to the characters, and Soraya’s arc was one I’d seen multiple times before in some way or another, without any way to make hers stand out.

I went in expecting a sapphic romance, and while technically I did get one, it was more of an undertone than a focal point. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, as romance isn’t and doesn’t have to be central to every story. It was more of a misunderstanding on my part. I did like it, though.

Also, the antagonist? I saw that coming a mile away. Even if I didn’t guess all the details, the brunt of it was quite obvious. Nearly every fairytale I’ve come across tells you that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And beyond the reveal, it didn’t feel like any part of the story was particularly intense or any of the obstacles were truly fearsome.

Overall: good world-building, plain characters, and nothing really surprising throughout the book. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a fantasy that’s not quite so intense, or a very character-driven retelling. I do think there are people that will enjoy this book; I just ended up pretty indifferent toward it.

Representation

Some of the metaphors or symbolism was a bit heavy handed, but overall this was a really lovely story about trauma (both personal and familial), grief, healing, and acceptance. Soraya feels so real to me and I could see myself and many of my loved ones in her and the characters around her. The addition of the queer themes without the stigma of queerness as a plot point elevated her relationships to the other characters in the story and allowed it to truly blossom into a beautiful book about self-discovery. I absolutely loved it