A review by samusc
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is one of the best fairy-tales I think I've ever read. I might just have to pick up Girls Made of Snow and Glass after this.

Pros: 
  • Soraya's motivations make sense. She is a touch starved isolated teenager, which makes her an easy target for manipulation.
  • I love the design for Parvaneh, but maybe I'm just a sucker for powerful Sapphic women with wings.
  • I really connected with how Bashardoust describes Soraya's crush on Laleh as a child. Soraya is a lovely bi/pan protagonist.
  • This book handles that archetype of an antagonist claiming that the hero is just like them really well.
  • I'm genuinely surprised, but thankful, that Tahmineh is not killed during the conclusion . I like how much the story relied on a mothers' choices impacting the trajectory of the current story.
     

Cons:
  • Other reviewers have noticed this as well, that being the pacing in the beginning is a bit slow. It took me some time (a few days) to get invested into this story, but once I was, it was highly enjoyable.
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