Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Thorn is a princess known in her own land as Alyrra, but is not valued by her mother or her brother. Since her father's death she is alone. The presence of the king of Menaiya in her land means that she is a prospect for marriage, that she may yet escape her bully of a brother. But, Alyrra needs to reach Menaiya safely in order to be wed. 

This was an engrossing tale of a princess betrayed by her own family, then rescued by a foreign prince. The prince himself is vulnerable and needs her help, but she doesn't know how to give it. Along the way she makes a lot of friends in all stations of life. These give her the will to keep striving for the truth.

I understand that this is a re-telling of an older story, but I haven't heard it before and found it quite engrossing. The author writes very descriptively and it was easy to visualise the world created for the characters. It was very enjoyable for me to read and I read it in a very short space of time, for the length of the book. I would recommend it to those who like a fantasy story based on fables and folk tales.

 

"Do not put yourself in a vulnerable situation. Do not walk alone. Do not remain with anyone you do not trust.”

I received an e-ARC of this novel through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4/5 Stars (What this means...five-stars-applied-carefully) 

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Official description: 

For Princess Alyrra, choice is a luxury she’s never had … until she’s betrayed. Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Between her family’s cruelty and the court’s contempt, she has spent her life in the shadows. Forced to marry a powerful foreign prince, Alyrra embarks on a journey to meet her betrothed with little hope for a better future. But powerful men have powerful enemies—and now, so does Alyrra.

Betrayed during a magical attack, her identity is switched with another woman’s, giving Alyrra the first choice she’s ever had: to start a new life for herself or fight for a prince she’s never met. But Alyrra soon finds that Prince Kestrin is not at all what she expected. While walking away will cost Kestrin his life, returning to the court may cost Alyrra her own.

As Alyrra is coming to realize, sometime the hardest choice means learning to trust herself.

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