Violet Sterling has spent the last seven years in exile, longing to return to Burleigh House. One of the six great houses of England, Burleigh’s magic always kept the countryside well. And as a child, this magic kept Violet happy, draping her in flowers while she slept, fashioning secret hiding places for her, and lighting fires on the coldest nights to keep her warm.
Everything shattered, though, when her father committed high treason trying to free Burleigh from the king’s oppressive control. He was killed, and Vi was forced into hiding.
When she’s given a chance to go back, she discovers Burleigh has run wild with grief. Vines and briars are crumbling the walls. Magic that once enriched the surrounding countryside has turned dark and deadly, twisting lush blooms into thorns, poisoning livestock and destroying crops. Burleigh’s very soul is crying out in pain.
Vi would do anything to help, and soon she finds herself walking the same deadly path as her father all those years before. Vi must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her house—before her house destroys everything she’s ever known.
Title : A Treason of Thorns
Author : Laura E Weymouth
Format : ARC
Page Count : 352
Genre : alt-history YA fantasy
Publisher : HarperTeen
Release Date : September 10, 2019
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ .5
Hollis’ 1.5 star review
My issue with A TREASON OF THORNS is that I found the best parts of it to be in the synopsis.
The tightly framed concept sounds fantastic in short form but loses itself in drawn out translation. The characters are underdeveloped, the romance is.. a stretch, and the plot itself feels like it’s just spinning its wheels until it reaches a certain word count. It’s repetitive both in tone and vocabulary and, ultimately, just stuck in one gear.
This is such a fascinating idea, and the author made it complex enough to be believable, but then dropped the ball by explaining very little. It still had the potential to be outstanding, though, and while I did like some the imagery, and the resonance of emotion Violet felt through her connection to the House, again, it just.. didn’t really work. It might make a great movie, though, if you had visuals to focus on and an actress who could pull of the range of emotions that I don’t think felt at all believable, or fully formed, from the MC.
I’ve now had two very perplexing reactions to Weymouth’s first and second novels and I’m realizing that she just might not be for me.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
A Take from Two Cities 