The Thorns by Dawn Kurtagich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars**
The Thorns follows our MC, Bethany, through both Past and Present perspectives. Present Bethany is a successful author, wife, and a bit of a recluse.
Bethany is the author of a popular series, who is now struggling to write the final book, in which her beloved protagonist, Sally, is slated to be killed. She just can’t seem to get it right, causing her a lot of inner turmoil.
Past Bethany has been shipped off to a remote boarding school by her mother. Feeling abandoned and alone, Bethany befriends a fellow classmate, Stacey, who she comes to idolize, shall we say, to an unhealthy degree.
In the Present, Bethany is thrown for a loop when she receives an email from Stacey out of the blue. You can tell they haven’t been a part of each other’s lives for quite some time, but why? What happened?
The Past clues us in to their complicated friendship, taking us through the various uncomfortable circumstances they got themselves into while at school together. Eventually, Past and Present merge revealing the truth behind Bethany and Stacey’s relationship.
This is a tough on for me, because I Love Dawn Kurtagich’s writing and daring imagination. The Thorns has a solid ominous feel to it, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but it also had its issues that sadly brought down my rating.
For me, it’s one of those stories where a lot is happening, but simultaneously, it feels like nothing is happening. I was constantly waiting for something big to be revealed, and then when it was, I had predicted it from very early on and it didn’t end up being as satisfying as I would’ve hoped.
It also felt too drawn out and I didn’t enjoy the 2nd-person narration style of the Present perspective. Nevertheless, Kurtagich gets full marks for her creativity and follow-through on ideas, and this is still a good book, which just happened to fall a little flat for me.
I was hoping for a deeper connection and to be more compelled by the narrative than I was. The middle portions felt quite General Fiction as opposed to the dark-intrigue that I was expecting.
With all this being said, I know so many Readers are going to love this. The back-and-forth does build up some anticipation, and I feel like the topics explored are strong and well-executed.
Thank you to the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to more from Kurtagich!