Girl, Serpent, Thorn

Girl, Serpent, Thorn

By Melissa Bashardoust

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it's not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother's wedding approaches, Soraya faces a choice. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds the knowledge she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn't afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

When her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, Soraya begins to question who she is and who she is becoming... human or demon. Princess or monster.  

I don't really recall Bashardoust's first book, Girls Made of Snow and Glass, but I do remember liking it well enough, and I'd had no objection to reading this second novel, which, if you look past how annoying the protagonist is, is also a pretty good read. But alas, what is a book without a protagonist?

So, as you may suspect from the blurb, Soraya puts her trust in the wrong person and in an effort to remove her poisonous curse, ends up somewhat accidentally letting a 100 year old demon rain destruction on her family and home and murder a bunch of people during her brother's wedding. "Accidentally" in the sense that she very much meant to do what she did, she just didn't realize there would be consequences.  Or well, she knew there would be consequences, she just didn't think anyone would notice them?

As one reviewer put it: "Soraya isn't a particularly clever or brave heroine." Accurate. So maybe she's a beacon to all those middling girls, who have no particular virtue to recommend them, but Soraya doesn't even really seem to have strength of character either.  She naturally doesn't want to be shut up in a room unable to touch people, but instead of asking her mother about the curse, lets several demons persuade her to steal the family's protective talisman and burn it, setting off the aforementioned Red Wedding-style chain of events. 

Then, after she's been forcibly taken to the demon mountain base, and appears to regret the fact that her country has been taken over and she's caused the deaths of a lot of people (soon to include her own brother and mother) she's presented with the former captain of the guard, who says he always knew she was dangerous her instinct is to... kick him. And then after she's freed the "good" demon, Parvenah, from prison, where Parvenah had been stashed for the last century by the bad demon, Soraya turns around and betrays Parvenah again to the bad demon (long story). Parvenah's sisters ask Soraya to try to rescue her again and Soraya is like... it's too hard, man, I feel like I keep making bad choices, I just give up.

I mean, yes, she has been making bad choices, and yes, she comes around eventually, but what a dishrag. Not the kind of person I would build a whole story around. It makes the whole thing feel like an obligation, which, I mean, it kind of was. Sometimes I don't know why I do these reading challenges, I feel like I have to force myself to finish half the books.

 

5: A Book With A Snake On The Cover Or In The Title