In Thorns by Morgan Ray, we meet Sidney. Sidney Phillips didn't have the most normal life to begin with. Her life was controlled by her rich grandmother, her aunt had her own weird obsessions, and to make things worse, she's being haunted by the spirits of two cursed ghosts. No matter what turns her life takes, one thing has become clear to her- she'll never be able to choose her own path.
But on the night of her aunt's Pluto-themed ball, a new option appears to her, offered to her by someone she never thought she'd meet again- her father. Turns out her absent dad is a powerful demon known as a incubus, a being that feeds off the human life force generated by intimate interaction. Sidney's dad proposes a deal to her: he'll extend the time Sidney has to decide which ghost to marry if she lets her succubus side run free. Suspicious of the deal at first, she eventually agrees, unaware of the uncontrollable powers she now has. Sidney is no longer the girl her friends and the ghosts thought they knew. In fact, if she can't be stopped, she won't even be human.
My Thoughts
Hoorah! Here I am, back at it on the Brambles series, this time with the second book, Thorns.
Now, I'd like younger readers to beware, for this book has - (shuts off lights, draws blinds, boards the doors and huddles down in my closet)- sex. Gasp! I know!
For those who can't handle less than a paragraph of suggested intercourse, perhaps you should skip Thorns in the series. Of course, you would be missing the plot, but our dear protagonist Sidney turns into a demon that survives off romantic interaction. Sometimes that could be nothing more than a glance or a kiss, or it could be something less PG. Alas, this your warning if you are interested in reading Thorns, so beware, squeamish people!
As for the book itself, let's just say my hatred for Dorian grows deeper. As human
Sidney tries to be nicer or try to understand Dorian, succubus Sidney is both used and uses Dorian. Sidney uses Dorian's ghost powers to steal and hurt people, while Dorian thinks if he obliges to her commands she'll fall in love with him. Now we really get to see how bad of a person (is that the right thing to call him? How bad of a ghost?) he is.
While Reginald goes to get help from the witches when Sidney turns, Dorian sticks around to use her. Dorian doesn't care for Sidney, he only cares that he needs her to break the curse for him. When the witches find Sidney, Dorian conveniently disappears, and when Sidney comes back to normal she hates him for letting her do so many bad things. I don't really doubt she'll end up with Reginald, but with the introduction of Sam we'll get to see a interesting love triangle. Will she choose Reginald and break the curse? or will she choose the enchanting witch Sam? I really like Sam.
An unpopular opinion I have is that Sidney didn't need to be a succubus. There was no reason for it to be thrown in, as it makes no sense why a random demon would want to interfere with the curse. I think there would've been a better way to make Sidney evil, as I do think it was importiant to see the true side of Dorian and Reginald. Now that we know that Sydney is also some angelic being fabled by the Egyptian gods, I think she's becoming a Mary Sue. Hopefully the author can pull this all off, but if not it's going to really dissapoint me.
One more thing I'd like to point out is that Thorns is about half the size of Brambles, so it isn't a very long read. It's an OK book, but it's definitely not better than Brambles. I'm really exited for Thicket to come out this summer, and I will be the first in line to buy it!
(Also, BTW, I redesigned the website so it reflects me more. It may change a little more, so don't be surprised if it looks different next time you come here!)
Keep Reading!
-Valkyrie