Girl, Serpent, Thorn features teenager Soraya, who’s veins are filled with poison due to a
curse that her mother caused by making a deal with a Div, a magical creature in their medival
Persia. Desperate to rid of her grim “power”, Soraya and Azad, a young soldier who is not afraid
of her, seek to meet a Parik named Parvaneh, who claims she can stop Soraya’s curse with the
aid of a feather from a heavenly bird. Upon pricking her finger with the feather, she realizes her
curse is finally gone, but the act costed her more than just the vanishing of her poison. Azad
reveals himself to be Soraya’s enemy and she must defy all odds in order to save her kingdom
from Azad’s reign by marrying him. However, Soraya concocts a plan with the help of Parvaneh
to save her family without sacrificing herself and in the process discovers her newfound bravery
and concealed secrets about her family. Soraya manages to save her kingdom from Azad’s wrath
and lives in peace with her kingdom.
I was really enjoying this book in the beginning. Soraya’s battle with trusting herself was
very pronounced and her desire to know more about her curse’s origins fueled me to turn more
pages. I read one hundred pages in a day and then the book became a bit boring. After Soraya
solves her curse, there isn’t much character development to be improved on. There are several
times throughout the novel where she states that she misses her curse just because she wanted to
murder Azad. I feel as if the cure for her curse could have waited a hundred more pages so that
the readers could actually note the development of her character without it being stated right
there in the last fifty pages. Overall, I liked the book for its descriptive details and beautiful
words. Soraya represents humanity with their flaws and insecurities, along with accepting
themselves for who they are. Even if Soraya did solve her flaws for half the novel, she still knew
that a piece of her was missing. The novel was beautiful and makes me feel like a serpent for
giving it a three star rating. Haha, get it? My humor isn’t the best right now.