But Faerie is more dangerous than she imagined. Alongside iridescent clouds and frosted beauty, it also has dangerous enchantments, scheming fae, and frightening trolls. Even with her experienced sword skills, the land challenges her courage and wit to their breaking points. But Faery is full of more dangers than beauty. She is forced to continue the rescue despite frightening creatures, ice that burns, and cunning, devious fae. Dream or not, this might be her only chance for a real adventure before she’d be forced to marry a stranger. How could she say no to that? Kat really wrote this for the trauma girlies & it hit (I.e. hurt). This is an exploration of grief and loneliness wrapped up in a gothic fairytale romance.

Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn: An Extract • Good Reading Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn: An Extract • Good Reading

I turned my father’s words over like a newly acquired geological specimen, some shiny square of pyrite or rough wedge of schist, looking for the grain, the structure, the signs of its origin and nature. With all the snarky reverse harems out there, it is refreshing to find a more traditional type of fantasy but without the traditional wilting-flower lady. Her father taught her the skills he knows: tournament fighting. This reminds me of my own father taking me hunting. Elora learned that courtly fighting and longs to have the associated adventures, at least in theory. Life doesn't work that way, and her parents have arranged a marriage for Elora. As a last ode to freedom, Elora decides to climb a tree. I know this sounds corny and simple, but having a small goal in life gives me the feeling of control.

LoveReading4Kids Says

Lovely novella! I'm happy I read this after book 1, because this way I already had a clearer picture of the characters and their personalities in mind. I don’t understand love,’ I said, submerging the cloth in the water. ‘I don’t know how it works or what it is for. I’ve read poetry and novels and listened to music and viewed art all about love but it was like another language. I thought it must be something that wasn’t meant for me. Until I met you.” While the truths Mina discovers are terrifying, love, longing and the realisation that “other people can be salvation” leads her to take a courageous path. Suspenseful, atmosphericand romantic, this is an utterly enchanting tale.

Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn | Goodreads

In the distance, above the golden canopy of the dying forest, about as far as I could see on a clear, bright day, was the Witch’s castle. Another woman crossed herself. ‘Set all the cows lowing up at Rottenstedt. And when I set about breakfast, all the boiled eggs peeled blood red.’ Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including: I thought about this. I had never considered that the Witch could take people from some hamlet near her castle, but of course she wouldn’t. She would have no legend if she didn’t come as she did, to strike where we should feel safest. International Flight (including flight between mainland China and Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan and flight between Hong Kong/Macau and Taiwan):Hush, that is unkind. If she showed any affinity for the Church I would have thought her a natural for the convent.’

Bitterthorn - Andersen Press

I loved the relationship between Mina and the Witch, it had such an awkward and tense beginning but slowly blossomed into something so beautiful and tender. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments This prequel of the serie is amazing even though it is almost as a parallel story for the serie, as Elora, our heroine, will not remember any of the amazing adventure she has in this book and book one starts as a clean slate (or so we think). The doctor grimaced and slit open my cocoon with a knife, spilling fluid and meconium, and like a selkie, I slipped off my first skin to reveal another human one beneath. A darkly seductive sapphic Gothic romance inspired by classic fairytales like Beauty and the Beast.

Author

i really enjoyed this one! it felt like a retelling of a mix of various different fairytales (cinderella, rumplestiltskin, beauty & the beast) but in a wholly original way, too. our main character is a girl called mina, who doesn’t feel like she belongs in her home with her father and stepmother. every fifty years, a man in their town is taken as a companion for ‘the witch’, a nebulous villain who lives in a mysterious castle away from the village. this time, instead of a man, mina offers herself as the sacrifice. Water overflowed the pot of the parlour palm I had been tending, watering can held fixed as I listened until the soil swam and dirty liquid spilled across the floor. I mopped it up with a cloth on my hands and knees. I sorted the documents into groups, arranging my father’s desk, but he stopped me with a confused smile. Flavour profile: Sharp and bitter, with pale, watery yellow flesh. If durian’s its name, pungency is its game I don't care about the characters, the plot is unclear, and some of the writing is a bit too over the top for my tastes. I was really hoping for more gothic, creepy vibes, but I wasn't really getting any of that.

Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn (9781839132957/Paperback

Solanum incanum L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 2021-09-20. Bitterthorn is beautiful and haunting - the type of story that seeps into your bones and stays with you long after reading. Kat Dunn has spun a deliciously dark fairy tale full of the agony and ecstasy of longing and desire, as well as celebrating the power of resilience and inner strength -- Katherine Webber - Sunday Times bestselling author of Twin Crowns and The Revelry I apologise if I have offended you,’ I said. ‘I did not mean to.’ She folded her hands, lips pursed. ‘I have tried very hard to accommodate you, Mina, but you throw that in my face when you refuse to participate in this family. I suggest you think a little less highly of yourself. If you mean to spend the rest of your life unmarried and under my roof, then you need to change your ideas. Do you understand me?’

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KAT DUNN grew up in London and has lived in Japan, Australia and France. She has a BA in Japanese and an MA in English. Her latest novel, Bitterthorn, is a gothic tale of love and loneliness. Read on for an extract. That loneliness I feared, the meaninglessness, the unwantedness, it had already happened. I could try to fight and hold it away forever, or I could grieve what my life had been, see it for what it was, and stop being controlled by the fear of it.”