I absolutely loved AG Slatter's previous novel, All the Murmuring Bones, so I was excited to read this one! I didn't enjoy as much, but I did still like it.

The story follows Asher Todd, who has just become a governess at the Morwood Estate. It's clear from the start she has many secrets, as does the entire Morwood family. Slowly, all of the mysteries begin to unravel.

I liked Asher as a character. She is very cunning and resourceful. Leonora was wonderfully diabolical and a compelling character.

I also loved that there was casual LGBTQ rep - one female character is openly married to another woman and it's treated as perfectly normal in that world.

I do wish the wolves had gotten more attention, they were a very interesting part of the world but didn't seem to have much relevance to the overall plot.

One nitpick I had with the ending:

It felt a bit too similar to the end of All the Murmuring Bones, with several family members being suddenly killed. I felt bad for Jessamine, knowing she come home to find her husband and mother-in-law slain. 

I also felt the bit with Luned's abortion was unnecessary.

The themes here are similar to All the Murmuring Bones, with plenty of family secrets, drama, and magic. There also a couple nods to it, with the O'Malleys and a few locations being mentioned. Both stories are self-contained, however, so you can read one without having read the other. I enjoy the world that Slatter has crafted, and hope to see more of it in the future!

I have many feelings on this story. 

First off I just need to say, I despised Leonora. I understand that she was supposed to be a disliked character, but Asher sucking up to this Grandma literally knowing she is a bad person with bad intentions, bothered me so much. Same with the Heloise, but that’s a whole different story.

This book had soooo much potential with the amazing story and plotline. One thing about this ‘dark fairytale’ telling, is that it’s very unique, so I was still able to overall enjoy it.

The problem is the characters are all so annoying and make dumb decisions. Only characters that didn’t piss me off were the kids and Eli.

I could rant on and on, but for the most part I expected way more from this book. It was still a fair read though.

Very disturbing and pretty dark, check content warnings.

I received an eARC of The Path of Thorns by A.G. Slatter through Netgalley, thanks Titan Books! This book comes out June 28th. 

It’s a gothic fantasy with fairytale vibes, about Asher Todd who goes to Morwood estate to be a governess for three children. But both Morwood and Asher might have some dark secrets, and there seem to be strange creatures and magic about.

Main character Asher Todd is an interesting woman. She is more sassy and feisty than you might expect from a character in her position in that household (definitely more than the Morwood family was expecting…), and I enjoyed her interactions with the family, the rest of the staff, and the people in the surrounding village.

From the very beginning it is clear that there are lots of secrets and ulterior motives at play, and the story definitely requires some patience because it takes a while before we very gradually get any answers. I did get a little impatient along the way, but from about halfway through the story picks up. I liked how the plot developed, and the way different acts of magic or witchcraft are included. There is also a little insta-lovey romance sub-plot, which worked reasonably well for me, but I don’t think it added that much and the story could easily have done without.

Within the overall story there are many little fairytales and bits of folklore that characters tell each other, and I liked those a lot! In the rest of the story the writing is purposely old-fashioned and did take me some getting used to. I understand how it was intended to help set the Victorian-esque atmosphere, but it did feel needlessly archaic sometimes. I had to look up the meaning of many older words and wasn’t expecting to have to do that in a book published in 2022.

All in all I give this book 4 stars. I really enjoyed the setting and atmosphere and all the intrigue, and Morwood estate definitely gave me those gothic vibes I was hoping for. Also, what a great cover!