#tower of thorns

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Have my Attention: Blackthorn & Grim First Lines

I found Juliet Marillier in middle school, but it wasn't until I finished my PhD and was looking for something to help me recover from burnout that I found out that she had adult novels as well. Dreamer's Pool was one of the first fun books I picked up, and I fell in love. It still blows my mind that the Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey fans so often haven't found Marillier, but that's why I'm here to give you a sneak peek at how Marillier catches--and holds--readers with her opening sentences.

I fished the rusty nail from under my pallet and scratched another mark on the wall. Tomorrow would be midsummer, not that a person could tell rain from shine in this cesspit. I'd been here a year. A whole year of filth and abuse and being shoved back down the moment I lifted myself so much as an inch. Tomorrow, at last, I'd get my chance to speak out. Tomorrow, I would tell my story.

-- Dreamer's Pool

Rain had swollen the river to a churning mass of gray. The tower wore a soft shroud of mist; though it was past dawn, no cries broke the silence. Perhaps he slept, curled tight on himself, dreaming of a time when he was whole and hale and handsome. Perhaps he knew even in his sleep that she still kept watch, her shawl clutched around her against the cold, her gaze fixed on his shuttered window.

-- Tower of Thorns

He's curled into a ball, shivering, under a piercing white moon. He'd forgotten how bright the moon was, how its light could go right through a man, cold in his bones, searching out what was hidden deep. Go away, he breathes, arms up over his head, knees to his chest, trying to be invisible. Leave me alone. But the light seeks him out, finding a way through the high canopy of the beeches, through the rough blanket of bracken and fern he's scrambled together, through the rags of his clothing, right inside him.

-- Den of Wolves

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[rosy-avenger]

As he came in, I picked up an earthenware vessel and hurled it at the wall. It broke with a satisfying smash, making Grim wince. "Came to see how you were." He squatted down and began to pick up the pieces. "Leave that! You're not my servant! I'll clean up my own mess." He went on calmly tidying, leaving me no choice but to get down and help him.

-Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier

Y'all. I fully forgot about this series until I saw this book buried way down in my library wishlist, and I think the Blackthorn & Grim dynamic is even more catnippy to me now than it was when I read the first one in 2020. It's the kind of sensitively-written portrayal of people with trauma and PTSD I always wish more trad-pub authors could do; Blackthorn and Grim are so different while still having so much in common; and their relationship carries the story so well.

And this excerpt - the "I'll take care of you/it's rotten work/not to me, not if it's you" of it all. The "if a friend of mine had a sorrow and refused to allow me to share it, I should feel it most bitterly". The way Blackthorn is conscious of her Issues spilling over onto Grim, and tries to spare him, but he doesn't want to be spared! FRIENDS!!

[theimaginatrix27]

Could Geiléis have had a happy ending?

This question has been rattling around my mind since I read Tower of Thorns. It would seem the caster of the curse had purposefully prevented Geiléis from weeping over her dear one by making sure the thorns kept her out.

And it is clear that when the curse moved to Blackthorn, time reasserted itself brutally on the couple and Geiléis's household (I'm avoiding saying Ash's real name because I don't know how to spell it because audiobook.)

But what if they'd had all the information (Flannan's meddling not withstanding), and Blackthorn had put the pieces together quick enough to circumvent a loophole or two? If she'd gotten Geiléis to shed some tears for her sweetheart on a cloth, and then taken that cloth up the tower and applied it, could that have broken the curse without all of them having to die? Could they have had the happy ending they longed for, or would time have still reasserted itself on them, but they would just die without the guilt of what they'd done to Blackthorn on their hands?

Figuring it's more likely the latter, because that sorceress was somehow more malicious than Oonagh (didn't know that was possible!) and there were barbs throughout that curse like the thorns on the tower. But maybe, perhaps, if the curse had been broken cleanly without it being shifted to the next person, there could have been true freedom. "Lily" and "Ash" could have been happy.

I dunno, the whole mess makes me le sad. I wish they hadn't been trapped in a tragedy.

[lilac-stardust]

I'm reading the Blackthorn & Grim trilogy by Juliet Marillier (still on the 2nd novel) and I'm imagining Blackthorn as Charlotte Spencer and Grim as Wes Chatham.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Tower of Thorns | Author: Juliet Marillier | Publisher: Roc (2015)

[beartitled]

Full uncensored art (and more close ups) is under 👇 read more 👇

❗️Trigger warning : blood, gore, body horror

New megadrawing 🎉yuppie🎉

I attempted to draw every princess in the game (at this point of time) 👸

Most likely missed a few, but tried my best to catch them all™️

✨👀 @blacktabbygames

[ameyumez]

It's... cold.

[skeletoninthewaterfilter]

They are here !!

[rainyn0ise]

Some Slay the Princess sketches… 🗡️

[yashley]

"I’ve never seen someone hang up on someone in a conversation." bonus: lila, 1 second later:

[checkoutmybookshelf]

History, Characters, and Just a Little Bit of Magic

I discovered Juliet Marillier when I was in high school and was looking for literally *ANY* alternative to Twilight, because while I have nothing against vampires, I was not a Twilight girl. No shade to anyone who loved those books, they just weren't my cup of tea. I first found Wildwood Dancing with it's night people, frog prince, and dancing princesses (and we'll talk about that book someday), but today I want to talk about one of Marillier's adult trilogies. This trilogy follows Blackthorn and Grim as they work through life-changing trauma and find their way back to humanity--their own and others'.

First thing's first: This is an adult trilogy, and a few tirgger warnings appy. First and foremost, there is discussion of and recovery from sexual assault across all three books. I'm not going to get into it here, but take care of yourselves when choosing books to read and maybe steer clear from this trilogy if that topic is not a healthy thing for you to engage in just now. There is also some sacking-of-monastery-level graphic violence, and some absolutely screwey medieval dictatorial power dynamics that lead to gendered violence.

I loved these books, but I include trigger warnings because I would like y'all to be safe and healthy in choosing what to add to your TBR lists. The world is *a lot* right now, so anything that we can do to add some softness and gentleness and joy is important, and trigger warnings facilitate that.

With that bit of business out of the way, let me tell you about Blackthorn and Grimm.

Blackthorn reads a lot older than she actually is; by the time we catch up with her at the beginning of Dreamer's Pool, she's roughly early thirties, but we don't get that temporal marker until quite a ways in, and I'm not going to lie, I was FULLY a decade off in where I initially estimated her age. Blackthorne had her start as a healer who's abilities are greased with, perhaps, just a bit of magic. However, when we meet Blackthorn, she is in the deepest bowels of a men's prison and is, entirely reasonably, extremely cranky about it. Blackthorn has sharp, wounded edges, and watching those edges heal and lose some of their sharpness--although not all, never all, part of what you grow to love about her is the grouchiness that covers a startlingly soft heart--is one of the most compelling parts of the trilogy. Blackthorn is a protagonist who is allowed to be cranky, allowed to be nontraditional in so many ways, and has a certain je ne sais quoi that brought her and her story close to my heart.

If I were to describe Grim in one word...I wouldn't. I just quite simply wouldn't, because reductive, nuance-less pop descriptions do not and will never be appropriate for this trilogy. Grim is a man who is terrified of himself, and deeply ashamed of his past for reasons that do not become clear until the second book. Grim's emotional journey and his dealing with his own PTSD was incredibly compelling to watch, and even in the first book when we don't have the information to understand Grim's self-assessment, all you want to do is hug this man. In a world that is hard, unforgiving, and often unspeakably cruel, Grim is soft and kind in the best ways. Watching these characters interact and influence each other is a masterclass in recovery and rediscovering humanity.

For fully 95% of this trilogy, Blackthorn insists that there is no word for what she and Grim are to each other, and not going to lie, I fully spent 90% of the trilogy (and if you read the books you'll understand why that number should have been 65% absolutely maximum) thinking "Oh this is going to be an emotionally intimate but completely platonic relationship and I love this so much!" Reader, I was wrong. In hindsight, I would call this the slowest of slow-burn romances, but that feels like a woefully inadequate description of the relationship journey these characters go on. Literally, the first book starts with a fae-assisted jailbreak and the final book ends with a corruption trial. The trail from point A to point B is wild, wonderful, and a joy to read.

I picked up this trilogy during my recovery after grad school (the PhD killed my love of reading guys, and rekindling that was a JOURNEY) and publication, and I am so, so glad I did. It was a better fit than I could have ever imagined, and going and finding the rest of Marillier's back catalog really helped jumpstart my love of fun reading again.

[ruhnlidiasworld]

The Tortured Heroines Department

[illustratinghan]

thomas finally allowed alastair to give him a much needed haircut before their trip to paris.

of course then, alastair insisted a passerby take a photo of them (and thomas’ hair style!) enjoying croissants and the finest parisian hot chocolate by the eiffel tower together 🥐

characters by @cassandraclare 💛

[lib-arts]

SJM x Olympics

art by me

Yrene Towers - Athletics

Elide Lochan - Artistic Gymnastics

Morrigan - Tennis

Amren - Artistic Gymnastics

Elain Archeron - Rhythmic Gymnastics

[dr-awkkward]

Slay the Princess text posts, part 2

[part 1] [part 3]