I feel like I should start this off by saying that I am not a novella reader, especially not of novellas that are this short. When I requested this from Netgalley, I thought it was going to be a full length book, so that’s totally on me. I haven’t read Thorn yet, so this novella did nothing for me. None of the characters seemed like anything special, and there wasn’t much plot. I get the feeling that I’d enjoy Thorn, but I’m just not a novella reader

This was short, but it got me really excited to read the next book! Alyrra seems smart, caring, and not afraid to stand up for what's right, even against her family. She doesn't have many people who support her, but she's strong and people underestimate her.
I can't wait to continue this series!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I loved being back with these characters! Intisar is now one of my top 5 authors she writes so beautifully and such unique stories. I love her interpretations of fairytales.

Review on blog to come shortly

Brambles is what actually brought me to Netgalley in the first place, so I was excited and thrilled to have been approved for an ARC of the short story. I read Brambles just after finishing Thorn, Sunbolt, and Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani. I was a little bit removed from Thorn because the Sunbolt and Ash books are a separate series, but it's still been less than a week, so the plot of Thorn was still fresh.

And that's how I'd recommend reading Brambles. It's a beautiful, heart wrenching mini backstory that precedes the events of Thorn, so while it can certainly be read on its own, some of the emotional punch is delivered by familiarity with the characters and events of Thorn (particularly Valka and the Wind sprite). Brambles tells the story of how Alyrra lost all favor in her home and inspired the hatred of her brother, mother, and Valka.

It was a little heartbreaking, in truth, but I loved reading it and I'm so excited to follow Intisar Khanani's future work as well. I particularly enjoyed the little hints of Alyrra's wits sparking through when she felt safe in rare moments, to see her immutable kindness, and her youthful curiosity even as she was trodden down.

A content warning is in order: this story does deal with themes of physical and emotional abuse and gaslighting from the main character's close contacts, though she does earn the kindness of others around her as well; since this short story tells the tale of how she landed up in that position, the abuse is only at the end, but potentially vulnerable readers should be aware.

A short, four chapter read that I'd recommend to anyone already familiar with Thorn or who might consider reading in the future!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm actually really happy that I started this series with the novella. It's just kind of rare for me to do that and I'm surprised at myself. That being said, I adored getting to meet Alyrra in Brambles. Her life kinds of sucks in this short book and trust me - I hated so many people. Namely her family and Valka. I'm not even sorry about it.

Now knowing how cruel the people close to her were, well I'm beyond excited to dive into this series. At first, I thought she was going to be somewhat like her mother and be constantly underestimated. In some ways, she is and was. Yet, after meeting her mother - I just don't want her to be like her. She was cruel and definitely favored her brother more. Even if he is supposed to be the heir to the throne, he is a little shit that needs to be destroyed.

I can't wait for Alyrra to prove everyone wrong and continually surprise them. After that forest scene, I have so many questions and now I have to dive into these books and figure it all out.

I was granted complimentary access to an eARC of Brambles by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brambles is a prequel novella for The Dauntless Path series and sheds more light on an event that is discussed in Thorn. It opens on Alyrra, Valka, and some other nobles' teenage kids discussing the petty squabbles of teenage nobles and the latest prank Valka and Alyrra's brother have played on another girl, but when Valka's next prank threatens the life of an innocent serving girl, Alyrra chooses to act and loses more than she could have imagined as a reward for doing the right thing.

I haven't read Thorn yet, and as such, I didn't know these characters or their world yet. Prequel novellas often serve the purpose of getting a reader to care about the characters, or to serve as an extended prologue to book one, and I get the feeling Brambles is doing both. That said, for the first 15 pages or so I just felt like I was reading a fantasy realm version of a Mean Girls scene and I was waiting for something interesting to happen. 15 or so pages is a huge chunk of a novella that's only 40 pages in total. For that reason, I think this novella will be better enjoyed by readers who have already read Thorn and want to read this one next for more context before moving forward in the series.

I was also thrown off by the term "holsters" being used for the stable staff. In the first usage, it sounded like an inanimate object akin to a mounting block, but it soon became clear this is what the servants in the stables are called, and as someone who was an avid equestrian in my teen years this irked me a little. Someone who works in the stables and with the horses and their riders is a groom (or stablehand). A holster is something attached to the rider's gear or the horse's tack to secure a weapon.

I was delighted to discover that Alyrra's horse is named Acorn! The horse wasn't described in the novella, but I'm now hoping it's a bay gelding because a bay gelding named Acorn was my favourite main characters' horse in the Pony Pals middle-grade novels of the early 1990s.

I also loved the little hints of how magic works in the world, and I'm now quite intrigued to read Thorn and learn more about it!

I am quickly becoming a huge fan of Intisar Khanani - particularly this Dauntless Path series, but I did also enjoy Sunbolt and the second is waiting for me.

I loved reading more about Alyrra and learning just how much that one decision changed her life. While Thorn gave a brief version of events that led to her brothers and Valka. hatred of her. Seeing how they treated her as a child or even a pet before makes her actions all that more powerful.

For such a short story this does a great job of giving enough world building and character depth without needing to read Thorn first. However, I think I enjoyed it more having done so. Seeing her choice, understanding where it leads her, the first hints of friendship with the servants and of course - her wind are all enjoyed MORE by reading Thorn.

However - Thorn is quite the longer book and I could see this being a good way to get a more reluctant teen into the world before committing to a lengthy novel.

Brambles is a short prequel to Intisar Khanani's Thorn, a fantasy based on the story of The Goose Girl. Early in that book we hear about an event in the protagonist's childhood that drove a wedge between her and her family and turned a friend to an enemy and in Brambles we get a fuller account of that story. The writing is vivid and the author shows great skill in developing her characters especially given how short the book is. For those who have read Thorns it's a treat and for those who have not it's a perfect introduction to the world and the author.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Brambles, by Intisar Khanani, is a prequel short story to Thorn, book 1 of the Dauntless Path series. Not having read Thorn, I went into this short story with no preconceived notions - and loved it. The story hints at magic and demonstrates some interesting events that make you believe that Princess Alyrra is gifted but the reader isn't quite sure yet. Feeling a bit like a fairy tale, I was immediately taken in by love-to-hate them royals and the kind Priciness who will only suffer at the hands of her cruel mother.

Intrigued, I will be ordering Thorn on my kindle so I can follow the rest of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. Brambles is published on December 7th.

**Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for an honest review**
"Brambles" by Intisar Khanani is a prequel novella to her book "Thorn", following the main character of the book, Alyrra, as a child.
This story was certainly interesting, especially closer to the end, and I could really feel Alyrra's desperation. The characters were very defined, even though it was such a short piece, but because of that I wasn't able to get that much into the story and ended up feeling pretty neutral about it.
I'll definitely be reading the novel if I ever get the chance, I'd love to get more insight into this world and its characters.
I'm giving it 3/5 stars.

Sadly, Thorn has been on my TBR pile for many many years and for all the reasons, I just never seem to get to it. But now that is all about to change!! Brambles is a delightful teaser to Intisar Khanani's fantasy fairy tale world. It has all the ingredients to entice and motivate new readers and oodles of charm for existing fans of the Dauntless Path series. I can't wait to read more.

Recommended for fans of fairy tale retellings.

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This brief prequel follows Princess Alyrra before the events of Thorn. I have not read before but that did not stop me enjoying this story. I have since added Thorn onto my TBR due to Khanani's beautiful writing. Even though the book is only four chapters all the characters were easy to latch onto and sympathise with.

What a delightful short story! I haven’t read anything from this author before, but they do a wonderful job characterizing the individuals. The way they describe the actions to help you get a complete idea of who each character is. What a poignant message in a short story about royal families.

A very good YAFantasy! I love the world and the characters that Khanani created! I cannot wait to share this novel with everyone !!

I started listening to an audiobook for Thorn by the same author before reading this eARC. This short story supplemented me with the reason as to why Valka has a deep hatred towards Princess Alyrra. It also gave me the reason why Princess Alyrra’s mother and brother have that hatred and spite towards her. Not that it gives them the right to treat her that way, but it gave reason to their actions. I cannot stand how the Queen chose her power, her royalty over her own daughter. The same goes for her brother. For a woman really? But as we know Kings and Princes back then are ruthless, so it doesn’t surprise me. My heart just aches for Alyrra. Parents are supposed to correct their children’s mistakes and to teach them good values, but it is not the case in Alyrra’s family. Power over the family. The truth cost her everything.

Thank you to NetGalley and Purple Monkey Press for providing me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really, truly loved the writing style of this book! I have not read Thorn (Brambles is the prequel to Thorn) but it has now be added to my TBR because of this book. The writing reminded me of Gail Carson Levine’s writing in books like Ella Enchanted and Fairest, which were some of my favourite books growing up.

This prequel really hooked me from the first page! The writing comforted me and I felt like I was reading another lovely fairytale. I loved the main character, whose struggles were written so well. The villains in this short novella were also well written.

Overall, a great short read that I highly recommend you pick up!

Before Thorn,

Before the Lady's curse,

Before Valka's betrayal.

There was Alyrra's.

The exploit that ruined many lives for the worse, that changed the dynamics of their court , and started the series of events that led the manifestation of conflict in Thorn.

Thank you to Net Gallery and Intisar Khanani for providing me with a copy of Brambles for review.

Brambles is a prequel novella to Thorn, following the events that took place three years before that led to the wrath inflicted on Alyrra by her family and Valka's leave from court which created the doorway for the betrayal in Thorn.

The book starts a few days before the incident when most of the court leaves for the summer, after one of Alyrra's brother and Valkas pranks. Through Alyrra, we watch the lead up to theft and the circumstances in which the truth is revealed, as well as the result her actions inflicted.

During Brambles, we are given a better look into this court's behavior. While mentioned in Thorn, it is briefly shown at the beginning then only occasionally touched on during the rest of the story, as The Lady's curse is more important than a different court's dynamics.

It also provides a better explanation into the "why" of the incident and the aftermath result;

We see examples of how cruel Alyrra's brother and Valka are, and that the incident isn't what ignited eithers cruelty streak as they've always been terrible people, just the target of that cruelty changed. While the account of the Queen regent's struggle and success of holding the throne is only mentioned in passing, it is shown how flimsy their tie to their titles are, and how she won't allow anything to damage that status. In Alyrra's proceeding of the truth, it nearly destroyed an alliance that the Queen regent desperately needs in order to keep their power. Which explains, not justifying, her utter dismissal of Alyrra from her mind of being of any importance.

Alyrra's intelligence, strength, and savy-ness was shown in Thorn after the curse, from her behavior at the beginning of that book it seemed as it was something she developed to survive in her new life. However in Brambles, we see that those skills have always been present and the navigation those skills in her daily life, as well as her use of them to survive the backlash of her actions.

Brambles is an extremely fast read, being only 70 pages I finished within an hour of starting but it felt like less than half an hour. The pace is quick and the language flows beautifully, though there were a few odd sentence breaks with commas.

Brambles releases as an e-book on Dec 7th with most major retailers.It is part of The Dauntless Path series with the first book being Thorn (Brambles is 0.5) and the second book in the series, The Theft of Sunlight which is planned for release March 23rd 2021.

Rating: 4 stars
Absolutely loved this glimpse of Alyrra’s life before Thorn! Brambles is a prequel that dives into the life of Alyrra before the events of her main story in Thorn.
It enriches Alyrra's backstory and shows precisely why Alyrra is abused by her family. Alyrra is kind, honest, and good for that, she is hated. You start to see her character and bravery when she stands up for what's right in protecting one of the servants from her brother. I’d recommend it to those who want to read the book or those that already have!!

A short but interesting prequel/companion novella to Thorn, Intisar Khanani's beautiful Goose Girl retelling. Although Brambles doesn't really add much to the main story, it is a good read that offers so additional context and characterisation. Definitely worth picking up if you've read Thorn!

Thank you to Netgalley, Intisar Khanani Ana Purple Monkey Press for my arc of Brambles in exchange for an honest review.

Brambles is a short story set in the world of Intisar Khanani's Dauntless Path world. It is set slightly before Thorn and as such I would recommend reading it after Thorn. Some minor spoilers ahead.

Brambles tells the story touched on, in Thorn as to why Alyrra and Valka do not get on. It's a really good insight into the two girls relationship and gives background on how things could have escalated to the point they did in Thorn. It's a nice length not too long and not too short and I'd definitely recommend reading it as a companion to Thorn.