Cover Image: The Path of Thorns

The Path of Thorns

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Member Reviews

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Great haunting gothic tale - loved the atmosphere of it. Going to find more books by this author!

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As someone who usually reads romance, it surprised me how much I loved this book. I love dark Fairytale retellings, and The Path of Thorns had the perfect amount of everything in it - even a bit of a romantic storyline!

I breezed through this in a day, and I regret NOTHING. Asher Todd is one of my favourite MCs of the year.

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This was a fantastic surprise of a read. I was hooked by the pitch of this as a gothic fantasy, and was not expecting it to lean into the toxic family dynamics part of gothic fantasy as hard as it did, to amazing effect. I also ended up mainlining the back half of this over the space of an evening, originally bc I wanted to reach x chapters, but then just kept going bc I wanted to know how the fuck this was going to turn next. Slatter weaves an amazing mystery, a truly douchebaggy family across generations, and the people who are just trying to survive them all, our main included. If you’ve been in an abusive family situation, you’ll be able to feel the tension on your own skin at times. Slatter also includes lots of rewritten subtly rewritten fairy tales that serve as a framing device throughout the book. Pick this up in August, you’ll be in for a hell of a treat.

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Wow. This book was effortless.

We follow Asher Todd, new governess to the children who live on Morwood Grange, as she navigates a dysfunctional family, earns the trust of the townsfolk, and uncovers the complicated history of this remote estate. Oh, and she has her own darkness to hide and promises to complete.

The Path of Thorns was dark, gothic and witchy - full of revenge, murder, ghosts, and dark family secrets. If you are a fan of dark fantasy, that feeling of horror that lingers around every dark corner, then this is perfect story to cuddle up with. It won't disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this advanced reader copy. I will definitely be checking out other books by A.G. Slatter.

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Even the most unassuming of covers can contain a gem of a book. Something I love about fantasy novels is that since the author is building the world, the “world” is essentially their oyster. You can take a little from this time period, some from that folklore, some from that mythology, a smidge from this culture, a splash from that religion… you get my meaning. This is how we build fantasy worlds. All genre authors stand on the shoulders of giants going all the way back to the most epic of stories such as Gilgamesh.

A.G. Slatter is unembarrassed to admit she has plucked from quite a few different plants and bushes to form the bouquet that creates the world “The Path of Thorns” is set in. She took great care in her planning, research, selection, and execution, because the result of this meticulous worldbuilding is indeed a fantastic story mashup that is the love child of two Romantic authors: Charlotte Bronte and Mary Shelley. Indeed, Slatter’s storyline is summed up by the author herself as “Jane Eyre meets Frankenstein”. The result is an absolutely brilliant and engaging storyline of a young cunning woman who impersonates a dead woman in order to infiltrate her mother’s ancestral home as a governess in order to destabilize the power structure and avenge her mother’s death. There’s a lot more to the plot than that, but oh! The spoilers! Knowing less going in is definitely for the best when reading this book. I went in after only reading the blurb and loved that.

My favorite part of the book, aside from the morally gray and chaotic neutral main character who is, in turns, completely in her element one moment and in way over her head the next, are the stories and fairy tales that are told from time to time within the book. They are beautifully written in a unique and dark manner, truer to the form of classic oral tradition tales than the ones that eventually got sanitized and written down. They are cautionary tales, meant to warn people about the dangers of the world and to make themselves more self-aware. Sometimes they run directly into a territory I like to call, “You need to check yourself.”

The cast is colorful, unique, and deeply flawed. Even the children have their flaws, though they are the flaws of children and can be easily forgiven.

It’s truly a diverting and entertaining read. I wished it had gotten darker, but maybe that’s because I always want things to get darker when it comes to magic and gothic fantasies.

Thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for granting me early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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“‘A woman’s life is the path of thorns,’ I say. ‘We walk through it, our feet will always hurt.’”

A great gothic fantasy! Asher Todd has made a promise to her mother, and accepts a governess position for the Morwood family. But Asher has many secrets, as do many of the others living on the Morwood estate.

This book is full of witches and werewolves and magic. Asher’s trapped by her promise to her mother and bears the weight of the expectations her mother has placed upon her. The governess before Asher mysteriously disappeared, and Asher had promised the girl’s mother that she would go to Morwood and find out the truth. Asher has an ulterior motive for going to Morwood, and works on both of her missions simultaneously. But Asher’s past begins to haunt her as she tries to find answers while concealing her true identity, and although Asher does a great deal of good, she is not a stranger to a darker magic.

This book does a fantastic job of showing the readers what’s happening and letting them figure it out instead of telling them directly. We don’t know everything about Asher, and have the opportunity to figure her out as the book progresses. It’s a fantastic standalone fantasy!!!

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Another winning story from Angela Slatter!! Full of misty, gothic feels, wolves, magic and a truly dysfunctional family, The Path of Thorns is a captivating story. Asher Todd has come to the Morwood estate to be governess to the children of Luther and Jessamine Morwood. Asher is not a trained governess but instead a skilled herbalist and practitioner of dark magic. She also has a bevy of secrets and plans for the members of the Morwood family. But as Asher gets to know the children, the other servants, and peoples of the local town, her plans get thoroughly complicated and more complex than she could have ever imagined.

I was immediately hooked by the story. I love the combination of Victorian era style, plus old magic, fairy tales and the right amount of creepiness to keep you thoroughly entertained by the tale. The complex layering of secrets and reveals make it another delicious tale to enjoy!!

Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

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Haunting, atmospheric and lyrical The Path of Thorns is an moving tale of family and revenge. This book reads very much like a dark fairy tale and will suck you in with it's twisted secrets and compelling main character.

We follow Asher, who comes to to live with the mysterious Morwood family as a governess to their children. With a monstrous revenge in mind, Asher plans to take down the family from the inside. However, she becomes fond of her charges, of the people of the Tarn, and she begins to wonder if she will be able to execute her plan – and who will suffer most if she does. But as the ghosts of her past become harder to control, Asher realises she has no choice.

I had never read anything by this author before and was very pleasantly surprised with this one!! I love gothic feeling horror with lots of witchcraft and an old family with secrets and a borderline haunted house - so this really ticked all my boxes! The writing was also stunning; it created the perfect creepy atmosphere whilst still maintaining a very human sense of empathy with Asher and her story.

The relationships Asher has with the different characters in the book are all fascinating to explore. The children she looks after are very precious and it is interesting to see how they treat Asher vs how they treat their mother/father and I think the author has an excellent insight into abusive relationships and places of safety. Also the relationship Asher has with her own mother (who may or may not be a ghost lol) is so intriguing and compelling and I think beautifully highlights the often complex relationships between mothers and daughters with the expectations, conflicting intentions and generational trauma.

I also liked the brief hint of romance and how this influenced Asher and her decisions. I also really liked the banter they had and was surprisingly invested despite it only having a little bit of page time.

The subtle hints of magic and witchcraft woven throughout the story are excellently done and fit in perfectly with the rest of the story, adding to and compounding the tension and stakes. I also loved certain family/town secrets with certain supernatural creatures that made me enjoy the story even more.

Overall I would highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of haunting prose, witchy horror, complex family dynamics with a lot of dark secrets slowly revealed and very well written characters.

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Not my style. Very lengthy and long winded. Would not recommend if you’re a fan of quick paced stories.
I also found it strange that it’s in present tense. It feels awkward to read.

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First with All the Murmuring Bones and now with The Path of Thorns, Slatter has established herself as the undisputed queen of the gothic fantasy novel, at least in this reader’s eyes. What a novel!

The Path of Thorns is a novel absolutely steeped in atmosphere. From the opening pages, it is wonderfully dark tale filled to the brim with secrets. There’s a mystery that unfurls slowly across the pages, with the author taking care to reveal just enough to build intrigue. With callbacks to Jane Eyre (think less wife in the attic, more supernatural entity in the attic) as well as stories pulled from the author’s previous collections set in the same universe, the bones of a rich, fairytale world are ready for the gothic meat Slatter is so adept at bestowing upon her stories.

Slatter excels at injecting her fantasy world with a healthy dose of feminism that is especially obvious through our protagonist, Asher Todd. Asher is a strong, resourceful character who is more than a little bit morally grey. Throughout the plot, she is loyal to her mother while also examining the generational trauma behind that devotion. She doesn’t hesitate to take a lover, and doesn’t apologize for using her wits to better the situations of those around her even knowing that it could spell her demise. In addition to Asher, it’s also refreshing to see that all of the women are complex, well fleshed out characters while the men are largely defined by their flaws or their connections to the women.

The Path of Thorns is a slow burning story that may not be to every reader’s taste, but it’s well worth it to see how the plot will play out. From the characters to the setting to the folklore, every piece of this book is meticulously crafted to blend seamlessly with Slatter’s atmospheric prose. This has definitely catapulted Slatter onto my auto-buy author list, and I highly recommend giving her works a read if you’re even a tiny bit intrigued by gothic fantasy.

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My thanks to Titan Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Path of Thorns’ by A.G. Slatter.

While its cover initially drew my attention, it was full of elements that I love: spooky Gothic houses, witchcraft, fairy tales, and even wolves,

Last spring I had read Slatter’s gothic fantasy, ‘All the Murmuring Bones’, and adored it. She announced at the conclusion that she was working on another novel set in the same fictional world, that she has named Sourdough.

So a few details: Asher Todd comes to Morwood Grange as a governess to the family’s children. She actually doesn’t know very much about being a governess and has her own agenda for taking the position. She is skilled in both botany and herbcraft, though also in magic (though she keeps knowledge of this to herself).

Indeed, Asher has a number of dark secrets, including a plan for revenge. However, over time she becomes fond of the children under her care and of the people of the village of Morwood Tarn. This causes her to question her mission though the ghosts of her past may prove too strong to resist. No further details to avoid spoilers.

I felt that Asher Todd was a wonderful lead character/narrator and I was completely caught up in her story.

In her Author’s Note A. G. Slatter identifies the origins of the fantastical tales that she has woven into the narrative. Some were originally published in her short story collections and magazines and four were newly written for this novel.

Her version of Red Riding Hood and other Wolf-themed tales had echoes for me of Angela Carter’s lupine fairy tales and indeed this award-winning Australian author has been compared to Carter; though I feel that she is worthy of acclaim in her own write 😻 given the power of her lyrical prose, approach to the retelling of fairy tales, and rich storytelling skills.

Overall, I loved ‘The Path of Thorns’. It proved a beautifully written, atmospheric Gothic fantasy. I will be looking forward to A.G. Slatter’s future projects as well as exploring her earlier works written under the name Angela Slatter.

Highly recommended.

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The Path of Thorns is a gothic fantasy in a world a little bit darker, more magical, and more sinister than ours. The story follows a new governess at a remote estate where the pervious governess disappeared mysteriously. Nothing can go wrong, right? This is by the same author as All the Murmuring Bones, which is set in the same universe and has the same spooky vibes as this book. I was very excited to early review this book and it did not disappoint!

I felt all of the spine tingles while reading this book. It's just the right bit of spooky, unsettling, and chilling. The story unspools in a way that made me excited to find out what was going to happen next. It was very much not what I expected based off of the cover with much more gothic horror. Very much Jane Eyre meets Frankenstein like the author mentioned in the afterword. I thought the story dragged a little in the middle but I really enjoyed the ride regardless!

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and recommend it to anyone who wants something a little spooky and a modern take on a gothic horror. 5 stars from me. Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

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A dark gothic, borrowing as much from Rebecca as from the little red riding hood. This is not a retelling, but it draws strong inspiration from those 2. If you have read the previous novel from the author, it is in the same vein as Murmuring Bones in relation to the little mermaid. A lot is there, but a lot isn't either. It's also in the same universe which is great (even if it does have strong inconsistencies: like women can't be medical doctors - yet there are women lawyers. Women lose all right when married and it's very Victorian, yet gay marriage is accepted).
The characters are all very grey, the betrayal is everywhere, the characters are untrustworthy revealing only as much as they want... and they keep their cards very tight. I utterly loved the previous novel from Slatter so I wanted to feel the same here. I was saving this book with delight and anticipation but to me this wasn't as good.
I wanted to love Asher... and eventhough she is a very sympathetic character, she is not written that way, we are kept at a far distance, and it made the book much less enjoyable for me. I don't need characters to be likable (and truthfully her traits are, but they were only explored more in-depth in the 2nd half of the book). I mean I love all the characters in the Second Law (I really like grim dark, grey casts) - but it comes way too late.
The story is really good, as well as the pace and all the events unfolding and the escalating horror... but I really would have liked something to help us like Asher earlier on, something to make us want to follow her adventures, because she deserved it, but it just wasn't written that way.

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I adored this book from the beginning. Beautifully written, very atmospheric, I imagined myself tiptoeing in Asher's wake, determined to find out what she was up to. A dark tale of revenge and a must for lovers of gothic fairytales.

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The Path of Thorns is a gloriously gothic fantasy mystery that follows Asher Todd to the estate of Morwood Grange where she begins her role as governess to the Morwoods’ three young children. We are immediately made aware by Asher that she is not a governess, that the fantastic references that got her the job are forgeries, and she is there for something much more sinister. It is that unknown reason that makes this book so delicious to read. Slatter draws it out bit by bit, teasing it out like a knot in a piece of embroidery.

As we learn more about Asher and her mission, her secrets, we also learn more about the Morwoods and the other members of the estate. There are secrets going back generations at Morwood Grange, and the things that go bump in the night are not just figments of imagination. In The Path of Thorns Slatter has woven together a story that encompasses the untold struggles of family, the burden women silently bear and how desperately we fight for approval even when we know it will never come.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review.

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Thank you NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book!

I struggled at first to get into this one, but the mystery kept me going. The first half was a little slow, and things sometimes felt a little rushed. The circumstances that should have been creepy and atmospheric just felt a bit... eh. This did pick up in the second half, things got darker, grittier, and had me on the edge of my seat.

I loved the twisted family dynamics and all the secrets the players held, and that it kept us wondering right through 'til the end. I enjoyed the tales woven through, the witchery and the wolves — though honestly I had expected more.

It was a good book overall, and I did enjoy it. Asher was an interesting character, and I think Slatter handled the way trauma can impact a person's life and actions very well. Whilst I didn't particularly like Asher, I was rooting for her in the end, and she definitely gave me that morally grey character I enjoy. I would have liked more of Eli's story — his features were again some of the parts that I felt were a little lacking and rushed.

If you like a gothic fairytale, this will be right up your street. Think in lines of the brothers Grimm, stories that won't necessarily give you that happy ending, stories that are just that bit more grim and grisly. I just personally would have enjoyed it more if it had been just that little bit darker and creepier than it actually was!

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I was attracted to this book because of the beautiful cover - and I love reading new twists on fairy tales!

The Path of Thorns is a gothic, historical fantasy. Set in the imaginary world of Sourdough, loosely based on Victorian England (I think!), where witches, ghosts and werewolves are real, Asher Todd goes to live with the eccentric Morwood family as governess to their three young children. Asher knows little about being a governess, but she is skilled in botany and herb-craft - and perhaps a little bit more. Morwood Grange might be a creepy old house, chock-full of dark family secrets, but Asher has a few of her own - not least the real reason why she is there! And exactly what did happen to the governess before her...?

If you love dark twists on fairy tales or gothic horror, this is the book for you. Deliciously creepy and packed full of twists, The Path of Thorns is a clever mash-up of genres. It's hard to review without giving away spoilers. Pay attention as each layer is revealed because no character is quite what they seem! The characters often tell each other fairy stories (there is a fabulous twist on Little Red Riding Hood), which adds an extra dimension.

Beautifully written and completely engrossing, The Path of Thorns is one of my favourite reads this year. Would suit fans of Naomi Novik, the Brontës, Daphne du Maurier, Angela Carter and Mary Shelley. Well, I did say it was a mash-up of genres!


Thank you to A.G. Slatter and Titan Books for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

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5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2022/06/28/the-path-of-thorns-by-ag-slatter/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : I couldn’t love it more

Wow, this book. I just loved it. I really enjoyed All The Murmuring Bones by this author and was super excited for The Path of Thorns which is set in the same universe. This is the gothic, dark, fairytale that I’ve been waiting for and I loved it without a single reservation. Think Jane Eyre but with less a focus on the two central characters and the love they develop and more a tale of revenge, difficult promises to keep, witchcraft and much more. Here are dark woods where creatures stalk at night, dark attics where all sorts of wrongs are committed and even a disused surgery just waiting to be revived.

As the story starts we meet Asher Todd as she arrives at the Morwood Family Estate to take up the position of governess. Asher is a strong and capable character, determined not to be afraid of whatever seems to be stalking her through the woods upon her arrival. She carries a carpetbag, many secrets, a few essential bits and bobs and more than one task to be completed.

I’m not going to delve into the plot here as the author plays her cards quite close to her chest and I will do likewise with this review.

The writing is excellent. Slatter manages to create a wonderfully foreboding atmosphere packed with tension and suspense. She keeps the twists coming as Asher slowly inveigles herself into the family life and becomes indispensable not only to the family matriarch but also as a protector of the children and their mother.

On top of all the deliciously dark secrets held within the walls of the house Slatter continues to create a fairy tale world where werewolves roam, ghosts rage and witches keep tight lipped about their abilities and she weaves into the tale themes of domestic abuse and sexual inequality. In fact it’s amazing how much Asher is able to get away with simply because people often underestimate her.

So, I don’t have any criticisms for this story but I would mention that it is dark, and I don’t say that lightly. There may be a strong fairytale vibe but don’t let that lull you into thinking this is akin to a Disney retelling because nothing could be further from the truth so be warned. Dark content.

All that being said I couldn’t have loved this book more. It’s absolutely my catnip. I loved the strong gothic feel, the setting was perfection, the story compelling and to be blunt, I cannot wait to see what this author does next.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

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The Path of Thorns by A.G. Slatter is out tomorrow, June 28th.

Asher Todd is hired as a governess for the children of the mysterious Morwood family. She is skilled with herbs and botany and might also be a bit witchy. She is hellbent on revenge but things get complicated.

I have a weird relationship with this book. I thought the first 30% was SLOW and it kinda put me in a reading slump. But then it picked up. Basically, I need to try this book again because I think it was a good, dark, twisted fairy tale but it just didn’t click for me at the time.

Thank you @netgalley and @titanbooks for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

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