Heart of Thorns
- Goodreads
- 3.7
- pages
- 384
- August
- 2020
A kingdom built on fear and prejudice against witches faces transformation when a young witch and a king's son become entangled. Magic and marriage collide in ways no one expected, threatening the kingdom's foundations. Their bond could heal or destroy.
What is Heart of Thorns about?
Seventeen-year-old Mia Rose has spent three years training to hunt Gwyrach, women who can manipulate flesh, bone, breath, and blood with a touch. One of them killed her mother, and Mia wants nothing but revenge. Instead, her father announces her betrothal to Prince Quin, and the huntress is laced into silk and marched toward a royal wedding in the river kingdom, a place where touch itself is treated as a weapon and women's bodies are controlled by law.
The wedding goes violently wrong, and in the chaos Mia discovers the worst possible truth about herself: the dark, forbidden magic she has sworn to destroy lives inside her. She ends up on the run with Quin, a prince she barely knows, hunted by the kingdom she was raised to serve.
Read it if you want
The magic system is the hook: power that moves through flesh, bone, breath, and blood, in a kingdom so afraid of it that touch is policed. Mia is an angry, driven protagonist whose entire identity gets knocked out from under her, and the book takes her rage seriously. The forced-betrothal-to-fugitives arc with Quin gives the romance an enemies-to-allies shape without instalove.
Who it is for
If the witch-hunter-discovers-she-is-a-witch premise of Serpent and Dove appeals, this is the YA-leaning version. Also fits readers who liked the arranged-marriage tension of The Wrath and the Dawn. It is YA with slow-burn romance and low heat, so adjust romantasy expectations accordingly.
Content warnings
Show the content warnings
Violence, the death of a parent, and a patriarchal setting built on controlling women's bodies and magic. YA level, nothing explicit.
Where it sits in the series
Book 1 of the Heart of Thorns trilogy, Bree Barton's debut. Tears of Frost continues the story and a third book completes it. Read in order.
Heart of Thorns: FAQ
How spicy is Heart of Thorns?
Heart of Thorns is rated 2 out of 5 on our heat scale, which we call warm. The Spice Guide explains what each level means. Spice Guide
Is Heart of Thorns a standalone?
As far as our catalogue shows, yes. Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton is not part of a series, so you can start here.
What are the content warnings for Heart of Thorns?
Violence, the death of a parent, and a patriarchal setting built on controlling women's bodies and magic. YA level, nothing explicit.
How long is Heart of Thorns?
Heart of Thorns is 384 pages. At an average pace that is roughly 9 hours of reading.
When was Heart of Thorns published?
Heart of Thorns was first published on August 4, 2020.
Is Heart of Thorns OK for teens?
It is better suited to older teens. At 2 out of 5 there is some on-page intimacy, written softly. Check the content warnings too.
