A Lesson in Thorns by Sierra Simone

A Rosalind Review

A Lesson In Thorns by @thesierrasimone
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Ratings (out of 5)
Chemistry: 💥💥💥
Heat: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Kink: ⛓️⛓️⛓️⛓️
God, this book is gorgeous. I mean, yes, the cover is beautiful and eye-catching and brilliantly designed but THE BOOK is such a pretty, perfect, filthy fairy tale I couldn’t put it down. Here’s why:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
♥️ Simone’s prose is as elegant as the ancient country estate in which the book is set and as delightfully modern as the six young protagonists who populate the story. No small feat.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
♥️ In true fairy tale fashion, A Lesson In Thorns has a plot of both simplicity (a young woman searches for answers about her missing mother while having loads of feelings about herself and her housemates) and depth (said young woman has dark, deep, mysterious YEARNINGS… and so does every other gorgeous but tortured character she associates with) As a fan and writer of sexy magical realism, I was impressed.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
♥️ Delicious, ancient, bondage-based rituals take a starring role to drive both the story and my inability to stop turning pages. Does the phrase, “bound with thorns” do anything for you? It certainly does for me.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
♥️ The characters here are all young and vibrant and they all play into their fairy tale role: the dreamer, the heir, the saint, the genius, the socialite, and the priest. They are each cast from a certain mold and they all find themselves fighting against it. Watching these characters struggle and writhe within the confines of their role is a unique delight. Especially when they all harbor dark secrets and crave something they know they shouldn’t have.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
♥️ It’s kink-done-right. There’s a lot of talk about consent, communication, choice, and aftercare in Lesson in Thorns without ever getting boring or preachy. Some characters are experienced, some are virgins (to both BDSM and sex in general) and all of them help each other learn what it means to experience kink. It’s always sexy. It’s always safe.

♥️ Kiss & Tell: I feel like A Lesson In Thorns is JUST THE START of the kinky firestorm that will be the Thornchapel series. As such there’s: spanking, kissing, hand play, oral, and P+V sex.Fair Warning: One of the characters has experienced sexual assault in the past. They never goes into much detail but they do tell the story. ⠀⠀⠀

One More Thing: This is the first book in a series and while it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger the story of these feisty characters is, by no means, complete. The next book, A Feast of Sparks, releases in June.