Today’s review is about THE THORNS REMAIN by JJA Harwood. It’s a historical fantasy set right after World War I. During a night of dancing around a fire, Moira Jean’s friends are spirited away by the fae. So she enters into bargains with The Dreamer to bring her friends back earthside.
Author: JJA Harwood
Series: None
Age Category: New Adult/Adult
Publisher: Magpie
Publish Date: May 02, 2023
Print Length: 416
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The Thorns Remain Synopsis
Synopsis
From the Sunday Times bestselling historical fantasy author of THE SHADOW IN THE GLASS comes a tour-de-force of faerie bargains, perfect for fans of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LA RUE, MEXICAN GOTHIC, and TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY
A dance with the fae will change everything
1919. In a Highland village forgotten by the world, the young people who remain after war and flu will soon head south to make something of themselves.
Moira Jean and her friends venture to the forest for a last night of laughter before parting ways. Moira Jean is being left behind. She too planned to leave once – but her lover died in France and, with him, her future. The friends light a fire and dance. But, with every twirl about the flames, strange new dancers thread between them, music streaming from the trees.
The Fae have joined the dance.
Suddenly Moira Jean finds herself all alone, her friends spirited away.
For the Fae feel left behind and forgotten too. Led by the darkly handsome Lord of the Fae, they are out to make themselves known once more. Moira Jean must enter into a bargain with the Lord to save her friends – and fast, for the longer they spend with the Fae, the less like themselves they will be upon return. If Moira Jean cannot save her friends before Beltane, they will be lost forever…
Bewitching, threaded with Highland charm, and sparkling with romance, this fairy tale will carry you away.
The Thorns Remain Review
THE THORNS REMAIN is a historical fantasy set in 1919 after the end of WWI. Though Moira Jean’s fiancé survived the war, he succumbed to the flu shortly after. Moira Jean remains in rural Scotland with her mother and the rest of the village, including other young men who returned home after the war. After the renewal of their tenancy to farm the land, Moira Jean ventures into the forest with her friends to distract herself from her grief. What started as a harmless dance around the fire ends with her friends whisked away into fairyland. If Moira Jean can’t save her friends before Beltane, they’ll be trapped forever, dancing.
Let’s cut to the chase. For whatever reason, this (currently) has an average below 3.5 on Goodreads. And I don’t really understand why. This is a very solid historical fantasy with excellent writing and a plucky main character. It tackles themes of grief, love, belonging, humanity, and emotionally abusive relationships. And it includes a somewhat morally grey-coded Lord of the Fae who reminded me of Goblin King Jareth from the 1986 film Labyrinth.
Moira Jean is a very strong female lead character with a humble upbringing filled with lots of familial love. She lives in a community where everyone has a role, even if it’s being the village gossip or tattle tale. She is a genuinely good character and chooses to do the right thing even if she doesn’t want to or it’s hard. But that doesn’t make her one dimensional. Moira Jean, in her quiet moments, tries to deal with her grief over the death of her fiancé, Angus, and figuring out what she wants to do next in her life now that her plans to leave the village no longer exist. With Angus, those dreams died.
Moira Jean is also stubborn and intelligent. These traits serve her well when she bargains with the Lord of the Fae, also known as The Dreamer, to save her friends. I really liked that the fae in THE THORNS REMAIN are not tall, elegant hotties. Instead they have cruel streaks, are tricksters, and their true forms are not human, but pull from various flora and fauna. The Dreamer acknowledges Moira Jean’s strength and intelligence and finds them so fascinating that he can’t bear to let her remain in her village. So these bargains he makes to return her friends are also a way to try to get her to stay with him in the faerie realm.
The Dreamer represents inhumanity, all tricks and games, until he begins to learn from Moira Jean. But whether through nature or nurture in the challenging faerie realm, The Dreamer has a hard time comprehending what it means to feel, including love. It fascinates him and he conflates obsession with love. Overall, he represents the manipulator in a relationship who doesn’t understand that what they’re doing is wrong. There are a few scenes where Harwood builds some tension between the two of them. And Moira Jean has to decide whether or not to succumb.
While not a large component of the book, there is some bisexual representation in THE THORNS REMAIN. It comes to the surface during the last 50% of the story, so I can’t say more without spoiling the plot. Considering the time period of the book, it’s not something Moira Jean can act on freely. But events make her face the fact that she has a desire for women as well as men.
Overall, THE THORNS REMAIN is an engaging historical fantasy sans the romantasy. It focuses on community, grief, and inner strength. And, finally, the fae here harken back to their trickster origins. Pick this up if any of the above appeal to you.
Rating: 4
Content warnings: death, death of parent (historical), blood, pandemic/epidemic, violence
Reading format: Kindle e-book
If you liked this book, you may also enjoy THE FAIRY BARGAINS OF PROSPECT HILL by Rowenna Miller.
Great review Celeste. This sounds like a really interesting read. It feels a bit unusual to have a story about the fae that’s not a romantasy but certainly means that I’m more likely to pick it up.
Thank you! Yea, it was refreshing for a fae book to not be romantasy. I think I’ve been cooling a bit on that subgenre lately, but I’m sure I’ll pick up more of it again…it’s all a cycle!
It sounds cool, but my first thought was “MORE FAE BOOKS?” There are so many right now…
I know, you seem to have read a lot of fae books this year! I don’t think I’ve read that many this year, so it didn’t feel super repetitive to me.