The Language of Thorns
Book description
Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.
Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Language of Thorns as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This is a collection of short stories that mixes fairy tales and myths to create six spooky, atmospheric retellings.
A few of the short stories, like “The Witch of Duva” (which borrows from “Hansel and Gretel”) deal with some dark themes, and “When Water Sang Fire,” is a deeply tragic, sapphic work inspired by “The Little Mermaid.”
My favorite of the collection is “The Soldier Prince” which combines “The Nutcracker” and “The Velveteen Rabbit” to produce a story with a fascinating take on agency, love, and self-awareness.
It’s queer in a way I don’t think I can define; I was…
From Elizabeth's list on queer fairy tale retellings for teens.
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