Review #13: Alphabet of Thorn
Book: Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
Pages: 291
Genre: Fantasy
Summary (from goodreads.com): Deep inside a palace on the edge of the world, the orphan Nepenthe pores over books in the royal library, translating their languages and learning their secrets. Now sixteen, she knows little of the outside world-except for the documents that traders and travelers bring her to interpret.
Then, during the coronation of the new Queen of Raine, a young mage gives Nepenthe a book that has defied translation. Written in a language of thorns, it speaks to Nepenthe's soul-and becomes her secret obsession. And, as the words escape the brambles and reveal themselves, Nepenthe finds her destiny entwined with that of the young queen's. Sooner than she thinks, she will have to choose between the life she has led and the life she was born to lead...
Review: When I first sat down with this book, I spent a considerable amount of time losing myself in the cover, front and back. Every single aspect about it was beautiful, and this applied to what lay inside, also. I savored every word of ALPHABET OF THORN; it connected with me on a level so many books don't. Everything about it was masterful: the way the plotlines all aligned, the prose itself, the characters, the descriptions...I feel like I could pick it up and reread it right now, loving every word as much as (if not more than) I did the first time around. My only complaint would be that the ending could have been a bit more...epic. But it was beautiful enough just the way it was, all the same.
Rating: 5/5 Stars