It has slow burn romance - hesitant enemies to reluctant friendship to tentative lovers to love and it was lovely to see this develop. The writing was lyrical and beautiful, the characters were flawed and captivating and the plot had me hooked from beginning to end. It’s perfect for the Autumn season - a gothic witchy read with lots of descriptive scene building to really develop the atmosphere.

I was also into the gothic imagery with large focus on plants and I loved the castle with its time-quirks (I am a sucker for magical houses! Like Mina seemed genuinely upset when the Witch got mad at her, even if it was a front, but then a couple pages later we are in love and stuff again? Mina (who reads like Cinderella, Belle and Aurora rolled into a single person), is such a kindhearted character whose eagerness to feel a little less of an outsider in her own home made me love her immediately. I don’t know whether I want to cry, laugh, re-read the entire book, or simply bask in the emotions that the wonderful writing of Kat and the world she has created embodied me with. BITTERTHORN tugged on the threads of my heartstrings until I had nothing left to give it but my soul.The story is filled with brilliant descriptions - I have a clear image of Mina, the witch, and the cold, stone castle in my mind. I was hooked from the first chapter, pulled into the world and wanting to know what would happen, and how it would all end. I don't care about the characters, the plot is unclear, and some of the writing is a bit too over the top for my tastes. The story is beautifully told but I struggle to connect with it and it took me five attempts to read it.

Bitterthorn is beautiful and haunting – the type of story that seeps into your bones and stays with you long after reading.I'm just not sure I loved the 'I can fix her vibes', which I would have been fine with if this was a story of dark obsession and toxicity, but I got the impression that this was meant to be a healthy relationship and idk about that. I must add that the lyrical writing style really helped bring the fairytale-like atmosphere to life, and I found myself so taken aback by the beauty of the writing and the way Dunn managed to put certain feelings into words so much that I feared that were I to start highlighting my favourite passages I'd end up with a fully highlighted book.

How are you going to give this grand declaration of love after the Witch communicated her fear that she was too much of a monster to love, and then turn around and RUN AWAY when you learn the truth. When the news comes that the Witch living above the city will come to claim another soul as her companion after fifty years, everyone is terrified. A lyrical Gothic tale with strong fairytale elements about loneliness and love, and how the two intertwine. Along with that, was incredibly moved by the relationship between Mina and the Witch and how its changed from being rooted in fear and uncertainty into trust, desire and collective grief and heartbreak.In time, though, she moves from fear and “the pain of self-inflicted isolation” to wanting to understand the Witch and the secrets of the curse.

Especially the wolf scene gets modified for the better and I loved that: the protagonist twists her ankle while on a walk outside and can't make it into the castle on her own. Overall, I really liked it as a respite after finishing Empire Ascendant which completely crushed my heart and soul. I thought it was well done for most part, but in the end when Mina finally figured things out her reaction was kind off of, because. Mina runs away again from the witch's castle and can't do anything but go back to her family, who rejects her again. Blumwald is a town overshadowed by an ancient curse: in a sinister castle in the depths of the wild wood lives a monstrous Witch.The way Mina and the witch loved each other was so overwhelming, they were willing to sacrifice so much for each other 😭😭! I read Bitterthorn for a book club and should add that if it wasn't for that outward motivation, I wouldn't have picked it up based on the short summary alone, so perhaps I'm simply not the right audience for this book. But with so many secrets, will she find out the truth behind the disappearance of the previous companions? I say this because it is both very rare for me to read almost an entire book in a single day and to cry whilst reading, but this is what happened with Bitterthorn. I’ve read poetry and novels and listened to music and viewed art all about love but it was like another language.