Book Review: ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ by Sierra Simone (spicy dark academia)
If you like to read spicy books then you can stop right here, ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ by Sierra Simone will defintiely scratch that itch. Smuttok is calling. But please stick around if you want to find out why the Thornchapel books are much more than just a quick fix of erotica.
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If you’re unfamiliar, here’s the summary:
“When librarian Poe Markham takes the job at Thornchapel, she only wants two things: to stay away from Thornchapel’s tortured owner, Auden Guest, and to find out what happened to her mother twelve years ago. It should be easy enough—keep her head down while she works in the house’s crumbling private library and while she hunts down any information as to why this remote manor tucked into the fog-shrouded moors would be the last place her mother was seen alive. But Thornchapel has other plans for her...
As Poe begins uncovering the house’s secrets, both new and old, she’s also pulled into the seductive, elegant world of Auden and his friends—and drawn to Auden’s worst enemy, the beautiful and brooding St. Sebastian. And as Thornchapel slowly tightens its coil of truths and lies around them, Poe, Auden and St. Sebastian start unravelling into filthy, holy pleasure and pain. Together, they awaken a fate that will either anoint them or leave them in ashes…”
Big Gothic vibes (with a capital ‘G’) and if you’re into that dark academia aesthetic then there are many ways you can argue it fits in that genre too.
If you want to see our full argument for whether or not ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ is Dark Academia, you can listen to our podcast right here.
What I love about this book are the layers.
Because yes, it’s spicy. And that does often feature as the main focus in reviews etc, but where it’s an important element, it’s not the defining element of the book.
Poe is a solid protagonist, and the way she is placed within the larger cast of characters makes her the perfect person to be introduced to the Thornchapel world. Both me and Sophie also dig Delphine, but it’s a really strong cast to choose from, and if I had a favourite it would have to be Auden.
Tortured rich boy vibes. Think an adult Gansey from ‘The Raven Cycle’. Think Chuck Bass with a kinkier streak. Think, dare I even say, Henry from ‘The Secret History’ but more approachable (and if you’ve read ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ and find the descriptor "approachable” when applied to Auden hard to stomach then you haven’t met Henry Winter because that boy is a CLOSED book).
The whole narrative is framed around a mystery, one that unravels in ways that continued to surprise and excite me as a reader. And the way gender and sexuality and socio-normative relationships are explored was something I truly appreciated.
Don’t get it twisted, ‘A Lesson in Thorns’ is sexy as hell, but it’s also cleverly and carefully wrought. An emotionally intelligent story with a writing style that I’m envious of.
If you’re interested in giving it a read then please do check out the content warnings (see Storygraph, they have a great database of collected content warnings for books) but otherwise, I highly recommend you pick it up.
Darkly devious, a little wicked, a thrilling mystery and pulse pounding sexual tension… Uhhh yes please. I’ll take 100.
Written by Sarah
