The Thorn and the Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story

( 6 )

Overview

One enchanting romance. Two lovers keeping secrets. And a uniquely crafted book that binds their stories forever.

When Evelyn Morgan walked into the village bookstore, she didn’t know she would meet the love of her life. When Brendan Thorne handed her a medieval romance, he didn’t know it would change the course of his future. It was almost as if they were the cursed lovers in the old book itself . . .

The ...

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The Thorn and the Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story

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More About This Book

Overview

One enchanting romance. Two lovers keeping secrets. And a uniquely crafted book that binds their stories forever.

When Evelyn Morgan walked into the village bookstore, she didn’t know she would meet the love of her life. When Brendan Thorne handed her a medieval romance, he didn’t know it would change the course of his future. It was almost as if they were the cursed lovers in the old book itself . . .

The Thorn and the Blossom is a remarkable literary artifact: You can open the book in either direction to decide whether you’ll first read Brendan’s, or Evelyn’s account of the mysterious love affair. Choose a side, read it like a regular novel—and when you get to the end, you’ll find yourself at a whole new beginning.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Evelyn Morgan is a university student struggling to lead her own life despite others' expectations; Brendan Thorne's troubles begin when he loses his wife to heart failure and subsequently quits his job. A chance meeting leads to their falling in love around the centerpiece of a medieval Cornish version of the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and from then on their lives and relationship seem to be a modern-day parallel of the frustrated romance between Gawan and his beloved, Elowen. But Goss (In the Forest of Forgetting) presents no ordinary linear tale: the reader is treated to both characters' stories in parallel on alternate sides of an accordion-style book, letting the reader decide which story to begin with. The fantasy elements are light, revolving mostly around Gawan's story and Evelyn's visions of fairies and trolls. Overall this makes the tale align more with old-fashioned romance than pure speculative fiction, but Goss' appealing characters and modern magic atmosphere will continue to attract a following. Illus.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781594745515
  • Publisher: Quirk Publishing
  • Publication date: 1/17/2012
  • Pages: 82
  • Sales rank: 623,838
  • Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 7.50 (h) x 0.80 (d)

Meet the Author

Theodora Goss won the World Fantasy Award in 2008 for her short story “Singing of Mount Abora.” Her publications include the 2006 short-story collection In the Forest of Forgetting; Interfictions, a 2008 short-story anthology coedited with Delia Sherman; and Voices from Fairyland, a 2008 poetry anthology featuring critical essays and a selection of her own poems. She has been a finalist for the Nebula, Crawford, Locus, and Mythopoeic awards and has appeared on the Tiptree Award Honor List. Her work has repeatedly been showcased in “Year’s Best” anthologies. She lives in Boston, where she teaches literature and writing at Boston University.
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 6 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(3)

2 Star

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1 Star

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Sort by: Showing all of 6 Customer Reviews

  • Posted October 2, 2012

    Fabulous Fun

    A delightful book, from a delightful writer, and in a delightful format.

    The story is as old as love, set in modern times with references to the age of Camelot, it follows the courtship of Evelyn Morgan and Brendan Thorne. What makes the story fascinating is that in order to read the whole thing, one must read in a circle. The book has been assembled in such a way, a story per side, so that one story leads right into the other, no matter which one you start with.

    It was difficult managing the eccentricities of a book with no spine, but it did serve to create a sense of empathy with the travails being faced by the characters.

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  • Posted February 18, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Interesting story

    The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss is a unique reading experience. First I need to talk about the book design. The book is spineless. You read that right. The book is put together in a way that makes it able for you to read Brendan's story and Evelyn's story separately. After you finish with either character's story you can flip the book over and begin the other character's story. I like the way this book is designed. It brings something extra to the story. This is the first time that I've read any book in such a way.
    As I've mentioned before this is two books in one. One from each characters point of view. The main characters are Brendan and Evelyn. Evelyn has a troubled past and is seeking to make her own way in life. Brendan is looking to start his life away from his father. Evelyn meets Brendan when she walks into his father's book store. They are drawn together as if they were magnets. However things happen that tear them apart but fate keeps throwing them back together.
    I like the duel point of view for each book. Even though they are two sides of the same story I like that the author put details in each story that was not in the other character's story. So even though you are reading the same story, it's not all the same. I also like that this story contained legends and mythology. I'm a huge fan of mythology and legends and I think it added a lot to this story.
    Overall I did like this book but it didn't wow me. The book design is really interesting and it did add to the story. The book is short so it doesn't go into a lot of detail. I think that it would have been better if this book were a little longer. It's more on the lines of a novella than a full length novel. However this is a sweet story of star crossed lovers. This is an adult book but I think it would be suitable for younger audiences as well. It's a fairly clean read.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 17, 2012

    A Potential Idea

    The idea of the same story but with two narrators has potential, but the author lets us down. The connection with medieval literature needed much more development.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 17, 2012

    Interesting - But Would Have Liked More

    Ms. Goss has a wonderful idea here. I loved the characters and the dialogue, but something was lacking - perhaps a bit more story? Or perhaps she is writing a sequel? In any event, I do recommend this book to those who like love stories that are not at all conventional. This one certainly is not.

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  • Posted February 13, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Good Story, Bad Format

    When first presented with the trailer for this book I was intrigued. I thought the format was new and different and highly appropriate for the two sided love story that would be told. One I received the book for review the format quickly lost its charm. The book was difficult to hold while reading and this is because there is no binding to it due to the accordion fold design. As I turned pages, I continually felt as if I would be ripping pages and struggle with the hard covers to keep them lined up while holding the book to read. Reading this sitting up or in bed proved more annoying than anything. I finished the first story that way, and then the following day I read the other half of the story while sitting at a table with the book flat on the table. This was easier on the book, but not comfortable for me (my neck bearing all of the pain).

    The story was lovely and I was interested on the other point of view while I was reading the first one. I read Evelyn’s story first and the moved over to Brendan’s. The problem I found with this two separate stories was that once I got to Brendan’s side I found that it was too easy to skim because I had just read most of the story on Evelyn’s side. All the things that were spoken are featured on both sides and I felt as if I were wasting time re-reading the same diaglogue again. There was very little extra to Brendan’s story that wasn’t featured in Evelyn’s. Just some thoughts of his here and there and what happened in his life when Evelyn wasn’t around.

    While the idea is charming and lovely, it just didn’t pan out the way I hoped. If I were to rate the format of the book separately from the story, I would give the format a 2/5 and the story a 4/5. The format was beautiful, loved the cover, the idea, and the illustrations, but it was just too cumbersome and I don’t want to reread it because of it. So a 3/5 it is.

    Reviewed by Jessica for Book Sake.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 9, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

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