Pitched as an enemies-to-lovers, cursed prince story with a dark academia flavor, on paper Seven Deadly Thorns has a lot going for it. Capitalizing on many popular romantasy tropes and hooks, the story has all the right elements in addition to having some pretty snappy action and great ambiance at times. However, the execution leaves much to be desired and by trying to cram so many different storylines into the book, the result is that nothing is done particularly well. Great ideas brought down by whiplash storytelling and nonsensical plotting, unfortunately this one was a bit of a mess for me, though at least it is a mildly entertaining mess. (On Goodreads 1.5 star rating rounded down) When I started reading Seven Deadly Thorns, I wasn’t entirely sure if it was Harry Potter-esque Dramione fanfic that was reworked to be an original story or coincidentally ended up this way given the similarity of its setting, characters, and general feel. Whether it was an intentional choice or not, the book’s best feature for me was its setting, atmosphere, and mysterious intrigue (in the first half of the book only). Starting in a commons courtyard, dark academia classes, prefects, and iconic castles,…
