Charlotte Kersten

“This is how you survive: one breath to the next, refusing each thought as it comes to you. This is how you get through the worst of things.”

Year published: 2012 (indie) and 2020 (traditional)

Categories: YA, fantasy, retelling (The Goose Girl)

Summary: Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.
When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl.
But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.
With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for.”

My Thoughts: When I’m in the right mood, there is almost nothing that makes me happier than a good fairy tale retelling. There’s just something so endlessly comforting and magical and timeless about them to me, and I’m delighted to report that Thorn is not just a good fairy tale retelling – it is an exceedingly thoughtful, graceful and deliberate one. The Goose Girl is not one of my favorite fairy tales, partially because it has so many moving parts that never quite gelled to me, but they are actually all integrated seamlessly here in one cohesive tale. Everything from the talking horse Falada (who is a wonderful character) to the queen’s protective charm, the sentient wind and the princess telling the true story to the hearthstones is included here. And in the manner of the best retellings, there are new and unique elements as well, breathing fresh life into the story.

In some striking ways I think Thorn is really different from the YA fantasies that have been the most successful in recent years, and I found that to be incredibly refreshing. The romance here is almost entirely weighty, thoughtful conversations and slow-building trust and if I remember correctly, they don’t even kiss at the end of the story. The villain is ultimately revealed to be a nuanced character who listens to reason, has clear motivations for her actions and displays compassion at the end of the day. And, similarly to the other stories I have read by Khanani, the protagonist is deeply concerned with matters of personal accountability and justice.

One of Thorn‘s biggest themes is the examination of violence against women. Alyrra comes from a background of abuse from her brother and experiences attempted sexual assault during the story. In addition, her friend Violet dies after an attack and sexual assault. Finally, the main villain’s motivation stems from the way that her mother was viciously murdered by a member of the royal family. This is a LOT of violence, and by now you probably know the standards that I’ve developed for judging whether violence against women is used in a meaningful, feminist way or an exploitative one:

1) Does the book present trauma in a psychologically accurate way, providing insight into the lived reality of survivorhood?

In Thorn‘s case the answer is a resounding yes. I think Alyrra is an unbelievably well-written character in all regards, but in this regard especially, and I’m still puzzling over how Khanani pulled off what she did with such a delicate touch. We see Alyrra stuck in silence and shame and absolute disbelief in her own worth and efficacy. There is a huge shift in her behavior after Corbe’s attack and we see her initial shock and the way that her symptoms increase afterwards. She experiences dissociation and intrusive memories and can only sleep when she is protected by Falada.

A few of her thought processes in particular struck me as viscerally realistic and relatable. She is initially deeply wary and mistrustful of Prince Kestrel because SCHEMAS – before she knows him as a person she just thinks of him as another prince and princes are dangerous:

“Like my brother, he will either laugh at my anger or hold my impudence against me. I dare not answer him.”

In addition, when she defends herself from Corbe’s attack and hurts him her main thought after the attack is to blame herself – that she is just as bad as her abusive brother because she has hurt someone else just like he used to hurt her. I can’t tell you how common this kind of thinking is in an abuse survivor. Finally, when she finally breaks her cycle of silence and tells her found family of fellow servants about Corbe’s attack, the main thing that she feels afterwards is incredibly happy because someone believes her and cares about what has happened to her. To someone who hasn’t experienced abuse this might seem like a really strange response to talking about being attacked but I immediately identified this as something that had happened in my own experience as well – there’s nothing like the relief of finally being seen and being told that your experiences matter.

2) Does the book examine the patriarchal systems and beliefs that facilitate violence against women?

Again, the answer is yes here. We see this part of the story mostly with when Alyrra’s friend Violet is killed. The book as a whole is deeply aware of class divides and the inordinate burden of violence and oppression that the poor people of any society face, and Khanani is very upfront about the way that justice for women is entirely a class-based affair:

“Justice for the poor?” He laughs, sitting back. “There is justice for the rich here, and justice for the powerful. But for the rest of us, there is very little of anything.”

The guards are entirely apathetic about the fate of poor women. Violet is victim-blamed for what she was wearing and the guards are more concerned with whether she “belongs” to another man than they are concerned with actually seeking out justice – whether a man’s proprietary claim has been violated rather than whether a woman’s body and mind have been violated. What’s more, privileged (and well-meaning) noble men like Kestrel are unaware of the extent of violence that is happening to poor people, and Alyrra’s class mobility as goose girl and lost princess allows her to experience all of this and be a bridge between worlds and a fighter for what is right.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was Alyrra’s struggle with the notions of retribution vs. justice. She is initially disgraced at court because of her willingness to stand up for a servant girl unjustly accused of a crime, and this sets the tone for the rest of the story and her concern with standing up for what is right. At first she is glad to have the men who killed Violent killed in turn, but later in the story when she is confronting the Lady she is forced to look at what the unyielding quest for retribution and vengeance may do to a person, and decides that there are other ways of finding justice that may be more effective. She even fights for the girl who stole her identity to be saved from her horrific punishment, although she is not successful in this regard. At the end of the story she states that she is still unsure of what the right answer is and is still trying to figure out the right balance between mercy, justice, retribution and vengeance:

“I don’t know what justice really is,” I tell him. “But I am trying to get right what I can.”

I’m right there with Alyrra in this regard.

Another interesting aspect of the book is the extent to which it is a story about the act of acculturating to a new society. It helps that it is a beautiful Middle East inspired world, and it’s especially interesting that while Alyrra loves her new home she is still able to see its flaws and decides to fight to make it a better place.

Ultimately, it’s the story of a girl who has been hurt learning to overcome her lack of belief in herself to realize that she deserves to exist in the world and can change that world for the better, while also learning that she is worthy of love and connection and kindness for the first time. That is a story that I will read over and over again.