Mysteries of Thorn Manor

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Thank you to Netgalley and Margaret K. McElderry for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I got approved for an ARC of this one yesterday around 3:00 pm. It is now 2:00 pm the next day, and I'm already done with this. Whoops. Destiny and I were supposed to buddy read it, but honestly, Mysteries of Thorn Manner just FLIES by as you read it. Those not even 200 pages barely feel like anything at all by the time you're done. And I don't mean that in a bad way at all — this was a delightful novella, and I'm so, so glad that I got the chance to read it a little early.

For those you that don't know, I am a huge fan of Margaret Rogerson's books (though i still need to read Vespertine!). She's primarily a YA author, and her books tend to have fairly low stakes, with sweet romances in them. It's hard to discuss this book without mentioning anything from Sorcery of Thorns, which is the first book in the series. You can read my review of that one here. ANYWAY, Mysteries of Thorn Manner picks up pretty much where Sorcery of Thorns left off, and does not bother to explain to you anything about that novel. It's just assumed that you've read it, and honestly that works 1000% here. No time to waste on that when we have such a short (but delicious) page count!

Elizabeth and Nathaniel are dancing around the edges of what their relationship means, and very quickly it becomes apparently that Thorn Manner wants them to decide what they are and what they mean to each other. There's barely any plot to this, but I was a-okay with it, because overall, this is a silly, cozy fantasy book. I (like Destiny) was giggling through the whole novella. There's almost zero stakes really felt, but again, it doesn't matter. This book exists purely to bring a smile to your face, especially if you are a fan of Rogerson's past work.

I loved this, and wish it was about 5000 more pages, personally.