Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a romance story; from two different point of views! It's clever in how it's set up. The book has no book end, or binding. So, you read it one way and get the woman's side of the romance and then you flip the book over and read it the other side, and you get the man's view point. (Or vice versa!)

As much as I think the no binding is cool---and unique---I repeatedly dropped this book or had the pages fly open like an accordion. It was kind of annoying. I even ripped some of the pages because it's difficult to hold. With that said, I give them an A for effort but overall found the set-up inconvenient.

The book itself is an easy read. It took me maybe an hour to read both of the stories. It's an interesting, short romance story that has some interesting twists. The story went in a completely different direction than I thought.

With that said; if I were to recommend to anyone about buying this book, it would be because it is a cute read and the binding (or lack of binding) is unique. However, I do not think it's worth the $10 kindle price because with both the stories together; you are maybe getting 80 pages to read.

Yes, you can open the book in either direction, but I'm happy I read Evelyn's story first. Maybe it doesn't make a difference but I recommend reading that way.

This is a good story in a format that I have never encountered before now. It is a fantasy where cursed starcrossed lovers are seemingly reunited through time. It is romantic, sad and of course you are led to believe that all could possibly work out in the end.

I loved that it was in this quirky format, beautifully packaged. This book would make a lovely gift for Valentine's Day, an anniversary, or just for a loved one. It is $11.53 on pre-order, but worth it for the quality of the book, the lovely story and its giftability. Actually it's a bargain for all that you get.

This little book is really two intertwined short stories. It tells of a love affair that began in the Middle Ages and that has persisted (more or less) till the present, with the lovers being repeatedly reincarnated. It's also about each lover finding his or her true self and place in life. The modern protagonists are Evelyn Morgan and Brendan Thorne. Their stories are told separately from each point of view, in an elegant conceit that's really half the purpose of the book. The pages fold out accordion style, and you just follow the right printed surface. It's easy, although since the book has no spine, you do need to manually hold it together. After reading it, you can shelve it in its little cardboard case printed with a subdued image of rambling flowers, like a detail in a medieval tapestry.

The plot is so slight that all I can say without revealing too much is that it's related to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and that in this life, the protagonists both study medieval literature. The book is somewhat repetitive, as the author has chosen to describe most of the same incidents twice, with identical dialog. The language is simple. It's a charming little work, but one you'd choose as a gift for a romantic you know (preferably a teenager or young adult) rather than as a substantive literary read for yourself.

How I got this book: I burrowed it from the Once and Future Librarian and she received it from the publisher.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Review :

The Thorn and the Blossom was unique reading experience , for the book itself is an accordion style book that opens with one side being the story of Brendan and the other side the story of Evenlyn. To honor that uniqueness, you will only be getting one side of the review from me, for the other half of the story (Brendan's Story) you will have to go to the Once and Future Librarian. I will be sharing Evelyn's side of the story. Evelyn takes a trip to Clews in order to relax and escape a problem she has had since childhood. What she never thought would happen was that she would find a local boy that was more fated to be with her than she might have even known and is tied to a story that runs deep for both Evelyn and Brendan. This book left me with the question can you really run away from fate and does true love last forever. This book brought together love, fate, loss and the power of a good story. The entire book was written in a way that makes you feel that Evelyn's love story with Brendan is something of a poem or medieval fable. The style of writing for me was a bit like poetry, in the way it flowed. I found that the story jumped around a bit too much for me with no clear definition of when or where. I believe this book had wonderful potential but fell a little flat with the follow through. I agree with Kary from The Once and Future Librarian [...] , this would make a good "gift book". I also think it would make a good book to discuss in an English class about styles of writing, medieval stories, and poetry.

The love story here is okay'ish. Nothing so memorable that you'll be going crazy over it or be adding it to your favorites. It's the run of the mill woman in another country meets a guy, he shows her around, they fall in love in a week or two, she leaves, they spend the rest of their lives having chance meetings / trying to make it work kind of story.

The main sell here seems to be it's unique binding + the he says / she says aspect. The binding is lovely but makes it very difficult to hold and read unless you just set it down on a flat surface. The he says / she says aspect is nice but with the two versions combined this book is still only a novella length at 80 or so pages total.

Nice concept, it just fell short.

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.

When I was first contacted about a possible review for The Thorn & the Blossom A Two-Sided Love Story I jumped at the opportunity. First off, I enjoy romance and secondly, the unique format of the book intrigued me. The book is shaped somewhat like an accordion. Once you are done reading one story, you turn the book over and read the second one. I've included the book clip at the end of my review in case you want to see more.

Evelyn Morgan is from Boston and she is spending a semester at Oxford University. One day she walks into a quaint little bookstore called Thorne & Son. There she meets local Brendan Thorne, whose dad owns the book store. The two hit it off and he takes her to a place called Gawan's Court for sightseeing. Once there, he tells her the myth of Gawan and Elowen. Brendan himself is knowledgeable as far as the myth goes, since he grew up hearing it from his father.
Evelyn & Brendan begin to fall in love, but something very odd begins to happen, and it almost seems like their story is similar to the ancient myth of Sir Gawan and Elowen.

The Thorn & the Blossom A Two-Sided Love Story is a sweet and quirky little book about two star-crossed lovers and I enjoyed it very much. These two short stories made me smile and sigh and had me wanting more. Oh how I wish this book were longer.
The two stories mirror each other and you get each of these character's perspectives on what is happening. I read Evelyn's story first, which I recommend doing.

I think the accordion format of the book is fun, however it was a bit awkward to hold in the beginning, since the book has no spine. I didn't mind this once I got used to it. The book itself slides into a pretty little box, which is the cover you see above. I think this one would make for a cute Valentine's Day present.

All in all, a charming and romantic little book with some mythology in the mix, that left me with a smile on my face.

*I received my review copy from the publisher, this is my honest opinion of the book.

This is a beautiful novella. The book is accordion-bound and tells two sides of a wonderful love story. The book is housed in a gorgeous slip cover. The artwork is stunning. This is one book I highly recommend buying the print version versus the e-book edition. The quality of the paper and cover are extraordinary!

One side tells the story from Evelyn's viewpoint. Evelyn travels to Cornwall for a week, where she meets Brendan in a bookstore. They both discover their common love for medieval literature. The love story between Evelyn and Brendan is full of magical twists and turns which reads much like a fairy tale, but it is an adult read. I don't want to give much of the story away. You really want to be surprised and experience this book as you read it. If I tell you too much, it will spoil the book for you which would be a shame! It is a short story at about 39 pages for Evelyn's side of the story. As soon as I finished Evelyn's story, I had to flip the book over to see how Brendan saw their story. I would recommend reading Evelyn's story first and following it up with Brendan's story, which is 38 pages in length. I was left wanting a bit more when I finished Evelyn's story and was thankful to have Brendan's side to read next. It is a modern fairy tale with a magical and romantic side.

The writing and storytelling are stunning and charming. I was surprised that I got to know the characters so well in such a short story. I could imagine Cornwall and forests in my mind as I read along. The book does not feel rushed at all despite its length. The reader will have to use their imagination as they read this book. It is a modern fairy tale with a magical and romantic side.

This would make a wonderful gift for someone who appreciates unique books or one who appreciates romantic fairy tales. It is a book I will be proud to display on my bookshelves and one I know I will enjoy time and time again! It is a truly enchanting gem of a book!

Usually when I am reading a story, the format doesn't matter to me - ebook, paperback, hardcover, PDF, or computer file are all just vehicles for the story and quickly fade into the background. But with this book it mattered. Initially, I didn't know how to hold this book. It kept falling into its accordion folds and ending up in my lap. I almost felt like it needed one of those reading stands that you see in medieval book rooms along with the white, acid-free gloves you wear to not damage the pages. The medieval feel supported the medieval story of lovers separated for a thousand years by a curse. The woodcut illustrations that began and ended each story also helped create a medieval feel.

The stories though contemporary had an almost magical, lyrical feel which isn't surprising because the author is herself a poet. Each story is in three parts. In the first part Brendan and Evelyn meet in the small town of Clews in Cornwall. Brendan is back home from Oxford for the summer working in his father's bookstore. Evelyn is visiting the area where her ancestors came from as she finishes up her semester abroad at Oxford before returning to the United States. These two are both lonely and feel out of place in their surroundings. Brendan doesn't seem to fit in with the local boys he grew up with because of his interest in literature and scholarship and their interests in the sea and fishing. Evelyn has been hiding a secret since her childhood and she is quietly defying her family's expectation that the become a lawyer in favor of her own desire to be a scholar and poet. The first part ends after only a week when Evelyn flees the area after just one kiss from Brendan triggers a hallucination of him turning into a man made of branches and leaves.

They reconnect years later at a small college in Virginia. Brendan is a tenured professor of medieval literature who has written a new translation of the legend of Gowan and Elowan and Evelyn interviews for an associate professor position. She had written a poem based on the legend called Green Thoughts. The romance rekindles but Brendan doesn't mention that he had married and that his wife was injured in a riding accident and is now in a coma in a long-term care facility. Evelyn thinks that she has finally outgrown the mental problems that plagued her childhood and sent her fleeing from Brendan in Clews. When Evelyn finds out about Brendan's wife she has another episode of the hallucinations that she thought were finished. She takes too much of the medication she hasn't used for years. By the time she recovers, Brendan's wife has died and he has left the college with no forwarding address.

The final section comes full circle back to Clews. Brendan has returned to his father's house to re-evaluate his life. He is out fishing with his boyhood friends and is working on a children's book about the story of the Green Knight. Evelyn finds a new psychiatrist who helps her to realize that her hallucinations aren't destructive and that she can live around them. She decides that it is time again to write some poetry based on the legend of Gowan and Elowen. This would be a series of ten poems about the lives Elowen lived some with Gowan and some without as the two doomed lovers waited until the 1000 year curse was through.

I loved the way the story of the modern lovers echoed the story of the medieval ones. I loved the lyrical language of this story. I thought the concept of the book design was intriguing and perfectly suited to the story that Ms. Goss was telling. I recommend this book highly both for its art and for the wonderful language.

At first glance, the major attraction of The Thorn and the Blossom is the accordion format that makes it, as the subtitle says, "A Two-Sided Love Story." There's a trailer in the "Check Out Related Media" section that shows how it works, but briefly: instead of a front cover and a back cover, there are two front covers, neither of which is hooked to a spine; instead, each is connected at one edge to the pages, which are creased in alternating directions so they can be turned from either side like pages of a regular book. In practice this format, though more attractive than the "reversible book" where one half is printed at a 180-degree angle from the other, can be a little awkward to handle during reading. I found the pages and cover were least likely to "slip" if I held the book open slightly wider than you would an ordinary one, with my right thumb between the next two pages after the ones I was reading. Of course, it's in the nature of the accordion binding that you can have more than two pages visible at once if you want; you could probably have six or eight of them open and still hold the book close enough for it to be readable. However you approach it, the concept is intriguing, and the book design by publisher Quirk Books is excellent.

But enough about the format. "The Thorn and the Blossom" is indeed a love story, or rather the same love in two different stories, from the separate perspectives of the lovers. You can start with Evelyn Morgan, the American Oxford student who visits the Cornwall town of Clews on vacation, or with Brendan (excellent name) Thorne, the local youth who gives her a tour of the city; either way, you'll learn about the evolution of their relationship over the course of several years. Although the basic events are the same in both versions, there are pieces of character background you'll only discover from one perspective, and small moments that will read differently once you know the other side. These separated stories reveal, subtly and without cheap moralizing, how two people, even those who are deeply in love, can fail to know or understand basic aspects of each others' lives.

Readers of Theodora Goss' previous work (including the marvelous collection In The Forest Of Forgetting) will be familiar with her simple yet elegant prose, which is ideal for making this romantic situation charming rather than sickening; it may be ever so slightly on the sentimental side, but as one character observes, "real life [is] sometimes sappy." Both Brendan and Evelyn are dealing in different ways with the weight of parental and communal expectation, which as a theme is well-worn, but it's kept enough in the background to prevent it becoming a major annoyance, and it adds to the timeless, universal character of the romance. Goss is known primarily as a writer of fantasy, but the fantastic element in The Thorn and the Blossom is mild, ambiguous, more of a mythic resonance than anything else. That's not a criticism; the suggestiveness is part of an absence of stylistic and structural exaggeration that makes the book work despite plot points that might strike some readers as implausible. But those looking for something explicitly magical are likely to be disappointed.

The Thorn and the Blossom is a short book: each story runs about 40 small-format pages and could easily be read within an hour. I said above that the major attraction of this volume is the accordion format, and as far as describing what will initially draw readers' attention that's true enough. But the physical product (which, by the way, comes with a lovely slipcase bearing the artwork shown as Amazon's cover image, and has four very nice black-and-white illustrations by Scott McKowen) is only the beginning. What makes The Thorn and the Blossom worth reading is Goss' ability to write a love story that, despite certain traditional elements, deftly avoids the unreal, cloying, prepackaged feel of mass-market romance fiction. These are stories of hopeful uncertainty; I'd say they're not for cynics, but I ~am~ a cynic, just not one utterly closed off to well-crafted optimistic fiction. Approached in the right spirit, this book is a physical and emotional delight.