The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood

When I first picked up The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood, I wasn’t sure what I was in for, and I certainly didn’t expect I’d have so many feelings and thoughts by the time I set it down. However, The Thorns Remain and its heroine are slow burners and all the more satisfying for being so.

In the Scottish highlands of 1919, still reeling from the devastation of World War I and the influenza, six young friends go into the forest for a night of illicit fun — and five are stolen by the fae. Moira Jean is the only one left, protected only by the iron medal of her late fiancé. More sinister still, she’s the only one in the village who realizes something is wrong. To get her friends back, she must deal with the Dreamer, a capricious lord of the fae who demands an ever higher price. As the boundaries between mortal and fae, friend and foe, blur, how much will Moira Jean sacrifice? And will it be worth it in the end?

In the beginning, Moira Jean’s life seems mundane, even in its sorrow and drudgery, but as the book progresses and the web tightens around her, she proves she’s not as ordinary as she first appears. She’s generous, stubborn, and loyal, and she is incapable of giving up on doing what’s right, even when the personal cost is devastating. And when she finally stops playing the game by the Dreamer’s rule, I think I fell in love a little bit.

The Dreamer himself is a fantastic antagonist, in more than just the obvious way. He is casually cruel and selfish, treating humans like toys for his amusement. But he’s also compelling, and through his obsession with Moira Jean, he acquires traits that give him the occasional appearance of something like humanity, trapping the reader as effectively as he traps Moira Jean. His character growth only adds to his mystery and appeal, and while it doesn’t mean he isn’t a villain, it does make one question the exact nature of his villainy.

This is very much a fairy tale in the ancient sense, with tricks and terrors, but it’s grounded by the historical setting. I was drawn in by the ever-increasing suspense and moved by the explorations of love and courage, fear and grief. And while there are no easy answers in this story, I walked away satisfied by a good story and happy to ponder the questions on the my own.

–b