Why “Thorn Season” by Kiera Azar Hooked Me After the 70% Mark

Debutantes wear silk and smiles. Alissa wears a secret that could kill her.

Synopsis

Shadow and Bone meets The Selection in this first book in Kiera Azar’s sharp, sexy, and twisty debut YA romantasy trilogy!

In the Kingdom of Daradon, a persecuted few are Wielders, in possession of a magical Spectre–a shimmering thread that can extend beyond their visible body to give a loving caress, pick a lock . . . even kill. Feared for this ability, Wielders have always been Hunted.

Alissa Paine, heiress and daughter of a Hunter family . . . is also a Wielder. At eighteen, Alissa knows she’s escaped execution thus far only due to painful self-control and the efforts of her beloved father.

Summoned to the harsh and glittering royal court for the debutante season, Alissa finds herself caught in a web of intrigue and betrayal—and caught between two equally dangerous one a brutal ruler with the handsome face of a fairy-tale prince, who would destroy her if he knew the truth—and the other a beguiling foreign ambassador with secret agendas of his own.

With the threat of discovery lurking around every corner—and romance becoming an increasingly dangerous temptation—Alissa will find that she has more to lose than her secrets. It’s Rose Season at the palace, but to survive she’ll need to become the most vicious of thorns. . . .

Review

⭐ 4 stars

I’ll be honest with you — I picked up Thorn Season for three reasons: the stunning cover, the hype, and because Kiera Azar will be at YALC, and I’m definitely getting this beauty signed.

And the premise? Exactly my kind of thing.
Imagine Bridgerton meets dangerous magic — balls and gowns, whispered secrets, and girls coming of age in a world where being born with power is a death sentence.

In the Kingdom of Daradon, ruled by a young king obsessed with eradicating Wielders, Lady Alissa has spent her entire life hiding a deadly secret — she is one. Hunters stalk her kind using enchanted compasses, and those Hunters are her own family.

When the compass is stolen and Wielders start dying faster than ever, Alissa is drawn into a tangled web of court politics, danger, and deception. Caught between a ruthless king’s attention and a mysterious ambassador’s charm, she must decide whether to keep hiding or finally fight back.

Now, on paper, it sounds like the perfect fantasy cocktail — intrigue, magic, secrets, slow-burn danger. But for me, it took a long time to really get there. The first half dragged; I kept waiting for the spark to ignite. The worldbuilding, while promising, felt underexplored — I wanted to understand more about the Wielders’ magic and the wars brewing in the background.

But around the 70% mark, something shifted.
Alissa came alive.
The pacing snapped into gear, and suddenly I couldn’t look away — twists, secrets, betrayals, the whole thing bursting open in a cascade of revelations.

By the end, I was hooked again. I still think this series has incredible potential, and I’ll happily read the sequel if it keeps that late-book energy going.

Thanks for reading.

Sophie