The Thorn and The Blossom - Theodora Goss

The catchphrase says: A two-sided love story.  It literally is.  The book gives you two perspectives; a story told from the perspective of the two main characters who are involved in the romance.  It is bound accordion-style, so that you can read one side of the book and when you finish, flip it over to read the story from the other character’s viewpoint. 

So Brendan and Evelyn fall in love all too fatefully.  The story touches on a Cornish legend, another version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  In the Cornish story, the two lovers are cursed to be separated for a thousand years.  Unsurprisingly, parallels can be drawn between this legend and the situation in which Brendan and Evelyn find themselves.  However, the two of them seem to be having trouble getting anywhere with their relationship for they both have secrets to keep. 

My first impression of the book – very intriguing, especially since I have a thing for fairy tales and Arthurian legends.  Add to that the fact that the binding style was quite different from the usual.  Reading a story from two perspectives had potential, I thought.  After reading the whole thing, I must admit I was just a bit disappointed – just a bit.  The story is nice and all, comforting, easy, not really complicated.  You don’t need higher order thinking skills to get the picture.  But for me, perhaps it was too comforting, too easy, and too utterly uncomplicated, verging on shallow.  I finished reading the whole book (yes, both sides) in about two hours.  I had expected more.  I wanted to see a distinct, more dramatic difference between the two characters’ retelling of the same story.  But no, I just felt like I read the same story twice, and once would have been enough.  The two characters were supposed to be hiding secrets from each other; and while I knew that too much of supernatural hoopla would make the story unspeakably corny, I expected something deeper, much more than what had been given.  For a much better study/example on how perspective can dramatically affect a story, read Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “In a Grove.”

I think the format of the book, being accordion-style bound, limited the story as well.  Perhaps having a thicker book bound that way would present problems, so they chose not to put too much plot/character development in the story.  I’m just guessing here.  Oh and yeah, the book had some illustrations – just four.  More pictures would have given the book the needed oomph, and perhaps add to its fairy tale ambience.  Who wouldn’t love illustrated stories, after all?  So if you like simple, easy, light romances, you’d likely enjoy this book.  I thought the book was okay, but not all that impressive or memorable.  I’ve read much better.  I’d give it a 6/10.