Review Detail

A Riddle of Thorns by Sarena and Sasha Nanua felt like stepping into a fever dream of riddles, rivalry, and ruinous secrets and I loved every second of it!

From the moment Sana Gupta walked into the decaying Razorthorn Manor, I could practically smell the dust and feel the chill of the vines crawling through the halls. She’s been waiting years to come back home to Paris, but what she finds isn’t closure. It's a cryptic competition straight out of her mother’s twisted imagination.

I adored Sana. She’s sharp, angry, and heartbreakingly human torn between wanting to win her mother’s game and wanting to burn the whole thing down. The three other competitors are perfectly untrustworthy: Fox, with his Sherlock obsession and too-clever smirk; Isabelle, who’s soft and suspicious in equal measure; and Minho, charming enough to make you forget he’s probably plotting three steps ahead. It’s like Knives Out meets The Inheritance Games but wrapped in lush, mythic Parisian gothic.

What surprised me most was how emotional it got. Beneath the riddles and eerie atmosphere, this is a story about grief, legacy, and the maddening ways we chase the ghosts of those who left us behind. Every clue peels back a layer of betrayal or love or both, and by the end, I was equal parts awed and gutted.

Overall, it's deliciously mysterious, gorgeously written, and just the right amount of unsettling.