This book sucked me in from the beginning and I could not stop reading it. The story is so engaging and the horrors are easily tempered by the passion of the main characters. I totally ship Rayce and Rose and cannot wait to see their relationship play out now that we know there are two more books to come in the series. The publication of War of the Wilteds can't come fast enough for me. Excellent debut Amber Mitchell. I'll be watching for more works from you! ( )

I certainly enjoyed this unique and interesting story line. I loved the characters, especially Rose and Rayce, but also Oren, Marin and the others. The whole idea of the Garden, Flowers, Wilted, and Trees was rather chilling but also well crafted with a lot of Asian aspects to the story with the whole kingdom locked in a civil war, with the Rebellion trying to overthrow Rayce's Uncle. It really set the mood for the rest of the book.

The way Rose escaped not only from the Garden, but from the cage that the Gardener had kept her in for years of scaring her into submission and how Rose learned to have hope, trust, and finally be free with the rest of her sisters/Flowers set the hopeful tone for the book. Also, the romance between Rose and Rayce was well done, especially near the end when Rose's secret is revealed and she learns to love and trust him and finds it's okay to be herself as the two fight together in the Rebellion.
I certainly hope that Garden of Thorns has a sequel.
Jack Murphy ( )