Title: Tonight I Burn (Thorn Witch #1)
Author: Katherine J. Adams
Source: DRC via NetGalley (Orbit Books, Orbit) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Why did I choose to read this book?

What can I say, I like magic systems and witches. I am a simple woman with simple tastes.

What is this book about?

Steeped deep in a universe creation story, factions of witches with different magical abilities have been gathered up and enslaved by a ruler whose life force fuels the veil between life and death. He holds this over their heads, and creates a brainwashed magical force to enforce his edicts and laws out of witches who can access magic but aren’t very powerful. The Thorn Witches use their magic to burn themselves at the stake and patrol the realm of Death so the monsters from there don’t pass into the world of the living.

This book wants to be about a single witch lighting the fire of resistance against oppression, but we can’t always get what we want.

What is notable about this story?

The introduction of polyamory into this story was done very well. I flinched every time there might be conflict, but that’s just my world lens adjusting to this new concept. You’ll expect jealousy, guilt, and confrontations but what you’ll find is sharing, acceptance, and caring. It was lovely to see the concept executed so well in the character interactions. The fact that these connections were being formed in the midst of oppression made them that much more meaningful.

Was anything not so great?

I have read so many series that fall apart due to some kind of underground rebellion that the main character just gets dragged around with.The first half of this story was very interesting – I cared about the characters and was interested in the magic, the sects, the veil, the workings of this world. Then it seemed like it would become a kind of Beauty and the Beast kind of thing, which was fine, but then in the second half came the resistance and when I say that it added too many new characters and too much doubt into a plot and cast that was just beginning to breathe I am understating the issue. It was difficult to focus on Penny, Malin, and Alice when every paragraph was a different new person that upended everything the first half the book tried to establish.

One of the twists was so obvious it made me feel like the author thought I was an idiot. The other twists felt like they were just done to get the story out of a corner, out of the blue with no clues along the way to connect them to the earlier parts of the book.

The ending was so bad, I almost stopped reading before the official end. All this build up, all these people who have been planning for years, people who are smart and capable and strong, and THAT happens??? It disrespected all the work that had been done throughout the entire book and almost puts us back to square one. This is like asking us to start over in book 2, which is not very enticing like a cliffhanger or a clear resolution with a few unanswered questions would be. Another series that I can compare this feeling to is Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. The first book (An Ember in the Ashes) does a very similar thing to Tonight I Burn. Young girl, thrust into a resistance, tries to do what needs to be done, but everything falls apart at the end and they have to regroup and start over. As a reader, that’s not a great feeling.

What’s the verdict?

This story has good representation, okay worldbuilding, familiar magic systems, and a shaky story that, despite my quibbles, can get you through the entire book. I’m sitting at 2.5 stars but since Goodreads only goes on whole stars I’ll be generous and go with 3. It’s just ok. If you have a hole in your reading schedule and you like elemental magic check it out and let me know what you think.

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