Review of Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn
Title: Bitterthorn
Author: Kat Dunn
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, LGBT, Romance, YA
Year Published: 2023
My Rating: 4.5/5
Blurb:
Mina has always been alone. The daughter of a duke, she’s overlooked and ignored by her father and stepmother. When the Witch living in a sinister castle nearby comes demanding her once-a-generation companion, Mina offers herself up even though no companion has ever been seen from again.
The witch is closed off and taciturn – but beautiful in a dark, alluring way. With only the witch’s poor company, Mina investigates what happened to the previous companions, stumbling on a secret that could change her life forever – or end it.
Review
Bitterthorn is, at its core, a sapphic fairy tale about loneliness, overcoming trauma and falling in love.
The novel starts with shocking imagery of the narrator, Mina, being born. From this point, I knew I was going to read a book with poetic prose; it was beautiful without being florid.
The narrator laments about her loneliness and how it makes her feel like a burden to her family. They care for her simply because she is family but they do not like or interact with her or like her at all; she feels like a burden.
Another core part of the book is about the mystery of the Witch. She takes 'companions' every fifty or so years to her gothic schloss and they are never to be seen again. I enjoyed this mystery thoroughly! The mystery wrapped inside enchanting prose made the novel a delight to read, despite the slow pace.
Tired of feeling so lonely in her own home, Mina offers herself up as the next companion and joins the Witch in her home in the mountains. The Witch is saturnine and stand-offish but there are subtle clues that the Witch, too, is feeling sorrowful about her own situation.
The story then grows into a sapphic tale of love between two lost souls trying to heal their own hearts and find solace in each other; despite thinking that they don't deserve it. Both women have been shutting their emotions down in order to please other people. For Mina, it was her father and his newfound family. For the Witch, however, it was something much more mysterious.
Overall, it was a beautiful sapphic tale that I resonated with and would read again. My only wish is that there should've been more interaction between Mina and the Witch once they had gotten over their obstacles and finally become happy together. It would've been nice for more cozy romance!