Thornbound

Written by Stephanie Burgis

Narrated by Emma Newman

Cassandra Harwood scandalized her nation when she became the first woman magician in Angland. Now, she's ready to teach a whole new generation of bright young women at her radical new school, the Thornfell College of Magic . . .

Until a sinister fey altar is discovered in the school library, the ruling Boudiccate sends a delegation to shut down Thornfell, and Cassandra's own husband is torn away from her.

As malevolent vines slither in from the forest and ruthless politicians scheme against her, Cassandra must fight the greatest battle of her life to save her love, her school, and the future of the young women of Angland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781400121229

Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, but now she lives in Wales with her husband (fellow writer and ebook cover designer Patrick Samphire), their two sons, and their very vocal tabby cat, Pebbles (who basically owns Steph's Instagram account). She writes wildly romantic historical fantasy for adults (most recently, Scales and Sensibility, Good Neighbors, and the Harwood Spellbook series) and fun, funny MG fantasy adventures for kids (most recently, The Raven Heir and the Dragon with a Chocolate Heart trilogy).

Reviews for Thornbound

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Things don't go easily when Cassandra Harwood tries to set up a school for magically inclined young women. The Boudiccate has very reluctantly given permission for the school but has sent a investigative team including Cassandra's greatest enemy to give final approval.That is only one of the problems though. Cassandra has been plagued with nightmares of thorn strewn vines entangling and strangling her, her husband has been kept so busy by the Boudiccate that they haven't been able to spend any time together since their marriage, and someone has created an altar and made a bargain with the fae in her library. Oh, and the only wizard she could convince to take a role as a teacher in her school is an arrogant blowhard who couldn't find a job anywhere else.Cassandra does have the support of her brother Jonathan and his wife Amy but fears that her goal of starting a magic school for young women has wide consequences for their future. Amy has already lost her political career. Cassandra's afraid that her goal will ruin her husband's bright future too. And when he goes missing, Cassandra learns that she doesn't have to do everything herself. It is okay to rely on her family and her young students for help.This was an entertaining and quite emotional story about love, family, and ambition. I loved a further look into this alternate history world and look forward to more stories set there.

[Sam Ashish · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great story line, would like it to have been a little more indepth rather than so descriptive though, narrators voice and tone at times made it a little stressful rather than exciting, but overall a nice book

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nice. Cassandra has made progress on her plans for the school...but the rest of her life is falling apart. Specifically, her husband has been called away to work, constantly - they still haven't had a wedding night. As the story opens she learns that the government acceptance she finally received is being pulled back, and disaster after disaster piles on. The cure, which she has great difficulty accepting, is for her to accept help - the political, magical, historical, and emotional support her family (sister-in-law, brother, husband) and her students are trying hard to give her. There are horrific elements and scenes here, but the end is wonderful - so much pain removed, and transmuted to joy. The one really poisonous character is physically removed and dealt with according to her behavior, and everyone else (possibly even Luton) are going to be working together and happily ever after. Well, for a while, anyway. I loved it when she and her husband actually talked, and she learned what his dream was. Great story. Next, please!

[humouress · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

{Second of prequel +3 Harwood Spellbook series; fantasy, YA}I’ll try to review this without spoilers for Snowspelled which I read immediately before this book. The events of this story take place about four months after the first book and are similarly narrated in the first person by Cassandra. She is now married, has accepted the loss of her magic and has found a new purpose in life with the support of her husband, brother and sister-in-law. Her husband, unfortunately, is constantly called away by his work and so is absent for most of the book but she keeps busy preparing for her new venture. Then, just as her venture about to lift off, politics intrudes it’s way into her life again bringing an old nemesis back to torment her. And on top of that the fey that live close to Thornfell, her new home, suddenly break their ancient pact with her family - and Cassandra is right in the thick of things again. As usual, she’s quite prepared to throw herself headlong at the hidebound preconceptions of her culture that prevent her from fulfilling her ambitions and damn the consequences ... but this time she’s forced to stop and think who else might be hurt - or helped - if she succeeds. The thread running through this story is the support Cassandra has from the people around her in the face of all her troubles; if only she remembers to rely on it. All four of the Harwood family support each other and Burgis shows their relationships are strong - with Cassandra as well as each other.“Hmmph,” said Amy. “If you have any flaws, we are here to balance them—just as you do ours. That’s what family is for. It’s why we’re always strongest together.” She shook her head at me. “How could you possibly imagine that it wouldn’t hurt us to lose you?”“You’ve given up too much for me already. Your career, your closest friendship—”“I made the decisions I believed in.” Amy’s tone was unbending. “I followed my principles. If you think I regret any of that, you haven’t been paying enough attention to what I care most about ... So for goodness’ sake, don’t shut me out of it!”“Or me,” added my brother, looking hangdog. “If you think I spent all those years sneaking you the key to Father’s library of magic only for you to lord it over me now because I can’t do any special spells myself—”“That is not—! Oh, Jonathan!” I slitted my eyes up at him as I finally spotted the smirk that he’d been trying to hide.I appreciated the way both Amy and Jonathan look after their baby themselves without fobbing her off on a nursemaid. Jonathan, especially, is way ahead of his time - at least by our universe’s standards. I enjoyed this one, too, but I thought it wasn’t quite as strong as the first one; then again, I wasn’t in the right mood for reading. Or, more likely, my favourite part of the first book was the romance and I would have like to have seen more in this second book. I love the romance when it’s there; it’s based on mutual respect and admiration for each other (and not for just physical characteristics) and both partners are able to show their vulnerability to each other. But, as one partner isn’t present for much of the book, there is necessarily less than there was in the first book. I also really appreciated the fact that Burgis shows a long-standing relationship and not the first flush of falling in love, as is usually the case; we get to see the happily-ever-after. I’d be happy to read more of Cassandra’s adventures - with her husband along for the ride.4 stars

[foggidawn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novella continues where Snowspelled left off. Cassandra Harwood is intent upon starting a school of magic for girls, but her path will not be an easy one. She expects pushback from the government, but opposition will come from unexpected sources, as well -- and at times, that opposition may be dangerous.I loved these novellas, and would recommend reading them back to back in order to get the full experience at once. Burgis has other stories set in the same world, and I'm sure I will be tracking those down.

[herenya_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cassandra Harwood is the only woman to have studied magic at the Great Library. While her magical career has ended disastrously, she’s determined to keep challenging the idea that magic is the domain of men. But not everyone wants her college for young women to succeed. As staff and students arrive, Cassandra has to deal with thorny nightmares, an unfairly-overworked husband. a government inspection and a malicious fey disturbance. This is a story about challenging the status quo, and about the importance of having others -- family and community -- who can support you. Cassandra still struggles with feeling that she has to fight her battles alone, especially when she realises how pursuing her dreams has affected the career opportunities of those she loves.I really liked the way Thornbound portrays Cassandra’s marriage. They disagree, compromise and acknowledge when they could do better. Most importantly, they both want what’s best for each other and they work through things.together.Thornbound is a delightful sequel. I loved this and my only complaint isn’t really a complaint -- I wanted more.The cover is lovely, too. (I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.) I can do this, no matter what they think, I told myself firmly. This time, I will not let myself fail.For the sake of my loyal, loving sister-in-law, who had risked so much to support me in this venture...For the sake of all those brilliant, talented girls whom the Great Library stubbornly refused to train...And yes, for my own sake, too, because—despite everything I had feared after the loss of my magic, and despite the haunting whispers of those dreams—I was neither helpless nor broken after all....And if anyone from the Boudiccate insulted Amy on this visit, I would simply have to murder them. That was all.

[spaceandsorcery · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this novella from the author, in exchange for an honest review, and I was thrilled to be able to go back to Ms. Burgis' new series combining alternate history with magic.Stephanie Burgis’ digression from the historical fiction of her previous novels (Masks and Shadows and Congress of Secrets) into “pure” fantasy is proving to be just as intriguing as her other works: the alternate Regency England – here called Angland – introduced with Snowspelled is further developed here and gains new facets and a deeper look into the characters, while offering a fast-paced and engrossing story that offers some gloomier, more intriguing shades to the established background.Present-day Angland is the result of the successful war waged by Queen Boudicca against the Roman invaders, whom she was able to drive away thanks to the alliance with her magician husband, thus setting the mold for a society in which women hold the political power and men exercise their magic abilities for the good of the country, a situation that has endured for centuries. That is, until Cassandra Harwood, daughter of one of the most influential members of the Boudiccate, chose to forgo a political career on the path traced by her mother in favor of the practice of magic in which she excelled, causing significant ripples in the established status quo.When we met Cassandra in Snowspelled, we learned that the desire to prove her worth had caused a grievous accident that almost claimed her life and left her unable to cast any spell, and at the end of that story she had found new purpose in the foundation of a magic school for the teaching of other young women who wanted to cast off the shackles imposed by society as she had done. As Thornboud starts, the school at Thornfell, the Harwoods’ ancestral home, is about to open, the first nine pupils have just arrived, and the Boudiccate has sent a surprise inspection team to assess the school and the teaching program. Cassandra has indeed her hands full, having to deal with the preparations, the inspectors and her problems with the staff, not to mention that she is plagued by horrible nightmares and suffers the absence of her newly-wed husband, who has been called away on Boudiccate business on the very same day of their wedding. As if all of the above were not enough, strange occurrences and a dismal discovery seem to point toward a malicious plot to cause the school’s failure…Thornbound’s overall tone is slightly darker than that of its predecessor and I found that it fit well with Cassandra’s problems and more importantly with the doubts about her ability to fulfill her dream, not to mention the anguish she feels in realizing that her choices might have seriously impaired both her sister in law’s and her husband’s prospects for their future careers. It’s a very subdued Cassandra that I found at the beginning of this story, and I felt for her, but was overjoyed to see her rise to the challenge and summon her inner strength to overcome the trials in front of her. Still, the major pleasure in this novella comes from the theme of mutual support and the bond it can create between people, especially women: in this tale of intriguing role reversal, women appear still hampered by social conventions and unable to express their full potential, any attempt they make to break out of the mold harshly criticized by their peers when it’s not the object of scandal and shunning. It’s a very actual theme that for all of its placement into a fantasy Regency background can however resonate with our modern sensibilities, as does the other important and equally modern subject about balancing one’s own career aspiration with the needs and requirements of marriage and family.All these elements are set into a compelling story – a real page-turner, to use an expression typical of back-cover blurbs – where magic and everyday practicality blend into a seamless and highly entertaining whole. I hope that many more of these novellas will come forth in the future, because they are truly a delightful read.Highly recommended.