Book Review: The Castle Behind Thorns

Premise: Alexander (Sand) wakes up in the fireplace of an abandoned castle with no idea how he got there. Everything in the castle has been strangely cut in half, and when he tries to leave, the thorns along the wall attack him. Sand has to figure out to survive until he can escape, but meanwhile some strange things seem to be awakening in the castle.

Title: The Castle Behind Thorns
Author: Merrie Haskell
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 5-8
Format: Digital ARC provided by Katherine Tegen Books via Edelweiss
Publication Date: May 27, 2014

Three adjectives that describe this book: mysterious, imaginative, dark

There are so many different things going on in this book! It starts as a mystery - a boy trapped in a castle protected by magical thorns - then turns darker as things that were dead start to come alive, and finishes with royal politics.

I absolutely enjoyed The Castle Behind Thorns, although the heavy focus on saints and relics got to be a bit much at times. I loved the themes of forgiveness and finding your own path.