Review: Completely hooked on The Thorn Chronicles series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 9, 2014
I started and finished Kissed late last night. Let me say one thing: I was hooked. Completely and utterly. The world author Kimberly Loth submerged me--beginning with main character Naomi's penchant for gardening to the mysterious guy who appears in her 'dreams' to the strange cult her parents belong to and more--kept my complete interest. Call me mesmerized.I really liked how each chapter began with some interesting tidbit about roses. Naomi loves to garden, has a greenhouse outside her home (left to her by her late grandmother who also helped guide her in the care of the world of roses) and has to deal with abusive parents. Her father belongs to this uber weird and sadistic cult where men are in charge and women exist merely as possessions, there to obey and follow. The scenes in their 'church' during their services angered me with the treatment of females. Naomi starts outs as a humble, quiet, teen girl. She goes to school (because of her grandmother who lived with them, other members are home-schooled) but isn't allowed to have friends. On her sixteenth birthday, her father delivers her 'present' with the news that she is to marry Dwayne, a fellow student, cult follower, and general disgusting bully.Poor Naomi. I really felt for her and her predicament. Marriage at 16? No identity? Her bliss is found surrounded by her roses and their wonderful array of scents and emotions. I knew something was going on with Naomi by the inordinate amount of time she spent with her flowers. When a mystery dream boy appears more frequently, doing something not usually transferred out of the dream world, I was firmly hooked in the story. Dream guy turns out to be Kai who pops up in school and helps her out. But can he be trusted?Some parts of Kissed made me uncomfortable, but in order to understand Naomi's horrible home life, we had to see what she experienced at the hands of her parents, Dwayne, and his father. Her mother was equally strange and never stood up for her daughter. Things took an even more intriguing turn when her parents were arrested and Naomi took off with Kai's help. Where does she go? Vegas baby.In Sin City, Naomi is immediately uncomfortable by what she sees, but the sunsets and sunrises hold her in rapt attention. She meets Aunt Ginny, a relative she never knew existed, and falls into a new world of glitter, extravagance, and excess which is so unlike her rigid, prudish upbringing. Naomi meets another person who shares a similar passion for roses and gardening, Alejandro ("Ale"), and his interesting array of friends from the dashing goth boy Puck to the friendly Jason and others. Our heroine is soon thrust into a world of magic and supernatural beings: Guardians (the good guys), Destroyers (not the good guys) and Shades. They reminded me of the fae but were not called this. I have to say the author created an unique world here with her mythology and history that I found immensely rich and entertaining. Her writing was gripping, the descriptions wonderful and easily visualized, the dialogue realistic and the conflicts profound at times.Yes, there was a love triangle and I didn't mind in the least. Pitting two close guys against each other made for a strong, interesting conflict and I still can't believe the ending. Naomi, what were you thinking? Action, drama, friendships, flowers and lots of kissing (it's necessary) can be found on the pages of Kimberly Loth's highly addictive YA paranormal series opener, Kissed. Speaking as someone thoroughly 'hooked' by the first book, I await the continuation of Naomi, Puck and Kai's story in The Thorn Chronicles, and highly recommend it.