The build-up seemed a little bit slow, but then the main character joined the witch and I was ready for things to unfold. From the very first page, Kate Dunn captivated me with a brilliantly dark, gothic and fairytale-like atmosphere as well as prose, that made it impossible to put this novel down.

And when Mina is given the chance, she jumps to join the Witch before she is pushed into an even lonelier life. A moody and stylish Gothic tale that feels both fresh and timeless – a masterful meditation on grief, loneliness, and terrible love. With book based on figuring out something there is always the risk of drawing it for too long (or not drawing it out enough), so you end up with a protagonist that seems stupid. There is so much I loved — stony Wolf and her resilience, the quiet small acts of kindness between Mina and the Witch as they try and find a way to be, the mystery of the castle.

She’s written about mental health for Mind and the Guardian , and worked as a translator for Japanese television.

I read Bitterthorn for a book club and should add that if it wasn't for that outward motivation, I wouldn't have picked it up based on the short summary alone, so perhaps I'm simply not the right audience for this book. Possibly this book shows the best understanding of loneliness I’ve ever seen and all while being deliciously dark, twisty, and as the title of the book, bitter and sweet, sharp and soft. I also thought the end was a bit corny and didn't really understand the 3rd act conflict since I thought it was pretty obvious what was happening to the companions? Stranded with her darkly alluring captor, the mystery of what happened to the previous companions draws Mina into the heart of a terrifying secret that could save her life, or end it. It got better as the book progressed and things started happening, but overall, the way the story was told wasn't my favourite.How loneliness can fester away at you, a feeling I know well (and yet I have no Witch to love me, which doesn’t seem fair). A queer haunting of a story about loneliness, loss, and love that has lodged itself firmly in my head and my heart. Locked away in the castle with the Witch and surrounded by unspoken history, Mina soon begins to realise that there's a longer, darker story at play- and that she's falling in love with the Witch.

I don’t know whether I want to cry, laugh, re-read the entire book, or simply bask in the emotions that the wonderful writing of Kat and the world she has created embodied me with. Bitterthorn is beautiful and haunting – the type of story that seeps into your bones and stays with you long after reading. Everything about this book was perfection, the writing, the characters, the suspense/mystery, the romance, the plot twists.The pain that they'd been through, the secrets that they held - how would that shape them in the end? So, when the witch arrives to take her claim, Mina just says fuck it and volunteers, she doesn't have anything to lose and her dad doesn't even try to stop her. The writing was lyrical and beautiful, the characters were flawed and captivating and the plot had me hooked from beginning to end. Mina is an interesting protagonist and I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with the Witch develop. I didn't root for the romance, the plot seemed to rely completely on miscommunications/lack of communication, and I felt more and more as if this would have worked better as a short story.