And it's pretty dark, the end is super weird, and there's no hope or light or anything at the end, so I would just skip it. The Soldier Prince is just really, really confusing. If you're fine with reading about all of this (it's much more scary the way Leigh Bardugo tells it) you can read this, I guess, but please be aware your younger siblings may get their hands on this. Her stepmother, who was protecting the girl the whole time, leaves, and with no one to protect her, the father touches the fake girl in a sexual way, and then eats her.

After that, a 'fake her' (a realistic gingerbread girl made of her fingers) goes home to her father. The main character gets some fingers cut off, which is AWFUL, and she swallows a crows eyeball.

* SPOILERS * basically the main characters father was killing the girls, and EATING THEM. Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid’s voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy’s bidding but only for a terrible price. It's a really, really disturbing story, because it's basically the mystery of some serial killer killing a bunch of girls. The Language of Thorns Love speaks in flowers. The Witch of Duva was a really disturbing story, even I was scared after I read it, my 47 year old father read it (he's read all the Stephen King books) and he was very disturbed. My ten year old sister somehow got her hands on this book, and she was up all night and terrified after reading The Witch of Duva. Skip, Skip, please just skip: The Witch of Duva, The Soldier Prince

Clever, funny, wise, these are great stories. These stories are so beautiful, and made me smile at the book while reading. The Best Ones are: Ayama and the Thorn Wood, The Too Clever Fox, Little Knife, and When Fire Met Water. Leigh Bardugo's writing is beautiful as usual, the characters are absorbing and relatable, and the stories are amazing. The Language of Thorns is a gorgeous collection, retelling classic fairy tails like Hansel and Gretel, and The Little Mermaid.

The language of thorns