🇬🇧 THIS BOOK IS IN ENGLISH

Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn

Standalone · Sapphic Gothic Romance

"Kat Dunn has spun a love story both intimate and epic." - Samantha Shannon

In the town of Blumwald, an ancient curse casts its shadow over everything. Deep in the wild wood, in a sinister castle, lives a monstrous Witch. Once a generation, she comes to claim a companion - and that companion is never seen again.

Now that time is drawing near once more.

Mina, daughter of the duke, is grieving and lonely. She has lost all hope of any future for herself in Blumwald. So when the Witch demands her next companion, Mina does the unthinkable. She offers herself.

Stranded with her darkly alluring captor, Mina begins to unravel the mystery of what happened to the companions who came before her. A terrifying secret lies at the heart of the castle - one that could save her life. Or end it.

"Kat Dunn has spun a love story both intimate and epic." - Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree
"A deliciously dark fairy tale full of the agony and ecstasy of longing and desire." - Katherine Webber, author of Twin Crowns
"The sapphic Gothic romance I didn't know I needed. Atmospheric, tender, and utterly haunting."

🖤 READER MATCH™

GENRE
Sapphic Gothic Romance • Dark Fairytale • Beauty and the Beast Retelling • WLW Fantasy

BEST FOR
Sapphic or WLW romance • Beauty and the Beast retellings • Slow-burn tension • Morally complex captors • Cursed castles and ancient secrets • Gothic atmosphere • Reading for the longing as much as the romance

NOT FOR
Fast-paced action over atmospheric storytelling • Explicit romance • Multi-book series • Readers uncomfortable with captivity dynamics

SPICE
Low • Tender, not steamy

THE VIBE
A cursed Witch who is more than she seems.
A girl with nothing left to lose.
A castle full of secrets older than the town remembers.

READER RESPONSIBILITY
Know the genre. Know the tropes. Know your limits.

You can dislike a book, DNF it or give it one star. But there is a difference between a book being wrong for you and a book being bad.

Don't pick up a sapphic Gothic romance and then punish the author for writing sapphic Gothic romance.

VERDICT
For readers who want their Beauty and the Beast to feel genuinely dangerous - and genuinely tender.

⚠️ Carnegie Medal Nominated • Nero Book Award Shortlisted • Polari Prize Longlisted
Please check the author's current content warnings before reading.

📚 FORMAT & DETAILS

Format: Softback
Dimensions: 197 x 129 x 33 mm
Pages: 368
Author: Kat Dunn
Publisher: Andersen Press
Published: 4 May 2023
Language: English

Reader Match™ by VeXa Nightbloom®
Fantasy can be dark. Reality requires consent.
Where Outsiders Belong®