Tower of Thorns

There are many secrets in this book; Blackthorn keeps secrets from Grim about her plans, Grim keeps secrets from Blackthorn about his former life, the noblewoman Geillis (who wants Blackthorn's help to break a spell) keeps secrets from her about the true nature of the curse. The amount of unknown information was sometimes frustrating, and contributed to a slow plot, especially in the middle chapters. I wished several times that at least Blackthorn and Grim would be honest with each other, but their relationship (so far) is based primarily on their willingness to accept each other at face value.

Blackthorn is a fine heroine (she is similar to many wounded but tough female characters that can be found in today's urban fantasy and other genres) but IMO Grim makes the series. He has experienced horrifying trauma, as Blackthorn has, but despite his large size he is caring, loyal, hardworking, and fiercely protective. It turns out he has hidden depths as well. Who wouldn't want him as a companion? Despite my frustration with the plot's slow reveal, I kept turning the pages to see how Blackthorn and Grim would get out of their latest tricky situation, and was rewarded by a subtle but definite change in their relationship.

Juliet Marillier is one of my few auto-read authors, and while the Blackthorn & Grim series isn't as breathtaking and absorbing as her Sevenwaters books, I'm on board as long as she keeps writing them.