What do readers think of Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan? Write your own review.

I don't usually read about faeries, but "Thistlemarsh" sounded like a good change of pace book.

I enjoyed it. It's the World War I era. Mouse Dunne, a young English woman, has been nursing in France following the death of one brother and the development of shell shock in the other.

The faeries have already been gone from England for about 100 years. Or maybe they just wanted people to think they were gone.

Mouse's uncle has died, and Mouse has inherited the family home– such as it is. The bequest comes with a caveat. She must repair the house in one month's time. This would be impossible for mere mortals. So guess who pops up? And he has home repair skills!

Mouse has lots of common sense. Sometimes, at crucial moments, she ignores it. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story if she didn't.

"Thistlemarsh" was appealing and maddening. I liked Mouse. She did the best she could, considering all the pressure she was under.

Thank you to BookBrowse and Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

I thought I knew a lot about faerie folklore but this book was an eye opener. The book is well written and gets you hooked right away. We all have to come to terms at some point with who we are and how we see ourselves. Mouse, a meek young lady, has been overshadowed all her life. Her character is well developed as she is forced to figure out who she is. It was enjoyable watching her transform from her mousy demeanor to a strong, brave, resilient woman. The book also explores the theme of what it means to be family, family obligations as well as the ties that bind. Without spoiling the plot other contemporary themes were addressed as well. When I read fantasy I am looking for adventure and this book delivers. An enjoyable escape read.

World War I is finally over and Nurse, Mouse Dunne is taking care of her brother who is suffering from Shell Shock (PTSD) when she gets the news that she has inherited Thistlemarsh Hall. Thistlemarsh was once a Faerie blessed house. But the Faeries have been gone for over a hundred years and the Hall is in deep decline. Her dead uncle stipulated in the will that Mouse only has a month to repair Thistlemarsh or it will go to the despised Carlyle.

Mouse meets Thornwood, a lone Faerie who promises to repair Thistlemarsh Hall within the allotted time, but for a price. As time gets closer to the due date, the old Faerie King returns with many Faeries and things quickly become chaotic. Mouse no longer knows who to trust. She is confused by her feelings for the handsome Thornwood and no longer knows if he is to be trusted.

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves fantasy. It's a good story full of magic, fae, and mystery. It is also sprinkled with historical fiction and has a touch of romance thrown in for good measure.

Thistlemarsh presented a challenge for me. As a reader not familiar with faerie literature, I read this book to see if it would enchant me. In the end, the results were mixed at best.

Although I do think readers more familiar with the faerie genre might enjoy the story more, it was a book that I just couldn't get into, no matter how hard I tried. It did have its moments though. The ending was the best part of the story, and there were some touching subplots. I did find the protagonist to be a likeable character, and the author did a great job with descriptions of the setting.

While I appreciated the author's narrative style, I just had trouble getting into the story throughout the length of the book. Although the final quarter of the story made an admirable effort to draw me back in, I unfortunately ended the book with a notable lack of satisfaction.

Before reading this book, I have avoided fantasy novels, thinking that I would not like them. This book convinced me that I was right. While the beginning of the book caught my interest, as the book progressed I found the story to be less and less interesting to me because it was not realistic! I will stay away from fantasy novels in the future.

This book was way outside of my norm. Ghosts, spirits, fantasy. I really enjoyed the first half. The old neglected house, the need for restoration and the mysterious stranger who offered to help. He was nice, caring and seemed genuine. But the next 1/3 lost me. An old king coming back, strange parties with evil ghosts, forbidden love. The last 20 brought it back together and I was glad I stuck with it.

I wanted to like this - I really did! I take reading ARCs very seriously, and every indication was that this would be right up my alley.

And it was - under a ton of different titles. This is the same fantasy fae story we have seen so many times before, and honestly, the others were better done. I felt like I was reading a lesser combination of several of the most popular romantasy series out there, but with far less appeal.

It has a SUPER slow start, where you really have no idea what is going on and need to wait for the world to build. I put it down and picked it back up again several times, and each time was a struggle...I had so much trouble sitting and staying with it. And I am a binge reader; I will read for hours at a time when I can. This could not keep me reading for more than 15-20 minutes before I lost interest.

Once I got about 15 of the way into it, I felt like I could write the rest because the story was so familiar.

I will absolutely give kudos to the atmosphere that the prose allowed me to envision - it felt true to the cozy fantasy vibe, and evoked really great visuals in my imagination. But overall, the book was too much effort for very low payoff.

Mouse was not an endearing FMC. I never connected with her. She was never really fully-formed as a character. And I was never invested in her success, happiness, or even her well-being. And Thornwood never evolved into the MMC that we could not resist - he is just an ass. Yes, he had his mother to consider and his plan to engage, but the character could have been made much more appealing, and he was not. He does not jump off the page, and feels like a weak version of some of the most engaging romantasy MMCs.

I hope that others will feel differently, but for me, this was a 2/5.