✓ Mood-Profiled
Girl, Serpent, Thorn 2020
Melissa Bashardoust · 336 pages
I'm a 336-page ya fantasy with cursed princess, forbidden love, lgbtq+ energy. Clean but intense — the kind of book that shapes your reading taste forever.
Mood
Dark & Romantic
Spice
0/5 — Clean
Pacing
Fast-paced
Length
336 pages
Ending
Satisfying — happily ever after guaranteed
Heat level
❄️ Clean
Things I'm into
Cursed Princess
Forbidden Love
LGBTQ+
THE COMPATIBILITY CHECK
Should you swipe right on Girl, Serpent, Thorn?
♥ Swipe right if…
✓Forbidden love is your weakness — the more impossible, the better
✓You want a clean read that focuses on emotional connection over physical heat
✓You love books that don't pull punches and go to uncomfortable places
✓Romance is the backbone, not a subplot — and it delivers
✓Atmosphere and setting matter as much as plot to you
✕ Swipe left if…
✕You want literary prose or beautiful sentence-level writing — this is genre fiction and proud of it
✕You want a thick, immersive saga — at 336 pages, this is tighter
✕You want a series you can binge — this is a standalone
✕You need light, feel-good reads right now — this goes dark
✕You're not in the mood for worldbuilding — there's a lot of it here
CONTENT NOTES
⚔️ Violence
🖤 Dark themes
THE FULL PROFILE
What this book is really like — from a full read-through, not the back cover.
Core identity
GenreYA Fantasy · LGBTQ+ · Persian Fantasy
Dominant moodDark, Romantic, Atmospheric
Romance styleNone or minimal
ToneDark and intense
What to expect
Pages 1–84World established, magic system introduced, stakes set
Pages 84–168Training/quest deepens, alliances form, tension rises
Pages 168–252Stakes escalate dramatically, betrayals, revelations
Pages 252–336Climax + resolution. Satisfying ending
After finishingRecommending it to everyone you know
QUICK ANSWERS BEFORE YOU COMMIT
Everything you want to know before you swipe right
Is Girl, Serpent, Thorn actually spicy?
Clean read — no spice. This book focuses entirely on plot and character, not romance or heat.
What's the vibe of Girl, Serpent, Thorn?
Dark, Romantic, Atmospheric with cursed princess and forbidden love energy. Think YA Fantasy that knows exactly what it is and delivers hard.
Is Girl, Serpent, Thorn a standalone?
Yes — Girl, Serpent, Thorn is a complete standalone. No series commitment required. Pick it up, finish it, move on (or reread it immediately).
What are the content warnings for Girl, Serpent, Thorn?
Content notes include: Violence, Dark themes. We flag these so you can make informed choices, not to scare you off.
What kind of reader is Girl, Serpent, Thorn perfect for?
If "cursed princess + forbidden love" in a ya fantasy with 0/5 spice sounds like your kind of book, you'll love this. Check the mood bars above to see if the vibe matches yours.
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Every Sort By Cravings guide is written after a full read-through — not scraped from publisher blurbs or Amazon summaries. We map tropes directly from the text, cross-reference BookTok and Goodreads reader reactions, and calibrate heat ratings against reader consensus. Read our editorial standards.
📚 Last reviewed: March 2026 · Guide verified against current edition