edited on November 11th, 2023 at 12:01 pm
A Court of Thorns and Roses by SJM is the first book in the ACOTAR series, a popular fantasy romance series that has captured the hearts of many readers.
Since I was really into Jude’s story (The Folk Of The Air trilogy: The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, The Queen of Nothing), I was curious about another fantasy and Fae story and went for it, since I saw in it a top 10 list similar to them.
Review
The book follows the story of Feyre (“Fey-ruh”) Archeron, a young human girl living in a world divided between humans and fae. When Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, she finds herself dragged into the magical world of the fae as punishment. As she navigates the treacherous world of the fae, she discovers that not everything is as it seems, and she must make difficult choices that will have far-reaching consequences.
The world-building is rich and immersive, with a lush and vividly described fae realm that captures the imagination. The shown map helps the imagination of all the various courts and the world of faeries.
But it took really long for me to get warm with it. As there were lots of situations just dragged out and Feyre constantly repeating herself in thoughts on whatever. Which is not only happening once but constantly throughout the book. Only because I was curious about the story and didn’t want to give it up, I put myself through it.
Feyre is a strong and determined protagonist who undergoes significant character development throughout the book. Her relationships with other characters, including Tamlin, the High Fae lord, and Lucien, his loyal friend, are central to the story and add depth to the overall narrative.
I find it somewhat confusing, the relationships change a bit too easily for the better. Tamling constantly randomly being around but a fair point is given here, there’s a reason behind that which gets explained.
But the relationship(s) with her sister(s) and father changes for the good as well, which doesn’t get quite the explanation. First, they were in poverty where her sisters were much closer to each other and the father did not even really exist in the real world. It all changes as soon as their situation changes for the better again.
As it gets explained later, the romance aspects are totally visible and a main aspect of the story, within reason.
The chemistry between Feyre and Temlin is palpable, and the romance adds an emotional layer to the story that is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.
I enjoy Lucien around a lot, he gets me more than Temlin does. And later on, Rheysand too. I even like the latter the most so far as the story went from highlight toward the end.
There are some situations where the prota acts somewhat .. dumb at first. No idea how else to describe it here. In case you read the book, you might know what I mean here. It’s like, in situations where it’s quite obvious what might happen – especially because of given warnings, she doesn’t even think about planning – or thinking through – first. And after some events, that fairly affect her in a bad way, she keeps thinking about them just too much.
I’m not saying, it’s not okay to feel guilty, quite the opposite. It’s rather that she should rather deal with it instead of whining. But maybe, maybe that’s also because of her being as young as she is. That might be as well, why I like the male protagonists a lot better.
Final Thoughts
I don’t decline that I enjoyed the read of “A Court of Thorns and Roses”. But it felt more dragging or nothing specific happening than the opposite.
It was really boring in some parts and I just went through with it without thinking too much about it or I’d have put it on my DNF stack.
Of, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. After all, it’s somewhat of a solid read, when you don’t think about the long parts. Give it a try, if you like fantasy, fae, and romance at once.
Rating: D-
A+ : 10-9.3 | A: 9.2-8.7 | A- : 8.6-8.0 || B+ : 7.9-7.3 | B: 7.2-6.7 | B- : 6.6-6.0 || C+ : 5.9-5.3 | C: 5.2-4.7 | C- : 4.6-4.0 ||
D+ : 3.9-3.3 | D: 3.2-2.7 | D- : 2.6-2.0 || E+: 2.1-2.4 | E : 2.5-1.8 || F: 1.9-0
Have you read A Court of Thorns and Roses? What do you think about it? Let me know in the comments!