A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Series: ACOTAR #1
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing on May 5, 2015
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 451
Format: Digital
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 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.
A Court of Thorns and Roses – Book 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 is dragged into the fae’s magical world 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 long for me to get warm with it. Many situations were just dragged out, and Feyre constantly repeated 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 did 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 narrative.
I find it somewhat confusing, and the relationships change too quickly for the better. Tamling is 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 also changes for the good, 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 explained later, the romance aspects are visible and a central element 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 heartwarming and heart-wrenching.
I enjoy Lucien around a lot, and he gets me more than Temlin does. And later on, Rheysand too. I even liked the latter the most, as the story went toward the end. I suppose that might be for the simple reason of morally grey characters.
In some situations, the prota acts somewhat dumb at first—I have no idea how else to describe it here. If you read the book, you might know what I mean here. It’s like, in situations where it’s pretty apparent what might happen – mainly because of given warnings, she doesn’t even think about planning – or thinking through – first. And after some events that moderately affect her incorrectly, she keeps thinking about them too much.
I’m not saying it’s not okay to feel guilty. Quite the opposite. It’s that she should instead deal with it instead of whining. But maybe that’s also because she is as young as she is. That might also be 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 dull in some parts, and I just went through with it without overthinking, 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. Try it if you like fantasy, fae, and romance at once.
Have you read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas? Or any other of her books so far? What do you think about it? Let me know in the comments!
