A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Book Review
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Blurb
The sexy, action-packed first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series from Sarah J. Maas.
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.
From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.
Triggers
In my e-book, there were no mentions of triggers as with many fantasy novels. I’ve listed the triggers I observed here:
- Alcohol
- Animal Death
- Assault
- Blood
- Bones
- Branding
- Cheating
- Child Death
- Death
- Decapitation
- Demons/ Mythological Creatures
- Emotional Abuse
- Genocide
- Gore
- Murder
- Profanity
- Sexually Explicit Scenes
- Skeletons
- Slut Shaming
- Terminal Illness
- Torture
- Violence
Ratings
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There are possible **SPOILERS** beyond this point!
Overall Rating
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I nearly never read this book because of how absolutely miserable and depressing it was at the beginning! I was so upset by how everyone treated Feyre and disgusted by how she stood idly by and took it. Especially given her talent with hunting. It made me actually question out loud how she could even stand living there! The entire story takes a different turn once Feyre and Tamlin… “meet”. It was a completely different story after and I could start to understand how so many people loved this story. It’s a lovely mix of slow burn romance and fantasy!
I happily let Maas take me wherever she wanted to go with this book and I was not disappointed! I have several friends who have already read ACOTAR so now I can finally join the group chat lol I wish I had finished this one sooner! But I’m grateful I don’t have to wait between books like my friends did! It truly feels like you’re setting off on this journey with Feyre and I think there’s always a place in my heart for a deadly woman! I absolutely loved how the women in this book were dynamic and sometimes even more frightening than the men in this story! Hell yea for Bad Ass women!
I will recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t read it and like fantasy or romance! Its magical and makes you feel deeply for these characters! The rollercoater ride my emotions took was crazy! Each reveal was more thrilling than the last! I was on the edge of my seat after chapter 32 and did not put my book down until I finished! I look forward to this re-read because I know it’s inevitable! Oh. And I hope we see a WHOLE lot more of Rhys in the following books though! I’m gonna be upset if they don’t get at least an alluded HEA lol
Spice Rating
2/5 🌶🌶
This book was just a bit spicy. It’s not very explicit but there are are a few spicy scenes in this book! It is heavy fantasy, light spice 😂
Main Characters
Female Main Character
Feyre
Feyre is described as being average height and thin build until she goes to Spring Court and fills out. She has gold blonde hair and blue-grey eyes. Her family was once well off but her father’s bad business leaves her family destitute. She is a painter but took up hunting to help feed her father and two sisters. She seems to excel at both, though she does not recognize her talents as such. She is stubborn and brusque though she’s lonely and wants companionship.
Feyre is very protective of her family, despite their horrible treatment of her. She is willing to sacrifice herself for others because she values others wellbeing over her own. She feels strong enough to bear the immense burden for all her loved ones no matter the consequences. She is often talking negatively to herself and feels undeserving of what she is given until she loses it and nearly dies trying to recover it! I respect her ferocity and strength when tested but I love how big and open her heart is once we get past all her prickles! She is generous at her core and very empathetic.
Feyre was the hero of this story and that is a huge reason why I love this book! It’s not often that a woman gets to shine in an action packed story like this and get the credit deserved to her! It’s a female villain, as well! I just love all the Bad Ass ladies in this book. Feyre is definitely the main bad ass and not Tamlin. It’s glaring that he is not the hero of this story and also quite obviously so.
As a side note, she has a hand tattoo and sleeve that are similar to mine so she got huge snaps from me!
Male Main Character
Tamlin
Tamlin is described as being tall and overall, Golden. He has long, blonde hair and dynamic green eyes. He’s the High Lord of the Spring Court. He has a beast form that’s a large wolf-like creature. He’s able to use certain features of the beast as desired, i.e. revealing claws and fangs without changing into the beast fully. He’s rather reserved and mild in manner though he is very protective and fierce, when need be.
At the beginning of this story, I was not at all amused by Tamlin and thought he was just quite cold and awkward around Feyre. But, the more we see of Tam and how he opens up to Feyre was continuously fascinating to me! He’s incredibly smart and cunning but not crude. Cautious is what comes to mind when I think of how he is with Feyre. I still felt more like he was using her but he began to care for her. I don’t know about love though! I don’t 100% agree with choices he made for his court (like potentially risking his entire court’s lives to spare Feyre), but as an reluctant heir, he definitely could have done worse. I found myself laughing at his bantering with Lucien but I also wondered how he could be so patient.
HOWEVER! Tamlin is not my favorite. I can see him and Feyre really getting along just fine and she’s willing to risk everything for him and his world and he was willing to do the same. Great match and all but he just wasn’t “beastly” enough or “grey” enough for me 😂 I think his behavior when she goes to save him was also very questionable and I found myself eye-rolling any time I read his name. I don’t know what happens in the next book but maybe he will redeem himself.
Setting / World / Universe
Wow. Reading ACOTAR is a fully immersive experience. This is a fantasy story and there is no mistaking that! I loved how beautiful Maas’ world is and also how gruesome and horrifying it could be, as well. Everything I wanted from beautiful garden scenes and glen scenes to ornate estates and manors were present in this tale! There is something so artful about how she describes the environments we’re in that feels utterly whimsical!
Though there was a plethora of natural scapes and bright imagery, Maas’ effectively brought us into the gross muck and terrifying presence of faerie creatures just as vividly! I would catch myself cringing with bone breaks and shuddering under certain dialog! And I loved it!
Genre & Tropes
Genre
Fantasy Romance
Tropes
- Enemies to Lovers
- Slow Burn
- Close Proximity
Favorite Quotes
“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”
“I remembered that pathetic effort to flatter me upon my arrival—and then he’d given up on it, on any attempt to win me when I’d seemed so desperate to get away, to never talk to him. But he’d fallen in love with me despite all that—known I’d loved him, and let me go with days to spare. He had put me before his entire court, before all of Prythian.”
There are those who seek me a lifetime but never we meet, And those I kiss but who trample me beneath ungrateful feet.
At times I seem to favor the clever and the fair, But I bless all those who are brave enough to dare.
By large, my ministrations are soft-handed and sweet, But scorned, I become a difficult beast to defeat.
For though each of my strikes lands a powerful blow, When I kill, I do it slow …
Intrigued?
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