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adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Gore, Xenophobia, War
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
the protagonist is incredibly unlikeable. the other characters are poorly fleshed out, and the plot is absurd. 3/4 of the way through this incredibly slow beauty and the beast adaptation, there's suddenly a hunger games plot? completely bizarre shift. We are also supposed to empathize with a character who threatens sexual assault, and to forgive the torture and murder of a bunch of innocents for the "greater good" . the greater good being the protagonist getting to have sex. sex scenes were a bit silly, but still somewhat stirring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this a lot!!
I will admit, when it turned out that Tamlin was only in beast form to take Feyre to Prythian, and he could turn into some guy but with a silly mask, I was close to putting the book down. Turns out that bit of information is on the Goodreads blurb but I didn't see that and I was wholeheartedly devastated. It's a loose retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" and everyone knows that that story's for the monster appreciators out there. Not to mention, the whole "moral" is that you can't dismiss someone for being ugly. It is briefly mentioned that the mask stuck on his face is meant to make it harder to fall in love with him, but come on, bit of a stretch.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't put the book down when it turned out he was only monstrous occasionally, because, to make up for it, Tamlin was a character I liked seeing come out of his shell. His romance with Feyre is really rather lovely, and his best friendship with Lucien is even lovelier. Those two will do <i>anything</i> for each other. Absolute friendship goals, honestly.
The use of faerie folklore in the worldbuilding is really interesting.The way that the Spring Court discuss the "blight" as a sort of loophole way of trying to convey to Feyre Amarantha's intent and power is a particularly subtle but effective method of showcasing the specificity of magic and the wriggle room that spells can have, which is a pretty important theme throughout. The rites, the types of faerie, the folklore within the humans in the story differing to how the faeries actually operate in this world, all contribute to making it feel a bit more like a real world.
Moral ambiguity is also a pretty important theme throughout, with Feyre struggling increasingly with the weight of her killing Andrasand, even worse, the murders she commits as part of her trials toward the end. and Tamlin feeling the burden of his family's sins against humans. Rhysand is The morally ambiguous character of all time, though. To say I liked him would be a bit strong. He's horrid. But he's interesting, and I do appreciate that the author manages to make it clear that he is very beautiful and very sexy in appearance without it coming off like Feyre's thinking "oh, he's gross.... unless?", which is such a pet peeve of mine in young adult books like this. He has his own moral boundaries that kind of make sense in a twisted way, but he's still a cruel person who likes to play horrible political games, and he is so unapologetically. It's kind of nice to have a character like that when the other more notable characters, while having a bit of ambiguity to their motives, are mostly good or mostly bad.
The latter half of the book gets really intense really fast, while the first half moves more slowly. It goes from more romance-y stuff to a more action/fantasy kind of thing, but it isn't jarring. It was a bit unnerving reading Tamlin and Feyre successfully falling in love with lots of book left, but the trials of Amarantha are really great fun to read.So frustrating seeing Feyre struggle with that riddle, though. I'm awful at riddles and I guessed it really fast. I mean, I know you'd be second-guessing yourself like nothing else in her situation, but I wanted to yell at her! She wasn't even first-guessing!! Her realisation of the answer was nice timing, though, albeit a little cliche.
The end is nice, though. I will likely read the sequel, but that means more bad things might happen! I want them to live happily ever after, dammit!
I will admit, when it turned out that Tamlin was only in beast form to take Feyre to Prythian, and he could turn into some guy but with a silly mask, I was close to putting the book down. Turns out that bit of information is on the Goodreads blurb but I didn't see that and I was wholeheartedly devastated. It's a loose retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" and everyone knows that that story's for the monster appreciators out there. Not to mention, the whole "moral" is that you can't dismiss someone for being ugly. It is briefly mentioned that the mask stuck on his face is meant to make it harder to fall in love with him, but come on, bit of a stretch.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't put the book down when it turned out he was only monstrous occasionally, because, to make up for it, Tamlin was a character I liked seeing come out of his shell. His romance with Feyre is really rather lovely, and his best friendship with Lucien is even lovelier. Those two will do <i>anything</i> for each other. Absolute friendship goals, honestly.
The use of faerie folklore in the worldbuilding is really interesting.
Moral ambiguity is also a pretty important theme throughout, with Feyre struggling increasingly with the weight of her killing Andras
The latter half of the book gets really intense really fast, while the first half moves more slowly. It goes from more romance-y stuff to a more action/fantasy kind of thing, but it isn't jarring. It was a bit unnerving reading Tamlin and Feyre successfully falling in love with lots of book left, but the trials of Amarantha are really great fun to read.
The end is nice, though. I will likely read the sequel, but that means more bad things might happen! I want them to live happily ever after, dammit!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a reread :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Took me a while to actually pick up this book after hearing about it for so long on Booktok, and I am happy to report that I was not disappointed.
This beauty and the beast re-telling adds a few extra layers, so as not to be the same exact story in a different setting. I was excited every night to pick up the book and see where the pieces all fit together.
The world was interesting and while I do still have questions that I hope will be answered in the next books, I still thought it was well fleshed out. While definitely setting up the next set of books in the series, I feel as though you could just read this one and have a satisfied ending to the story.
The main character Feyre was compelling. She was strong willed and opinionated, but not in an unrealistic way. Embarrassment, fear, and shame also played a part in her story. However, I really hate the fact that she is nineteen. She feels like a pawn so frequently throughout the book, and I feel if she had another 10 - 15 years on her she wouldn’t have been at such a disadvantage when interacting with the fae. Yes I understand math wise the age difference to the faerie men is insignificant. But no human has ever lived multiple centuries, so they so they read as 30-40 year olds anyway and that math makes a huge difference.
My main complaint of the book is how her and Tamlin fall in love. The power em balance is just too great and her age only highlights the differences. She falls in love with him based on lies, his ability to provide, and his looks. He reveals nothing of his inner thoughts or belief, so there is no demonstration of a deep intellectual and emotional connection. It is all based on what they can get from each other that they can’t get from others. To me this suggests it was not meant to last.
The other element that I don’t enjoy about this book is everything related to the real villain of the book feels very contrived and rushed. She was supposed to be exceedingly clever, but that is never demonstrated. Her big riddle at the end was painfully obvious.
This beauty and the beast re-telling adds a few extra layers, so as not to be the same exact story in a different setting. I was excited every night to pick up the book and see where the pieces all fit together.
The world was interesting and while I do still have questions that I hope will be answered in the next books, I still thought it was well fleshed out. While definitely setting up the next set of books in the series, I feel as though you could just read this one and have a satisfied ending to the story.
The main character Feyre was compelling. She was strong willed and opinionated, but not in an unrealistic way. Embarrassment, fear, and shame also played a part in her story. However, I really hate the fact that she is nineteen. She feels like a pawn so frequently throughout the book, and I feel if she had another 10 - 15 years on her she wouldn’t have been at such a disadvantage when interacting with the fae. Yes I understand math wise the age difference to the faerie men is insignificant. But no human has ever lived multiple centuries, so they so they read as 30-40 year olds anyway and that math makes a huge difference.
The other element that I don’t enjoy about this book is everything related to the real villain of the book feels very contrived and rushed. She was supposed to be exceedingly clever, but that is never demonstrated. Her big riddle at the end was painfully obvious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book starts off a slow burn simple fantasy Romance. The interesting plot starts in the last quarter of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok listen… I didn’t think I would like it imma be honest. Howeva once I got to the plot 👀. I finished the book in 2 days however I’m curious as to why Tamlin is referred to as “tampon” on booktok. I’m scared to read the next one. Although intrigued. Smut not good don’t recommend😐.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I knew nothing about this story before getting into it, so I didn't realize the first half was going to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling. However, I quickly picked up on the parallels by the time Feyre arrived at the manor. Because of this, it wasn't difficult at all to predict what the "plot twists" would be.
Before I prattle on about the story of ACOTR, I need to vent about some of SJM's writing choices here. What does the phrase "my bowels turned watery" mean, and why was it used TWICE? To me, this is one of the most disgusting descriptions in a book filled with gore and violence. Also, the colors just cannot stay consistent throughout. First, Rhys's deep blue eyes are suddenly referred to as violet, and then, Amarantha's "gold-red hair" becomes "her black hair" in the span of about 90 pages! It's very difficult to hold a picture in my mind when the visual descriptions keep changing all willy-nilly.
This story was very slow-moving for the first few chapters and I was having quite a hard time getting into it. It wasn't until Chapter 5 that I felt a bit interested. Around 60% of the way through is when I actually started having hope for this book. I know this is not the common opinion, but I felt like I could really feel a connection betweenFeyre and Tamlin growing and I was happy to see them finally embrace it. Now, I am well aware that everyone says Rhys is so much better in the next book, but at this point, I just don't care. And for the folks that disregard his actions in this book because he helped in the end: a few good deeds do not negate doing a boatload of fucked up shit, especially when that "good" is highly self-motivated/self-serving.
As for Amarantha, I thought she was kind of a boring villain. I feel SJM could have taken more time to immerse us into her backstory. Instead, it just felt like a rushed explanation of how we got here. And her trials! Why, oh why, did they get easier as they went on?! For someone so villainous and horrid that everyone on Prythian was terrified of her, her tasks were shockingly simple and straightforward. I would have loved to have seen some of that Amarantha cunning and deception she is apparently well-known for shine through in these trials. I think this would have helped me like Feyre more, too, if we had seen her have to be a bit more clever in order to survive.
The majority of the reason for my rating not being higher comes down to the damn riddle. This "riddle" makes me so mad. Why was so much put on the line over a simple riddle?? And why did Feyre have NO idea of what the answer could be?! I guessed that shit by the time the first line was recited! This genuinely made the last 25% of this book painful for me to read.
Before I prattle on about the story of ACOTR, I need to vent about some of SJM's writing choices here. What does the phrase "my bowels turned watery" mean, and why was it used TWICE? To me, this is one of the most disgusting descriptions in a book filled with gore and violence. Also, the colors just cannot stay consistent throughout. First, Rhys's deep blue eyes are suddenly referred to as violet, and then, Amarantha's "gold-red hair" becomes "her black hair" in the span of about 90 pages! It's very difficult to hold a picture in my mind when the visual descriptions keep changing all willy-nilly.
This story was very slow-moving for the first few chapters and I was having quite a hard time getting into it. It wasn't until Chapter 5 that I felt a bit interested. Around 60% of the way through is when I actually started having hope for this book. I know this is not the common opinion, but I felt like I could really feel a connection between
As for Amarantha, I thought she was kind of a boring villain. I feel SJM could have taken more time to immerse us into her backstory. Instead, it just felt like a rushed explanation of how we got here. And her trials! Why, oh why, did they get easier as they went on?! For someone so villainous and horrid that everyone on Prythian was terrified of her, her tasks were shockingly simple and straightforward. I would have loved to have seen some of that Amarantha cunning and deception she is apparently well-known for shine through in these trials. I think this would have helped me like Feyre more, too, if we had seen her have to be a bit more clever in order to survive.
The majority of the reason for my rating not being higher comes down to the damn riddle. This "riddle" makes me so mad. Why was so much put on the line over a simple riddle?? And why did Feyre have NO idea of what the answer could be?! I guessed that shit by the time the first line was recited! This genuinely made the last 25% of this book painful for me to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
Minor: Vomit
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Murder, War
Minor: Animal death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism