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adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is overhyped. Yes, it is an easy to understand fantasy that doesn't take long to get through, but its only ok. The trials were boring (to me) and the whole thing with Rhysand was completely unnecessary and you can not make me like him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
first half dragged its pretty little feet, but WOW, the UTM half was phenomenal! i’m glad i stuck with it!
popped my ACOTAR 🍒 .. and I’m not mad about it ??
popped my ACOTAR 🍒 .. and I’m not mad about it ??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture
Minor: Forced institutionalization
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-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:
No
For such a hyped up book, I was disappointed by ACOTAR. A pretty standard Beauty and the Beast retelling in the first half, Feyre is taken to the court of the fae High Lord of spring, Tamlin, after she kills one of his men who wandered into the human realm. Rather than being cursed to be a beast, Tamlin can shapeshift at will while he and hs court are cursed to have masks on their faces due to some unnamed blight. About halfway through the book, everything felt very resolved, until Feyre discovers the source of the blight, and finds herself on a quest to free Tamlin and the rest of the fairy world from a wrathful queen with a vendetta against humans. This felt like two books stitched together due to the weird pacing, and I wasn't super entralled by either one. Feyre has no reason to stay with Tamlin; he makes it clear to her from the start she is free to leave his land at her own will, and neither Tamlin or Feyre are particularly endearing characters. They both felt like stock figures being moved around by the plot to fit the BATB mold. Feyre read very much like a wanna be Katniss, scraping by to survive, rather than a woman who is desireable for her beauty or mind, but she's locked into the tropes required and they require she fall in love. The second half feels much more like the Hunger Games, with Feyre fighting literally in an arena for entertainment to save Tamlin and a new love interest there to stir drama. This was a slog to get through and I truly do not understand the hype.
TLDR: A stock characters with a variety of stock plots leads to an odd Frakenstein of a story and is too generic to get invested in.
TLDR: A stock characters with a variety of stock plots leads to an odd Frakenstein of a story and is too generic to get invested in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First of all, I'm stunned that this isn't considered YA. To market it as anything else is false advertising, in my opinion. Reader beware.
Second of all, the MC is really freaking dumb.
This isn't a genre I read a lot in, but this year I also read Serpent & Dove... which is marketed as YA and has waaaaay better worldbuilding and character-building. I would definitively say that this isn't worth the hype, but I'm glad if it's getting people reading I suppose?
Second of all, the MC is really freaking dumb.
This isn't a genre I read a lot in, but this year I also read Serpent & Dove... which is marketed as YA and has waaaaay better worldbuilding and character-building. I would definitively say that this isn't worth the hype, but I'm glad if it's getting people reading I suppose?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Slavery, Classism
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly, I think the hype for this book is justified! I’ve been nervous to dive in to this series because I am not a fan of smut. But, at least for this first one, it was not filled with unnecessary smut. There was a lot of relationship build up, which I like because I don’t understand lust at first sight (I’m more of a lust post love kinda gal). The few steamy scenes were not explicit (in my opinion) & the main sex scene was fade to black.
I anticipate that the next few will not be so… tame… but I will probably continue! Which was not something I thought I was going to say.
The story itself was really compelling. I enjoyed this little escapism into a fae realm where there are very human issues still afoot. This first book was very much establishing lore & magic so I’m excited to see how it builds in the next ones.
I anticipate that the next few will not be so… tame… but I will probably continue! Which was not something I thought I was going to say.
The story itself was really compelling. I enjoyed this little escapism into a fae realm where there are very human issues still afoot. This first book was very much establishing lore & magic so I’m excited to see how it builds in the next ones.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I won't lie, when I was told this was a p*rn book, I was expecting more salacious escapades than I was met with. Instead, what I found was an interesting mix of interesting plot and female characters I loved. Now, I don't hate the primary love interest, however oh boy did I find the *reveal* uncomfortable. Tamlin's original reason for taking Feyre was already on the nose enough. The deeper you get into the book, the more the beauty and the beast parallel can be drawn. Still, I enjoyed reading of Feyre's stubbornness and challenges. I love a woman who can fight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault