Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Now I can finally watch all of those videos I have been saving about ACOFAR. It took me some time (like ten minutes) to figure out the star rating and how I feel about this book, so here are some mangeled notes: It was okay. I did not particularly enjoyed specific things, but there are no things that I really disliked to still remember them after finishing the book and sitting down for a bit. I liked some characters, I was kinda interested in how the story would progress. I will probably continue with the series. But I did not feel all that happy after reading it. It was okay, but I will not be rereading it, not even thinking about buying a copy for myself. Still, I get the hype. And here are my reading notes:
Why is this set in the UK?
So much not like the other girls, I swear to god.
I bet whoever she will find, they will teach her to write/read.
It was provoked tho, as they would have died from hunger otherwise.
I am really getting tired of her just being “Fairies = bad” every three seconds.
Feyre is so weird for remarking on Lucien’s metal eye.
Tamlin be like: “Do whatever you want with your life.”
But he also be like: *puts invisible bonds*
Feyre should have been fine with being killed, if her only reason to go with him was to kill him and get back. Now, that she is being told in the way that she can believe that her family is being cared for, it is weird of her to keep saying, that Tamlin is “holding [her] family’s well-being against her if she stepped out of line” since her stepping out of line would mean killing her and going against the treaty.
That was such a long description of her face. Bro, I know you write for teenagers, but come on.
I bet the painting was by Tamlin.
Girly, you have just been ready to kill him and now it is all “sheer male beauty”.
Grace? In his breathing?
Yo, they are stuck in masks? That is actually interesting.
Oh no, how could those “terrible beasts” be upset about her loss, when it is clear that she is still hurting. And there is no “I did not miss her in years”, since she is always going back to the promise and has only been able to not be very upset about it, because she needed to survive.
Me when a person is kinda forced to live with me until I die, so they try to be nice to me and figure out how to spend time with me. But no, that could not possibly be it, Lucien just wants her to get eaten by a bear.
It is honestly kind of annoying seeing her dismiss people and assume that everyone is worse than her, or at least more stupid.
Feyre expects to be killed simply for living and talking.
This is “Beauty and the Beast” all over again with her dad. That is such a trap tho, I have no clue how she pretends that everyone is so smart, when she acts like this.
Now I get why this book is this long, since it took her a couple of chapters to understand what he said, even tho he cannot lie.
This girly be like “treaty is not fair, i did not agree to be bound by it” and then be like “oh, poor fae (who i hated so much two seconds ago), they are forced into such anger by their immortality”.
I bet Tamlin will teach her to read and write when he learns about her not being able to.
I do not quite get how she finally understood that there is nothing she can do and her life is therefore meaningless, yet she still is making a plan to escape.
Yo, it’s the Sailor Moon transformation with light.
Oh no, my alpha male man is so lonely and powerful and he is isolating himself, because of how heavy of a burden he is carrying.
Girly, you do not know how powerful Bogge actually is. Maybe it is like a frog.
Lucien is so nice, but I bet Feyre will still hate him for no reason.
He did not say “if” you need to escape, he said “when you free Suriel, you will need to escape”.
I thought we established that Tamlin is a High Lord long ago?
“His human woman” is because you are in his court. The same as Lucien is his, you stupid.
“ignoring how easily I could see the cut of his muscles beneath his white shirt”, cause he is so so so sexy seconds after you almost died.
Why is she now deciding how Lucien should be punished? He probably did not know a better way to trap a Suriel and was trying to help the best he could.
Why is Tamlin suddenly talking about handing out punishments to Feyre?
I see we left plot and now they are just horny.
Bonfire night. Why is Feyre so stupid? Why did she not go back to the house when the black haired high fey left?
Bruh. Chapter 21. I see we left the plot entirely and we got out "fae sex ritual, because fantasy". (to cut out the rant, this is why I abandoned Sabrina's adventures)
??????????? Bro, rape. Flashing red lights rape. There is no "if she doesn't listen, I don't have to deal with what happens". Rape. Stop it.
Why is she now wearing dresses? Is this the arc where she loses her personality, because it's time for the steamy scenes?
Oh no, my alpha male man is so lonely and powerful and he is isolating himself, because of how heavy of a burden he is carrying. x2
Would she just get extremely overwhelmed from enhancing her feelings?
So first she says that there are no celebrations, but now that they celebrate the summer solstice?
I swear to god, the sex scenes are written so bad. “He sheathed into me”? Girly, chill.
This all is just set in Britain. Elaine is talking about tulips in the Netherlands.
Ah yes, a very good idea to go back to the village to give people money. Good thing there are barely any consequences about people suddenly becoming rich in this book.
Oh my god, look, now she is talking about humans like she once did about fae about how weird they look, that is so crazy.
First of all, Feyre, you are stupid, you do not know if this is not a trap. Second of all, tough love is not love, it is abuse. Third of all, you are not supposed to tell to protect yourself, so Amarantha cannot reach into the mind of your sister and figure out from her where you are and use you to hurt Tamlin.
THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. See, Feyre, you told them a different name and they attacked it. They will figure it out.
As a possibility, she should have considered that Tamlin had put glamour over it, so when she returned, she would be disappointed and would just turn back to her family.
So all of this was fixed by Tamlin. I bet this is just the conflict in the 75% mark and then she will go back to him. Or maybe in a different book. Also, they just changed from telling that she needed to get married to him, to just telling him that she loves him.
I also just noticed that the terrible place where the people got killed and everything is bad - yeah, that’s Ireland.
Tamlin sent so many of his people over the wall to get rid of the curse, maybe he is just not great. Sure, it is all for a greater goal, but it is not fair to people who trust him.
Okay, I was kinda wrong, Feyre does not hate him, because he gave up on wooing her and that makes it all okay.
Don’t worry Feyre, you keep falling for traps.
Why is this set in the UK?
So much not like the other girls, I swear to god.
I bet whoever she will find, they will teach her to write/read.
It was provoked tho, as they would have died from hunger otherwise.
I am really getting tired of her just being “Fairies = bad” every three seconds.
Feyre is so weird for remarking on Lucien’s metal eye.
Tamlin be like: “Do whatever you want with your life.”
But he also be like: *puts invisible bonds*
Feyre should have been fine with being killed, if her only reason to go with him was to kill him and get back. Now, that she is being told in the way that she can believe that her family is being cared for, it is weird of her to keep saying, that Tamlin is “holding [her] family’s well-being against her if she stepped out of line” since her stepping out of line would mean killing her and going against the treaty.
That was such a long description of her face. Bro, I know you write for teenagers, but come on.
I bet the painting was by Tamlin.
Girly, you have just been ready to kill him and now it is all “sheer male beauty”.
Grace? In his breathing?
Yo, they are stuck in masks? That is actually interesting.
Oh no, how could those “terrible beasts” be upset about her loss, when it is clear that she is still hurting. And there is no “I did not miss her in years”, since she is always going back to the promise and has only been able to not be very upset about it, because she needed to survive.
Me when a person is kinda forced to live with me until I die, so they try to be nice to me and figure out how to spend time with me. But no, that could not possibly be it, Lucien just wants her to get eaten by a bear.
It is honestly kind of annoying seeing her dismiss people and assume that everyone is worse than her, or at least more stupid.
Feyre expects to be killed simply for living and talking.
This is “Beauty and the Beast” all over again with her dad. That is such a trap tho, I have no clue how she pretends that everyone is so smart, when she acts like this.
Now I get why this book is this long, since it took her a couple of chapters to understand what he said, even tho he cannot lie.
This girly be like “treaty is not fair, i did not agree to be bound by it” and then be like “oh, poor fae (who i hated so much two seconds ago), they are forced into such anger by their immortality”.
I bet Tamlin will teach her to read and write when he learns about her not being able to.
I do not quite get how she finally understood that there is nothing she can do and her life is therefore meaningless, yet she still is making a plan to escape.
Yo, it’s the Sailor Moon transformation with light.
Oh no, my alpha male man is so lonely and powerful and he is isolating himself, because of how heavy of a burden he is carrying.
Girly, you do not know how powerful Bogge actually is. Maybe it is like a frog.
Lucien is so nice, but I bet Feyre will still hate him for no reason.
He did not say “if” you need to escape, he said “when you free Suriel, you will need to escape”.
I thought we established that Tamlin is a High Lord long ago?
“His human woman” is because you are in his court. The same as Lucien is his, you stupid.
“ignoring how easily I could see the cut of his muscles beneath his white shirt”, cause he is so so so sexy seconds after you almost died.
Why is she now deciding how Lucien should be punished? He probably did not know a better way to trap a Suriel and was trying to help the best he could.
Why is Tamlin suddenly talking about handing out punishments to Feyre?
I see we left plot and now they are just horny.
Bonfire night. Why is Feyre so stupid? Why did she not go back to the house when the black haired high fey left?
Bruh. Chapter 21. I see we left the plot entirely and we got out "fae sex ritual, because fantasy". (to cut out the rant, this is why I abandoned Sabrina's adventures)
??????????? Bro, rape. Flashing red lights rape. There is no "if she doesn't listen, I don't have to deal with what happens". Rape. Stop it.
Why is she now wearing dresses? Is this the arc where she loses her personality, because it's time for the steamy scenes?
Oh no, my alpha male man is so lonely and powerful and he is isolating himself, because of how heavy of a burden he is carrying. x2
Would she just get extremely overwhelmed from enhancing her feelings?
So first she says that there are no celebrations, but now that they celebrate the summer solstice?
I swear to god, the sex scenes are written so bad. “He sheathed into me”? Girly, chill.
This all is just set in Britain. Elaine is talking about tulips in the Netherlands.
Ah yes, a very good idea to go back to the village to give people money. Good thing there are barely any consequences about people suddenly becoming rich in this book.
Oh my god, look, now she is talking about humans like she once did about fae about how weird they look, that is so crazy.
First of all, Feyre, you are stupid, you do not know if this is not a trap. Second of all, tough love is not love, it is abuse. Third of all, you are not supposed to tell to protect yourself, so Amarantha cannot reach into the mind of your sister and figure out from her where you are and use you to hurt Tamlin.
THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. See, Feyre, you told them a different name and they attacked it. They will figure it out.
As a possibility, she should have considered that Tamlin had put glamour over it, so when she returned, she would be disappointed and would just turn back to her family.
So all of this was fixed by Tamlin. I bet this is just the conflict in the 75% mark and then she will go back to him. Or maybe in a different book. Also, they just changed from telling that she needed to get married to him, to just telling him that she loves him.
I also just noticed that the terrible place where the people got killed and everything is bad - yeah, that’s Ireland.
Tamlin sent so many of his people over the wall to get rid of the curse, maybe he is just not great. Sure, it is all for a greater goal, but it is not fair to people who trust him.
Okay, I was kinda wrong, Feyre does not hate him, because he gave up on wooing her and that makes it all okay.
Don’t worry Feyre, you keep falling for traps.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Rape, Slavery, War
Minor: Genocide
I am not sure if basically making fun of someone illiteracy is abelism.
Not sure if the human/fey dynamic is based on racism.
Could not really classify different wines as drugs, but did anyway.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mixed feelings.
Was really enjoying the story up until about 45% even though the original Beauty and the Beast themes were mostly gone. After all, Feyre isn't learning to love Tamlin *despite* his appearance at all. (She isn't learning to love him despite his race either. She overcomes her racism within no time).
There's no "this is the moral" moments because I don't think this story has any morals at all, unlike the original Beauty and the Beast.
SJM hits the story beats of both the original La Belle et la Bête and the Disney adaptation. But again, doesn't go into the themes surrounding those stories at all. So this is more a Beauty and the Beast backdrop or AU-setting than a retelling.
Regardless of that, the story was fun entertainment. It wasn't high literature at all. Everything was easy for the main character, almost everyone was nice to her[(despite her murdering someone!) So yeah, this story just screamed dumb fun.
And the voice acting of the audio drama I was listening to, was insanely good. Even though the actors moaning at every slightly sexual scene made me uncomfortable. Actually. All of the sex scenes kind of sucked.
It would have been an unserious 4 star read. But then the issues started. The truly bad issues. Here's a list of them:
1. Sexual Assault
Around the 45% mark, Feyre (almost) gets SAd twice. Once by a random group of men. Once by Tamlin. And we're supposed to find the latter romantic? I'm supposed to be rooting for this relationship?
Worst of all, when she tells Tamlin and Lucien that she didn't like being SAd, they laugh at her. They tell her she should have expected it because she was out late at night and told to stay indoors, so it was her fault. Jesus H. Christ?!
A few pages later we're supposed to find Tamlin's and Feyre's relationship romantic again? I truly don't know what the author was thinking here.
Multiple times, it is mentioned that Tamlin "just can't help himself" or "can't stop himself". This is seen as normal and Feyre just accepts it outright. I fucking hated it.
Around the 90% mark Rhysand, kisses her against her will. There's a plot reason for this. He does it to cover for her and Tamlin. But it's so so so icky.
2. Inconsistent characterisation
Tamlin is inconsistent and goes from being a bloodthirsty warlord, angry at Feyre for murdering his friend, to head over heels for Feyre within paragraphs. He SAs her, then keeps on being romantic with her. He tells her she cannot leave, and then tells her to leave him (which works in the original because The Beast goes through character development, but Tamlin does not develop at all, so this feels weird.)
It is later revealed that Tamlin let Andris get killed on purpose. That it is all part of Tamlin's curse and his plan to let his friends get killed only for a chance of breaking his curse (which does NOT make him likeable). But then his and Lucien's anger does not make sense! Tamlin breaks down Feyre's door and permanently mentally scars her family in the beginning of the story. So is he angry and vengeful? Or does he not give a shit about Andris because he just needs a human girl to marry him?
Lucien's character, while being the best, is also inconsistent. He goes from vomiting at the sight of blood to cleaning up decapitated heads without an issue, without any significant character moments which could cause that development.
He starts off hating Feyre for killing his friend. Almost gets her killed by omitting important information and not coming to her rescue despite promising to do so. And then, he out of nowhere starts bantering with her and protecting her from Rhysand. What? Did Lucien care about Andris or not? Does he want Tamlin's curse to be broken or not?
Nesta starts off a complete bitch who refuses to help Feyre in feeding their family. To the extend that she doesn't even chop wood for a fire because she doesn't care. She is peak laziness and an awful sister and person, just like the sisters in the original La Belle et la Bête.
But then, when the riches come back. She suddenly cares about Feyre? She goes after her? She tells Feyre that she couldn't have helped more? And starts painting with Feyre? Literally a complete retcon of her character within 1 book.
Amarantha is incredibly evil and cruel throughout the book (or at least after we finally meet her). It makes no sense with her characterisation for her to give Feyre an 'out'. To give Feyre that riddle that will instantly save Tamlin. You're telling me, that someone THAT ruthless would leave a gap in her plan like that? Especially since she apparently does care about semantics with the whole ""immediately" only applies to the riddle not the trials"-bullshit".
Feyre doesn't escape the inconsistencies either. Sometimes she wants to escape, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she cares about having killed Andris, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she believes her family is horrible and wants to leave them forever, sometimes she crawls back to them and loves them again. Sometimes she wants to find information about the Blight, sometimes she just wants to suck and fuck Tamlin. Sometimes she rightfully wants to kill Rhysand, sometimes she kind of wants to suck and fuck him too.
Sigh.
3. Bad writing
While being threatened by Rhysand, Feyre gives him a fake name. Instead of giving her own, she gives the name of one of her sisters' friends: Claire.
This is the first time we hear of Claire. We have never heard anything about her or her relationship with Feyre's sisters before. She has never been relevant before, she has had no speaking lines and has literally never been on page.
Then, Rhysand burns down Claire's house. And Claire's family dies. Again, this does not happen on page and we, the reader, have never met Claire or her family. Instead, we hang out with Feyre's sisters, who also BARELY seem sad that Claire's family is dead. Despite apparently being her friends.
When Feyre eventually goes to save Tamlin, Feyre sees Claire's tortured corpse. She died because Feyre gave her name instead of her own.
And I do not give a flying fuck.
The reader hasn't spend any time with Claire, we know nothing about Claire, not even Feyre's sisters cared about Claire. Nobody cares about Claire. So why should I?
The reveal of Claire's corpse is supposed to be a big moment, but it just rings hollow because there hasn't been any setup.
This is just an example of some of the issues in this book.
Maybe if SJM had made Claire an actual character earlier on. Maybe if we had actually seen Claire chat with Nesta or Elain. Maybe if we had been SHOWN any sign of Claire before. MAYBE I would have given a shit.
And this isn't just a Claire issue. Half of the characters are bad or useless.
- You have Alis. Who is only there for exposition and is barely a character beyond that.
- And Elain, who has a flower garden. And that's her entire characterisation.
- And Feyre's dad, who has a messed up leg. And that's his entire characterisation.
- And Isaac, who is there to be Feyre's ex. And for her to compare Tamlin to. And that's it.
So, most of the characters do not have characterisations and the ones that do are inconsistent. Great.
4. Show don't tell violations
- We hear about Claire being kidnapped and murdered. But we don't get to see it. (Hell we don't even get to see Claire while she's alive)
- We hear about Isaac and Feyre having a complicated relationship, but we don't get to see it.
- We hear about Tamlin having to whip Lucien, which almost breaks both of them. But we don't get to see it.
SJM doesn't show us the most interesting parts of the book.
5. Repetitive writing
The "so [insert adjective] I couldn't paint it" or "I could never paint that" shit when Feyre saw or experienced something nice was extremely overused. I counted 6 seperate times before the 60% mark. It got annoying fast.
6. The fucking curse
The curse is so overly complex and has so many (sub)clauses. It's fucking ridiculous.
Tamlin has to find a human girl willing to marry him and then the curse will be broken. Okay got it. That makes sense.
HOWEVER
- This human girl has to hate fae enough that she first has to kill a faerie.
- This faerie can't be any faerie, it had to be one of Tamlin's men.
- And the human girl can't murder out of self defense, she had to kill the faerie unprovoked.
- The human girl has to tell Tamlin to his face that she loves him, and mean it
- Tamlin, nor anyone else, is allowed to tell the human girl about the curse during any of this.
- Tamlin and his entire court, forcibly get a mask attached to their faces so that the human girl can't be impressed by their beauty and therefore fall in love with Tamlin.
Bitch. Why the fuck does his curse need SIX different clauses? Why is does this curse read like a legal contract?
Also why does the entire court need to wear a mask? Only Tamlin needs to have his beauty hidden, right?
Also, Alis first says that Tamlin needs to marry a human girl, but then says that the curse would have been resolved if Feyre had just told him she loved him. So which fucking is it?
7. Rhysand
Oh my fucking God. This is the worst Aaron Warner situation I've ever encountered. I know this cunt becomes a love interest in the next book and I literally cannot accept that.
He treats Feyre extremely cruelly because he wants to anger Tamlin enough for him to kill Amarantha. Thing is, I think Tamlin is already PLENTY angry.
Or idk? Kill fucking Amarantha yourself after the curse has been lifted? She literally sexually abused you? I'm sure you're plenty angry yourself. Why shift that responsibility to Tamlin?
This is especially an issue since Rhysand does actually try to kill her when Tamlin can't do so and the curse doesn't lift right after the trials. So he didn't even need Tamlin to begin with! (And even when the curse does lift and Tamlin kills Amarantha, I don't see why Rhysand couldn't have done that. Or why Tamlin needed to be angered more. He was already furious!)
And angering Tamlin also doesn't excuse the fact that Rhysand also treats Feyre horribly when Tamlin isn't even fucking there. He messes with the bones in her broken arm, constantly sexually harassed her, and licks away her tears while they're in the privacy of Feyre's cell. Why do that if you're just trying to anger Tamlin?
He literally objectifies Feyre and abuses her the whole time. He only treats her okay-ish when she turns into a fae at the end.
There is no way, and I mean, absolutely no way that he can be redeemed.
Now these 7 sins don't mean I didn't find any enjoyment in this book. It was still dumb fun sometimes (although I hated the ending. Truly wished Feyre died to be honest).
The issues with this book were so glaring that I can't give this more than 2 stars.
Was really enjoying the story up until about 45% even though the original Beauty and the Beast themes were mostly gone. After all, Feyre isn't
There's no "this is the moral" moments because I don't think this story has any morals at all, unlike the original Beauty and the Beast.
SJM hits the story beats of both the original La Belle et la Bête and the Disney adaptation. But again, doesn't go into the themes surrounding those stories at all. So this is more a Beauty and the Beast backdrop or AU-setting than a retelling.
Regardless of that, the story was fun entertainment. It wasn't high literature at all. Everything was easy for the main character, almost everyone was nice to her
And the voice acting of the audio drama I was listening to, was insanely good. Even though the actors moaning at every slightly sexual scene made me uncomfortable. Actually. All of the sex scenes kind of sucked.
It would have been an unserious 4 star read. But then the issues started. The truly bad issues. Here's a list of them:
1. Sexual Assault
Worst of all, when she tells Tamlin and Lucien that she didn't like being SAd, they laugh at her. They tell her she should have expected it because she was out late at night and told to stay indoors, so it was her fault. Jesus H. Christ?!
A few pages later we're supposed to find Tamlin's and Feyre's relationship romantic again? I truly don't know what the author was thinking here.
Multiple times, it is mentioned that Tamlin "just can't help himself" or "can't stop himself". This is seen as normal and Feyre just accepts it outright. I fucking hated it.
Around the 90% mark Rhysand, kisses her against her will. There's a plot reason for this. He does it to cover for her and Tamlin. But it's so so so icky.
2. Inconsistent characterisation
It is later revealed that Tamlin let Andris get killed on purpose. That it is all part of Tamlin's curse and his plan to let his friends get killed only for a chance of breaking his curse (which does NOT make him likeable). But then his and Lucien's anger does not make sense! Tamlin breaks down Feyre's door and permanently mentally scars her family in the beginning of the story. So is he angry and vengeful? Or does he not give a shit about Andris because he just needs a human girl to marry him?
Lucien's character, while being the best, is also inconsistent. He goes from vomiting at the sight of blood to cleaning up decapitated heads without an issue, without any significant character moments which could cause that development.
He starts off hating Feyre for killing his friend. Almost gets her killed by omitting important information and not coming to her rescue despite promising to do so. And then, he out of nowhere starts bantering with her and protecting her from Rhysand. What? Did Lucien care about Andris or not? Does he want Tamlin's curse to be broken or not?
Nesta starts off a complete bitch who refuses to help Feyre in feeding their family. To the extend that she doesn't even chop wood for a fire because she doesn't care. She is peak laziness and an awful sister and person, just like the sisters in the original La Belle et la Bête.
But then, when the riches come back. She suddenly cares about Feyre? She goes after her? She tells Feyre that she couldn't have helped more? And starts painting with Feyre? Literally a complete retcon of her character within 1 book.
Amarantha is incredibly evil and cruel throughout the book (or at least after we finally meet her). It makes no sense with her characterisation for her to give Feyre an 'out'. To give Feyre that riddle that will instantly save Tamlin. You're telling me, that someone THAT ruthless would leave a gap in her plan like that? Especially since she apparently does care about semantics with the whole ""immediately" only applies to the riddle not the trials"-bullshit".
Feyre doesn't escape the inconsistencies either. Sometimes she wants to escape, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she cares about having killed Andris, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she believes her family is horrible and wants to leave them forever, sometimes she crawls back to them and loves them again. Sometimes she wants to find information about the Blight, sometimes she just wants to suck and fuck Tamlin. Sometimes she rightfully wants to kill Rhysand, sometimes she kind of wants to suck and fuck him too.
Sigh.
3. Bad writing
This is the first time we hear of Claire. We have never heard anything about her or her relationship with Feyre's sisters before. She has never been relevant before, she has had no speaking lines and has literally never been on page.
Then, Rhysand burns down Claire's house. And Claire's family dies. Again, this does not happen on page and we, the reader, have never met Claire or her family. Instead, we hang out with Feyre's sisters, who also BARELY seem sad that Claire's family is dead. Despite apparently being her friends.
When Feyre eventually goes to save Tamlin, Feyre sees Claire's tortured corpse. She died because Feyre gave her name instead of her own.
And I do not give a flying fuck.
The reader hasn't spend any time with Claire, we know nothing about Claire, not even Feyre's sisters cared about Claire. Nobody cares about Claire. So why should I?
The reveal of Claire's corpse is supposed to be a big moment, but it just rings hollow because there hasn't been any setup.
This is just an example of some of the issues in this book.
Maybe if SJM had made Claire an actual character earlier on. Maybe if we had actually seen Claire chat with Nesta or Elain. Maybe if we had been SHOWN any sign of Claire before. MAYBE I would have given a shit.
And this isn't just a Claire issue. Half of the characters are bad or useless.
- You have Alis. Who is only there for exposition and is barely a character beyond that.
- And Elain, who has a flower garden. And that's her entire characterisation.
- And Feyre's dad, who has a messed up leg. And that's his entire characterisation.
- And Isaac, who is there to be Feyre's ex. And for her to compare Tamlin to. And that's it.
So, most of the characters do not have characterisations and the ones that do are inconsistent. Great.
4. Show don't tell violations
- We hear about Isaac and Feyre having a complicated relationship, but we don't get to see it.
- We hear about Tamlin having to whip Lucien, which almost breaks both of them. But we don't get to see it.
SJM doesn't show us the most interesting parts of the book.
5. Repetitive writing
The "so [insert adjective] I couldn't paint it" or "I could never paint that" shit when Feyre saw or experienced something nice was extremely overused. I counted 6 seperate times before the 60% mark. It got annoying fast.
6. The fucking
The curse is so overly complex and has so many (sub)clauses. It's fucking ridiculous.
Tamlin has to find a human girl willing to marry him and then the curse will be broken. Okay got it. That makes sense.
HOWEVER
- This human girl has to hate fae enough that she first has to kill a faerie.
- This faerie can't be any faerie, it had to be one of Tamlin's men.
- And the human girl can't murder out of self defense, she had to kill the faerie unprovoked.
- The human girl has to tell Tamlin to his face that she loves him, and mean it
- Tamlin, nor anyone else, is allowed to tell the human girl about the curse during any of this.
- Tamlin and his entire court, forcibly get a mask attached to their faces so that the human girl can't be impressed by their beauty and therefore fall in love with Tamlin.
Bitch. Why the fuck does his curse need SIX different clauses? Why is does this curse read like a legal contract?
Also why does the entire court need to wear a mask? Only Tamlin needs to have his beauty hidden, right?
Also, Alis first says that Tamlin needs to marry a human girl, but then says that the curse would have been resolved if Feyre had just told him she loved him. So which fucking is it?
7. Rhysand
Oh my fucking God. This is the worst Aaron Warner situation I've ever encountered. I know this cunt becomes a love interest in the next book and I literally cannot accept that.
He treats Feyre extremely cruelly because he
Or idk? Kill fucking Amarantha yourself after the curse has been lifted? She literally sexually abused you? I'm sure you're plenty angry yourself. Why shift that responsibility to Tamlin?
This is especially an issue since Rhysand does actually try to kill her when Tamlin can't do so and the curse doesn't lift right after the trials. So he didn't even need Tamlin to begin with! (And even when the curse does lift and Tamlin kills Amarantha, I don't see why Rhysand couldn't have done that. Or why Tamlin needed to be angered more. He was already furious!)
And angering Tamlin also doesn't excuse the fact that Rhysand also treats Feyre horribly when Tamlin isn't even fucking there. He messes with the bones in her broken arm, constantly sexually harassed her, and licks away her tears while they're in the privacy of Feyre's cell. Why do that if you're just trying to anger Tamlin?
He literally objectifies Feyre and abuses her the whole time.
There is no way, and I mean, absolutely no way that he can be redeemed.
Now these 7 sins don't mean I didn't find any enjoyment in this book. It was still dumb fun sometimes
The issues with this book were so glaring that I can't give this more than 2 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Vomit, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-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
Stunningly beautiful. Amazingly vibrant. I had seen this book everywhere but was always concerned it didn’t live up to the hype. Well…it did and more. Cannot wait to start the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4,5⭐️
Reseña en español e inglés. / <b>review both in English and Spanish</b>.
⚠️<b>ESTA RESEÑA CONTIENE SPOILERS</b>⚠️
Wow, qué libro. Me ha sorprendido muchísimo, no esperaba para nada que fuera a gustarme tanto.
Llevo viendo esta saga por todas partes (tiktok, tiendas de libros, aquí en goodreads, etc.), y en principio no tenía pensado leerlo, pero al final una persona a la que quiero mucho (Helen ily) me convenció de leerlo y aquí estoy.
Este retelling de <i>La Bella y La Bestia</i> nos cuenta la historia de Feyre (la protagonista), que, intentando cazar para alimentar a su familia, acaba matando a Andras (un inmortal) y como castigo, Tamlin la lleva a Prythian, concretamente a la Corte Primavera (donde él es el alto lord) para que esta pueda pagar por su delito. A medida que va pasando la historia, vamos conociendo más acerca del mundo donde estos inmortales habitan, así como siete Cortes diferentes (Corte Otoño, Corte Invierno, Corte Verano, Corte Primavera, Corte Día, Corte Noche y Corte Amanecer) en las que su tierra está dividida. Aunque este libro está más centrado en la Corte Primavera, la autora explica de una manera preciosa cómo esta Corte es, como por ejemplo los jardines, la mansión donde viven, las plantas, las lagunas, etc. y me ha encantado. A medida que el tiempo pasa, Feyre disfruta más y más de estar ahí, rodeada de magia, bailes y nuevos sabores, y poco a poco se va enamorando de Tamlin, quien es víctima de una maldición. La protagonista, para salvar su nuevo hogar y los de más allá del muro donde residen los inmortales, se expone a la oscuridad para salvar a todos los habitantes de Prythian de la maldad que lleva décadas amenazándolos, a la vez que rescata al amor de su vida.
<i>Te amo. Con espinas y todo</i>.
<u>Feyre</u> es increíble, me ha encantado. Al principio se notaba que su pesimismo era lo único en lo que se basaba, pero, cuanto más cosas le pasaban, mejor actuaba. Es un personaje fuerte, totalmente decidida y que no se rinde jamás, dispuesta a luchar por lo que quiere hasta conseguirlo. Además, después de los mil fanarts que me ha pasado mi amiga, puedo decir con certeza que es PRECIOSA, tanto por fuera como por dentro.
<u>Tamlin</u>… ay, Tamlin, te tengo un amor y un odio increíble. No es un mal personaje pero tampoco me ha gustado mucho su manera de actuar en muchas ocasiones (aka morderle el cuello a Feyre sin su consentimiento).
<u>Lucien</u> me ha sorprendido también, no sabía que me iba a caer tan bien. Su amistad extraña con Feyre me ha parecido muy buena y es un buen personaje.
<u>Rhysand</u> dos palabras: cásate conmigo.
<u>Amarantha</u> eres una puta loca, me encanta.
La verdad es que me ha encantado. Me ha tenido enganchada desde el primer capítulo y no hacía más que mejorar. Me ha gustado la manera en cómo Sarah J. Maas describe Prythian (como si ella misma estuviera viviendo allí) su pluma me ha parecido muy buena, porque me ha transmitido unas emociones/sensaciones indescriptibles. Como he dicho antes, me ha sorprendido muchísimo y no me lo esperaba para nada. Después de haber leído unas cuantas malas reseñas sobre el libro, la verdad es que le tenía miedo, así que cuando lo empecé mis expectativas eran totalmente neutras. Y eso ha sido mejor, ya que me ha encantado y sigo flipando de lo mucho que lo ha hecho.
Como siempre, el punto negativo en este caso, a mi parecer, sería:
1. El síndrome de Estocolmo que tiene Feyre no es ni medio normal (Tamlin NO te merece).
2. No me ha gustado para nada como, en ocasiones, trataban a Feyre como si fuera un juguete.
Poco más que añadir, salvo que no puedo esperar más a seguir leyendo la saga ACOTAR y seguir fangirleando muchísimo (sí Helen, contigo), y no puedo esperar a leer más sobre Rhysand, que se ha convertido en mi crush definitivo desde el momento en que aparece.
Si te gusta la fantasía con romance este es tu libro, engancha muchísimo y los plot twists son muy buenos. Aún así, siempre aconsejo buscar información sobre los <b><i>trigger warnings</i></b>, ya que pueden haber cosas que para algunas personas puedan ser fuertes (rapto, muerte, gore, alcohol, no hay mucho <i>smut</i> pero sí un poco, violencia, tortura, agresión sexual, etc.).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
⚠️<b>THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS</b>⚠️
Wow, what a book. It surprised me a lot, I didn’t expect at all that I would like it so much.
I've been seeing this series everywhere (tiktok, book stores, here on goodreads, etc.), and at first I wasn’t planning on reading it, but a person who I love very much (<b>Helen ily</b>) convinced me to read it and here I am.
This retelling of The Beauty and the Beast tells us the story of Feyre (the main character) that, trying to hunt to feed her family, ends up killing Andras (an immortal) and as punishment, Tamlin takes her to Prythian specifically to the Spring Court (where he is the high lord) so that she can pay for her crime. As the story progresses, we learn more about the world where these immortals live, as well as six other different Courts (Autumn Court, Winter Court, Summer Court, Day Court, Night Court and Dawn Court) in which their land is divided. Although this book is more focused in the Spring Court, the author beautifully explains how this Court is, such as the gardens, the mansion where they live, the plants, the lagoons, etc. and I loved it. As time passes, Feyre enjoys being there more and more, surrounded by magic, dances and new flavors, and bit by bit she falls in love with Tamlin, who is the victim of a curse. The main character, in order to save her new home and those beyond the wall where the immortals reside, exposes herself to the darkness to save all the people of Prythian from the evil that has been threatening them for decades, while rescuing the love of her life.
<i>I love you. Thorns and all</i>.
<u>Feyre </u> is amazing, I love her. At first you could tell that her pessimism was the only thing she relied on, but the more things happened to her, the better she acted. She is a strong character, totally determined and never gives up, willing to fight for what she wants until she gets it. Also, after the thousand fanarts that my friend sent me, I can say with certainty that she is BEAUTIFUL, both on the outside and the inside.
<u>Tamlin</u>… oh Tamlin, I noth love and hate you. He's not a bad character but I didn't really like the way he acted on many occasions (aka biting Feyre's neck without her consent).
<u>Lucien </u> surprised me too, I didn't know I was going to like him so much. His weird friendship with Feyre seemed was really good and he is a good character.
<u>Rhysand</u> two words: marry me.
<u>Amarantha</u> you are a crazy bitch, I love it.
The truth is that this book is incredible. I was hooked since the first chapter and it just kept getting better. I like the way Sarah J. Maas describes Prythian (as if she herself were living there). The way she writes is so good, she made me feel indescribable emotions/sensations. As I said before, I’m totally surprised and I didn’t expect that at all. After reading a few bad reviews about the book, the truth is that I was afraid of reading it, so when I started it my expectations were totally neutral. And that was good because I am still freaking out at how much I’ve loved it.
As always, the negative point in this case, in my opinion, would be:
1. Feyre’s Stockholm syndrome is not even normal (Tamlin does NOT deserve her).
2. I didn’t like at all how sometimes Feyre was treated by everyone as if she were a toy.
Little more to add, except that I can't wait to continue reading the ACOTAR series and keep fangirling a lot (<b>yes Helen, with you</b>), and I can't wait to read more about Rhysand, who has become my ultimate crush from the very moment he appears.
If you like fantasy with romance this is your book, it is very engaging and the plot twists are very good.
I always recommend looking for information about the <b>trigger warnings</b> before reading <u>(tw such as: kidnapping, death, gore, alcohol, there is not much smut but a little, violence, torture, sexual assault, etc.)</u>.
(English is not my first language, if you find any mistakes please let me know).
Reseña en español e inglés. / <b>review both in English and Spanish</b>.
⚠️<b>ESTA RESEÑA CONTIENE SPOILERS</b>⚠️
Wow, qué libro. Me ha sorprendido muchísimo, no esperaba para nada que fuera a gustarme tanto.
Llevo viendo esta saga por todas partes (tiktok, tiendas de libros, aquí en goodreads, etc.), y en principio no tenía pensado leerlo, pero al final una persona a la que quiero mucho (Helen ily) me convenció de leerlo y aquí estoy.
Este retelling de <i>La Bella y La Bestia</i> nos cuenta la historia de Feyre (la protagonista), que, intentando cazar para alimentar a su familia, acaba matando a Andras (un inmortal) y como castigo, Tamlin la lleva a Prythian, concretamente a la Corte Primavera (donde él es el alto lord) para que esta pueda pagar por su delito. A medida que va pasando la historia, vamos conociendo más acerca del mundo donde estos inmortales habitan, así como siete Cortes diferentes (Corte Otoño, Corte Invierno, Corte Verano, Corte Primavera, Corte Día, Corte Noche y Corte Amanecer) en las que su tierra está dividida. Aunque este libro está más centrado en la Corte Primavera, la autora explica de una manera preciosa cómo esta Corte es, como por ejemplo los jardines, la mansión donde viven, las plantas, las lagunas, etc. y me ha encantado. A medida que el tiempo pasa, Feyre disfruta más y más de estar ahí, rodeada de magia, bailes y nuevos sabores, y poco a poco se va enamorando de Tamlin, quien es víctima de una maldición. La protagonista, para salvar su nuevo hogar y los de más allá del muro donde residen los inmortales, se expone a la oscuridad para salvar a todos los habitantes de Prythian de la maldad que lleva décadas amenazándolos, a la vez que rescata al amor de su vida.
<i>Te amo. Con espinas y todo</i>.
<u>Feyre</u> es increíble, me ha encantado. Al principio se notaba que su pesimismo era lo único en lo que se basaba, pero, cuanto más cosas le pasaban, mejor actuaba. Es un personaje fuerte, totalmente decidida y que no se rinde jamás, dispuesta a luchar por lo que quiere hasta conseguirlo. Además, después de los mil fanarts que me ha pasado mi amiga, puedo decir con certeza que es PRECIOSA, tanto por fuera como por dentro.
<u>Tamlin</u>… ay, Tamlin, te tengo un amor y un odio increíble. No es un mal personaje pero tampoco me ha gustado mucho su manera de actuar en muchas ocasiones (aka morderle el cuello a Feyre sin su consentimiento).
<u>Lucien</u> me ha sorprendido también, no sabía que me iba a caer tan bien. Su amistad extraña con Feyre me ha parecido muy buena y es un buen personaje.
<u>Rhysand</u> dos palabras: cásate conmigo.
<u>Amarantha</u> eres una puta loca, me encanta.
La verdad es que me ha encantado. Me ha tenido enganchada desde el primer capítulo y no hacía más que mejorar. Me ha gustado la manera en cómo Sarah J. Maas describe Prythian (como si ella misma estuviera viviendo allí) su pluma me ha parecido muy buena, porque me ha transmitido unas emociones/sensaciones indescriptibles. Como he dicho antes, me ha sorprendido muchísimo y no me lo esperaba para nada. Después de haber leído unas cuantas malas reseñas sobre el libro, la verdad es que le tenía miedo, así que cuando lo empecé mis expectativas eran totalmente neutras. Y eso ha sido mejor, ya que me ha encantado y sigo flipando de lo mucho que lo ha hecho.
Como siempre, el punto negativo en este caso, a mi parecer, sería:
1. El síndrome de Estocolmo que tiene Feyre no es ni medio normal (Tamlin NO te merece).
2. No me ha gustado para nada como, en ocasiones, trataban a Feyre como si fuera un juguete.
Poco más que añadir, salvo que no puedo esperar más a seguir leyendo la saga ACOTAR y seguir fangirleando muchísimo (sí Helen, contigo), y no puedo esperar a leer más sobre Rhysand, que se ha convertido en mi crush definitivo desde el momento en que aparece.
Si te gusta la fantasía con romance este es tu libro, engancha muchísimo y los plot twists son muy buenos. Aún así, siempre aconsejo buscar información sobre los <b><i>trigger warnings</i></b>, ya que pueden haber cosas que para algunas personas puedan ser fuertes (rapto, muerte, gore, alcohol, no hay mucho <i>smut</i> pero sí un poco, violencia, tortura, agresión sexual, etc.).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
⚠️<b>THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS</b>⚠️
Wow, what a book. It surprised me a lot, I didn’t expect at all that I would like it so much.
I've been seeing this series everywhere (tiktok, book stores, here on goodreads, etc.), and at first I wasn’t planning on reading it, but a person who I love very much (<b>Helen ily</b>) convinced me to read it and here I am.
This retelling of The Beauty and the Beast tells us the story of Feyre (the main character) that, trying to hunt to feed her family, ends up killing Andras (an immortal) and as punishment, Tamlin takes her to Prythian specifically to the Spring Court (where he is the high lord) so that she can pay for her crime. As the story progresses, we learn more about the world where these immortals live, as well as six other different Courts (Autumn Court, Winter Court, Summer Court, Day Court, Night Court and Dawn Court) in which their land is divided. Although this book is more focused in the Spring Court, the author beautifully explains how this Court is, such as the gardens, the mansion where they live, the plants, the lagoons, etc. and I loved it. As time passes, Feyre enjoys being there more and more, surrounded by magic, dances and new flavors, and bit by bit she falls in love with Tamlin, who is the victim of a curse. The main character, in order to save her new home and those beyond the wall where the immortals reside, exposes herself to the darkness to save all the people of Prythian from the evil that has been threatening them for decades, while rescuing the love of her life.
<i>I love you. Thorns and all</i>.
<u>Feyre </u> is amazing, I love her. At first you could tell that her pessimism was the only thing she relied on, but the more things happened to her, the better she acted. She is a strong character, totally determined and never gives up, willing to fight for what she wants until she gets it. Also, after the thousand fanarts that my friend sent me, I can say with certainty that she is BEAUTIFUL, both on the outside and the inside.
<u>Tamlin</u>… oh Tamlin, I noth love and hate you. He's not a bad character but I didn't really like the way he acted on many occasions (aka biting Feyre's neck without her consent).
<u>Lucien </u> surprised me too, I didn't know I was going to like him so much. His weird friendship with Feyre seemed was really good and he is a good character.
<u>Rhysand</u> two words: marry me.
<u>Amarantha</u> you are a crazy bitch, I love it.
The truth is that this book is incredible. I was hooked since the first chapter and it just kept getting better. I like the way Sarah J. Maas describes Prythian (as if she herself were living there). The way she writes is so good, she made me feel indescribable emotions/sensations. As I said before, I’m totally surprised and I didn’t expect that at all. After reading a few bad reviews about the book, the truth is that I was afraid of reading it, so when I started it my expectations were totally neutral. And that was good because I am still freaking out at how much I’ve loved it.
As always, the negative point in this case, in my opinion, would be:
1. Feyre’s Stockholm syndrome is not even normal (Tamlin does NOT deserve her).
2. I didn’t like at all how sometimes Feyre was treated by everyone as if she were a toy.
Little more to add, except that I can't wait to continue reading the ACOTAR series and keep fangirling a lot (<b>yes Helen, with you</b>), and I can't wait to read more about Rhysand, who has become my ultimate crush from the very moment he appears.
If you like fantasy with romance this is your book, it is very engaging and the plot twists are very good.
I always recommend looking for information about the <b>trigger warnings</b> before reading <u>(tw such as: kidnapping, death, gore, alcohol, there is not much smut but a little, violence, torture, sexual assault, etc.)</u>.
(English is not my first language, if you find any mistakes please let me know).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this book was pretty simple, it gave me pretty heavy twilight vibes but I didn’t find the characters as relatable or interesting. I’m curious to see how the rest of the world works but I found Feyra (i listened to the audiobook so not sure about spelling) to be frustratingly mischaracterized by her own story. I thought this was going to be a story about a heartless fierce girl learning to love but in reality Feyra is immediately kind and overly forgiving of her family who doesn’t appreciate her hard work. She doesn’t want to be a huntress, she doesn’t want to be cold and is never unfeeling. It just made the whole “girl with ice in her heart” feel so hollow. Also, I have a hard time with main characters who are actively stupid just to make the plot work better. There are so many times she is simply willfully ignorant because if she was a little smarter then the -drama- wouldn’t happen. The things I liked about the book were the world and faeries and the rules, though I feel like these all took a backseat to the romance. I’m also not sure if this is because I was listening to the audiobook but there were weird time skips that left me feeling very off balance. Again, I’m curious to see more of the universe fleshed out but I am irritated that I have to see it all through Feyra’s eyes lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Erstmal auf Deutsch:
Nachdem eine Freundin seit mehr als einem Jahr versucht hat, mich davon zu überzeugen, diese Reihe zu lesen, habe ich mich endlich überzeugen lassen.
Es gab ein paar Kleinigkeiten, die mich gestört haben,
z. B. Habe ich die Anziehung zwischen Tamlin und Feyre nicht sonderlich gespürt aber der Erzählstil hat mir gut gefallen und jetzt, da ich auch den nächsten Teil gelesen habe, kann ich bestätigen, dass dieser Band mehr wie eine lange Einleitung zum Rest der Reihe ist.
Now for the English readers: I picked this up from a friend after she tried to persuade me for over a year to read it.
There were some things I didn't like very much, e. G. That there was no atmosphere between Tamlin and Feyre and how whiny she was in the beginning even though she is supposed to be a huntress .
But I liked Maas's writing style and after reading the second book I can confirm that this is mostly a really long introduction to the real series, but it's worth it.
Nachdem eine Freundin seit mehr als einem Jahr versucht hat, mich davon zu überzeugen, diese Reihe zu lesen, habe ich mich endlich überzeugen lassen.
Es gab ein paar Kleinigkeiten, die mich gestört haben,
Now for the English readers: I picked this up from a friend after she tried to persuade me for over a year to read it.
There were some things I didn't like very much,
But I liked Maas's writing style and after reading the second book I can confirm that this is mostly a really long introduction to the real series, but it's worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Sexual violence
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