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adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Bad summaries:
500+ y/o guy falls for a 19 year old with an educational disability who doesnt know what to do with her life and then introduces her to royalty hell and forces her to save him from his eternal doom at the hands of a sadistic evil woman who kills for fun š¤·š½āāļø
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
DNF. Pushed through until halfway but then I gave up. I didn't get the plot, MC was boring, writing style was bad. Also not a fan of the power relationship/age gap.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, Slavery
dark
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:
Yes
Feyre is so unlikable that I could not bring myself to care when she was basically getting tortured....
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Slavery, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, War
adventurous
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, Vomit
Minor: Slavery, Death of parent, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
Solid, expertly written book. Some issues with depictions of trauma.
New Adult Dark High Fantasy about a young woman who accidentally kills the friend of a fae lord while hunting. He forces her to come live in the fae world for the rest of her life. They become romantically involved and other faeries find out he's with a human. This enrages the jealous queen, who then tries to kill her and destroy his house by making him her slave. She even has another man she keeps for her own enjoyment already while terrorizing the entire kingdom and just slaughtering everyone who gets in her way. It's clear she enjoys toying with people and lashing out when she doesn't get what she wants. Things go from 0 to 300 quick.
ACOTAR has an initially slow start that really picks up in the middle. Full of action and a badass female protagonist who is also fragile emotionally and physically in comparison to the immortals around her. It's a little spooky and gritty. Lots of monsters and mystery. It's violent and dark and has a lot of great twists. Even the ending of this book is a twist in itself for the rest of the series. Book 1 is sort of: "What had happened was..." in a way that genuinely feels like immersing in a fairytale and then later seeing it has gone very very wrong. You get more and more of some great character building as it becomes less Disney and more reality, making it a really fun read.
Great intro to the series. Though a little flawed for the more serious themes it explores and how they are represented in book 1, (I feel they aren't remedied until the start of book 2) but they are mostly remedied by a large percentage when they are. That's a dangerous game when depicting a high fantasy that is realistically depicting so much trauma. There are a lot of themes which may offend or trigger but the characters just sort of live in it... So, read on! But just be aware this book may insinuate it is actually ignoring the important subjects it means to talk about... attention to them just comes in late.
You can tell that Maas is a smart writer who has seen many fairytales she was really fed up with. She takes every opportunity to bring in the rage she wishes those characters showed. And she is an expert writer who hides some really sweet details throughout her books. You may come out with an even better perspective and deeper appreciation on a second read because it does such a good job of upsetting the reader on the first read.
Definitely recommended. I just feel that an important part of the readership might fall off before the series really gets into what it's largely about, which was frustrating as a reader and as someone who can closely relate to some of those issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Slavery
Discussions about abuse, neglect, etc are less prevalent in book 1 and more prevalent in book 2. For the worse in my opinion. Because it doesn't allow for discussion ABOUT the abuse and that it is abuse until this book has ended. The characters just live in the abuse in book 1 and not much is done about it or contextualized. It's very realistic and well-researched but the handling isn't very delicate to start. However, the abusive bits also aren't graphic and book 2 has more delicate handling and continued light mentioning coupled with a more serious discussion. Disappointing weakening of book 1 a bit. But hey... surviving trauma also teaches you that we can't expect perfection. The year was 2015. I'm glad it was talked about at all.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Torture, Murder
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, War
Minor: Ableism
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While I enjoyed the world building in the first half, I just really didnāt like or feel a connection to the main characters. The graphic violence was excessive (maybe a matter of taste but I skimmed several passages).
I found myself waiting the whole time to finally connect with the story. I never really did! The plot just didnāt track for me, the logic of the treaties and curses felt weak.
Feyre is reckless and fickle and justā¦unlikeable? I clearly just did not like this book š
I found myself waiting the whole time to finally connect with the story. I never really did! The plot just didnāt track for me, the logic of the treaties and curses felt weak.
Feyre is reckless and fickle and justā¦unlikeable? I clearly just did not like this book š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Vomit, Alcohol, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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:
No
i enjoyed the last 10% of the book, the rest of it made me want to bang my head continuously into a cinderblock wall.
i get that she had to set up the world and make the ~love story~ make sense but jesus it was slow.and the set up with rhysand just feels so out of place in the situations. this put me in the worst reading slumpā¦ i wasnt able to finish anything since i picked this book up in MAY and i had to basically hold myself at gunpoint to finish it. itās AUGUST.
feyre is illiterate as a plot point but sheās also an idiot. being uneducated and being an imbecile are different things, and she is both.
tamlin is boringgg, and worse, heās blonde. i cannot bring myself to gaf abt him. blond men are a plague.
amarantha is a drag, she couldāve been a really interesting villain but instead we get these weak little challenges. likeā¦that riddle was the easiest thing iāve ever read (and CORNY, especially with it coming from someone who is supposed to be so heartless and wretchedā¦) ā¹ļø
other āvillainā is interesting but i have to sayā¦i know that rhysand is the endgame but jfc chill w the descriptions of his beauty while youāre ~enduring deathly trials bc you are so unbelievably in love~ lmao š¤Øš¤Øš¤Ø
also, the phrase āmy bowels turned wateryā needs to die a fiery death... why did she say it three timesššš GIRL now iām sick to my stomachš
whatever, iāve now read it and i never have to endure it again and iāll know wtf my friend is talking about when she references it. thatās enough for me ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
i get that she had to set up the world and make the ~love story~ make sense but jesus it was slow.
feyre is illiterate as a plot point but sheās also an idiot. being uneducated and being an imbecile are different things, and she is both.
tamlin is boringgg, and worse, heās blonde. i cannot bring myself to gaf abt him. blond men are a plague.
amarantha is a drag, she couldāve been a really interesting villain but instead we get these weak little challenges. likeā¦
other āvillainā is interesting but i have to sayā¦
also, the phrase āmy bowels turned wateryā needs to die a fiery death... why did she say it three timesššš GIRL now iām sick to my stomachš
whatever, iāve now read it and i never have to endure it again and iāll know wtf my friend is talking about when she references it. thatās enough for me ĀÆ\_(ć)_/ĀÆ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very slow start if you can make it to chapter 30 its worth it smooth sailing from there
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder