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adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, War
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a reread for me (it's been so long that I decided to stop reading A Court of Wings and Ruin and go back through these so everything's more fresh in my mind). My original rating was 4.25 stars, but I definitely enjoyed it more the second time around. Not at all a fan of the amount of spice in this series, but this one is quite a bit more tame than the others. (Definitely skippable if you want to go that route.)
If you're a fan of books about the fae, you will love this. Worldbuilding and characters are great. The story from start to finish is captivating. The ending is mind-blowing. Plus, it's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with fae! What could be better?
If you're a fan of books about the fae, you will love this. Worldbuilding and characters are great. The story from start to finish is captivating. The ending is mind-blowing. Plus, it's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with fae! What could be better?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Kidnapping
Minor: Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, War
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally, I have finished this book, been delaying it for quite some time now. I don't know, maybe it's too romancy for me that I got bored along the way or perhaps it's too predictable. I almost, not want to finish this book. It's just so similar to the Beauty and the Beast story, well only on the first part. Although, it was interesting, emotional, even the words were written well. And love the creatures, colorful to imagine, the scenery too with the painting and the magic lake, and I even felt for their love story for a bit but it's too predictable. Falling in love with her captor, is crazy. The beast tamed the beauty? I thought she was a hunter, where did that go? Falling for the first rich guy she saw is just lame. I'm sorry to say women are not weak and dependent. It's just so disappointing and with the theme: good vs evil, rich and poor, the usual stuff. To make it worse it felt too dragging. But at least I enjoyed the itsy bitsy twist in the end with the involvement of the fae kingdoms to make it different.
I just don't like how the beast named Tamlin tamed the hunter Feyre even if it was a prophecy in the story so it seemed. She wasn't a hunter anymore but a girl, an ordinary girl who loves beauty and fell for a guy or the next who helped her. So typical. It's too predictable. Even the evil queen was too lenient to her. The fantasy ended but they made this into a series can you imagine. I think her face was a history, a reminder of someone and this will be revealed next like who wouldn't guess. Together with the love triangle scenario, she will marry one of them for sure and the looming war with humans is at the brink. A story reminiscent of what was and what will be. That is why this is predictable and boring.
I just don't like how the beast named Tamlin tamed the hunter Feyre even if it was a prophecy in the story so it seemed. She wasn't a hunter anymore but a girl, an ordinary girl who loves beauty and fell for a guy or the next who helped her. So typical. It's too predictable. Even the evil queen was too lenient to her. The fantasy ended but they made this into a series can you imagine. I think her face was a history, a reminder of someone and this will be revealed next like who wouldn't guess. Together with the love triangle scenario, she will marry one of them for sure and the looming war with humans is at the brink. A story reminiscent of what was and what will be. That is why this is predictable and boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Consider me hooked!
If this ever gets adapted, I hope it's an animated series like Netflix Castlevania.
If this ever gets adapted, I hope it's an animated series like Netflix Castlevania.
- Interesting world building.
- A visceral type of writing.
- Nitpick: a bit too rushed in some parts (ex. spoiler:
family reuniting, arguably understandably ) and a bit too slow in others. But not enough to really bother me. - I've seen people say the 2nd is better and I'm looking forward to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Sexual harassment
Minor: Slavery, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
The first book of one of y favorite series. The second weakest in the series in terms of plot and character development, but it sets the stage and the world building really picks up in the second half. If you're a fan of fae and of retellings, I think ACOTAR is a series for you.
Liked
-Feyre's courage
-Depiction of ruthlessness in humans and faeries
-description of trauma and grief
-the characters we meet
Disliked
-the uselessness of Feyre's family
-Tamlin's temper tantrums
-Feyre's inability to figure out the world's easiest riddle
-the choppy pace of the book (way too slow to way too fast)
Liked
-Feyre's courage
-Depiction of ruthlessness in humans and faeries
-description of trauma and grief
-the characters we meet
Disliked
-the uselessness of Feyre's family
-Tamlin's temper tantrums
-Feyre's inability to figure out the world's easiest riddle
-the choppy pace of the book (way too slow to way too fast)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found ACOTAR very hard to get through. Feyre, the main character, is insufferable and being in her head is annoying. She definitely suffers from "main character syndrome" and that made me not really care for her.
Maas has a tendency to repeat the same things over and over again, in different ways. Some chapters were completely unnecessary. The first half of the book felt like it was going nowhere.
I think the "spice" in this book is still quite mellow, thankfully. However, consent being an important part in healthy and meaningful relationships... I think none of the characters pass as someone respecting boundaries. Tamlin and Rhys (not going to call them love interests because why would you call your kidnapper and a literal demon who makes a deal to own you that?) are both examples of thirst traps with a bit of personality and background scribbled around them to eventually try to "redeem" their behavior.
The 'ritual(s)' and acts of these characters are, again, seen by the fans of these books as something morally grey (or just 'hot'). But I cannot in good concience say anything positive about it. The lack of consent in this book is utterly disgusting, and I am wondering how people are not only ok with it, but actively defending it. I have seen cosplayers of these characters really pushing boundaries, which is concerning. The 'primal' thing really is too much for me, I find it incredibly cringe and makes me feel sick. Also, please stop purring.
The whole "mating" thing (which is only a thing we hear about from Tamlins parents) is gonna play a big part in the next books (my friend told me because I was appalled and needed to rant), and it is not only super problematic but also just plain vile in my opinion. The uncontrollable urge to mate, all respect and consent feel like a side issue... no thanks.
Needless to say this is probably my #1 reason I am not going to read any further. This does not set up realistic expectations for a healthy and responsible relationship.
I feel like this book is glorifying rape and that just doesn't sit well with me.
Also, what about lgbtqia+ people? They seem to be non-existant in this world.
I honestly do not understand why people like this book so much. It feels like a bad judge of character and justifying bad deeds just for the sake of a sexy scene doesn't turn this book into something 'good'. Why is it do popular? Don't people usually have standards? If you think this is normal I'm genuinely asking you to question your real life relationships...
I loved the concept of the curse fusing the masks to peoples faces, the courts sound absolutely magical and there is a lot of potential there, but we didn't see much of it apart from the spring court. I guess Maas will touch upon more in other books and I hope she doesn't turn them into empty shells of what could have been. She has a masters degree in creative writing, but honestly I found the "world building" and the writing in this book average at best.
The creatures in this world are definitely scary and I would have loved to see more of them. However, that is basically all I really enjoyed about this world Sarah J Maas created, most of it sadly fell flat in the end. The creatures felt like they only appeared just to fill chapters. You could say it's world building, but they are mentioned once or twice and then never spoken of again. And even then- it didn't push the story forward.
Finally, do NOT get me started on the premise of the curse. Its whole premise was stupid and clearly written to fit the story. The backstory of Amarantha and her sister had potential, but turned into somethings lame and laughable. She felt like a cartoon villain whose only character traits were: 'evil' and 'sexually frustrated'. She didn't even feel like a smart character.
No, I don't think it was a good plot. No, I don't think the story made sense. No, I wasn't emerged in the world like I am in other books. No, I don't feel like the villain was villainous and the hero was heroic. It was all very generic and I found it, quite frankly, disappointing.
I give this book 1,5 out of 5 stars. Because Lucien was a character I cared about (still feel like he was unintentionally written to be a closeted gay and I just want to tell him everything will be ok), the creatures and world still have potential and I liked the description in some (yes, some) chapters. However, I don't think I'll finish the series as this was so underwhelming I feel like I would prefer to spend my time with other books I know I will enjoy more.
Maas has a tendency to repeat the same things over and over again, in different ways. Some chapters were completely unnecessary. The first half of the book felt like it was going nowhere.
I think the "spice" in this book is still quite mellow, thankfully. However, consent being an important part in healthy and meaningful relationships... I think none of the characters pass as someone respecting boundaries. Tamlin and Rhys (not going to call them love interests because why would you call your kidnapper and a literal demon who makes a deal to own you that?) are both examples of thirst traps with a bit of personality and background scribbled around them to eventually try to "redeem" their behavior.
The 'ritual(s)' and acts of these characters are, again, seen by the fans of these books as something morally grey (or just 'hot'). But I cannot in good concience say anything positive about it. The lack of consent in this book is utterly disgusting, and I am wondering how people are not only ok with it, but actively defending it. I have seen cosplayers of these characters really pushing boundaries, which is concerning. The 'primal' thing really is too much for me, I find it incredibly cringe and makes me feel sick. Also, please stop purring.
The whole "mating" thing (which is only a thing we hear about from Tamlins parents) is gonna play a big part in the next books (my friend told me because I was appalled and needed to rant), and it is not only super problematic but also just plain vile in my opinion. The uncontrollable urge to mate, all respect and consent feel like a side issue... no thanks.
Needless to say this is probably my #1 reason I am not going to read any further. This does not set up realistic expectations for a healthy and responsible relationship.
I feel like this book is glorifying rape and that just doesn't sit well with me.
Also, what about lgbtqia+ people? They seem to be non-existant in this world.
I honestly do not understand why people like this book so much. It feels like a bad judge of character and justifying bad deeds just for the sake of a sexy scene doesn't turn this book into something 'good'. Why is it do popular? Don't people usually have standards? If you think this is normal I'm genuinely asking you to question your real life relationships...
I loved the concept of the curse fusing the masks to peoples faces, the courts sound absolutely magical and there is a lot of potential there, but we didn't see much of it apart from the spring court. I guess Maas will touch upon more in other books and I hope she doesn't turn them into empty shells of what could have been. She has a masters degree in creative writing, but honestly I found the "world building" and the writing in this book average at best.
The creatures in this world are definitely scary and I would have loved to see more of them. However, that is basically all I really enjoyed about this world Sarah J Maas created, most of it sadly fell flat in the end. The creatures felt like they only appeared just to fill chapters. You could say it's world building, but they are mentioned once or twice and then never spoken of again. And even then- it didn't push the story forward.
Finally, do NOT get me started on the premise of the curse. Its whole premise was stupid and clearly written to fit the story. The backstory of Amarantha and her sister had potential, but turned into somethings lame and laughable. She felt like a cartoon villain whose only character traits were: 'evil' and 'sexually frustrated'. She didn't even feel like a smart character.
No, I don't think it was a good plot. No, I don't think the story made sense. No, I wasn't emerged in the world like I am in other books. No, I don't feel like the villain was villainous and the hero was heroic. It was all very generic and I found it, quite frankly, disappointing.
I give this book 1,5 out of 5 stars. Because Lucien was a character I cared about (still feel like he was unintentionally written to be a closeted gay and I just want to tell him everything will be ok), the creatures and world still have potential and I liked the description in some (yes, some) chapters. However, I don't think I'll finish the series as this was so underwhelming I feel like I would prefer to spend my time with other books I know I will enjoy more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Sexual content