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vetrina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this book and series more than I thought I would, though this first book is a little rough to get through. I'm 3 books into the series by now and this is definitely the worst in the series so far.
The first 1/3 of the book is the worst to get through because Feyre is insufferable in this part. But once she begins to settle into the Spring Court and trust Tamlin, it becomes a nice story. The last 1/3 of the book is a total tonal shift that was pretty jarring. It was good, but it totally changes the tone of this book and the books to come.
If you liked this book at all, please continue the series! It gets better :)
The first 1/3 of the book is the worst to get through because Feyre is insufferable in this part. But once she begins to settle into the Spring Court and trust Tamlin, it becomes a nice story. The last 1/3 of the book is a total tonal shift that was pretty jarring. It was good, but it totally changes the tone of this book and the books to come.
If you liked this book at all, please continue the series! It gets better :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
sarah_jones1776's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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
4.0
Slow start, didn't fully pull me into it until about half way into it. But its worth the slow start.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
silfron's review against another edition
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Slavery, Death of parent, and Alcohol
coffinqueen's review against another edition
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
4.25
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, and 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, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and 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.nailartklaudia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
luffe_zolo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
anniemay011's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
scotia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
...I liked this more than I want to admit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sareo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
highleyginger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book could have been better, not in terms of plot, that I was fine with, but in terms of character actions, and the author desperately needing a GOOD editor.
If I have to read the phrase "lazy smile" again in this series, I'm likely to throw myself into the abyss. A thesaurus would be a very advantageous resource for this author and an editor willing to point out the gross overuse of certain phrases.
Outside of the complaints about unfortuately typical YA romantic toxic relationships, and lack of character diversity, it does have a feeling of being a reimagined Beauty & the Beast but in a Fae world to explain the magic. Unlike Beauty & the Beast, our main character has a stubborn streak that is spiteful to the point of self sabotage.
She does have character growth with her stubborness and her "oh woe is me" attitude does improve. She begins to take time to understand those around her, especially of her dysfunctional family.
If I have to read the phrase "lazy smile" again in this series, I'm likely to throw myself into the abyss. A thesaurus would be a very advantageous resource for this author and an editor willing to point out the gross overuse of certain phrases.
Outside of the complaints about unfortuately typical YA romantic toxic relationships, and lack of character diversity, it does have a feeling of being a reimagined Beauty & the Beast but in a Fae world to explain the magic. Unlike Beauty & the Beast, our main character has a stubborn streak that is spiteful to the point of self sabotage.
She does have character growth with her stubborness and her "oh woe is me" attitude does improve. She begins to take time to understand those around her, especially of her dysfunctional family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail