Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Court of Thorns and Roses

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

1715 reviews

finnm4's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A deep dive into a fictional world full of faeries and magic. Enjoyed this re-read of a world which is both loveable and a world to loathe as well. Didn't get the full four stars for me, due to some questionable plot points, and somewhat glossing over of Stockholm Syndrome essentially, but none the less enjoyable.

Content Warnings

ashleejsmith's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Ok so ACOTAR is a classic guilty pleasure read - highly entertaining but frustratingly flawed. Maas creates an engaging fantasy romance that kept me onboard despite some significant issues with execution.

The world has potential and the characters are compelling enough to make me want to keep reading.

However, for me the first-person narrative from Feyre's perspective creates a major bottleneck that stopped me from fully experiencing what could be a rich, complex world. Her limited viewpoint restricts access to more interesting characters (e.g. Lucien/Rhysand/Nesta) and hampers the fantasy world-building in favour of the romance plot.

The writing relies heavily on YA tropes and convenient plot devices and exposition - characters travel through random portals (leaving behind potential plot holes), conflicts resolve too easily, and magical elements become overly convenient in ways that undermine stakes and believability.

The plot is also quite predictable, following familiar fantasy romance beats that you can see coming from miles away. Character development feels a bit rushed and surface-level.

This reads like polished fan fiction - nothing wrong with that, but it focuses more on being an easy, addictive read than being particularly sophisticated.

It's the literary equivalent of binge-worthy TV: you'll think "this is SO good!" whilst reading, but really… is it?

Ultimately, I think I’ll continue the series because, tbh, who doesn’t love a guilty pleasure?

Content Warnings

lilphattiee's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

lc_reads_0405's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Very heterosexual; romanticizes toxic/abusive relationships and assault, romanticizes significant age gap relationships
Action sequences were lots of fun

Content Warnings

pratik_bhusal's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

ahlenore's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Pulls on a lot of classic fantasy tropes. It felt to me like a mash up beauty and the beast, the hunger games, twilight and shadow and bone in the fae world. It was a fun read but I also wish that it pulled a bit more originality into the plot.

Content Warnings