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

1723 reviews

kates_22's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

xiggy's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was OK. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. I’ve certainly read worse and likely will read worse in the future. I was interested because people said it was a beauty and the beast retelling. I was hesitant to pick the book up though since there were a lot of mixed reviews. It wasn’t until I was being told that Stephen King’s fairy tale was a love letter to this series that my interest was piqued again (I loved Stephen King’s fairy tale). I was finally able to pick the book up in a slip the line loan.

To the people who claim the statement about Stephen king’s fairy tale - you are wrong. So so so very wrong.

The tale has so many beauty and the beast elements that I thought had interesting twists. But making Feyre illiterate felt really unnecessary and such an odd choice. I don’t think they needed to author needed to go that far to make Feyre not Belle. It would have been enough to just make Feyre into painting over reading. That was more than enough. I didn’t really care for Feyre much. There would be side characters felt more consistent and were more interesting. Feyre’s overall character is very inconsistent. She will say one thing and later on say something or do something that contradicts an earlier stated belief. She felt shallow and very one dimensional to me.

Will I continue with the series? Possibly, but not any time soon. Would I recommend this series to someone else? Sure, as far as fantasy or romantacy books go this one is fine, if a little mediocre and weak in parts.

Content Warnings

skitson's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Yes

I finally decided to give this a try. While I can see the fantastical appeal for those who like stories like this, I wasn’t personally a fan. Maas is a droner, and many scenes felt like they went on for pages and pages more than they needed to. I also did not really enjoy or find any of the the main character likeable, so it was hard to root for them agains their enemies. Also, Maas definitely leans heavily into using tropes and pieces from common stories we all know (Twilight, Beauty and the Beast, etc), and it did not feel as original as I thought it would be.

Content Warnings

meowmeowmeow13's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The fantasy was absolutely lovely and very well-written! I adore the world building of the fantasy realm in this faerie-themed series, it kept me hooked alongside the tension and action. I wasn't a fan, however, of the romance in this book, and had me doubting if I wanted to continue the series. It felt bland and didn't really do much for me. The high-staked action at the end of the book kept me reading, and I don't regret continuing the series! Just the romance that keeps the rating lower for me.

Content Warnings

naglemma's review against another edition

2.25

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

do not read unless you want all of your brain cells to rot away

Content Warnings

scrutchfield's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark 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

Content Warnings

queen_0f_ink's review against another edition

1.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Content Warnings

drifterkat's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

amivivi's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional mysterious 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: No

I don’t usually read fantasy but I really liked this one and I am going to read the next book in the series

Content Warnings

hedonistic_hunger's review against another edition

2.25

mysterious slow-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Things I liked: the fantastic World itself, it's not too complicated to understand, the concept of the courts is interesting and enticing; you won't get bombarded with tons of different characters and place names and whatnot at once; the character Lucien and his platonic bond with Tamlin

Things I didn’t like: I think my biggest criticism of this book is how dull, obstinate, fatuous and arbitrary the female Protagonist acts and thinks. Her reaction to things that happen to her or how she gets treated made me often times roll my eyes. This is very much linked to her two male love interest. Horrible characters. I don’t want to write an essay, so I’ll keep it short. One of them assaults her and then tries to gaslight her the following day by saying “I […] told you to stay in your room”. She also thanks him for not enslaving her although he kidnapped and assaulted her. It’s later revealed that he kept her at his court out of specific reasons, but these reasons do in no way excuse his behavior towards her. The other one sexually assaults her while pinning her down and basically makes her choose between her death or having to spend one week every month at his court. Which in my opinion also accounts as a form of kidnapping and blackmail. There’s a lot of talk about “owning someone” when it comes to the romantic relationships between the female lead and her two love interests, which I absolutely hated; The characters are not diverse at all, the male characters are basically the same handsome guy but with a different hair and eye color. I also really didn’t like how all the main female characters were described as thin and the only thicker woman, who was described as plump, appeared in a couple of sentences and has no further mention. The only character of color was killed within two pages. There are no queer characters either. The story is very much built on gender essentialism which I find very boring and irritating.

If you like Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and/or Selection by Kiera Cass chances are high you might like this one as well. If you like The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare and/or Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, chances are high you WONT like this one.

Content Warnings

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