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A review by haileyasmith
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I bought, and returned, and then repurchased this book THREE TIMES over the course of like four months, before keeping it and finally committing to reading it. Three. Times.
I love supernatural characters and elements, so it wasn't that. It was honestly my terrible habit of checking reviews before purchasing a book, and seeing so many mixed feelings, I just wasn't sure if I was going to like it, and I couldn't tell whether I thought it was worth picking up.. Even though I KEPT coming back to it.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is about a girl named Feyre struggling to fend for her ruined, and impoverished family in a world where faeries and humans are barely able to coexist. One day while hunting in the woods she sees a huge wolf that she suspects is fae, and kills it with the mindset that it would 1. kill her first if she didn't act quickly, and 2. the pelt, and meat could help feed and provide money for her family over an extended period of time.
Her suspicions are correct, the wolf was in fact fae, and soon an even bigger beast comes to collect her as repayment for the life she has taken. And from here let me tell you, it was truly a rollercoaster of emotions.
Okay so first of all let me just say that even though Beauty and the Beast is a famous story and I know I watched it as a kid, I didn't remember a single thing from it. Another thing, I didn't even feel the fairytale vibe, or remember that this was a themed retelling, until we got to Amarantha's court Under the Mountain, and we had the dynamic of 1. an evil queen, and 2. a riddle and 3 tasks to carry out. So I did not foresee Amarantha's story, or the role she was going to play with the blight, etc.
All in all I enjoyed the story, and the character development. I liked watching Feyre sort of come into her own, and stop feeling victimized, and sort of growing into letting things go and accepting the way things are and learning to make the best out of her situation. I loved Lucien, and Nesta at the end, and Rhysand of course is my fave. I enjoyed the world building, and the way the different courts were brought in, and the different creatures and how they looked different depending on the court they originated from. But in that, there were some things I didn't like, there wasn't too much of Feyre figuring things out for herself. There was a lot of her having to be told throughout different monologues which I would have liked to see in a different format.
Now that, that's out of the way, on with the more in-depth part of the review! (Which I am going to hide because it will be very spoiler-y)
SECONDLY I don't know why I wasn't able to predict Feyre's transformation to becoming one of the high fae, but I know it was almost necessary to the plotline. Like that was for sure going to have to happen at some point, better to get that out of the way now, so she's less vulnerable, and is now a more leveled opponent on the playing field. Then the very last scene we have Rhysand potentially realizing that he imprinted on Feyre? Maas hints at it slightly when we learn about Lucien's 'mate' and when Tamlin explained marriages vs. mating ceremonies, but that was sort of as far as we got. I can only assume that, that's where that's leading since they can already sort of transcend into one another's consciousness with the tattoo he gave her.
Side note: I feel like we really could have survived without having a Dawn court and a Day court. Because then it's like all we have is the night court, not an "evening" court as well.. I don't know that just bothers me.
I love supernatural characters and elements, so it wasn't that. It was honestly my terrible habit of checking reviews before purchasing a book, and seeing so many mixed feelings, I just wasn't sure if I was going to like it, and I couldn't tell whether I thought it was worth picking up.. Even though I KEPT coming back to it.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is about a girl named Feyre struggling to fend for her ruined, and impoverished family in a world where faeries and humans are barely able to coexist. One day while hunting in the woods she sees a huge wolf that she suspects is fae, and kills it with the mindset that it would 1. kill her first if she didn't act quickly, and 2. the pelt, and meat could help feed and provide money for her family over an extended period of time.
Her suspicions are correct, the wolf was in fact fae, and soon an even bigger beast comes to collect her as repayment for the life she has taken. And from here let me tell you, it was truly a rollercoaster of emotions.
Okay so first of all let me just say that even though Beauty and the Beast is a famous story and I know I watched it as a kid, I didn't remember a single thing from it. Another thing, I didn't even feel the fairytale vibe, or remember that this was a themed retelling, until we got to Amarantha's court Under the Mountain, and we had the dynamic of 1. an evil queen, and 2. a riddle and 3 tasks to carry out. So I did not foresee Amarantha's story, or the role she was going to play with the blight, etc.
All in all I enjoyed the story, and the character development. I liked watching Feyre sort of come into her own, and stop feeling victimized, and sort of growing into letting things go and accepting the way things are and learning to make the best out of her situation. I loved Lucien, and Nesta at the end, and Rhysand of course is my fave. I enjoyed the world building, and the way the different courts were brought in, and the different creatures and how they looked different depending on the court they originated from. But in that, there were some things I didn't like,
Spoiler
Alis for one having to assume that very fairytale-esque role of doing back-story world building, and fully explaining everything to Feyre, once we were 75% through the book.Spoiler
like when she saw the mural of the fae lands in the libraryNow that, that's out of the way, on with the more in-depth part of the review! (Which I am going to hide because it will be very spoiler-y)
Spoiler
SO, first off let me just say that I LOVED Rhysand. He's the ominous, but thankfully NOT BROODING High Lord of the Night Court and he is my #1 bae away from bae. Tamlin, not so much. Ever since the curse was revealed, any genuinity (is that a word? I hope thats a word) his "love" for Feyre could have had was literally swept out the window. Which I can only hope Maas foresaw her readers feeling. His interest in Feyre wasn't genuine, it was to save his people, which is honorable and whatnot, but still superficial, and I'm sure that will die out soon, and we'll move to Rhysand which is FINE WITH ME. Plus, now she's got this attachment to Rhysand with the once a month visit thing, and his markings on her arm.SECONDLY I don't know why I wasn't able to predict Feyre's transformation to becoming one of the high fae, but I know it was almost necessary to the plotline. Like that was for sure going to have to happen at some point, better to get that out of the way now, so she's less vulnerable, and is now a more leveled opponent on the playing field. Then the very last scene we have Rhysand potentially realizing that he imprinted on Feyre? Maas hints at it slightly when we learn about Lucien's 'mate' and when Tamlin explained marriages vs. mating ceremonies, but that was sort of as far as we got. I can only assume that, that's where that's leading since they can already sort of transcend into one another's consciousness with the tattoo he gave her.
Side note: I feel like we really could have survived without having a Dawn court and a Day court. Because then it's like all we have is the night court, not an "evening" court as well.. I don't know that just bothers me.