A review by bonecarvdweaver
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

No one come after me... this was a surprise to me as well.



TW/CW: (DETAILED) Unsafe sex, murder, death, decapitation, subtle mention of sexual, mental, physical, etc. abuse, slavery, body horror and much much more kids.



A Court of Thorns and Roses is about the youngest of three sisters, Feyre, who hunts and provides for her sisters and father after their fall of riches due to a bad gamble. In a village last left to a war over human land taken over courts of fae, Fayre is entrapped into the fae world after hunting a fae wolf shifter in the woods. There, she realizes she's whisked away further into magic, intrigue and politics. And not only, does she not know yet, a curse pre-determined and tied to her fate, due to a deadly choice.

EDIT: @CHARLOTTE said in her review below:

It's pretty fucking pernicious to me that an author of Young Adult novels is writing a story where an abuser's actions are justified by the narrative. This is what real life abusers do, and what our society does for abusers. Our societal narrative around abuse is all-too-often that his intentions matter more than whatever pain he caused her, and as soon as we start caring more about his intentions than her pain we have a major, major problem. I frankly don't care what Rhys's excuse is - I care about the motivation behind his excuse's creation by the author . Maas decided to create a narrative where a women is drugged and sexually assaulted "for her own good."

What's incredible is that the second book features Tamlin descending into abusiveness and Feyre fleeing into Rhysand's arms for the love and safety she craves. Turns out that he's actually a cinnamon roll and a good dicking down fixes her PTSD. (The PTSD that he was partially responsible for creating in the first place?? Shhhhhh. Don't worry about it.)

I noticed this also in the novel, and take responsibility for not making this more obvious and important in my review, over my other criticisms and praise. This is by far the most important thing to note and learn here, and it shouldn't go unnoticed. It's crucial that we see this and make a change in the fiction and nonfiction we write for kids, teens, adults, and especially, a world dominated and controlled by men and the mistreatment, torture and abuse of women.

While I don't retract my rating, solely based on some enjoyment of it and not critical of writing skill and content alone, I won't continue to go without speaking up on things that might appear in the continuation of the series. I will judge seriously on them, with knowledge of these issues, to hopefully see improvement for myself.

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ACOTAR really surprised me, considering my first DNF of this series left me baffled by any other attempt to take this book seriously. At best, this is a Beauty and Beast retelling, filled with fae who can shift into animals or beasts. At the expense, I imagine, of letting the characters purr and growl at each other.

Don't get me wrong, the writing isn't bad! I actually find Maas's writing to have a ease to it, a flow that keeps the plot and characters moving. I think if not for the other gripes I have with it, I would say Maas is a promising novelist who has the ability to create wonderful tales, unimaginable twists and ability to write fantasy.

I had a few gripes though, and despite them, I still gave it ★★★★ stars!

I had a few struggles with characterization, mostly on behalf of Feyre. I found at times a downfall, more often than an advantage, was her decision-making. I'm sure in many ways a strong female character defying anything in her way would be seen as empowering, bold, fearless and strong. However, at times, tedious. I mean, in the name of feminism, how many times can she ignore someone's plea to head their warnings and stay away from dangers and get away with it, and the consequences, because feminism. It was very, very annoying. Like Feyre, should we have replaced Tamlin with a female fae and made you a lesbian so you would stay in your room? The idea that women HAVE to disobey everything in order to be powerful and cunning, rather than intelligent is just... unsightly. In reading, I felt as angry as I am when watching a horror movie in which the main character continuously makes the worst decisions, and I'm chucking the book out of my hands at my boyfriend as if he would know what to do.

Second, this is a YOUNG ADULT!??!? This should be at the very least NEW ADULT. The very detailed sex scene, although a treat to others, wasn't to my taste. I'm not horrified by the idea of sex for ( not too ) young readers. However, unsafe sex with a fae who doesn't even do foreplay? This should be, very clearly, made in clear warning to younger readers, not to mention the gruesome details of murder, decapitation, blood, broken bones and death, as well as anything else that left me with goosebumps. Although these things surprised me in a good way and made me engrossed in the story, I was baffled by the marketing for this novel. The amount of dead bodies, murder and death and everything in this, well written, but incredibly shocking for someone who might not know. I also absolutely hate the amount of times the word wh*** was used. Trigger warnings, people, please.

Now, things I did like! For one, Nesta and Elain. Maas had me in the first half, but soon after I quickly fell for the girls and how well written their relationships were, with Feyre, her father and the fae. Nesta has quickly become more favorable than Feyre and I look forward to reading more about her.

Not to cause an uproar, but I really would like to mention, as I've said to my boyfriend, Maas does a spectacular job at writing fae in a way that I would like to praise. Though I despise the idea of fae that can turn into wolves who can't control themselves, possibly due to the nature of the Beast in the original princess tale, this was written in an intelligent way that creeps up on you. At first, you think it's a slow princess tale, it would be obvious right? She hates everyone and everything at first, wants to go home and won't do anything to please anyone. Good for you, girl. She paints, she kisses a beast and ultimately runs into some shenanigans and balls. And then, the second half. I was surprised.

I would even say Maas does a better job at world building, character blocking and story telling with fae fantasy than Holly Black did for me in The Cruel Prince. Just as an example.

All in all I had issues with some misogynistic behavior, poor decision making skills and arrogance with Feyre, and no warnings for the young adult viewers this series is marketed towards. This was all around a not horrible book, I was endeared by a couple parts and surprised by twists and Maas's story telling. And since I have already caved in and bought the entire series due to it's gorgeous, bright pastel book covers, I will continue on to the next one, a very scary looking tome. Feyre, don't let me down.
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