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A review by boezaaah
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
First time read: April, 2017
Second time read: November - December, 2017
Some thoughts after a second time reading it...
I genuinely picked up so many things rereading this. There were numerous scenes I had completely forgotten about and even more qualities of the characters that had been forgotten. I grew to appreciate the characters more this time around, although I still reckon Lucien's character is the most developed (I'm also just still in love with him... maybe even more now).
I also forgot how incredible the ending is? HEART OF STONE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
EVERYTHING ADDS UP SO WELL. MY GOD. WHY CAN'T I THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT WAS BRILLIANT. I just truly think everyone on the planet should get to experience the last 40 pages of this book at least once in their lives.
Anyway, onto bigger and hopefully better things: A Court of Mist and Fury
Original review:
I really didn't know what I was getting into when I started reading this. It was the first novel by Sarah J. Maas that I had ever delved into and I can say that I was not disappointed. I'm seriously considering picking up A Court of Mist and Fury RIGHT NOW just to find out whyRhysand FREAKED and literally VANISHED on the second last damn page.
This book was action packed and I really enjoyed it. I definitely had my issues but overall it was enjoyable and I 100% will be continuing the series.
The main thing I did NOT like was the scene where Tamlin was 'drunk' on magic.
“Let go,” I said as evenly as I could, but his claws punched out, imbedding in the wood above my hands. Still riding the magic, he was half-wild.
“You drove me mad,” he growled, and the sound trembled down my neck, along my breasts until they ached. “I searched for you, and you weren’t there. When I didn’t find you,” he said, bringing his face closer to mine, until we shared breath, “it made me pick another.”
I couldn’t escape. I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted to.
“She asked me not to be gentle with her, either,” he snarled, his teeth bright in the moonlight. He brought his lips to my ear. “I would have been gentle with you, though.” I shuddered as I closed my eyes. Every inch of my body went taut as his words echoed through me. “I would have had you moaning my name throughout it all. And I would have taken a very, very long time, Feyre.” He said my name like a caress, and his hot breath tickled my ear. My back arched slightly.
He ripped his claws free from the wall, and my knees buckled as he let go. I grasped the wall to keep from sinking to the floor, to keep from grabbing him—to strike or caress, I didn’t know. I opened my eyes. He still smiled—smiled like an animal.
“Why should I want someone’s leftovers?” I said, making to push him away. He grabbed my hands again and bit my neck.
I cried out as his teeth clamped onto the tender spot where my neck met my shoulder. I couldn’t move—couldn’t think, and my world narrowed to the feeling of his lips and teeth against my skin. He didn’t pierce my flesh, but rather bit to keep me pinned. The push of his body against mine, the hard and the soft, made me see red—see lightning, made me grind my hips against his. I should hate him—hate him for his stupid ritual, for the female he’d been with tonight …
His bite lightened, and his tongue caressed the places his teeth had been. He didn’t move—he just remained in that spot, kissing my neck. Intently, territorially, lazily. Heat pounded between my legs, and as he ground his body against me, against every aching spot, a moan slipped past my lips.
He jerked away. The air was bitingly cold against my freed skin, and I panted as he stared at me. “Don’t ever disobey me again,” he said, his voice a deep purr that ricocheted through me, awakening everything and lulling it into complicity.
Is this not blatant sexual violence? She explicitly tells Tamlin to 'let go' and he completely ignores this demand. Why don't more people talk about this scene? This scene completely romanticised the issue. He violated her and FACED NO CONSEQUENCES. Scenes that include any sort of violation of one's self really anger me if not inserted for it to be challenged, because an action not challenged is accepted. And sexual violence is something I refuse to let be accepted in literature and in real life. It was almost as though this scene was used just to be referred to as her 'sensitive spot' when they made out and had sex.
Another case of this is when Rhysand continued to make Feyre drink the faerie wine.
“Feyre, for Cauldron’s sake. I drug you, but you don’t wonder why I never touch you beyond your waist or arms?”
Until tonight—until that damned kiss. I gritted my teeth, but even as my anger rose, a picture cleared.
“It’s the only claim I have to innocence,” he said, “the only thing that will make Tamlin think twice before entering into a battle with me that would cause a catastrophic loss of innocent life. It’s the only way I can convince him I was on your side. Believe me, I would have liked nothing more than to enjoy you—but there are bigger things at stake than taking a human woman to my bed.”
Did he not LITERALLY just state that if he could have it his way he would 'enjoy her' without her consent? I'm not accusing him of being a horrible person or anything, please don't think that, but (unwanted) sexual comments towards women make me uncomfortable. Especially after facing them in real life.
Another issue for me was the characters. I found Feyre to be dull at times and she annoyed me quite a bit throughout the book. But I can definitely agree that she had some really redeeming qualities such as being a kickass heroic huntress with a great amount of wit and class. I didn't particularly like Tamlin either. It's not that anything was necessarily wrong with his character (besides, well, you know) but I don't really care for him at all. The only character that didn't bore me was Lucien. Lucien's character was super interesting and every time he was mentioned I was like 'YES LUCIEN'. I really loved his character. I hope he's around a lot in ACOMAF.
To get off the negative side of things, the good in this book definitely outweighs the bad. The writing was extremely easy to read but not to a point where it was boring or predictable. There was a perfect amount of both description and dialogue, which complemented each other really well (although Maas did overuse certain phrases and descriptions sometimes, which could get quite irritating). I never found myself having to go back and reread a sentence or a paragraph because it just flowed so well.
I LOVED the setting of this novel. I had such a clear image of Prythian in my mind and I'm so incredibly blown away by how well the surroundings were unraveled to the audience. Even the way Maas portrayed Feyre's artistic qualities made me fall in love. It was beautiful. Wow.
The antagonists in this story made it for me. The Attor truly was one of the strangest and creepiest beings I've read about. And don't get me started on Amarantha. Holy SHIT. She was a true villain, one that is now on my top 10 favourite villains list. Her evilness was captivating. She was completely and utterly evil. I loved it
To end this rather shitty (and mildly petty) review, I really hope Lucien and Feyre have as many incredible verbal exchanges in ACOMAF as they did in this. God, I just really love Lucien. I really do. Please let him have a happy ending when the series ends. Please. I really can't wait to continue with the series!!!
Second time read: November - December, 2017
Some thoughts after a second time reading it...
I genuinely picked up so many things rereading this. There were numerous scenes I had completely forgotten about and even more qualities of the characters that had been forgotten. I grew to appreciate the characters more this time around, although I still reckon Lucien's character is the most developed (I'm also just still in love with him... maybe even more now).
I also forgot how incredible the ending is?
EVERYTHING ADDS UP SO WELL. MY GOD. WHY CAN'T I THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT. IT WAS BRILLIANT.
Anyway, onto bigger and hopefully better things: A Court of Mist and Fury
Original review:
I really didn't know what I was getting into when I started reading this. It was the first novel by Sarah J. Maas that I had ever delved into and I can say that I was not disappointed. I'm seriously considering picking up A Court of Mist and Fury RIGHT NOW just to find out why
This book was action packed and I really enjoyed it. I definitely had my issues but overall it was enjoyable and I 100% will be continuing the series.
“Let go,” I said as evenly as I could, but his claws punched out, imbedding in the wood above my hands. Still riding the magic, he was half-wild.
“You drove me mad,” he growled, and the sound trembled down my neck, along my breasts until they ached. “I searched for you, and you weren’t there. When I didn’t find you,” he said, bringing his face closer to mine, until we shared breath, “it made me pick another.”
I couldn’t escape. I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted to.
“She asked me not to be gentle with her, either,” he snarled, his teeth bright in the moonlight. He brought his lips to my ear. “I would have been gentle with you, though.” I shuddered as I closed my eyes. Every inch of my body went taut as his words echoed through me. “I would have had you moaning my name throughout it all. And I would have taken a very, very long time, Feyre.” He said my name like a caress, and his hot breath tickled my ear. My back arched slightly.
He ripped his claws free from the wall, and my knees buckled as he let go. I grasped the wall to keep from sinking to the floor, to keep from grabbing him—to strike or caress, I didn’t know. I opened my eyes. He still smiled—smiled like an animal.
“Why should I want someone’s leftovers?” I said, making to push him away. He grabbed my hands again and bit my neck.
I cried out as his teeth clamped onto the tender spot where my neck met my shoulder. I couldn’t move—couldn’t think, and my world narrowed to the feeling of his lips and teeth against my skin. He didn’t pierce my flesh, but rather bit to keep me pinned. The push of his body against mine, the hard and the soft, made me see red—see lightning, made me grind my hips against his. I should hate him—hate him for his stupid ritual, for the female he’d been with tonight …
His bite lightened, and his tongue caressed the places his teeth had been. He didn’t move—he just remained in that spot, kissing my neck. Intently, territorially, lazily. Heat pounded between my legs, and as he ground his body against me, against every aching spot, a moan slipped past my lips.
He jerked away. The air was bitingly cold against my freed skin, and I panted as he stared at me. “Don’t ever disobey me again,” he said, his voice a deep purr that ricocheted through me, awakening everything and lulling it into complicity.
Is this not blatant sexual violence? She explicitly tells Tamlin to 'let go' and he completely ignores this demand. Why don't more people talk about this scene? This scene completely romanticised the issue. He violated her and FACED NO CONSEQUENCES. Scenes that include any sort of violation of one's self really anger me if not inserted for it to be challenged, because an action not challenged is accepted. And sexual violence is something I refuse to let be accepted in literature and in real life. It was almost as though this scene was used just to be referred to as her 'sensitive spot' when they made out and had sex.
Another case of this is when Rhysand continued to make Feyre drink the faerie wine.
“Feyre, for Cauldron’s sake. I drug you, but you don’t wonder why I never touch you beyond your waist or arms?”
Until tonight—until that damned kiss. I gritted my teeth, but even as my anger rose, a picture cleared.
“It’s the only claim I have to innocence,” he said, “the only thing that will make Tamlin think twice before entering into a battle with me that would cause a catastrophic loss of innocent life. It’s the only way I can convince him I was on your side. Believe me, I would have liked nothing more than to enjoy you—but there are bigger things at stake than taking a human woman to my bed.”
Did he not LITERALLY just state that if he could have it his way he would 'enjoy her' without her consent? I'm not accusing him of being a horrible person or anything, please don't think that, but (unwanted) sexual comments towards women make me uncomfortable. Especially after facing them in real life.
Another issue for me was the characters. I found Feyre to be dull at times and she annoyed me quite a bit throughout the book. But I can definitely agree that she had some really redeeming qualities such as being a kickass heroic huntress with a great amount of wit and class. I didn't particularly like Tamlin either. It's not that anything was necessarily wrong with his character (besides, well, you know) but I don't really care for him at all. The only character that didn't bore me was Lucien. Lucien's character was super interesting and every time he was mentioned I was like 'YES LUCIEN'. I really loved his character. I hope he's around a lot in ACOMAF.
To get off the negative side of things, the good in this book definitely outweighs the bad. The writing was extremely easy to read but not to a point where it was boring or predictable. There was a perfect amount of both description and dialogue, which complemented each other really well (although Maas did overuse certain phrases and descriptions sometimes, which could get quite irritating). I never found myself having to go back and reread a sentence or a paragraph because it just flowed so well.
I LOVED the setting of this novel. I had such a clear image of Prythian in my mind and I'm so incredibly blown away by how well the surroundings were unraveled to the audience. Even the way Maas portrayed Feyre's artistic qualities made me fall in love. It was beautiful. Wow.
The antagonists in this story made it for me. The Attor truly was one of the strangest and creepiest beings I've read about. And don't get me started on Amarantha. Holy SHIT. She was a true villain, one that is now on my top 10 favourite villains list. Her evilness was captivating. She was completely and utterly evil. I loved it
To end this rather shitty (and mildly petty) review, I really hope Lucien and Feyre have as many incredible verbal exchanges in ACOMAF as they did in this. God, I just really love Lucien. I really do. Please let him have a happy ending when the series ends. Please. I really can't wait to continue with the series!!!