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yennn 's review for:
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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:
Yes
let me premise this by saying that I have been an unabashed Sarah J. Maas hater for at least half a decade. I wasn't a big fan of Throne Of Glass, but mostly I dislike what she has done to fantasy. It's great that she's bought so many new people to the reading and writing communities, but I can no longer comfortably call myself a fantasy fan with it now so tied up with romantacy and spice levels.
but, after avoiding this series like the plague, I'm attempting it so that I have receipts when people are shocked to hear that I don't like Sarah J. Maas. probably comes as no that this review is mostly going to be negative.
in an attempt to keep things relatively polite and short, my thoughts on some of the characters as bullet points:
1. Feyre (FMC) really sucks. she makes some of the stupidest decisions, is stubbornly ungrateful, is literally out of her depth but can't follow simple instructions to preserve her own life, and has really no redeeming qualities. I can't understand her appeal to other characters, and the only explanation is her being a self-insert.
2. Tamlin also sucks, but for different reasons. he is so bland and boring, appears to consist of growling and claws, and I just could not for the life of me care about him. I care even less about his relationship with Feyre, which seemed so superficial I wouldve applauded and enjoyed this so much more if it was all a lie.
3. Lucien, my only saving grace. thank goodness for Lucien, he voiced all my inner thoughts and gave zero shits about Feyre. I loved that for him and he deserves everything.
4. Rhys. I won't lie, I would continue reading for him.
5. Feyre's family, are actually so rubbish SJM really laid the pity backstory on too thick methinks.
some of my thoughts on the plot:
1. I didn't realise this was supposed to be like beauty and the beast. I'm actually disturbed by the thought of comparing them. my thoughts were more Bella Swan from Twilight.
2. the whole setup with Andras was so flimsy. I get it now, but the whole settling in period was just awful to read, and I completely understand why people would DNF at that point. I wish Feyre spent more time investigating rather than being a dumbass so we wouldn't need the info dump to lazily explain everything.
3. I couldn't stop laughing about the masks. its so ridiculous. how awful. how tragic.
4. necessity of some events were very questionable (looking at you Calanmai). I do wonder if this book would still have the fan base it does if it was fade to black. on that note, quite a few icky scenes, dubious consent. felt very uncomfortable. do check content warnings. the 180 from fantasy to erotica really gave me whiplash.
5. the requirements were very specific and random. and of course bad timing for Feyre who almost did it all. I'm trying to be vague so I don't spoil anything for anybody but if you've read the book you probably know what I'm talking about. anyways I hated that. I thought it was so cheap.
6. we can all answer the riddle. she lied when she said it was a good one.
7. I'm very mad at the ending. if it was meant to be beautiful, it really wasn't.
I'm now very tired of thinking about this book so I'm just gonna cut my review short here and say I may or may not continue this series, but if I did it would be for Rhys. everyone keeps saying it gets better in book two and then downhill again in book three. what then is the point. We'll see? maybe
but, after avoiding this series like the plague, I'm attempting it so that I have receipts when people are shocked to hear that I don't like Sarah J. Maas. probably comes as no that this review is mostly going to be negative.
in an attempt to keep things relatively polite and short, my thoughts on some of the characters as bullet points:
1. Feyre (FMC) really sucks. she makes some of the stupidest decisions, is stubbornly ungrateful, is literally out of her depth but can't follow simple instructions to preserve her own life, and has really no redeeming qualities. I can't understand her appeal to other characters, and the only explanation is her being a self-insert.
2. Tamlin also sucks, but for different reasons. he is so bland and boring, appears to consist of growling and claws, and I just could not for the life of me care about him. I care even less about his relationship with Feyre, which seemed so superficial I wouldve applauded and enjoyed this so much more if it was all a lie.
3. Lucien, my only saving grace. thank goodness for Lucien, he voiced all my inner thoughts and gave zero shits about Feyre. I loved that for him and he deserves everything.
4. Rhys. I won't lie, I would continue reading for him.
5. Feyre's family, are actually so rubbish SJM really laid the pity backstory on too thick methinks.
some of my thoughts on the plot:
1. I didn't realise this was supposed to be like beauty and the beast. I'm actually disturbed by the thought of comparing them. my thoughts were more Bella Swan from Twilight.
2. the whole setup with Andras was so flimsy. I get it now, but the whole settling in period was just awful to read, and I completely understand why people would DNF at that point. I wish Feyre spent more time investigating rather than being a dumbass so we wouldn't need the info dump to lazily explain everything.
3. I couldn't stop laughing about the masks. its so ridiculous. how awful. how tragic.
4. necessity of some events were very questionable (looking at you Calanmai). I do wonder if this book would still have the fan base it does if it was fade to black. on that note, quite a few icky scenes, dubious consent. felt very uncomfortable. do check content warnings. the 180 from fantasy to erotica really gave me whiplash.
5. the requirements were very specific and random. and of course bad timing for Feyre who almost did it all. I'm trying to be vague so I don't spoil anything for anybody but if you've read the book you probably know what I'm talking about. anyways I hated that. I thought it was so cheap.
6. we can all answer the riddle. she lied when she said it was a good one.
7. I'm very mad at the ending. if it was meant to be beautiful, it really wasn't.
I'm now very tired of thinking about this book so I'm just gonna cut my review short here and say I may or may not continue this series, but if I did it would be for Rhys. everyone keeps saying it gets better in book two and then downhill again in book three. what then is the point. We'll see? maybe