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greek_book_wanderer 's review for:
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Two months. Almost two months. This is the longest time it has ever taken me to finish a book.
I had seen posts and videos about this series before. I was exposed to some spoilers and at first, I didn't feel like reading it. I don't like romance books that much, so I decided to stay away from it. But after a while, I decided to give it a try. I am open to read a genre that I rarely read and I approached this book with an open mind. I really wanted to enjoy it, trust me I did. But even from the beginning, it was clear that I wouldn't have a good time while reading it.
First and foremost, I want to say what I liked. I found some aspects of the world quite intriguing (for example, the different creatures or the war between fae and humans) and there were some parts of the plot that picked my interest. Some characters interesting enough, like Lucien or Alis and even though I wouldn't say that I loved them, compaired to other characters of the story, I enjoyed reading about them.
However, the negatives of this book outweighed the positives. One of the major reasons why I didn't enjoy the book was the writing. It was dull and there were times when it was repetitive, to the point it became annoying. SJM would repeat phrases, words or she would say the exact same thing by using different words. It reminded me of school, when you must write an essay of about 300+ words and you use more words to describe something simple, just so you can increase your essay's word count. The writing often seemed messy and sometimes it would jump from one topic to another.
Here is an extract from Chapter 36:
I walked to the middle of the pit opening, calculated the distance, and plunged the two bones into the ground. I returned back to the mound of bones and made quick work of whatever I could find that was sturdy and sharp. When my knee became too tender to use as a breaking point, I snapped the bones with my foot. One by one, I stuck them into the muddy floor beneath the pit opening until the whole area, save for one small spot, was filled with white lances.
I didn’t double-check my work—it would succeed, or I would wind up among those bones on the floor. Just one chance. That was all I had. Better than no chances at all.
I dashed to my bone ladder and ignored the sting of the splinters in my fingers as I climbed to the third rung, where I balanced before embedding a fourth bone in the wall.
It was really annoying to see the words "bone" or "bones" in almost every single phrase and there were other examples like this one in the book.
Another reason why I didn't like SJM's writing was the overuse of em dashes and elipses. I am not exaggerating: there was no page without em dashes on it. At first I tried to ignore it but it was so frustating and intorelable to see it happen all the time. As a result, it was very hard for me to get used to it and I couldn't stand it when Feyre constantly interrupted her thoughts.
Feyre annoyed me a lot and I couldn't like her. She wasn't a well-developed character and even though I am aware of the difficult life she had, I still couldn't like her. I also couldn't stand it when someone told her not do something, but she did it either way. Yes, I know where she comes from and I know that she is suspicius about Faeries but she still acted like a kid, for the sake of the plot. Another thing that annoyed me a lot was how often she talked about painting. She is passionate about painting, but she was bringing it up so much (even when her life was in danger) to the point it became insufferable and it was like a personality trait to her.
I'm going to talk about the main love interests. I seriously cannot bring myself to like Rhysand or root for him.I can't ignore the fact that he made Feyre his possesion and made her act like a sex slave. No matter what his motives were, he was problematic and his behaviour was just quenstionable. I know that during the next book he becomes better (or at least, I've heard so) but that doesn't change my view of him. What he did was very sick, he seemed pretty toxic and he doesn't seem like a good love interest. I admit that he was a character who at least was more interesting, I could see why he acted the way he did but the way he was portrayed didn't make me like him more. He doesn't knowledge his problematic behaviour and he believes that what he did could be excused by his motives. As for Tamlin, he is flawed as well, he has a tragic past and yet, he was boring, problematic (he literally bit Feyre and no, it cannot be excused by Fire Night) and his relationship with Feyre came out of nowhere.
The villain was badly written. The curse (the fact that it was sooo specific made me laugh) and her actions in general, didn't make any sense considering how powerful she is supposed to be. She acted like a cartoonish villain rather a vicious one, especially during the last part of the book. Her trials and riddle were unnecessary and their only purpose was to stretch the plot. I'm not denying the bad things she has done, but because of the way she was written, I couldn't take her seriously and I found her hilarious.
For the majority of the book, I didn't care about the plot. I enjoy reading slow paced books, if there is character developement, if the plot is interesting enough or if the world is well developed. However, the story was monotonous and boring. There was an improvement during the last part of the book, but it still didn't change my view of it. The romance was really sudden, I seriously can't pinpoint how or when Tamlin and Feyre started developing feelings for each other and it was very underdeveloped AND toxic.
Finally, the world building was lackluster and poor in a lot of ways. The back story of the world and the curse was revealed through monologues or Feyre's thoughts, which was lazy and underwhelming. As I mentioned above, there were some aspects that I found interesting but overall as a fantasy world, it was underdeveloped and I didn't care about it as much as I wanted to. I love reading fantasy books and learning about different fantasy settings but in this case, I did not care about the universe.
I don't know if I'll continue with the series. I'm not saying that this is the worst book I've ever read, but it was not good either. I can totally see why many people love it and if someone wanted to read a romance fantasy book, I would probably recommend it to them.
I had seen posts and videos about this series before. I was exposed to some spoilers and at first, I didn't feel like reading it. I don't like romance books that much, so I decided to stay away from it. But after a while, I decided to give it a try. I am open to read a genre that I rarely read and I approached this book with an open mind. I really wanted to enjoy it, trust me I did. But even from the beginning, it was clear that I wouldn't have a good time while reading it.
First and foremost, I want to say what I liked. I found some aspects of the world quite intriguing (for example, the different creatures or the war between fae and humans) and there were some parts of the plot that picked my interest. Some characters interesting enough, like Lucien or Alis and even though I wouldn't say that I loved them, compaired to other characters of the story, I enjoyed reading about them.
However, the negatives of this book outweighed the positives. One of the major reasons why I didn't enjoy the book was the writing. It was dull and there were times when it was repetitive, to the point it became annoying. SJM would repeat phrases, words or she would say the exact same thing by using different words. It reminded me of school, when you must write an essay of about 300+ words and you use more words to describe something simple, just so you can increase your essay's word count. The writing often seemed messy and sometimes it would jump from one topic to another.
Here is an extract from Chapter 36:
I walked to the middle of the pit opening, calculated the distance, and plunged the two bones into the ground. I returned back to the mound of bones and made quick work of whatever I could find that was sturdy and sharp. When my knee became too tender to use as a breaking point, I snapped the bones with my foot. One by one, I stuck them into the muddy floor beneath the pit opening until the whole area, save for one small spot, was filled with white lances.
I didn’t double-check my work—it would succeed, or I would wind up among those bones on the floor. Just one chance. That was all I had. Better than no chances at all.
I dashed to my bone ladder and ignored the sting of the splinters in my fingers as I climbed to the third rung, where I balanced before embedding a fourth bone in the wall.
It was really annoying to see the words "bone" or "bones" in almost every single phrase and there were other examples like this one in the book.
Another reason why I didn't like SJM's writing was the overuse of em dashes and elipses. I am not exaggerating: there was no page without em dashes on it. At first I tried to ignore it but it was so frustating and intorelable to see it happen all the time. As a result, it was very hard for me to get used to it and I couldn't stand it when Feyre constantly interrupted her thoughts.
Feyre annoyed me a lot and I couldn't like her. She wasn't a well-developed character and even though I am aware of the difficult life she had, I still couldn't like her. I also couldn't stand it when someone told her not do something, but she did it either way. Yes, I know where she comes from and I know that she is suspicius about Faeries but she still acted like a kid, for the sake of the plot. Another thing that annoyed me a lot was how often she talked about painting. She is passionate about painting, but she was bringing it up so much (even when her life was in danger) to the point it became insufferable and it was like a personality trait to her.
I'm going to talk about the main love interests. I seriously cannot bring myself to like Rhysand or root for him.
The villain was badly written. The curse (the fact that it was sooo specific made me laugh) and her actions in general, didn't make any sense considering how powerful she is supposed to be. She acted like a cartoonish villain rather a vicious one, especially during the last part of the book. Her trials and riddle were unnecessary and their only purpose was to stretch the plot. I'm not denying the bad things she has done, but because of the way she was written, I couldn't take her seriously and I found her hilarious.
For the majority of the book, I didn't care about the plot. I enjoy reading slow paced books, if there is character developement, if the plot is interesting enough or if the world is well developed. However, the story was monotonous and boring. There was an improvement during the last part of the book, but it still didn't change my view of it. The romance was really sudden, I seriously can't pinpoint how or when Tamlin and Feyre started developing feelings for each other and it was very underdeveloped AND toxic.
Finally, the world building was lackluster and poor in a lot of ways. The back story of the world and the curse was revealed through monologues or Feyre's thoughts, which was lazy and underwhelming. As I mentioned above, there were some aspects that I found interesting but overall as a fantasy world, it was underdeveloped and I didn't care about it as much as I wanted to. I love reading fantasy books and learning about different fantasy settings but in this case, I did not care about the universe.
I don't know if I'll continue with the series. I'm not saying that this is the worst book I've ever read, but it was not good either. I can totally see why many people love it and if someone wanted to read a romance fantasy book, I would probably recommend it to them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Slavery