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matthiasmcgeenus 's review for:
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses: A Fantasy Novel That Loses It's Footing Halfway
While in search for what to read for June of a reading challenge I'm doing this year, my sister recommended me Sarah J. Maas's 2015 fantasy novel A Court of Thorns and Roses (referred to as ACOTAR from here on out). Up until this year, I haven't really read books by myself since maybe middle school; my reading for the past decade or so has always been books that were assigned to me, typically through school or, as of right now, PewDiePie's Book Review 2025. So, you can technically say that ACOTAR is the first book I've read on my own volition in like a decade. Being essentially new to reading again, all I knew was this was a fantasy book. I typically like fantasy media (most of my exposure being via video games like Skyrim), so ACOTAR should be right up my alley, right?
Apparently not. For the first half or so, ACOTAR is a really enjoyable fantasy novel with an interesting plot and cast of characters. But after around Ch 26, the book becomes incredibly shallow in my opinion. I have a lot of thoughts, so as a means of making this a little easier to read, I'm gonna bullet them all below. BEWARE, SPOILERS AHEAD:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- After like that halfway point of the book, Feyre becomes kinda shallow. She falls for Tamlin, right? Whatever. But she forced herself to become comfortable because Tamlin promises that the oath Feyre made to her mother is fulfilled; even without Feyre, her family is fine and well-accommodated. But for someone that was so contrarian to the thought of having to be in Prythian for the rest of her life, she was way too quick to immediately abandon her family once she had the choice to stay. It's genuinely like Stockholm Syndrome.
- Tamlin-Feyre relationship feels like it does nothing for the plot. Multiple back-to-back chapters that serve no plot advance except to have them fuck. I get that their relationship is used to push the plot, but it feels incredibly shallow.
- Maas excessively uses the word "growl" when referring to any time Tamlin talks or makes an audible noise (whether a whisper or a sensual groan) to the point that it becomes hilariously stupid and I can't help but laugh every time she uses it.
- The writing, especially when it comes to Feyre, is overly dramatic to a fault (Ex, see p. 393: "One faerie—and then we were free. Just one more swing of my arm. And maybe one more after that—maybe one more swing, up and inward into my own heart." Like what? It's giving the ending of The Last of Us Part 2 iykyk)
- On top of Feyre's overall shallowness as a character, at the end of the book, she constantly threatened with the idea of humanity being attacked and taken over by the faeries, but it seems like she doesn't care. Amarantha uses Tamlin as essentially a bargaining tool to get Feyre to do her dirty work, which is understandable, but, as if comedically, Feyre consistently says "This is why I'm doing this" every time she thinks of or sees Tamlin. Like, I get it, but to basically frame it as if she wouldn't have any motivation to do anything about Amarantha if Tamlin wasn't at risk is so dumb and really takes me out of it.
- Feyre becoming High Fae at the end seems kinda stupid to me, like Maas was like "Oh shit I gotta wrap this up. Uhh.... fuck it she's a faerie now too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While I wouldn't say this is a bad book, I feel no desire to ever really revisit this in the future. Up until maybe like Ch 26, I must say, this was really enjoyable, but the last 150 pages or so are kinda a slog. If this was cut down a bit, I think it would be a really solid, enjoyable fantasy story. A lot of the issues with both the characters and the narrative only really become a problem in the last like 100 pages.
So, will I be reading the next book, [b:A Court of Mist and Fury|17927395|A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)|Sarah J. Maas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546406996l/17927395._SY75_.jpg|25126749]? Well, my sister wants to know my thoughts about the series up to that point, but 600+ pages is kinda ridiculous, especially considering that I thought ACOTAR, which is 200 pages less, could have benefitted from being shorter. I probably will pick it up, but if it starts having the same issues as this book, I'll probably drop it. ACOTAR has taught me that I probably hate YA books.
I absolutely despise the fact that Goodreads doesn't have half star ratings, so on a scale of 1-5, I would give this book a decent to strong 2, or around a 4-4.5 out of 10. Overall enjoyable, but really loses it's footing near the end, which dramatically takes away from the enjoyment of the story as an overall product.
While in search for what to read for June of a reading challenge I'm doing this year, my sister recommended me Sarah J. Maas's 2015 fantasy novel A Court of Thorns and Roses (referred to as ACOTAR from here on out). Up until this year, I haven't really read books by myself since maybe middle school; my reading for the past decade or so has always been books that were assigned to me, typically through school or, as of right now, PewDiePie's Book Review 2025. So, you can technically say that ACOTAR is the first book I've read on my own volition in like a decade. Being essentially new to reading again, all I knew was this was a fantasy book. I typically like fantasy media (most of my exposure being via video games like Skyrim), so ACOTAR should be right up my alley, right?
Apparently not. For the first half or so, ACOTAR is a really enjoyable fantasy novel with an interesting plot and cast of characters. But after around Ch 26, the book becomes incredibly shallow in my opinion. I have a lot of thoughts, so as a means of making this a little easier to read, I'm gonna bullet them all below. BEWARE, SPOILERS AHEAD:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- After like that halfway point of the book, Feyre becomes kinda shallow. She falls for Tamlin, right? Whatever. But she forced herself to become comfortable because Tamlin promises that the oath Feyre made to her mother is fulfilled; even without Feyre, her family is fine and well-accommodated. But for someone that was so contrarian to the thought of having to be in Prythian for the rest of her life, she was way too quick to immediately abandon her family once she had the choice to stay. It's genuinely like Stockholm Syndrome.
- Tamlin-Feyre relationship feels like it does nothing for the plot. Multiple back-to-back chapters that serve no plot advance except to have them fuck. I get that their relationship is used to push the plot, but it feels incredibly shallow.
- Maas excessively uses the word "growl" when referring to any time Tamlin talks or makes an audible noise (whether a whisper or a sensual groan) to the point that it becomes hilariously stupid and I can't help but laugh every time she uses it.
- The writing, especially when it comes to Feyre, is overly dramatic to a fault (Ex, see p. 393: "One faerie—and then we were free. Just one more swing of my arm. And maybe one more after that—maybe one more swing, up and inward into my own heart." Like what? It's giving the ending of The Last of Us Part 2 iykyk)
- On top of Feyre's overall shallowness as a character, at the end of the book, she constantly threatened with the idea of humanity being attacked and taken over by the faeries, but it seems like she doesn't care. Amarantha uses Tamlin as essentially a bargaining tool to get Feyre to do her dirty work, which is understandable, but, as if comedically, Feyre consistently says "This is why I'm doing this" every time she thinks of or sees Tamlin. Like, I get it, but to basically frame it as if she wouldn't have any motivation to do anything about Amarantha if Tamlin wasn't at risk is so dumb and really takes me out of it.
- Feyre becoming High Fae at the end seems kinda stupid to me, like Maas was like "Oh shit I gotta wrap this up. Uhh.... fuck it she's a faerie now too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While I wouldn't say this is a bad book, I feel no desire to ever really revisit this in the future. Up until maybe like Ch 26, I must say, this was really enjoyable, but the last 150 pages or so are kinda a slog. If this was cut down a bit, I think it would be a really solid, enjoyable fantasy story. A lot of the issues with both the characters and the narrative only really become a problem in the last like 100 pages.
So, will I be reading the next book, [b:A Court of Mist and Fury|17927395|A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)|Sarah J. Maas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546406996l/17927395._SY75_.jpg|25126749]? Well, my sister wants to know my thoughts about the series up to that point, but 600+ pages is kinda ridiculous, especially considering that I thought ACOTAR, which is 200 pages less, could have benefitted from being shorter. I probably will pick it up, but if it starts having the same issues as this book, I'll probably drop it. ACOTAR has taught me that I probably hate YA books.
I absolutely despise the fact that Goodreads doesn't have half star ratings, so on a scale of 1-5, I would give this book a decent to strong 2, or around a 4-4.5 out of 10. Overall enjoyable, but really loses it's footing near the end, which dramatically takes away from the enjoyment of the story as an overall product.