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

adventurous
  • 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

2.0

I don't really get the hype on this one. 

The world building feels rather bland and generic feywild. Its full of the classic tropes of fey trickery and deal making, trying to eat the heart of the mortal, etc. If that's your thing, you'll feel right at home. There wasn't anything that felt truly original or creative about it though, just the same fairy magic played out over again in familiar settings. 

The prose feels similarly. Its certainly not bad but its nothing to make praise of either.  Its easy reading and that the only reason I didn't put it down in the middle somewhere. Specifically, I would have stopped when Tamil assaulted Fehre in the hallway

Maybe the characters are really compelling then? Nope. Feyre and Tamil are both incredibly annoying and unlikable. Feyre is 19, still practically a child, shes dumb and rash and puts herself in harms way constantly, which are fine and totally reasonable for someone her age, but then the central plot line is her Beauty and the Beast romance with a 600 year old immortal who doesn't understand consent (
its not sexy to be told "if we don't stop now, I wont be able to stop" during foreplay, its a huge red flag. This shit just glorifies poor consent culture.
) and can't control his 'animal urges.' Like seriously, the age gap between an freshman and senior in college is often dubious enough, this trope is gross and any character that's dating an immortal should have a fully developed brain. It only gets better too when we learn
that Tamlins quest for the past 49 years has been to find a mortal that hates fairies and gaslight her to falling in love with him so he can get his full power back. Guess that's why he went for the 19 year old.
 
Romance arc aside, Feyre was pretty badass. Her skills as a huntress were honed from taking care of her family and she was able to fight and win against the beasts of the feywild on multiple occasions.  She makes hard decisions for the benefit of the greater good and viciously looks after the ones she loves. 
The minor characters were more likable, Rhys came in late but quickly became my favorite.
Even if his plotting and scheming was so obvious that everyone should have seen through it but no one did.
And Lucien was a likable jerk and even if we was an ass at times, he obviously cared deeply about his friends.

I'll be picking up book two only because my partner and her friend are reading though it together and I like bookclubs. I hope it gets better because at this rate I can't do 5 books.  Please let Tamil die

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