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

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The major beats are Beauty and the Beast, more or less. For readers particularly attuned to gendered terminology, the terms “fe/male” show up a lot, sometimes in places they don’t necessarily need to be (e.g., “a towering male figure” when it could just be “a towering figure,” etc.; these terms are shorthand for things that can be described otherwise, with thought and care). I can understand the use of these terms insofar as they refer to the “sex” of beings that aren’t human, but they did throw me out of the story occasionally in ways that were annoying, in part because they often operate on assumptions about bodily makeup and gender that I don’t ascribe to. Once I got a feel for how these terms work insofar as they differentiate faerie/human characteristics, I was okay. But I thought it might be helpful for other enby/gender nonconforming folx to know. 

What this book does extraordinarily well is establish a broader nexus of character connections and a wider range for the plot. I don’t think I’ve ever read a first book that set me up so well for the sequels before, and I will read the entire series.  
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