A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
Genre: YA Fantasy
Blurb (on back of book):
Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
MY OPINION: *****
I went into this book not expecting too much from it but ended up absolutely loving it. I have read the first three
Throne of Glass novels and while they were okay, I ended up abandoning the series because it got to be too much and I grew disinterested. However, ACOTAR drew me in from the start and kept me reading, to my surprise. I am not a fantasy reader and have never claimed to love the genre but this book was amazing.
We are introduced to the land of the Fae, or Faeries. We meet Feyre, a human girl who, like the rest of the humans around her, has a strong and passionate dislike for faeries. She believes them to be violent, vicious, and cruel (the generic discriminatory features in fantasy novels). She lives with her two sisters and her disabled father, all of whom are very poor and honestly quite selfish. Feyre has been hunting in the dangerous possibly-faerie-ridden forest to try to fend for her family and get them food on the table. Her sisters don't do anything to help, and Feyre describes it as being the normal atmosphere of her family. She's used to being the strong one and doing everything on her own, especially with her fairly shell-shocked father who is despised by Feyre's older sister for his lameness and disinterest to do anything for their family after losing his money.
One day, Feyre goes out into the forest and spies a deer that's perfect for what her family needs. However, an abnormally large wolf comes pouncing out of the forest and Feyre instantly suspects it to be a Faerie. Because of her mindset, she kills the wolf immediately out of pure hatred for its kind and thinks nothing of it.
A few days (or however long) later, a beast comes roaring into her house and essentially takes Feyre away from her family, sentencing her to a lifetime in the Prythian Faerie Realms to live with him. We soon realize that his name is Tamlin and he is a High Lord of the Fae, meaning that he can shape-shift and has immense power. However, he and the rest of his court (dubbed the Spring Court; there are seven courts) have been cursed to wear masquerade masks for the past forty-nine years.
Although Tamlin comes off as cruel and powerful and Faerie, Feyre soon learns that he is kinder than he seems and has a heart. She is attracted to him and his power and soon they fall in love (though it slowly creeps up on you, which I loved, rather than them instantaneously falling in love). However, Feyre never deigns to say the words, despite Tamlin saying them to her, and that causes an unfortunate turn of events.
Along the way, we meet a few very important characters: Lucien, who I honestly loved and admired for both his strength and sarcasm; Rhysand, who I also loved despite his "evil" tendencies and instant dislike that Feyre takes for him; and Amarantha, the evil woman who cursed the Spring Court in the first place.
The "blight", as they call it, is getting worse, and Feyre is sent home after a night of lovemaking with Tamlin (disclaimer: it's fairly graphic for a young adult book but it shouldn't be too bad, depending on what you're willing to read). She leaves and soon reunites with her now-rich family. However, after she realizes a few things and reconciles with her sisters and father, she leaves again to find Tamlin and save him, only to return and find him missing. The housekeeper/servant, Alis, proceeds to tell Feyre everything that they apparently weren't allowed to tell her before and sets off to find Amarantha under the mountain and save her man.
Here begins a series of three trials that Amarantha sets up for Feyre to pass and save Tamlin. She is also given a riddle that she can solve to immediately free the Spring Court. Feyre is illiterate and it turns out to be quite a large weakness in the second trial. However, Rhysand, who comes off as bad at first but is actually not too bad at all, helps her throughout the trials. I honestly found the trials to be the most interesting part of the book and loved reading through all of it.
Overall, the writing is impeccably written as per usual of Maas, and keeps you both entertained and on the edge of your seat at all times. The romance is beautiful, not forced and weird like in TOG (in my opinion). You can see the parallels with this book and Beauty and the Beast, which I loved looking out for and recognizing key moments. Don't worry, it's not at all the same and strays from it quite a lot. The book is very worthwhile to read and I would recommend it to readers looking for a romance/fantasy novel full of drama, adventure, love, and strong female protagonists.
sidenote: I kind of ship her with Rhysand and honestly love him so much hahahahaha
Main Character: Feyre
Sidekick(s): Tamlin, Rhysand, Lucien, etc
Villain(s): Blight, Amarantha, etc
Fantasy Elements: This book was based on fanatic creatures, setting, and characters.
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