I graduated in 2010. In the years right before and right after that my life was all about the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and various other YA/fantasy fiction. At some point, however, I just kind of stopped reading fantasy which would explain why I never heard about the popular A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas published in 2015. That’s obviously what I’m about to review and I have many thoughts. I’ll give you the synopsis and break down everything I loved and didn’t love so much. This review will have spoilers.

Synopsis

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 Thoughts

I really liked this book but it did have its issues. For the first almost half of it I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did. There’s a lot of elements to it that seemed to just be a Beauty and the Beast rip off. We have the girl taken as payment but she gets to live in luxury and she falls in love with the “beast”. There’s even an art gallery instead of a library because our main character, Feyre, loves to paint. However, as the story progressed I began to actually care about the characters (something I struggled with in the first half) and the beginning of the book started to make sense. This is one of those books that you might think just has some crappy writing but then it spins and everything falls into place. My thought process as I was reading this book went a little something like this:

• Feyre has zero personality except for the whole “I’m not like other girls” thing.
• She killed an “evil” fairy’s friend but her only punishment is to live in luxury??
• Obviously they fall in love.
• If I have to read about how muscular Tamlin is one more time I might rip my eyes out.
• Wow that is a lot of detailed sex for YA.
• Everybody is kind of boring except for Rhysand.
• Feyre begins to develop a personality.
• Ah so Feyre is the key to breaking the curse which explains why Tamlin just let her live in his house.
• Omg Feyre saved everybody, which is what the obvious outcome was, but I’m still crying tears of joy.
• Wow that’s even more detailed sex. This is definitely not YA, it’s New Adult.

As you can see, my thoughts were a rollercoaster. This book wasn’t all roses to me…there were some thorns (I’m sorry). I still wouldn’t say that Feyre is my favorite character. I much prefer the main men: Tamlin, Lucien and Rhysand, but who knows? Feyre may grow on me in the future books of which I can not wait to read.

If you like fantasy, fairies and a good bit of romance then this story is for you. I’ve already ordered the next three in the series so those reviews will be coming soon. If you’ve read A Court of Thorns and Roses please let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading and have a great day!