Rating: 4/5

Genre: YA Fantasy Romance

Recommended Age: 16+ (some mature sexual scenes, make sure you have permission from your parents to read this!)

Favorite Quote: "He was gone when I awoke, and I was certain I had dreamed it."

What happens when you kill a wolf in the woods to only find out that it was actually a fairy? What happens when you're kidnapped by a beast-like creature from your family who will certainly die without your helping hand? What happens when the fairytales you've heard in your infancy are actually true? What happens when the beast who kidnapped you was actually a lethal, immortal High Fae? This is the world Feyre finds herself in. As she schemes to journey home, she begins to learn about what strange things have befallen Prythian and she begins to feel strange emotions towards her captor. What will Feyre do? Will she flee at her first chance or will she save this world she was brought into against her will?

In a world of vampires and werewolves there has to be some solace for the many who crave a new world, a new lore. This relief came in the form of A Court of Thorns and Roses and the Throne of Glass series and thus almost overnight Maas became a household name. The Court of Thorns and Roses saga has become widely popular and because of this popularity I decided to not only host a readalong of the book but to read it carefully for myself to discover the reason behind this insane popularity. While I had issues with all of my usual points, for the most part I enjoyed my journey through Prythian with Feyre. The book is a very easy read and the writing is very high fantasy and very descriptive. The pacing, while off in some areas, is fairly well done and the plot developed at a slow, but somewhat natural rate. The characters were also very well detailed and you can tell Maas knows way more about these characters than we probably ever will, which is what all great authors possess.

While for the most part I found the book to be a very beautiful and unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I had some minor issues with it. The fact that the book is called a retelling of Beauty and the Beast is my first issue. The book makes several allusions to many other fairytales. Cinderella and The Princess Frog are some of the other fairytale retellings I read in the book. This book should really be regarded as a retelling of many fairytales rather than just Beauty and the Beast (but for what it's worth they probably say that it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling because that will bring in the big bucks). I also felt that the pacing was a bit slow in areas and that the author tended to repeat phrases and became too detailed in areas as well. While the book did pick up at the end of the book, the beginning was fairly slow. I also felt that the quality of writing suffered when the pacing and the plot dwindled. There were some odd phrases in the book and I feel that making the book a 270 page novel rather than a 420 page one would have fixed a lot of these issues.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I loved reading this book along with my readalong group, but I dread any potential slow parts of the next novel.


--- New Review 7/15/24

 

Disclaimer: I bought this book. All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: A Court of Thorns and Roses 

 

Author: Sarah J. Maas 

 

Book Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses book 1 

 

Rating: 5/5 

 

Recommended For...: adult readers, fantasy, romance, fae, romantasy, retellings, Beauty and the Beast 

 

Publication Date: May 5, 2015 

 

Genre: Fantasy Romance 

 

Age Relevance: 18+ (starvation, parental death, sexual content, language, animal death, animal gore, death, blood gore, attempted rape, slavery mentioned, forced kiss, PTSD) 

 

Explanation of Above: There are some mentions and scenes of starvation. Parental death is mentioned. Death and blood gore are shown. There is some strong language, but just slightly. There are a couple of scenes showing animal death and animal gore. There is sexual consensual content and there is one scene where an attempted rape is believed to have been attempted. There is also a forced kiss. Slavery is mentioned. There are moments of PTSD. 

 

Spice: 2/5 

 

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing 

 

Pages: 419 

 

Synopsis: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world. At least, he’s not a beast all the time. As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever. 

 

Review: What could I say about ACOTAR that I've not already in my previous review? Maybe that it's a good story and that I'm thankful it got me back into reading. That while it's long and sometimes goes off onto side quests, the whole of the story is very interesting and I love all the setups the author makes. That while I have reservations about the author and that she makes some very tropey choices in her writing, that I will say she can write a good book. I think the book is one of those that stays with you, whether you want it to or not. It's a great setup to a good series and the story structure is one that's easy to follow along for any level of reader. The book is good and it's helped me heal.
 
 Again, my misgivings are some of the pacing points and slight plot holes (but I've not read the 3rd book yet so don't come at me right now lol). 

 

Verdict: It was good, I would think it would be a good series to help someone step into Romantasy.