REVIEW: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 416

Rating:

Synopsis (source):

“When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.”

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“The faerie lands of Prythian-where no mortals would dare to go, not unless they had a death wish.”

Yeah that up there. That’s me right now. That was me through the whole last half of ACOTAR. I don’t even think I have the words to properly convey how much I loved this book. However, I will try!

I didn’t go into this book as blind as I wish I had. I know quite a bit about the sequel, character wise, because of all the raving over it on social media. I feel like it kind of warped my view in the beginning. I forced myself to push my preconceived notions aside and voila A Court of Thorns and Roses not only met my exceptions it shattered them. I finished this book in three days. That’s a huge deal for me. I literally couldn’t put it down.

This was my introduction to Sarah J. Maas’ writing and let me tell you I was absolutely blown away. She paints such vivid pictures with her words! It was like each and every description was leaping off the page. Her writing is enthralling. I adore a great faerie book and I also adore a great retelling. Sarah J. Mass took those two things mashed them together and molded them into her own completely unique story with a cast of incredibly colorful characters.

On the subject of retellings; I love the fact that this was loosely a Beauty and the Beast retelling. That is one of my all time favorite Disney movies. The elements from it that she mixed in added so much to the story and made it that much better.

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The characters. So many of them I loved. Some of them I hated. Some of them I’m still on the fence about.

“I made a promise,” I said, my breathing ragged. “To my mother, when she died. That I’d look after my family. That I’d take care of them. All I have done, every single day, every hour, has been for that vow. And just because I was hunting to save my family. I’m now forced to break it.”

Feyre; I adored her. She is a strong, stubborn, caring, not afraid to speak her mind type of character. I loved it! You learn just how much she’s willing to do anything for those she cares about. Her dedication and loyalty are incredible. She’s definitely found herself on my list of top favorite female characters.

“Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”

Tamlin; I was very much on the fence about him in the beginning and then ultimately ended up warming up to him. I admired his refusal to backdown. He also had this fierceness and tenderness about him that made it hard not to like him.

“Would you like me to teach you how to wield a blade, or do you already know how, oh mighty huntress?”

Lucien; I loved him. Lucien is my favorite. A lot of bad stuff has happened to him, but he ultimately has this sense of humor and sarcasm that I really enjoy (Honestly I wanted to shove him in this little box and protect him from all of the bad things.).

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

I also met the infamous Rhysand who I will not talk much about (yet) because I’m still on the fence about him, I didn’t like him a lot of the time in ACOTAR. Although he was definitely on the road to winning me over in the end. (I feel like Sarah J. Maas has a talent for making you love a character you otherwise didn’t before.)

There are also a few other characters; Nesta, Elain, and Alis. I loved those three so much.

“I love you,” he whispered, and kissed my brow. “Thorns and all.”

I surprisingly enjoyed the romance; I didn’t think I would. There was something about it though. The way it flowed and how it wasn’t instantaneous but was slowly built. Feyre and Tamlin seemed to mesh so well together and kind of balance each other in a way that was really nice.

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I know I’ve already said as much, but A Court of Thorns and Roses is so unique. I’m a huge fan of fantasy and an even bigger fan of books that have anything to do with faeries. Sarah J. Maas knocked it out of the park with this. She built this enchanting world full of its own history and mysteries that I feel like we haven’t even throughly touched a quarter of yet. I’m extremely excited to see how things change, shift, and what else comes to light as I venture into the sequel.

Shocking, suspenseful, enchanting, and sometimes horrifying A Court of Thorns and Roses will sink its thorns into you and refuse to let go until you turn the last page.

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“We need hope or else we cannot endure.”

“Beauty didn’t mean anything in the forest.”

“It told a story with the way colors and shapes and light flowed, the way the tone shifted across the mural. The story of … of Prythian.”

“Truth or lie, lie or truth … both.”

“Because all of the monsters have been let out of their cages tonight.”

“I don’t like good-byes. If I could, I’d just walk out and not say anything.”

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You can purchase this book on: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository, iBooks, Googleplay, or you can check it out at your local library.

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Update(a few hours after I posted it): I edited this a tiny bit and added a bit more organization. I’m going to try out something new since I very heavily like to share my thoughts on the book as a whole and then my thoughts on the characters more than anything. It keeps me from spoiling things haha. I hope it’s not confusing! ❤️

-Melissa

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