A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Published by Bloomsbury Children’s on May 5th 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Fairytale Retelling, Magic
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
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.
REVIEW
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is the first book in her new fantasy fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It follows our main protagonist Feyre and the aftermath and consequences of killing a shape shifting Fae. With action, love, rich back stories, and fantastical Faerie magic this book has it all!
Sarah J. Maas is known to be a wonderful writer. She is known to tell some awesome stories and creates some of the best/lovable characters. She does not disappoint this time around either! She was able to recreate one of my favorite fairytale and make it all her own. It takes a great deal of talent to be able to do that. This book even warranted me to research more about the original fairytale and see how much I could connect the dots.
Feyre reminded me a lot of Celaena from The Throne of Glass series, and as much as it pains me to make the comparison, I just felt it. She was courageous, loyal, curious, and intelligent (even though she is illiterate). Yes, she made some bad decisions in this book that pretty much screwed things up half the time, but I feel without that she wouldn’t progress much as a character. When they say curiosity killed the cat, I feel like they were talking about Feyre. Her curiosity got her into a lot of trouble. She got on my nerves quite a bit though. Annoying at times.
Tamlin, Tamlin, Tamlin. My heart is skipping a beat just thinking about him. Sarah J. Maas has once again created the perfect man. I don’t know how she does it, but here we go again. Protective, strong, courageous, devote leader, and more. I’m at a loss for words trying to talk about him right now.
This book was the perfect blend of romance and action. It spends a lot of time in the first half of the book building the relationship between Feyre and Tamlin that you can’t help but give them the title of Best Couple of the year. The bickering, learning, and love making were just splendidly perfectly and I wouldn’t change a single moment.
But not all is perfect in A Court of Thorns and Roses. The reason this book did not receive a 5 star rating is because of the antagonist. I literally gave no shits what so ever about her (I can’t even remember her name at this exact moment). To me a good antagonist is one that you can’t help but love to hate. They silently make you want to route for them to do the good thing in the end. I want to see the hardships that got them to where they are now, and I just didn’t connect with hers at all. I did however like Rhys, her whore. He I secretly route for to win! He’s conniving and manipulative, but he has his reasons. I can’t wait to see more of him in the next book.
So enough of my ramblings. I quite thoroughly enjoyed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. From the story, to the romance, to the action, to the redemption, and to the folklore. If you’ve read it I would love to hear what you have to say. Let’s start a conversation!
Until next time,
Sarah lives in Bucks County, PA, and over the years, she has developed an unhealthy appreciation for Disney movies and bad pop music. She adores fairy tales and ballet, drinks too much tea, and watches an ungodly amount of TV. When she’s not busy writing, she can be found exploring the historic and beautiful Pennsylvania countryside with her husband and canine companion.