Thoughts on : A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Genre : Fantasy, Romance
Series : A Court of Thorns and Roses, book 1
About the 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.
I went into A Court of Thorns and Roses with basically no expectations, good or bad : Sarah J. Maas is an author I enjoy reading, but I usually have very mixed reactions about her book – and this one is no exception.
First, let me say there is a lot I enjoyed about the book. I loved the worldbuilding and how Sarah J. Maas portrayed the fairies. They were in turns cruel and chaotic and unpredictable, self-absorbed yet, for some of them at least, quite charismatic.
Feyre was an interesting character (if you put aside how inconsistent her character was). She was a strong and independent, a young woman who liked to take things into her own hands. I also loved how Sarah J. Maas played with the tropes and made Feyre the rescuer rather than the damsel in distress.
I was a bit taken aback by the structure of the book, which felt like two different books stuck together. The first part establishes the characters and the setting, but it’s so slow and aimless, I had no idea where the story was going. The second part is much more fun and reads like a typical ya-fantasy novel (though the book isn’t YA), with tons of action, dangers, twists and intriguing characters.
I had two main problems with the book. The first is how much of the plot relied on convenience : Feyre was inconsistent, clever in one scene and taking the stupidest decision the next. People would conveniently leave out important information, and tell her everything when it was convenient for the plot. I know there are things that couldn’t be said because of the “plot” (trying to avoid spoilers here!), but I’m referring to smaller things : they told her not to drink something, but not what would happen if she did for instance. So of course, she went and tested boundaries constantly, because why not?
On top of that, the romance left me pretty cold. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Tamlin and Feyre, except for a few scenes. There was definitely something physical between them, but their romance felt quite superficial. Plus, Talim was such a bland character. I can’t get into it without spoiling too much, but I really felt he didn’t deserve Feyre and everything she went through for him. Luckily, Rhys and Lucian made up for it. They stole the show every time they were on page.
All in all, I enjoyed A Court of Thorns and Roses enough to want to continue on with the story. In fact, I’m jumping into A Court of Mist and Fury Right away! I’ve been spoiled enough about this next book to know that we’ll see more of Rhys there, and I’m looking forward to it!
Series Reading Order
- A Court of Thorns and Roses
- A Court of Mist and Fury
- A Court of Wings and Ruin
- A Court of Frost and Starlight
- TBA
- A Court of Silver Flames
- TBA
- TBA
Your review is really well laid out and helpful with your positive and less positive details. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! 🙂