AUTHOR: SARAH J. MAAS
SERIES: A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1)
GENRE: FANTASY, YA, ROMANCE, FAIRY TALE INSPIRED
RELEASE DATE: Published May 5th 2015
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Children’s
INDIE BOUND I BOOK DEPOSITORY I BARNES AND NOBLE
AMAZON I GOODREADS
SYNOPSIS:
“A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.
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.”
-Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses
Some thoughts:
♥ The writing: The reason I decided to pick up this book right after the Throne of Glass series is because I went to go start a very recent release (that I was highly anticipating), but I absolutely could not get into the story or the narrative. Sarah J. Maas’ writing literally left me with a book hangover, so I thought that I might as well try going back to her books, and started ACOTAR. It was perfect; exactly what I was craving.
♥ I was attracted by the concept of a fairytale retelling, which are a type of book that I generally gravitate towards! I love Beauty and the Beast, and so naturally I thought this would be great, and it was. I had heard some mixed things about this book by others throughout last year, in fact there were a lot of polarized feelings: you either loved it or you hated it. I happened to really enjoy it! Although I would say that I wouldn’t call it a retelling as much as I would argue that is inspired by this fairy tale. The more I think about it after reading, I can pin point parts that were clearly a spin on the beauty and the beast story, but I didn’t notice, or feel that way about, them while I was in the midst of the story.
♥ I adored the characters: Feyre, Tamlin, Lucien, Rhysand… everyone was lovely and so very real. I felt that the relationships between them were very organic; there was no insta-love or immediate connections, but as they warmed up to one another and got to know each other on a deeper level, I felt that their relationships grew and the story flowed very well because of that!
♥ Sarah J. Maas, in her usual style, gives each character life. She elaborates and weaves intricate stories between characters, and I think it is part of her storytelling style. I wanted to hard to dislike Rhys… but I couldn’t. I warmed up to every character, and especially as the story unfolds I felt that I couldn’t help but understand why everyone was doing what they were doing. I found Lucien to be incredibly funny, and cocky, and really enjoyed the friendship between him and Feyre.
♥ The romantic relationships in ACOTAR were so incredibly romantic, while simultaneously not being cheesy or overwhelming. I think found them to be more realistic than I felt about some of the relationships in TOG at first, while also feeling like the relationships became romantic quicker in ACOTAR than in TOG. Tamlin is strong, brave, and loyal. He is selfless, and his love for Feyre is just utterly swoon-worthy. So when Rhys comes into the picture, I hated him… until suddenly I just couldn’t. Rhys is dark and so so interesting as a character. I wouldn’t mind a little more Rhys x Feyre.
♥ I think because of this, I found the story to be incredibly compelling, and I loved the unique faerie lore that Maas wove into this familiar fairy tale. it gave it a unique spin, and allowed for great world building too. I think that there could have been more story development earlier on, but once the action started it was non-stop til the end. I can’t wait to learn more about the world, the characters, and see where Maas goes with this already-complex story.
I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses because I felt that it was a unique retelling of beauty and the beast, with well developed characters, interesting world building, a feisty protagonist, and was overflowing with lush romance.
I do feel like the plot really began to pick up during the last third of the book, and set up the rest of the series to just fly from here. I wish May would come sooner, I can’t wait to read A Court of Mist and Fury!
OVERALL RATING: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS!
I’m in love with fairytale retellings! Great, lovely review! 😄
Me too! I tend to love most of the ones I read.
Thank you! 🙂
What a good writer Sarah J. Maas is. She has a knack for coming up with little details that totally bring her characters to life. I haven’t read ACOTAR yet but loved Throne of Glass.
I completely agree with you! What she does is amazing, she really does breathe life into them. 🙂 I would definitely recommend picking up ACOTAR if you loved Throne of Glass!!
I loved ACOTAR! I read it as an eARC and reread it as soon as my pre-order arrived. I’m planning to reread it again before A Court of Mist and Fury comes out lol. I love Throne of Glass but I like this series even better so far 🙂
Oh wow! Yeah clearly you love this series a lot! Haha I have a hard time telling which series I like more, because we just have so many more books for TOG right now so the story is more complex already, but I can tell ACOTAR will continue to get even more interesting! I do like the romance more in ACOTAR I think though.
Ahhh, I’m so glad you loved this book so much! IT IS SO FREAKING AMAZING *hugs this book and strokes it*. I’m so ready for ACOMAF to come out like oh gosh please can it just be May yet?! 😀 Great review, Gabi! <3