A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES – Sarah J Maas. (Spoiler Free Review)

Title: A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J.MAAS

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy – Romance

Format : Paperback – 416 Pages

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Synopsis

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 has been sitting on my bookshelf since it’s release day and I never picked it up. Why? Well the hype was so big surrounding this series that I was nervous about giving it a go for myself. I had heard both good and bad reviews surrounding this book but having now read it myself, I have to say I loved it.

Now I also do understand why people might not be fan, the book does feature some pretty violent chapters however for me this all played alongside the fact that the Faerie Courts were mostly run by a brutal dictator – Amarantha. Amarantha is a horrible leader, who brutally tortures both members of her Faerie Court and the Mortal Courts. One aspect which adds up to me really enjoying this book is the fact that Sarah J.Maas tells us the story of Amarantha and the events that lead up to her being even more brutal than she originally was.

Lets take a moment to talk about Feyre, Feyre is the main female lead in ACOTAR and can we just take a minute to high five Sarah J.Maas on her kick ass female lead. Feyre reminded me of Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games), she had to grow up far to fast in order to protect and provide for her family. She is talented at Archery and she goes hunting to try and feed her family. However Feyre is also illiterate, something she struggles with in this book, especially when she must go to the Faerie Courts. This was something I liked about Feyre, I liked how she wasn’t portrayed as being this perfect female character because she had her own conflicts to work through.

Another aspect surrounding Feyre’s character which I really liked was how it was alluded to that she had sex with a boy from her village – Issac. This isn’t anything like I have experienced before in a Young Adult Fantasy book, sex is rarely brought up. Sarah J. Maas also doesn’t make it a big deal, she doesn’t make out that Issac is Feyre’s soul mate and later on when they see each other again there is no issue. This portrayed a really realistic society, so I could draw comparisons from our world to the world created by Sarah J. Maas. Everyone knows that most fairytales show the princess or female lead meeting her prince charming, they kiss and they live happily ever after. Therefore assuming she only ever sleeps with one person, this isn’t the case here and its new and refreshing to see an honest realistic perspective in a fantasy world.

Overall I really liked all the characters, I loved Feyre’s banter back an forth between herself and Lucian and towards the end Rhysand. Tamlin was also really enjoyable to read because he is both kind but also distant at times, there was a real tension and chemistry building between the two and that ending though?!

The setting of A Court Of Thorns And Roses was really enjoyable, Sarah J.Maas paints a perfect description of the Faerie and Mortal Community which are segregated from one another. Within each community their is also a hierarchy of society, Feyre’s family in particular falls into poverty so the book touches upon their reflections on how they used to live.

The book also comes with an illustrated map at the beginning so you can see the layout of the Faerie realms and where each Court resides, this was a great addition to the book because their is a ton of description you receive in order to understand the layout of this world, the Faerie courts in particular are all broken up into Night Court, Day Court, Summer Court etc so with the help of the map it was easier to understand the position of each court and if you forget? well just flip back to the front and refresh your memory.

In terms of Plot, A Court Of Thorns And Roses is really interesting, as previously mentioned Feyre reminds me of Katniss Everdeen and the ending of the book also offered further little similarities to The Hunger Games as Feyre takes on a series of tasks which could kill her. Additionally to this, the book is also said to be a contemporary version of Beauty and the Beast as Tamlin is able to shape shift into a Beast, with Feyre playing the Beauty of course.

In some cases you may consider the book to be of rather slow place as the major action doesn’t start until past the half way point. However the first half is the mysterious element, it is here we experience the world building and get to experience the darker sides to the Faerie realms. One aspect which makes the book mysterious is the fact that Tamlin, Lucian and his court cannot remove their masks, due to a curse therefore we are constantly questioning the truth behind that and how they might be removed. As the story develops as a reader you begin to understand that everything that has happened to Feyre, has happened for a reason and this is all explained towards the end in greater detail. Everything has a purpose.

Whilst the first half is a little slower in place, the second half of the book definitely picks up and it is filled with so much nail biting action to keep you on your toes.

Overall I really enjoyed A Court Of Thorns and Roses and of course I have to give it 5 stars  Roses. I had no trouble finding myself immersed into Feyre’s world and falling in love with the characters, I was apprehensive to start it at first but I am so glad I finally did. The world that Sarah J.Maas has created is truly remarkable and the story is vivid, imaginative and exciting with romance and mystery thrown in. I would most definitely recommend this one.

• Fantasy which includes the segregation of the Faerie and Mortal Community, their is also a hierarchy to both societies. 
• Feyre – Katniss Everdeen like figure. Strong Female Character
• Map included to show you the layout of the Faerie Courts
• Sarah J.Maas is very focused on world building, great description for both the fantasy elements and her characters
• Romance, Mystery, Fantasy and Magical elements throughout
• Unpredictable and keeps you on your toes as well as being emotionally engaging
• Vivid and imaginative action scenes

---

Useful links

Goodreads – ACOTAR | Goodreads- SARAH J.MAAS | Amazon

---

Let me know in the comments if you have read ACTOR and your thoughts on the book! Please no spoilers for book 2. Also let me know if you like my new style of review.