A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

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 jeweled 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.

My Thoughts:

So, I finally picked up A Court of Thorns and Roses, after owning a copy for just over half a year. And to be honest, I’m not entirely sure if I’m glad I read it, or not… I went in with such high expectations, since virtually everyone on Instagram seems to have read it and loved it. I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy – I find it hard to really lose myself in a book when the world is so obviously make-believe, and faeries and magic never really attract me to a story – but I’m always willing to give it a try, so here I am struggling to decide how I feel about A Court of Thorns and Roses, and the genre of fantasy as a whole.

My thoughts on this book fit very well with the structure of the story:

The beginning: Very promising; so much potential! Mysterious, tense, and had me turning the pages quickly, to find out what would happen next.

The middle: Ugh… just ugh… the middle really let me down, and I considered putting the book down for good.

The end: Yes! This was the faerie adventure I was hoping for! The action and excitement of the final few chapters really made me want to finish reading.

I have very mixed opinions of A Court of Thorns of Roses. On one hand, I loved the world – it was exciting, unusual and I got lost in it really easily (despite the complicated place names, and history). I also liked most of the characters; mostly Feyre: she was brave and fierce but also timid and emotional (although not so much so that she was a damsel in distress) – she almost seemed like a normal girl, which meant she was easy to empathise with and I really felt for her.

The thing I hated – no, despised – about this book was the romance between Tamlin and Feyre. Nope. Nope nope nope. Ugh just thinking about it makes me cringe so much. If you have a copy of the book, turn to Chapter 27 and you’ll know (or maybe you’ll disagree?) why I felt so uncomfortable reading it.

The romance and, um, bedroom antics, at times made me feel like I was reading 50 Shades of Grey – it definitely didn’t feel like a YA novel and sometimes I found myself cringing so much I had to take a break from reading.

I would hate to compare this book (or any book, really) to Twilight, but Tamlin and Feyre’s relationship kind of reminded me of Bella and Edward… which is not a good thing. Despite all my negative comments, I did enjoy A Court of Thorns and Roses – it was unpredictable, exciting and very imaginative.

I would recommend this book to the older end of YA – DEFINITELY NOT TO YOUNGER READERS! – and anyone seeking a faerie adventure with a large helping of romance.

My Rating: 3/5