A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Published by Bloomsbury on May 5, 2015

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, New Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Retelling

Pages 432

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 over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever. 

Let me begin by saying I was introduced to not only this series, but also this author, by a friend. Statements used to describe this book to me utilized phrases such "it's amazing", "pretty fantastic" "he's ferocious but so romantic" and while I enjoyed this book I have to disagree somewhat with those word choices. 

"...I wished I had it in me to feel remorse for the dead thing. But this was the forest, and it was winter."

My first realization with this novel was how well Maas can build worlds, something absolutely essential in a good fantasy story. She immediately creates a world filled with ruthless and icy atmosphere and we are immersed in the life of our protagonist Feyre. Hunger and the search for food has driven her to travel much farther into a dangerous forest than many have dared. There is Prythian, a faerie land filled with magic and dangerous creatures, and there are the human lands. We are informed that gods have been forgotten and magic is something to be  at least scorned, if not feared completely, as are the "strange folk" that are "tall and eerie and deadly." Within pages we are not only pulled into a new world that consists of dangerous borders but also the personal life and struggles of Feyre. 

As far as female protagonists go, Feyre is not completely original. I found myself reminded of Katniss Everdeen, especially with the aspect of a parent that has shut down and/or become unable to cope with the harsh realities of what has happened to the concept of struggling to find enough food to survive, forcing her to hunt. However, in my opinion, Feyre is a character with more depth than Katniss Everdeen and I found myself moving past the similarities quite quickly when I realized by the end of chapter 1 that Feyre is almost as cold and ruthless as the environment she has come from. While she can be selfish and even whine at times, we are thrown into her inner monologue and can see that Maas has constructed a character that has quite a bit of strength, grit and thought. Despite this, I found Feyre to be somewhat repetitive at times, mainly when she crosses into Prythian with Tamlin. Her worries and justifications for her actions, especially her prejudices and distrust go in circles, losing all meaning other than the fact that she is obviously written to be at odds with Tamlin and the other Fae. It could be tiresome and at times I found myself skimming small sections. With that being said, I think she is carefully created and quite connectable for readers much more than some "strong" females that have been written.

“Even as he bit out the words, I couldn’t ignore the sheer male beauty of that strong jaw, the richness of his golden-tan skin.”

Tamlin. Good Ol' Tamlin. I tried to like him, I did. But I have never seen such a complacent character. This story is considered a Beauty and the Beast retelling and honestly he is just not Beast. He is not a character that is rough but has a heart of gold; and his "strong and silent" personality seems more like he would much rather sit back and give up than actually fight, indecisiveness is what causes his court so many problems to begin with. While reading I found myself constantly wondering what his underlining motives and thoughts were because, frankly, he reminds me more of Gaston than anything. There is something sickly perfect about him that unsettled me much more than it made me swoon. There is also very little depth to the relationship he and Feyre share and the banter between them was lackluster, although their physical connection was lustful enough to make my cheeks a little warm at times. But I immediately knew he was not what I was looking for in a male lead, chiefly for a romantic interest. I see him as a stepping stone for Feyre to come to understand herself more.

The characters I felt myself intrigued by while reading were, wholeheartedly, Lucien and Rhysand. Lucien was awful in the beginning, but grew on me as I read and I realized my feelings about him mirrored the relationship that was emerging between Lucien and Feyre, from enemies to something resembling friends. The writing for their friendship was nicely executed. As for Rhysand, his appearances were never dull, and when he and Feyre shared scenes there was something quite real and entertaining about their dialogue. There was an edge to what he was doing, serving the role of villain perfectly, but at moments lacking in that perfection. It was evident that he has his reasons for what he was doing in the novel and I am compelled to read more just to see where his story goes. 

Overall, A Court of Thorns and Roses is 3 out of 5 stars for me. The beginning of the story was promising and on par for what I wanted but the main section of the story was just okay while the ending left me wanting more - a pro and a con. Maas leaves you with a promise that there is more to come and the intrigue of that is great, but I also felt the independent story on its own was not done. I enjoyed reading this, finishing it in 2 days but I am left needing more. This first installment of this series felt like one great big exposition and was somewhat underwhelming, I was expecting more. I liked it but it wasn't as great as I feel the sequels will be. This was oddly sweeter than I expected  and inconsistent between character and plot development; not to mention insipid some moments and action packed in others; I can tell Maas has it in her to create something nasty, gritty and fantastic so I am looking forward to more but this one just didn't quite give me what I wanted.