A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES: Review
- Amira
- Sep 4, 2016
- 3 min read
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Rating: 3.5/ 5 Stars
Strengths: World building, Plot, Characters.
"She stole a life. Now she must pay with her heart. When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only 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."
I started reading this because 1) Sarah J. Maas, 2) Fantasy, and 3) my best friend was so excited about it. (Not in that particular order in case you were wondering)
I have to admit that I rather enjoyed this book. Sarah J. Maas has again demonstrated that she has the ability to cultivate an intriguing magical world with equally interesting characters.
I enjoyed being introduced to this new world and the creatures that inhabit it. It's so intricate and well made.
At first, I couldn't get into it because it was quite slow. The descriptions and explanations were too drawn out and voice of the narrator wasn't as intriguing as to make me want to fall into the pages. As the book progressed, things began to happen and things start getting interesting.
Oh, how eloquent Amira.
Eventually, the last fourth of the book became increasingly gripping and I started to thoroughly enjoy it. When I finished the book, I was eager to read the sequel (especially since I heard that it was much better).
Breakdown
WRITING: Sarah J. Maas has beautiful writing. It's equally regal and casual, having the ability to keep the readers interested. However, I found that this book in particular was not at the same level as the previous books that I have read by Maas. Perhaps it is because it's in first person point of view, so the translation of writing from third person (Throne of Glass) to first person could have stuttered the writing quality (particularly in the first half). This does not mean that the writing isn't great, this is just looking at it from a relative perspective.
WORLD-BUILDING: There are a couple of things that made this world quite unique:
1) Fae and humans used to co-exist. Both worlds are separate but exist on the same dimension (the Fae world is not above or under or in a pocket in space), and the map in the book shows that.
2) Fae can l i e. Which makes things so much more interesting. They see lying as an art, so they are so beautifully conniving. Manipulative. The power of free will.
The detailed setup of the Fae world, with the differing Courts and the qualities of each, is fun to mentally construct.
CHARACTERS:
FEYRE: Our MC and narrator. She is a 19 year old human who toils and hunts to keep her father and two sisters alive. She is resilient, strong, fiery, and artistic. The best thing about her is that she is flawed. She does not have a perfect body (if she did, that would be completely unrealistic because...malnourishment) and she is not perfect at everything. Despite those flaws, she is still undoubtedly awesome and respectable. Being able to become the kind of person that she is and achieving what she had, despite the many obstacles, is admirable.
TAMLIN: Oh, look it's a gorgeous blond guy. Him and Feyre were cute. Sweet, cared for his people and Feyre.
LUCIEN: BABY. My favorite character in this whole book. He is so sassy and lovable and he just makes me so happy every time he makes an appearance. He is flawed, has a tragic backstory (but then again they all do apparently), has a messed up family, and is a loyal friend.
AMARANTHA: Evil, twisted, heartless creature. Kudos to her for being incredibly cruel, destroying a whole world, and subjugating them all to half a century of misery.
RHYSAND: Gorgeous man who is the anti-thesis of Tamlin. Of course. He appeared later in the book and caused mixed feelings. Is he being helpful? Does he have an ultimatum? Is he playing everyone? What's going on man.
Now, to the sequel I go.
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