A Court of Thorns and Roses
By Sarah J. Maas
Feyre's family has fallen into poverty after her father loses the family's money with a bad financial decision. The youngest of three, and perhaps the most responsible, she teaches herself how to hunt to keep her family fed. On one of her hunting trips she kills a giant wolf. As it turns out, that wolf was a faerie - a fearful creature from beyond the mysterious borders that keep humans out. Because of an age-old truce, Feyre must pay for killing the faerie by going across this border with one of these terrifying creatures.
Sold as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I immediately picked this book up. I am also a huge fan of Maas's writing style, so I knew this would be good.
Think of a faerie. Now erase that and think of the elves from Lord of the Rings and you'll get the image of the faeries in this book. You might ask:
But they are attractive and isn't this supposed to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast? Yes. It is retold very loosely. The bare bones of the story at least. Instead of being a beast, Tamlin, the
elf fae who takes Feyre, is a hot-damn-warrior. The beast part is that fae are considered dangerous, murderous, and terrible.
Maas knows how to write a world that can EASILY be made for fangirls/boys. Much smoldering. Much chiseled abs. Much golden frollicking and sexiness.
And even with this, there's one hell of a story. The first part moves slowly building toward an action-packed, wow-holy-wham-bam-I-did-not-see-this-turn ending.
Is it without flaw? No. It's still incredibly enjoyable. Look past the flaws and find the moments of wonder.
Are the characters compelling? Yes. Feyre isn't your typical protagonist and some might not enjoy reading from her perspective. But her development is compelling. Tamlin is the golden boy - figuratively and literally. Lucien (Tamlin's second-in-command) is as devious and moody with biting humour as he is witty and loyal. There are many more characters of the like.
Are they frustrating? Sometimes. If characters always did what we wanted them to, they'd be perfect and boring.
How about the world? There are creation holes, however, I am fully on board for the world to expand and be explained in the following books. Yes, there will be two more (at least).
I really REALLY liked this. But it is not for everyone. Keep in mind, Beauty and the Beast is a tale about a beauty falling in love with a beast. There is romance. If you like that, read this. If you like fairy tales with a twist, read this. If you like Sarah J Maas. READ THIS. Otherwise, find something else.
5/5 STARS
Squire
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