A Court of Thorns and Roses

, #1

416 pages

English language

Published Sept. 5, 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

ISBN:
978-1-61963-444-2
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
903953186

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3 stars (49 reviews)

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.

4 editions

reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Review of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Storygraph'

2 stars

I don't really get the hype on this one. 

The world building feels rather bland and generic feywild. Its full of the classic tropes of fey trickery and deal making, trying to eat the heart of the mortal, etc. If that's your thing, you'll feel right at home. There wasn't anything that felt truly original or creative about it though, just the same fairy magic played out over again in familiar settings. 

The prose feels similarly. Its certainly not bad but its nothing to make praise of either.  Its easy reading and that the only reason I didn't put it down in the middle somewhere. </spoiler> Specifically, I would have stopped when Tamil assaulted Fehre in the hallway</spoiler>

Maybe the characters are really compelling then? Nope. Feyre and Tamil are both incredibly annoying and unlikable. Feyre is 19, still practically a child, shes dumb and rash and puts herself in …

reviewed A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Excellently done trope

5 stars

If you’re thinking “ah! I know this trope and so I know basically what the plot is!” you are probably correct.

But.

Nothing is ever quite that simple. From the particular details of what it takes to make things better, to the absolutely delicious character of the guy you instantly know is bad news, this is superb execution of the genre.

Also, I cried.

Jennifer Ikeda’s narration is excellent.

reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Review of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I enjoyed this book so much, just tore through it! I read it right on the heels of Throne of Glass and while I enjoyed that book, you can just see how much Maas has improved as a writer. I'd also note that while Throne feels very YA in plot, characterization, tone, etc. Court could easily have been marketed as adult fantasy rather than YA (which is probably why I liked it more).

The plot is an interesting mash-up of the traditional version of Beauty and the Beast and the ballad of Tam Lin: Feyre (= Fair = Beauty, btw, took me a while to pick up on that) is the youngest daughter of a failed merchant, and while hunting to feed her family she kills a giant wolf she knows is one of the Fae. As a result, the high lord Tamlin, in the form of a huge beast, …

reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Review of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

The first third is essentially an edgy 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling followed by a plot that devolves into mythology/every-fairy-tale-ever bargain with three tasks.
The characters are often frustrating and half the time the 'attractive' men came off as mercurial (if I am being kind) or emotionally unstable (if I am not).
That said, I read this book in two days. The ending is satisfying and I had a really good time yelling at the protagonist.
All in all I can't in good conscience call it a good book but I can say it was oddly enjoyable to read despite that.

reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Review of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I picked up this book since it was recommended as similar to another story I enjoyed. To start with, it wasn't similar.

What this is for the first 50% of the book: a re-telling of the story of The Beauty and the Beast, which has inherent issues. Because there is no telling of Beauty and the Beast that doesn't have some sort of weird Stockhom Syndrome thing going on. It's highly problematic.

This may be my unfamiliarity with the current young adult genre, but there seemed to be stolen themes and characterizations from other stories. Feyre gives a strong Katniss vibe. Possibly that's unfair, and maybe YA themes and tropes make that a routine characterization. Then there are the two male characters that could be borrowed from the story that I was told this was a "vanilla" version of. I guess, if someone wrote poorly contrived fan-fiction and didn't really …

reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Review of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Happily smiling I just closed the book. Well, this is my kind of novel. This is how I like to be entertained and how a story would look like if I had to mix some of my favourite books.

A few <3 words in no specific order:
Action. Fantasy. Love. Fae. Murder. Evil women. Monsters. Beasts. Strong women. Hot men. Strong men. Hot and strong men. Fights. A card in the beginning of the book and a pronunciation overview in the back. That. Cover.

Actually, it is a Beauty and the beast retelling. Yes. Somehow. The beginning has definitely similarities to the fairy tale but all in all it is really an outstanding story with an own plot.

Feyre. I love her. Really. She's a great protagonist. She's not dump, she's clever and she acts (quite) logical. Also she's not displayed as the perfect heroine.

The men. Hell yes!

I …

reviewed A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Review of 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I went into Sarah J. Maas’ new series with high expectations that just weren’t met. I enjoyed A Court of Thorn and Roses well enough but it felt a bit of a generic fantasy romance. I love novels about dark fae and faerie politics so I thought this one would be right up my street. However, I felt you could have substituted the faeries for vampires, and it could be one of many urban fantasy stories I’ve read over the years.

Once Feyre goes beyond the wall, she discovers not everything she’s been taught about faeries is true. There are some terrifying and dangerous races amongst them, but there are also faeries who are little different from humans. All is not well in Prythian, and the fae magic is weak. I was interested in the world-building, and which parts of faerie mythology were incorporated; I definitely found some of the …

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Subjects

  • Fantasy
  • Romantic Fantasy
  • New Adult Fiction
  • Fairy Tale Retelling
  • Supernatural Romance