You know how, in most stories, faeries are cute little creatures with translucent wings... and mostly female?

Well, not so in this world. In this world, faeries once enslaved humanity in ways analogous to how white people treated black people during South Africa's apartheid. Until hundreds of years ago, when we fought back, resulting in a protracted, bloody war that almost wiped out our race. Eventually, the two parties agreed to a treaty, which would see faeries taking control of a significant portion of the world, on the other side of a great invisible Wall that nobody from either side could cross.

That's the premise behind A Court of Thorns and Roses, as we meet Feyre, a young lady forced to hunt every day to keep her destitute family alive.

It's a great story, and I think it fits quite nicely into the Epic Fantasy genre. The book is young adult, but that doesn't mean the world is tame or the author pulls her punches. In fact, it can be very gruesome when it needs to be.

It's also a romance, and easily identified as such. There's lots of detail in the descriptions of how the characters FEEL about each other, and there's sex too, which is as detailed as it needs to be without being overtly erotic. I think it strikes a nice balance - I'm not usually a fan of romance, so I had some misgivings about this book. But I needn't have worried: the romance is appropriate. It's also believable. I've read books before where "boy meets girl" on page one, and by page three they're ready to spend the rest of their lives together. That doesn't happen in this book.

I have two issues with the story, however. Firstly, there are certain words used, certain phrases turned, which strike me as... too modern for the time period in which the book is meant to be set. I can't put my finger on it, but as I read each of these, my mind paused and sat on them for a few moments. "Um, I'm not sure those characters would say that," I thought. And that's bad, because it rips me out of the story, destroying my immersion.

Secondly, about 65% through the book, there's a long chapter with a lot of backstory. And it's very "info-dumpy". My eyes glazed over, and I think I skimmed MOST of that chapter. Turns out, I don't think I needed it at all, because I picked up all the information I needed during the rest of the book.

All in all, though, I think I'm going to add the next book in this series. One more book, just to be absolutely sure where I like it or not.