Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Mass
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Length: 416 pages
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Synopsis:
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 grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.
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 grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.
My Thoughts:
Feyre is the only one in her family even making an effort towards making sure they don't all starve to death. So when she comes across both a doe and a wolf about to attack it, she makes a quick decision to kill them both, despite that the wolf seems unnaturally large and might just be fae. The doe will feed her family and the wolf pelt can be traded for money that will get them a few necessities. When a beast busts in their door and demands a life for a life or Feyre's life lived out in the fae territories, she chooses to go with him rather than die. The beast turns out to be the masked high-fae lord, Tamlin.
Warning. This is not a spoiler free review. Proceed with caution.
I was in a book hangover from a previous read when I started this. I'm not sure if it is that hangover or the hype that made me enjoy this less than I thought I would, or the book itself.
To be honest, I was rather bored with the first 3/4 of the story. It only got interesting right before the end. This was entirely disappointing considering that I loved the Throne of Glass series and Sarah's writing style. Plus, hearing people talk about this book for the past couple of years really set me up for a pretty big fall, especially when it came to the the character Rhysand. If you know anything about this book, you've probably seen or heard of that name. Everyone seems to obsess over him and that is why I ended up being incredibly confused when Feyre falls in love with Tamlin and Rhysand doesn't even come into the story until the end.
Feyre is a little frustrating at times. She knows things are bad for her but she does them anyway. Screw the repercussions. Flawed characters can be great but Feyre often just made me want to stop reading. She didn't really stand out as an unique main character to me, either. She is a mix of Celaena Sardothian and Katniss Everdeen in a way and the only thing that set her aside was that she enjoyed painting.
Tamlin is the mysterious masked beast that I felt we didn't actually learn anything about. Other than having dinner with him, he is almost never in the picture because he is often away fighting things.
Lucien, Tamlin's friend, was probably my favorite character. He has a personality and has more backstory and interaction with Feyre than Tamlin.
There are quite a few things I just didn't like about this story. The mc and the strange and sudden insta-love relationship between her and Tamlin. The lack of any real plot for the majority of the book. I could probably pick it apart but I'd rather just move on.
That being said, I did really enjoy the last part of the story. It finally picked up and we were introduced to the infamous Rhysand as well as the evil power holding reign over the fae realms. I will be continuing this series because that last bit really drew me in and I'm really curious about what will happen in ACOMAF.
Warning. This is not a spoiler free review. Proceed with caution.
I was in a book hangover from a previous read when I started this. I'm not sure if it is that hangover or the hype that made me enjoy this less than I thought I would, or the book itself.
To be honest, I was rather bored with the first 3/4 of the story. It only got interesting right before the end. This was entirely disappointing considering that I loved the Throne of Glass series and Sarah's writing style. Plus, hearing people talk about this book for the past couple of years really set me up for a pretty big fall, especially when it came to the the character Rhysand. If you know anything about this book, you've probably seen or heard of that name. Everyone seems to obsess over him and that is why I ended up being incredibly confused when Feyre falls in love with Tamlin and Rhysand doesn't even come into the story until the end.
Feyre is a little frustrating at times. She knows things are bad for her but she does them anyway. Screw the repercussions. Flawed characters can be great but Feyre often just made me want to stop reading. She didn't really stand out as an unique main character to me, either. She is a mix of Celaena Sardothian and Katniss Everdeen in a way and the only thing that set her aside was that she enjoyed painting.
Tamlin is the mysterious masked beast that I felt we didn't actually learn anything about. Other than having dinner with him, he is almost never in the picture because he is often away fighting things.
Lucien, Tamlin's friend, was probably my favorite character. He has a personality and has more backstory and interaction with Feyre than Tamlin.
There are quite a few things I just didn't like about this story. The mc and the strange and sudden insta-love relationship between her and Tamlin. The lack of any real plot for the majority of the book. I could probably pick it apart but I'd rather just move on.
That being said, I did really enjoy the last part of the story. It finally picked up and we were introduced to the infamous Rhysand as well as the evil power holding reign over the fae realms. I will be continuing this series because that last bit really drew me in and I'm really curious about what will happen in ACOMAF.
My Rating: 4 stars at best
Sorry this was disappointing although it sounds like the end picked up, at least. I've even heard of Rhysand and I don't read these. :) Hopefully there's more of him in the next one and it picks up the pace.
ReplyDeleteI read this a while ago and personally enjoyed it, at least more than ToG! Sorry to hear you didn't love it! But hopefully you enjoy ACOMAF!
ReplyDeletexx Anisha @ Sprinkled Pages
I will say first that I really enjoyed these books. But I TOTALLY know what you mean about this one being boring for a good chunk of it. Honestly, the reason I ended up loving this one as much as I did was the last third or so, when she's Under the Mountain. And that, honestly, is because I just like the fae so much to begin with. ACOMAF really DEVELOPS Feyre and some of the other characters in a very meaningful way, so I do hope you give it a chance!
ReplyDelete~ Michelle @ FaerieFits