5/5
Imagine a grueling existence of near starvation and the threat of death. This is Feyre's existence until she kills the wrong...thing and ends up a guest of the the High Fae that live beyond the wall. There she finds the love and peace she craves so a time, but it appears things in her new home are not alright. As Feyre tries to piece together the unspoken problems in the Spring Court, she discovers what it means to live--not just survive--and what she would give to protect her new family from the dangers of life beyond the wall.

An absolutely stunning start to a wonderfully deep and complex series. This is much more adult than your average teen read so please be advised that there are sexual situations in this book and series. I love the characters, the hints to favorite fairytales and myths, and the relationships. This is one of my all time favorite reads.

"A Court of Thorns and Roses" is the proof that Sarah J. Maas knows how to expertly weave a fantasy novel. The book tells the story of Feyre, a teen forced to keep her family alive by hunting in the lonely woods that surround their cottage. Feyre is the provider for her family and is mature beyond her years. During one outing, she kills a mysterious wolf and everything changes. Feyre is swept into the realm of faeries which is filled with danger, deceit and maybe even love. Will she survive in a land filled with ancient beings that are as deadly as they are beautiful?

This book is every fantasy reader's dream! Maas does an excellent job world building and really dives deep into the detailed descriptions of the Spring Court. Maas proves herself to be the authority on use of imagery to enhance a story. Although the beginning of the book includes a bit of slower reading due to the magnitude of the details, I found it to be enveloping. During the second half of the book, I found myself so caught up in the story line that I was physically exhausted from holding my breath while furiously turning the pages. I felt connected to the main character of Feyre and her story. However, what pleased me the most as a reader was the beautifully crafted set of ancillary characters, all of which were deep, intriguing and captivating. Well done to Sarah J. Maas on this wonderful fantasy novel!

One of the best books I’ve read. A lot of people say it starts off slow until she gets to the you know what, but I disagree. From the start I was drawn in and read the book in one sitting. I loved the characters and everything that happened. (For the most part) I always recommend this book to everyone I know who likes reading.

🌹a court of thorns and roses🌹I had to read this book because everyone on bookstagram RAVES about it😅 and I have to say, I understand the hype. I’m not much of a fantasy reader but I enjoyed how easy of a read this was and it was definitely a page turner! I was out of my comfort zone reading this genre but I’m so happy I made the leap, I’m so excited to continue reading this series☺️ 3.5/5⭐️

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a dark retelling of the timeless tale Beauty and the Beast, filled with beautiful scenery, interesting characters, evil curses, and romance!

Feyre was out hunting in the dark winter forest one day when the chance presented itself to kill one of the fey, cruel immortals gifted with powerful magic who've delighted in hunting for generations. Or so Feyre thought - until one day a snarling fey beast shows up at her door to claim her life in exchange for the life she took and she realizes that she didn't know anything about the real world after all.

I especially loved the fantasy aspects and the romance in this story, plus the trials and the ending are so exciting. I cried so much at the end!! Overall, I loved it, it's such an amazing story that I recommend to everyone!

I am absolutely in love with this book! A large portion of what I read is usually contemporary romance. I've read a few fantasy but not very many. This was my first book with fae. I wasn't familiar with them at all but was interested to read something new. I am so happy I did!

The author does a beautiful job creating a palpable, believable world. From the first page, I felt instantly transported to a new universe. The writing is beautiful and flows nicely.

The characters are incredible. My favorite part of the entire book was the strength of Feyre. I do not want to post anything that could give anything away, but it's rare to see a female character like her. The author allows Feyre to be feminine, caring, etc., while also having major courage, skill and strength. Feyre's inner determination and perseverance are inspiring.

If I could give this book 6 Stars, I would! Highly recommended!

Finally I have joined the ranks of the ACOTAR lovers. It took me awhile because yet again it was a high fantasy novel, and by now yall know Im not huge into high fantasy. For those of you who were like me let me tell you a little about A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
ACOTAR is kind of a retelling of the classic tale Beauty and the Beast in manys’ opinions.  It surrounds a poor young girl named Feyre. One day she goes out hunting to feed her starving family and she comes across a wolf and kills him, because of this act a beast captures her and says she owes him a life debt but it turns out this Beast is actually a Faerie named Tamlin. Eventually her hate an hostility towards him and his people subsides and she’s left with feelings she cannot comprehend along with a danger consuming the land and possibly Tamlin along with it.
I was hooked by the first chapter, the characters are easy to love, hate and be utterly confused about. The details are vivid and create a masterpiece in the minds eye. There are some pretty steamy interludes throughout that… yeah can you say Cold Shower anyone. It did however leave me with a few plot twists that had me utterly confused about a few characters and I hope to get those feelings sorted out in the sequel A Court of Mist and Fury. The one thing I didn’t care for in the entirety of the novel was a bit of the too real description when it came to fear. I appreciate the candid nature of it but I could have left a bit up to the imagination. Overall I loved the concept of the Fae being the advisories, their multitude of courts and powers and some very hunky High Lords. Overall fantastic read specially because I am a sucker for anything Beauty and the Beast based. I gave ACOTAR 5 out of 5 stars and cannot wait to dig into ACOMAF.

I absolutely loved this retelling based loosely on The Beauty and the Beast. The storyline in this novel started off pretty slow, describing and detailing things that I found a little bit unnecessary and hard to get through, but around the middle of the book, it wildly took off. It's action packed, full of emotion and left me wanting more. I'm totally invested in the characters and their stories and I can't wait to read the rest of the series and follow their journeys!

I’ve read this entire series (at least all the books that are out so far) and I absolutely adored it. The series as a whole is amazing and one I recommend constantly.

That being said A Court of Thorns and Roses is my least favorite of the three full length books, BUT it is completely 100% necessary to read it before moving on to the other books! In my head this one almost serves as a necessary prequel. It sets up this story perfectly and has great world building. However the characters totally come into their own in the second book. I adore Feyre so much! She’s such a badass character, and I think how she evolves sends a great message to teen girls. I will say I don’t think this series is YA as it’s marketed. There’s many sex scenes and some are rather detailed. The series as a whole felt more New Adult to me.

I have ACOTAR four stars And highly recommend it (but the next two books were both five star reads for me!)

I’m struggling with my opinion of this book. Things I liked: the writing, the world building, the innovative interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, the stakes, the romance, Lucien. What I didn’t like: the violence, the dark tone, the trauma, Rhysand, and mostly the feeling of ickiness I had when I finished, rather than the triumph I’d hoped for. Also the answer to the riddle was so obvious to me—I wish she had only faced the last part of the third trial before it dawned on her and hadn’t had to do those awful things first.

What started out being just a simple retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story ended up turning into so much more. Delicious, dark, sensuous... But, come on, I should have known better since it is Sarah J Maas. The talent that woman has, she can turn anything into gold. I loved how Sarah J Maas used the frame of the B&B story, with a much darker underbelly, and turned it into her world story. Whats more she made it into another fairy tale that we can all get behind, a fairy tale that is targeted towards the NA (New Adult) crowd. I want so much more; I want ALL the sequels.

I will be honest here however, the beginning can be rather... slow. I put down the book a couple of times, but always had that itch at the back of my head that I just had to scratch. I kept thinking, "It IS Sarah J Maas, the story is bound to pick up right?" And it did. Soon enough You start to care about Lucien, the angry fairy who doesn't care at all for our main heroine and in fact might want to skin her alive with his bare hands, Tamlin the detached shape shifting fairy that spared our main lady's life, and Feyre the ice cold huntress who only cares about keeping her family alive. For a bit there I thought I'd scented a love triangle between these three characters but alas there doesn't seem to be anything of the sort. Though, a lust triangle might not be possible to avoid in the near future of the series. I am QUITE interested in seeing how that works out though, so many possibilities for raw emotion, discovery, and honest to god friendships to blossom. Did I mention I cannot wait for the sequel?

For the most part the one thing that dragged the story along at the beginning was the main character, Feyre. Because she was so against everything her new "cage" wanted to provide for her, she kept trying to escape... on one hand bravo for not giving up, on the other hand it did drag for a little while there. Though I guess if it had been resolved earlier then there would be complaints about how little she fought against it, so no winning. But still, you learn how to care for Feyre really early on. Her heart may be frozen, but once she starts to soften and let out her true self... She is nothing like Belle in the Disney story. She will not break down so easily, she wont go crawling into her bed and cry her little heart out. Sarah J Maas almost makes the two characters as dissimilar as she can, maybe so there can be no Disney comparisons. I liked this, specially because you can't avoid having a play by play of the Disney movie in the back of your head.

One of the things that concerned me about A Court of Thorns and Roses was that I kept looking for hints of how Feyre and Celeana (Throne of Glass) might be alike. Well, while they are both kick ass chicks they are really very different. I am glad for this, because I did not come here just to read more about Celeana (even though she is awesome and I love her). Feyre is more vulnerable, yet harder because of her years spent in poverty. She quite reminded me of Katniss from Hunger Games, only unlike Katniss Feyre has more talents than just shooting a bow (something she doesn't even like to do really, she does it out of necessity). She loves art, and this is something that is not merely show in passing but something that is embedded in this character's soul. Seeing the world through Feyre's eyes, through an artist's eyes, is something that really makes her stand out from the crowd of kick ass chicks. She may not be a lover of the written world but she still has an artist's soul.

Also this book is NOT for the faint of heart...

CHAPTER 21. Lord, have mercy. I read that chapter and let me tell you...

"You drove me mad," he growled, and the sound trembled down my neck, along my breasts until they ached. "I searched for you, and you weren't there. When I didn't find you," he said, bringing his face closer to mine, until we shared breath, "it made me pick another."

I couldn't escape. I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted to.

"She asked me not to be gentle with her, either," he snarled, his teeth bright in the moonlight. He brought his lips to my ear. "I would have been gentle with you, though." I shuddered as I closed my eyes. Every inch of my body went taut as his words echoed through me. "I would have had you moaning my name throughout it all. And I would have taken a very, very long time, Feyre." He said my name like a caress, and his hit breath tickled my ear. My back arched slightly.

The relationship between Tamlin and Feyre is slow to come together, but it is so genuine. They go from hating each other's guts (more Feyre hating everyone), to a slow budding friendship with hints of so much more, to an unleash of passion like quite no other. Thanks to this novel being New Adult instead of YA we get a lot more description in the... seduction department. Also, sex scenes. Oh and Tamlin? He is a dirty boy. He is sweet, yes, powerful too, and maybe a little broken. But he also tries to help Feyre, he tries to make her smile, and he can supposedly write a wicked dirty limerick (maybe one of my favorites scenes between them two, other than Chapter 21).

The whole world building was fantastic! Without the terrific world building there would have been no future for the series, because B&B is only supposed to be a one arch thing, done and done. But after the B&B story line goes through Sarah J Maas throws us a curve. The story doesn't just ends when the last petal of the rose falls. No, our heroine will have to go through many trials to actually get her happy ending, which turns out not to be such a perfect ending after all.

I loved it all, and I will buy the sequel as soon as it is out. I have so many questions as to how the future will play out; thank god there is no cliff hanger because I might have just died. Give me more Tamlin, more Feyre, more Lucien, and I really want to see Feyre's sisters again.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is inspired by Beauty & the Beast and features Feyre, a girl desperately fighting to take care of her father and sisters. When Feyre kills a wolf while hunting, it is revealed that she has accidentally slain a Fae warrior. In retribution and to protect her family, Feyre agrees to live beyond the wall with the Fae. As she gets to know her captors, Feyre realizes there is a threat in the Fae lands that also threatens the humans who live on the other side of the wall.

This book has compelling characters, great dialogue, and was really hard to put down. If you’ve previously read Throne of Glass, Feyre is a different type of heroine than Aelin, but I honestly love them both. This book is a great introduction to the world of Prythian. I am still very curious about the world, the Fae Courts, and where characters will go next. However, I know that this is far from the end of Feyre’s story and look forward to seeing how it continues! Thank you to Sarah J. Maas, Bloomsbury, and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I LOVED this story! Maas does such a fabulous job with the character and world building during this first book in the trilogy. I couldn’t stop this book once I started and most of my family had to eat cereal for dinner. This book came out as YA and I read it then and it is now being rebranded for adults which I think is a better fit in content as the romance is pretty steamy in the later books but oh they are such good stories!!

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Feyre lives with her father and three sisters who she has to hunt for because they would starve without her guidance. So she on a fateful evening ends up in order to protect what she would soon kill a fairy in wolf form. The consequences of her actions are to live in Prythian (Where the fairies live) She soon learns there is something more going on. All she is told is where she is is safe enough. She finds herself in the Spring court with lord Tamlin fighting a hopeless battle. The curse which only a human can fix. Amazing read love it so much!!!

So I finally decided to see what all the hype was about with this book. I'm not entirely disappointed, but I also don't see myself buying the entire series either.
It was one of those books that I liked and thought it was good, but I don't really think the hype over it is really worth it.
I really liked how the author built up the characters and the world before have a whole lot happen. I feel like a lot of authors skimp on some details that may make the story more interesting...such as good build ups of information about the world the story takes place in and the story behind the characters. Yes, these things may make the book longer, but I think that instead of a bunch of pointless details, these things are pretty important. I feel that the author did very well in this aspect and I hope that there is more of this build up in the next books.
(SOME SMALL SPOILERS COMING)
I also liked that the author didn't rush the romance. I feel like a lot of books do that and it ruins the story sometimes. It makes me feel that the characters didn't have enough time to truly fall in love when it's rushed. I think the curse does add a little bit of a twist on things. It does make you wonder if the curse is the whole reason Feyre and Tamlin fall in love (even though she didn't find out about it until close to the end) or there really is some true love there (I'm pretty much hoping for the second option).
The only thing that I really didn't like was the part where Tamlin sends her back home to protect her. I mean, she's pretty stubborn, he should have know that she wasn't going to stay away. I just feel that that part really didn't fit all that well. It seemed like some last minute detail that had to be added to make sense. I get why it was in the book, but it just wasn't my favorite part.
Overall, it was a good book. I will read the next ones, but I'm not going to rush to it. I would recommend it if someone asked about it, but I don't know if I'd actually just bring it up in a conversation.

A solid first book that keeps you at the edge of your seat, especially in the last third, and leaves you wanting more and more!!

The world and magic system is quite intriguing,I liked the idea of having seasonal courts where the people and their rulers have different powers and life different lives and I wanted to visit each and every court somehow.

When it comes to the characters, Lucien was my favorite in this book though Rhys had me very very curious, especially after that last scene in the book. He's mysterious and we don't know much about him, many of his actions seem contradictory and you don't know what his game is, then in that last scene he was.... different. And for it to be the way the book ended, there's definitely something there. I'm very excited to learn more about him.

The pace was okay, the first part felt a little slow but then the second one started and the book picked up. The scenes under the mountain gave me a mix of emotions and some parts were quite intense, and the ending gave me so many questions that I can't wait to see answered in book 2!!

Thank you Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the ARC!!

The first book of the acotar trilogy is a retelling of the beauty and the beast. what i like about this one is how the b&B elements are only a part of the book. SJM created and entirely different story incorporating a few details of the fairytale and that adds originality to the original story. Although i was a bit bored during the first part of the book, the second one was definitely more intriguing, and promising.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book to review. This cover is absolutely beautiful!
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This was a solid book. Mostly because it was unpredictable and fast-paced. I raced through the last 100 pages and will start the sequel right away because I NEED to know where Maas is going.
If you enjoy NA Fantasy, then I would recommend this read. The romance was a bit eeeeeuuukkkk for me, but I understand why it needs to be there. That being said, I don't feel like it took away from the overall story line.
I totally get the Maas-mania, now!

I have not read fantasy since Harry Potter and the Twilight series, but after hearing nonstop rave reviews about this book, I had to see what all the hype was about. And WOW was I not disappointed. SJM crafted a beautiful world of fantasy with fierce and funny characters. I love the uniqueness of the names of characters, and loved learning about this mythical world. I am ecstatic to continue reading the series and can’t wait to recommend it to everyone. My review will be posted on IG once I finish the trilogy. It will be posted to goodreads soon and I will add the links once posted. Thanks!!

A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J Maas
Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

I enjoyed this book, but I need to say there were some issues. The world building was well-done and the storyline was really well developed. The writing style was pretty good, although some of the language became repetitive (I found this to be the case for House of Earth and Blood too). I got major Hunger Games vibes from the beginning of the book, but I didn’t love Feyre as much as I had hoped. She is a strong character, but I found her to be too perfect to really connect with. My major issue with Maas’s writing is her characters; they all seem to be perfect. The guys are all super muscley and have ‘golden skin’ and the girls are all stunning and ‘glowing’. This book was certainly hard to rate because I enjoyed it and have continued on with the series, but I struggle to connect with the characters. After reading House of Earth and Blood previously, I found the two books are very similar in their characters, language and worlds and I would have liked more variation between the books. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the series develops and I recommend this for fantasy-readers!

This review will be published on Goodreads and Instagram. The links will be added when they have been published.