Read this back in 2016 and I enjoyed it. I'm happy that the covers in this series were redesigned to be more adult than young adult.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is about the young protagonist Feyre, who lives on the continent of Prythian south of the wall in the land of mortals. After losing her mother and her father's fortune, she is forced to live a life of seclusion and poverty together with her two sisters and her father. Feyre has asserted herself as the family's breadwinner, and has proven herself a gifted hunter, teaching herself how to hunt. One day, during a hunting expedition, she runs into great danger and makes a fateful decision that takes her to a whole new world. This new world not only turns out to be the realm of the seven courts, but it also turns out to be a madly magical world with countless magical creatures as well as new dangers. Whether Feyre can hold her ground in this world unknown to her, which is threatened by a terrible curse and whether she manages to survive among all the Fae is revealed in this opening novel.

Without a real division of the novel the book is unofficially split into two different parts. The plots develop completely in a different direction in both sections, the main focus is set differently and the relationship between the protagonists has shifted to a different level. While the first half of the book focuses mainly on the discovery of the new surroundings, part two is about the consolidation of the newly discovered relationships. I really liked this division. The cut is plausible and is introduced by a decisive event, which connects the two protagonists Tamlin and Feyre in a very emotional and intimate way. The development of the protagonists is always the focus of Sarah J. Maas' story. While Tamlin remains opaque until the end of the book, but at least occasionally shows a few approaches on how to classify him and what motives drive him, with Feyre you are a little more confident. She is clearly in the focus of the story, you get to know her motives and feelings from the very beginning and can therefore put yourself in her shoes. With a few exceptions, Feyre has become quite likeable to me and was able to convince me of herself with her peculiarities and her motives, even if she did get on my nerves from time to time. Nevertheless, this isn't that bad, because this behavior is somehow human and nobody is really perfect. Not even the main character of this fairy tale adaptation. Apart from these two great protagonists, this novel can also convince with its numerous really well sketched side characters and interesting creatures from the realm of the Fae.

Another great aspect of the book is the well thought-out plot, which convinced me from the very first page. Admittedly, this story has some parallels to the fairy tale template Beauty and the Beast, but can still develop enough independence to work well as an own work, as the story seems to move further and further away from the template as the plot progresses. The story is wonderfully well thought-out, with lots of nice details and with one or two cleverly placed cliffhangers it's incredibly thrilling and entertaining to read.

This was everything it promised to be by those who recommended it. This is the first book I've read by Sarah J. Maas and I have to say, that it is well written.

The premise for the book is a beauty and the beast tale. Feyre is a young woman, from a family that once had wealth and position but brought to poverty and near starvation by bad debts. The setting is fantastical, with humans and fairies living in the same lands with a wall separating their kinds. Feyre has become the hunter in her family, keeping them just about fed. It is a stark life with no pleasure. One day she kills a wolf who was one of the fairie. She knew this, but still went ahead. Now Tamlin has arrived from the land of the High Fairie to pursue revenge with her life lived in his lands. This is a twisty, completely absorbing tale. The creatures are light and dark, scary and warm and the relationships are so compelling. The culmination of this tale is utterly unpredictable and it is left wide open for the next book. I cannot wait to read more.

This book just shreds you to pieces, recompose you just so it can shatter you again.

The word building is one of my favorites, I think the author was great at creating what I now call a safe place, with magical creatures, amazing places and overall a place you actually would want to visit once in a lifetime. This, being the first book in the series, was definitely not my favorite one, more like the one you need to read just so you can understand the others.

The style is perfect for this book, the characters are well developed through the entire book, but I can also say, now that I read all the other books, that the author really outdid herself with this series.

Please note that I decided to write a mini review for this book after I read all the others of the series.

Ebook with new cover provided by NetGalley.

I can’t talk enough about how much I love this author! For me, she ranks right up there with J.K. Rowling as a favorite author. I have read this book several times. After reading the other books, you find yourself feeling entirely different about the characters, but I won’t really go into that.

I find myself drawn into these books. I had been really iffy on this book to begin with. Beauty and the beast is my absolute favorite fairy tale, and I’m usually not keen on any different takes on it. I had to try to read this book without comparing it to the classic tale. This book really made me look at things in a different way,

The world building is excellent. The story is very exciting. But the characters, that is what I really fell in love with. The main character, Feyre, is tough as nails, doing what she has to in order to survive. Despite this, the author still makes her relatable and like-able. She takes an incredible journey throughout this book.

The author is great at switching flawlessly between being humorous and being serious. Many of her main male characters are absolutely swoon-worthy.

She brings humor, magic, mystery, fairies, and romance together flawlessly in this novel, and I would reread it in a heartbeat. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves to get pulled into a good book.

A wonderful start retelling of the Beauty and the Beast/ Hades & Persephone retelling with a twist. I adore Sarah J Maas's writing and world building. This is a great first book in the series and I can't wait to read more. I especially liked the protagonist Feyre, her sisters... not so much.. but we'll see if they grow on me. The magical world is great and so interesting, I can't wait to read more about it.

Just read this book. It is absolutely incredible. The world building is lush and immersive. The characters feel real, they’re so well developed. The events of this story will keep you glued to the page, and keep you wanting more and more. I’ve held off on beginning this series until now, and I’ve been missing out. Read it!

Here I am people! I can hang out with the cool kids now that I’ve read the book. It felt like I was hiding in a cave until now, refusing to read Sarah J. Maas, thinking the hype is too forced. But to be honest, this book surprised me a lot. I enjoyed it with all my heart, and even though I wouldn’t cry and scream over it, I am very pleased that I read it, and I just can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

A Court of Thorns And Roses is a story about a young lady, Feyre, who is a huntress and goes out in the woods to hunt food. The more she hunts, the better her family can eat. And when one day she kills a wolf, she learns the hard way that killing a magical creature has its price…

She is imprisoned in an enchanted court and she is free to walk around, but not allowed to escape. The creature that captures her is a beast with fighting skills, with a mask on his face and piercing eyes that make her heart beat fast. As Feyre starts to grow warmer about Tamlin, danger lies nearby and secrets are all over the place, and Tamlin and his kind might not be who she thought they were. Fighting to break a curse that might make her lose her true love forever, Feyre must fight with all her forces, but she is just a weak human in this faerie world. Will she be able to make it?

I have to start with mentioning that the beginning was extremely slow and I was almost on the point of asking all of these people why they love this book so much. But once the plot started revealing itself, and a few twists happened straight away, I was glued to my sofa, reading page after page. It gives us a slight resemblance of the Beauty and the Beast, even though the plot is quite different. There is a powerful beast who locks the girl, and they fall in love, but there is so much more twists, adventures and danger that I can’t compare them beyond that.

I loved Feyre, for the fierce woman she is. I loved the fight she had in herself, despite being a tiny human in a world of powerful magical creatures. I loved the fact that she would stand up for what she believes in, no matter the consequences, though sometimes, quite recklessly done.
I loved Tamlin, and his warmth despite his cold appearance. The way he cared for Feyre was so heartwarming and cute. The love they feel for each other, and those scenes that made me cry – I will cherish that!

A wonderful magical tale, a fierce woman, a fiercer love, and even fiercer danger, this one won’t let you sleep at night, and it will haunt you to find answers. A true masterpiece!

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a steamy and magic-filled retelling of Beauty and the Beast and the first book in a series by Sarah J. Mass. I really enjoyed this book despite the problems it had.

The story is about a girl who hunts to keep her family alive, but one day she ends up killing a magical creature and it's master comes looking for her. He takes her away to his faerie court in order for her to pay back her debt. This man is actually the High Lord of the Spring Court and seems to be under some kind of curse which our main character Feyre is not aware of. As time progresses she realizes things aren't as they seem, and as she begins falling for the irresistible High Lord she realizes there are numerous threats around them.

I didn't really like Feyre as a main character, I found her quite annoying to read. But honestly not as annoying as I had found Celaena from Throne of Glass. Feyre was very much all talk and very little show until around the end of the book. Feyre would overestimate how amazing she is and throw herself into a situation without really thinking and end up being a damsel in distress or get in trouble. I can tell Maas was trying to make a badass, witty main character; however, Ferye just came off as annoying and whiny. However, Feyre became a much better character to read at the end of the book.

I found Ferye and Tamlin's relationship steamy and fun to read but still really weird and problematic at times. There were scenes and things that were said between them that were quite weird. For example, Tamlin goes 'wild' with lust one night and when Feyre comes out of her room he pins her against a wall and then bites her neck, growls, and leaves. It was quite steamy to read because of Maas's writing but in hindsight, the scene was very weird (and that's the more tame scenes).

What made this book so fun to read was Maas's writing style and world. Maas has a tendency to have a super fun and readable writing style that make it super easy to fly through a book. She was able to craft the romance scenes with the exact amount of angst while also being able to craft the high-action scenes was the perfect amount of suspense and thrill. I flew through this book because of how easy to read and engaging Maas's writing was. Furthermore, the world that Maas built is very intriguing. While she is not the first to craft a world where fae and humans together and a girl gets thrown into that world, I think she did it beautifully. I loved the twists and turns on the tale of Beauty and Beast and the various new elements she added into the story and created a world similar yet completely new.

One thing I definitely was not ok with was the sexual assault that Ferye endures around the end of the book. In order to not get too spoilery, I will not go into specifics. However, there is a character who demands that she pay a debt she owes him by drugging her and making her lap dance multiple nights in a row. I know this character is more important in the future books and he does redeem himself but it is not something I can easily overlook.

Overall super enjoyable read. Having read the rest of the series I can say that the future books will get a little more problematic but also be extremely enjoyable.

-- 4 stars --

So much fun! Great to see Maas stepping into the New Adult realm with a tale that is not cheesy or trope-y at all. Full review to come closer to publication date. This will be one to watch!

Thank you to www.netgalley.com for the ARC!

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first in a new series from Sarah J. Maas, author of the Throne of Glass books which I recommend as there brilliant. A new spin on the Beauty and the Beast story, this is a faerie-tale with a dark and brutal spin. Eight years after her family lost their fortune and fell into poverty, nineteen-year-old Feyre is their only means of survival. Self taught she hunts the woods to feed and support her father and two older sisters. When a giant wolf crosses her path on a hunt, she has no qualms about killing it—there’s no love lost for faeries here. These now elusive immortal beings once ruled over the human world with an iron fist. Only a centuries old treaty keeps them on their side of the wall, the Kingdom of Prythian, now Freya has broken the treaty and now she must face the consequences.Separated from her family Freya is surprised to find her captor isn't the brutal captor she'd imagined. This was such a beautiful and seductive book! The characters were so complex and the relationship between Feyre and Tamlin was glorious.

Review for NetGalley Read Now. This here is why I love PNR and why I started my love for reading in PNR. This gem right here is a perfect example of "mates", gudges, misjudgings, lust, hot and heavy and purely beautiful and unique! THIS WHOLE SERIES IS A MUST READ FOR ANY PNR FAN AND THIS IS NOT IN ANY WAY YA, NOPE NO SIREE BOB!

5+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ STARS

I love this book. What starts out as a Beauty and the Beast retelling turned into something all its own. The main characters are fantastic, but the side characters are even better, in my opinion.

I've read this book multiple times and it will never get old. It's truly one of my favourite series and worlds. Sarah J. Maas created a world that's unique and interesting, and created characters you can relate to. Some have hidden agenda's, some are just learning how to stand up for themselves, some are discovering who they are and what that means.

The first book in this series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, is a perfect introduction to the world of the Prythian Courts. It's definitely not a everyday retelling of Beauty & The Beast, while it may seem like it, there's so many levels to this book.

I could basically gush about this book and its series for ages but I'll spare us all. My only gripe with this release is its covers. I loved the previous covers and it saddens me they'll be replaced with these ones and most likely, all future books will only have these covers...

Thank you Netgalley & Bloomsbury for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, there you go – another great universe erected by SJM just in front of our humble eyes. She is building her own fucking multiverse and we are here to witness the power of a goddess at work. I will make three sacrifices for that.

This is, so far, for me, the best Beauty and the Beast reimagination.

HER EXECUTION STYLE IS THE AIR TO MY LUNGS.
And this one is not even the best of her works.

As I always say about SJM’s books, the characters are the ones who make the action. It’s like they are the very engine of a plot.

There’s a certain cruelty in this book, so very Maas. I sometimes feel like I’m reading the words of a psychopath, but then I remind myself how much I enjoy this cruelty in these books and I temperate myself.

Even though I think this is not the best of SJM’s works, I still believe is so very good that just makes you want to know more. It leaves you craving. And in my humble opinion, that’s a bonus factor in books.

This is the first time I have read this book and I was very pleasantly surprised, while also rolling my eyes on occasion at some of the dialogue and tropes present in the narrative. It tells the story of Feyre, a young woman who is trying to survive with her family by hunting for deer in the woods. When she shoots and kills a wolf, she is taken to the Fae world of Prythian and enters a world on the brink of disaster and suffering under a curse.

The positives: This was quite a bit grittier than I was expecting, with some fairly graphic violence and some steamy scenes. I enjoyed the world of Prythian immensely and thought that Maas' depiction of the fairy realm was definitely the best part of the book. The world felt visceral, dangerous on one hand while also being beautiful and utterly magical on the other and the balance is precarious throughout, which works well to keep the tension high. The relationships between Feyre, Tamlin and Lucien were well drawn and we spent enough time with them to get invested in their plight. I also loved Amarantha as antagonist and Rhysand is a very intriguing character.

The negatives: There were a lot of tropes at play in this novel, some of which worked better than others but all of which were quite obvious. I also thought that the plot was fairly predictable and it definitely took a backseat to the interactions of the characters.

Overall, this was a solid and enjoyable fae fantasy. I can see why it is such a popular book of the genre and I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have been sitting on writing this review for a couple days. 1- I don't read fantasy. 2- I don't enjoy faeries. 3- I don't read fantasy. It isn't that I never read it, it just isn't what I gravitate to, when choosing a book. I have read the big ones, Harry Potter, Twilight, Sookie, but that is it. No others and those were read years ago.

In my online book club (shout out to RBUT), there was going to be a discussion on the series. I owned the first book so I figured I would give it a go since I had just finished a great historical fiction. I started the book and could not put it down. I got so wrapped up in the world that was created, WITH FAERIES! It was not at all what I was expecting. I read the entire series, in 4 days. I could not stop.

To say that my enjoyment of these books was unexpected is an understatement. I was downright shocked that I loved them so much. I am already planning a reread because there were times when I couldn't read the words fast enough and I am sure my eyes got ahead of brain.

I hear what you are saying, "But I don't like fantasy." Yeah I don't usually either. This was a whole other ball game. I am definitely rethinking my ignoring this genre for quite some time. I may have made some error in judgement. I may have been judging books by their fantasy covers. I am wrong. I am also going to try another series by this author to see if it is also just as good.

No spoilers from me, because this is one you need to try for yourself!