I feel so mixed about this book. I was so disappointed by the first half but thoroughly enjoyed the second half. I was becoming so disappointing in Sarah J. Maas after loving everything else she has written but she managed to save it in the end.

I think my main problem was I didn't feel i believed Feyre and Tamlin's love, it might be because I know spoilers for the rest of the series but honestly I didn't really feel the chemistry between them. Tamlin's kinda blahh. I'm on board with Rhysand, looking forward to the sequel.

I didn't get onboard with Feyre's character, or I did initially and then she lost me and then in the challenge I loved her again. I guess I just found her decision to go back across the wall to be so dumb. She couldn't even see the Fae half the time and yet she thought she had a chance?!? I mean it worked out fine but still a dumb decision. Probably not believing her love for Tamlin didn't help with me understanding her decision.

P.S. Really like the development of Nesta's character, looking forward to see where that goes.

Fantasy and the Fae meets Beauty and the Beast. Sarah J. Maas is gifted at fantasy world building and writing complex and interesting characters. I have enjoyed the entire series and have recommended it on multiple occasions. I would say, however, that the books really muddy the line between YA and adult fantasy, so would not recommend it to a younger YA fan. An excellent read!

ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you for letting me review this title.

I cannot stress this enough, I will read anything Sarah J Maas writes always.

This book is amazing and the series is an all time favorite.
I love it

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Mass
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Page Count: 419
Rating: Worth reading, but don’t get your hopes up

Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

A Great Start

The beginning of the book is a miserable clump of depression, acceptance, and the never ending feeling of morose…and it is brilliant.

One of my favourite storytelling devices is when a character is on their last legs, literally struggling to survive, and they claw themselves out of the dirt.

Feyre, the protagonist, took on the responsibility of keeping her family alive. The story is told from her perspective, and it gives us a lot of raw anger and emotion that is refreshing to read.

It’s not often I read books where the protagonist is so hateful towards ones they love, so I have to commend Mass for creating a character with such emotional range.

I saw parts of myself in Feyre, and I think that’s a sign that an author has done a great job of creating a complex character.

I knew within the first chapter that A Court of Thorns and Roses was going to be a book about complexity and mystery.

A Drawn out Middle


There’s a lot to say about the middle of the book. I did enjoy the subtle world building that Mass gave us. Through Feyre’s actions, we got to explore the Fairie lands and understand their interactions with the human realm.

The world seems complex and much deeper than what we get to see in this book, which bodes well for future stories. With the possibilities that could arise, A Court of Thorns and Roses does a great job of expanding the world and setting up future tales.

The main romantic pairing was barely tolerable. This is probably because of the cookie cutter emotionless main male character.

I don’t understand the romance in novels that I have read. None of it feels real. It’s all so forced and sudden. Maybe I am doing real life romance wrong, and I need to treat women like they don’t deserve to know my emotions?

Feyre has emotional insecurity and depth, which we get to see, but the love interest was bland, emotionless, and really only contributed to the story when his cookie cutter best friend (full of sarcastic one liners and flirty looks) was around to add to his character.



A Conflicting End


I don’t know how to think about the ending of A Court of Thorns and Roses. On one hand, it was exciting and fast-paced, leading to a great end to the story. On the other hand, it felt out of place and completely different than the rest of the story.

There was no precedent for how the story ended, and it seemed unbelievable for where the story was going before that, but at the end of the day, it was enjoyable to read, and added to future stories.

There is one moment right at the end, which I can’t reveal because of spoilers, that I don’t know how I feel about. At the time of reading it, it was an interesting moment that provided a heartwarming moment and I liked it. But, it does offer a particularly questionable message to readers. It doesn’t send the best message out to readers.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I found it to be quite a quick read. It had highs and lows like any book does, but in the end it was a fun read. I’ve heard the next few books are better than the first, so I will be sticking with the series.

If you’re interested in reading a romance/fantasy book, I would definitely recommend it.

Sarah Maas is a favorite of teen readers. Maybe I'm getting old but this seemed like it was a little bold and violent for younger teens. Feyre kills a fairy while hunting for food for her family and is taken to a magical court for the murder. I'm reading this is a rehash of Beauty and the Beast but I didn't get that feeling. This is book 1 in the Court of Thorns and Roses and was originally published in 2015. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Mixed feelings about this but overall an enjoyable read. There are purists out there when it comes to fairy-tale retellings, but I am not one of them. This will likely please both camps.

I found the worldbuilding passable (although it gave me Twilight vibes at times) and enjoyed the character development even if it felt incomplete (which will hopefully be further drawn out in later books in the series). Feyre was convincing if a bit fickle and completely works as a YA-type protagonist. Actually, I thought the whole book felt very YA although I realize it is written for an adult audience.

Tamlin was suitably delicious and it didn't bother me in the slightest that he wasn't actually beast/evil, so it wasn't hard for the reader or the main character Feyre to find him appealing. I did find it a bit predictable even for a fairy re-telling, and I did not at all enjoy the depictions of torture/evil during the climax of the book (I notice for other reviewers, this portion was the highlight. If you like hunger-games type plots, you will like this portion. I personally find the level of violence gratituous).

Thank you netgalley for the ARC. I will be reading the rest of the series.

this was a really good read, the characters were great and I had an enjoyable time going through the story and the world.

I was excited to read this book because a good friend of mine raves about anything Sarah J. Maas, so I went in with high expectations. However, I was slightly disappointed. It was a decent book - despite a few flaws - and I"m glad I read it. I know the next book is better and I'm excited to read the rest of the series.

I couldn't finish this one. Although I tried several times to re-start I couldn't get past the first chapters since they failed to grab my attention. I liked the author's ideas, but could't connect with her style.

First off, I’m not a huge fantasy person at all. This though, pulled me in that I couldn’t stop reading it. It’s a twisted take on a popular fairy tale. Which I loved. Feyre was trying to survive for the sake of her families need of food and shelter, but killed a wolf that was really a faerie. She was taken to a world of high lords, courts, mystery, love, evil queen, and friendship. Yes towards the end I had no clue what would happen. There was some hard parts towards the end for me. Overall, I loved this book. Yes this fantasy book was amazing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my free copy in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

This is a beautiful copy of the book. Feyre is the archetypal savior of her family. As in most fairy tales, her sisters don't have the will or ability to do what's necessary to save the family. Her father is also weak. Only Feyre can travel to the Fae Land after she kills a wolf that unknowingly was a Fae Guard. The Spring Lands bring out the magic in Feyre and love blossoms with the High Fae, Tamlin. I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants to read fantasy or strong female leads.

AMAZING & ORIGINAL!

If I could describe the book in two words those would be it. I always look for pieces in a book that allude to other books. In truth, at the beginning I got a Beauty and the Beast vibe laced with a bit of Hunger Games. But boy was I wrong!

It has so many twists and the angst is always there making you wonder what in hell is going to happen next?

The action is there, the romance is there and that is a good recipe right?
Apparently NOT! Maas want to torments to no end (but of course we love it all the way) and adds a third party to the romance.

I wouldn't exactly call Feyre, Tamlin and Rhysand a love triangle since nothing really happens in the first book to indicate that. But while reading ACOMAF the drama is off the charts.

Amazing book, great story, constant plot twists and characters that leave you wanting more!

Enjoy and Happy Reading!
5/5

As someone who is scared of giant fantasy books, (and partly the reason I never read in high school) I finally finished and I’m so damn proud of myself. Like I said before, I am now a fantasy fan and as a fantasy newbie I can definitely recommend this series.

Since everyone and their cousin has already read this book before me, I’m not going to review it but give you some unfiltered thoughts I had while reading each book (spoilers ahead). I haven’t decided which of the first two are my favourite yet, but I’m leaning towards the second.

Serious content warnings: torture, violence, captivity, (attempted) rape, sexually graphic scenes, death, PTSD, depression, war, battle scenes, gore, emotional abuse

[first 8 chapters] Wowwwwww is this a rip-off of Beauty and the Beast? (It was later clarified that yes, it was a retelling and then I started enjoying it more 😂).
[under the mountain] who is this Rhys guy and why does he keep helping Faerye?
Faerye is a badass they can’t get rid of her, there’s a whole series. Oh that’s what happens.

It's not you, it's me… I think?

If you weren’t able to tell by the rating, I’ve struggled with this. A lot.

After many years of pushing the Beauty and the Beast retelling off, alas I had finally caved in and with all the great reviews/hype surrounding this YA (though it should actually be categorized as NA because you know… 😏) fantasy—I was more than prepared to be dazzled, wow'd, blown away, etcetera etcetera but… oh my goodness, it almost hurts me to say but all my hopes and dreams for this much anticipated novel spiral downwards to only shatter in pieces.

It was long. It was boring. There was practically a whole lot of nothing happening in the first 60-70%. I couldn’t connect with anything that was happening in the story and my skimming came into effect quickly. And the characters…? Ha! I thought they would be the saving grace of this piece but nope. They weren’t any better. Freya, Tamlin, yada yada yada weren’t anything special and the only characters I had any sort of interest in were Lucien and Rhysand for obvious reasons but even they couldn’t save me from this horrid book.

Maybe other readers are seeing something that I am missing but there wasn't much wow factor to ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ cause I damn near dropped this a few times throughout my read. Overall it felt more like a chore to finish and that was a big no no I'm not feeling since I wasted good earned money for an over hype release that failed to deliver.

Never again shall I fall victim to the hype. Lesson learned.

A sure positive is the cover. Absolutely stunning while everything else… eh… no.

This book contains poverty, hardship, romance, revenge, traps, tricks, riddles, and more; basically everything you'd want in a good tale, especially one involving fae. The imagery is vivid and the characters enticing. Definitely a good read for those who enjoy the puzzles fair folk offer.

I am so upset.
I can’t believe it took me 5 years to find this book.
And To find out about the great Sarah J Maas.

I absolutely loved this book!
I hadn’t read a fantasy novel in almost 2 years. I just couldn’t get into them anymore. So I took a long break.

But Baby I’m back!

Feyre was one of my favorite characters ever. I want to be her. She was fierce.
I enjoyed all the characters but I felt everything she felt. The author made sure of that.

I did not realize that this was a retelling of Beauty and the beast until I saw it on Instagram. I can definitely see it now.

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who dont feel anything at all."

I’m looking forward to the rest of the books.

Where do I begin with this review. I loved that it was a retelling if one of my favorite stories and that it had a twist to it. I didn’t love the pining and the romance. The main character was also annoying. I was waiting for something to happen. I prefer plot driven books. The story didn’t get good until closer to the end. I’ve heard the second book is better in the series and that is why I kept reading this one.

“Do not look back.” A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Finally finally finished this arc (apparently this one is the anniversary edition) and got to see what the fuss is about.

3 stars. Maybe 3.5bat best. It’s interesting. Though drags in places. And it didn’t suck me in like other books.

It has some shades of Hunger Games, especially the start, with Feyre hunting in the woods. Then it goes on the paranormal bend with shape shifting fae etc. Tamlin comes into the picture and so does Lucian. Then Rhysand too, and with him much more interesting than Tamlin. Why is the darker side more interesting? The tasks were good, especially the first one. The 3rd was hard.

I peeled ahead into the series to see if I’ll continue it. No guilt since most have read this anyway, what I’m about to say surely ain’t a spoiler: I thought, all that trouble and it is Rhysand after all? No wonder Tamlin pales in comparison always.

Haven’t decided if I’ll continue it. To me, this series is nice to read. Not a need to read. In my humble opinion, of course.

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley fo the copy of this book.

I may be one of the last to even consider this book but thanks to @notyomamasbookclub, I finally did. How come no one told me this was a Beauty and the Beast retelling??? I would have been all over it if I knew that! I loved that it starts off with the classic story to help ease you into this world and then the ending was more Hunger Games, strong lady fighting for her man! Just the combination I needed. I feel like sometimes books come into our lives and the exact right moment and A Court Of Thorns and Roses was just that for me. The perfect book for this week. Can’t wait to chat more about it with the bookclub!
Content warnings for some sexual scenes(nothing too graphic but not closed door), some violence and hunting. DM me for more details if you want them.

Have you heard of Sarah J Maas?

Along with her continuation of her EPIC assassin-based Throne of Glass series, Mrs. Sarah J Maas has continued her Fae-centered Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Thanks to Netgalley.com on their promotion of her second-printing of the series A Court of Thorns and Roses (books 1-3). I am honored to be given the opportunity to express the love I have for these books to help promote the next in the series (A Court of Silver Flames).

This series starts and revolves around a human named Feyre and her troublesome life of living near a fae-controlled land. Each book the series flows as a traditional fairy tale turned upside down and adapted to the wondrous world that Mrs. Maas has created. Filled with love, hate, carnage and thrill all within the first book of this series. You will instantly fall in love with characters and hope for their futures after amazing quotes like:

“Be glad of your human heart… Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

I hope you pick up the first book A Court of Thorns and Roses and jump on the Maasassins Train! I know I have, giving this book and series a solide five out of five of whatever you love most.