Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Type: Fiction
Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)
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.
I can describe this book in one word: EPIC.
Yes. It’s that amazing, and it even deserves capital letters. A quick confession: I decided to read it because of the cover. (You can’t blame me. The cover’s GORGEOUS)
I’m a big Sarah J. Maas fan, and for those of you who don’t know, she’s the author of The Throne of Glass series. I have to admit it, this book absolutely surprised me…in a very, very good way, of course.
There’s a lot of fey/supernatural books out there these days, so I was expecting a somewhat exciting, but at the same time a ‘meh’ read. I still haven’t forgiven myself for saying that. The main character, Feyre (her name…may I have it?) once lived a privileged life, although after (*spoiler*) her father is beaten up by unhappy creditors, she now has to hunt and learn how to survive the harsh realities of the outside world without any previous training. I just loved, loved, loved how Feyre never backs down from danger, especially when you threaten her loved ones. She’s not a typical “oh, save me” heroine, and fights for justice and stays loyal to the people she cares about. Another thing that I loved about her? She’s not someone who trusts that easily, and there’s no insta-love here between her and Tamlin (thank goodness for that). The conflicts that she faces are difficult, but she survives nonetheless.
Now, for the hero. Tamlin, oh Tamlin. This book is kinda like Beauty and the Beast, only Beast can shift into a human being at will. When I first read about Feyre’s first encounter with him, I thought he was just a big…donkey. You know, the guy who ignores you and then talks to you and then suddenly doesn’t? Well, he kind of does this for the first few scenes when Feyre tries to talk to him, but he quickly changes heart. He challenges Feyre and the way she thinks about the fey, but at the same time, he shows her the brighter side of life. Another pro about Tamlin: he cares about Feyre’s safety, but trusts her enough to let her save HIM instead of the other way around. Did I mention that he’s one big powerful High Lord?
For the secondary characters, they were complex and intriguing. Tamlin’s bestie, Lucien, comes off as a pompous jerk, but in reality he’s devoted to Tamlin and the Spring Court and acts that way because…he cares. Feyre’s family were quite hard to deal with at first, since her sisters were really, really spoiled, and her father’s this good-for-nothing deadbeat dad. But you get to see the good side of them too, and Feyre’s spoiled sisters actually do worry about her, and father still supports her in his own way.
The antagonist, Amarantha, is a total crackpot. She makes the White Witch look like the carebears. Let’s just say that I liked how Tamlin and Feyre disposed of her.
Of course, no book is perfect. The ending was a teeny, tiny bit jumbled, and when Feyre and Tamlin separated for a while, their reunion was really rushed. I really wanted to see what Nesta thought of her sister, and I felt like I didn’t get enough of that.
Overall, this book was am-ah-zing. Do I recommend this book? Do I even have to answer that? I can’t wait for the next one in the series…
The Renegade Zombie 