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4 STARS
Non-Spoilery Summary & Review:
A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in a faerie trilogy that incorporates retellings in each book. ACOTAR is specifically a Beauty and the Beast retelling. The land in this book is set up so that there are two sides of a huge Wall. The Faerie Realms to the north and the Mortal Lands to the south. No human ever goes into the Faerie Realms unless they crave certain death. The main character, Feyre, is a huntress and she is out in the woods hoping to find dinner for her family when she comes across a wolf. To protect herself, she kills the wolf not knowing whether or not he/she was a faerie or just a regular animal. Well guess what? Surprise surprise, the wolf was not a normal wolf, so a beast comes to Feyre’s cottage to kill her for what she did, but instead decides to bring her over the wall into the Faerie Realms to his place in Prythian. This is where the story takes off and becomes really interesting!
Her characters in this story are very very good at evoking feelings from the reader. I loved mostly everyone, especially Alis and Lucien. The love story was so heartbreakingly amazing and heated too! The angst you feel reading just makes you want to drop the book on your face and soak it all in. The parallels to Beauty in the Beast were easily recognizable, but it was not so exactly the same that it felt like a repeat. Certain aspects were changed that made the story more relevant to Feyre and Tamlin. The writing is my favorite because it lures me in. I was so entranced when I was reading towards the second half of the book that I didn’t even notice 30 minutes pass by because it felt like 5.
I very much enjoyed this one. I didn’t find myself comparing ACOTAR to ToG at all which is really good because they both do involve some sort of Fae. They are quite different, but still very fun reads in their own ways. I say READ IT. Though I may suggest to wait till all the books are out, or at least more books are out because you’re going to want to pick up the next one right away.
Things I loved about this book:
I always say I love the worlds when I do my reviews, but I can’t help it. Especially, when the layout is described so well! Prythian is beautiful! Things that aren’t normally possible in the mortal lands are possible in the faerie realms and its just so gosh darn gorgeous!
I love the faerie monsters. I was having Percy Jackson feels as the monsters were being described because they were so weird (in a good way), and my imagination would have never put those images together until reading it. Which is how I felt when reading about the monsters in PJO.
Tamlin. Need I say more?
Lucien! He had the best dialogue in the entire book! Such sass, I love it.
Rhysand… Just yes. I don’t know how Sarah is able to create so many diverse and wonderful male characters that you just want to fall in love with ALL OF THEM.
Honestly, I was so absorbed during the last half of this book that I forgot to take notes while I was reading so that’s why I don’t have a discussion portion of this one. Oopsies!
Things I didn't like about this book:
Feyre is a bit… How do I say this… Unobservant. Sometimes. Not always! She’s actually pretty cool as a huntress and all that stuff. Those parts were awesome. Some of the decisions she makes though. They make me cringe.
15 pages into the book and I was already extremely frustrated with Feyre’s sisters. Especially Nesta. Everything that came out of her mouth just made me want to slap her. Props to Feyre for not just letting the big brat starve like I would have. (this was directed mostly to the beginning of the book).
A few parts in the beginning, while we were still getting to understand the world she was in, I thought it was a bit slow, but they were interspersed between really action-y parts so they aren't super noticeable.