A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas || Beauty, The Beast…and Fae?

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. (Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

This was…not what I expected it to be. It was still good, yes, but for whatever reason I had it stuck in my mind that this was a prequel to Throne of Glass. No idea why, but I did. It, however, is not. This is a completely different fantasy world.

Now, before this, I had only read three Sarah J. Maas books; Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, and The Assassin’s Blade. All of them I would rate five stars, and I was fully expecting ACOTAR to be five stars as well.

But I did have some problems with it. First off: The characters. They felt a bit flat. Feyre felt very much like Celaena, but without the snark and the arrogance and the kindness that makes her such a complex character. I was instantly drawn to Celaena. I was not drawn to Feyre.

And Tamlin, the “swoonable” love interest…well, I wouldn’t call him a beast. I wouldn’t call him charming, either. He felt as flat as Feyre. He was “mysterious” and he was “high lord with great power”, and he was also cursed to wear a mask, too. But, honestly, the character development? Almost nothing. Same thing with his and Feyre’s romance. Just flat.

However, there were two side characters that I loved. Lucien and Rhys. Lucien is Tamlin’s most trusted person, and his best friend. AND THERE’S NO LOVE TRIANGLE. I was extremely relieved, because at first I thought it would be a love triangle. But Lucien is tortured and snarky and I LOVE HIM. Rhys is introduced as an antagonist and he’s mostly evil but also a little bit good, too. He’s intriguing and interesting and reminded me of Morpheus from Splintered in a way.

Now, the first 80% of the book or so was romance. That’s what it was, and it severely annoyed me. I contemplated DNFing it at one point (I was not in the mood for romance), but I eventually decided to continue. AND THEN THERE WAS BLOOD. AND TORTURE. AND EVIL FAE. And basically everything I wanted from the book in the beginning. It was violent and evil and kept me glued to the book until the finish.

So if the first 80% of the book had been like the last 20%, this book would be really, really amazing. If you want a more violent, action-y read, this won’t be the book for you (at least if you don’t want to have to read through the first 80%), but if you’re fine with a more romance-y book, this is a great read.

So…how many of you are Sarah J. Maas fans? Did you read ACOTAR? What did you think of it? Did you like it better or less than Throne of Glass? And, most importantly, do you like creepy, evil faeries? BECAUSE I SURE DO.

Happy Sunday,