Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Una corte de rosas y espinas

I truly didn't want to like this book, but I did. In fact, I was never bored. I was entertained, especially towards the end where it truly felt like I was watching a movie.

I was judgemental because it was recommended on booktok and also because I find magical creatures titled "High Fae" a bit tacky. But I managed to look past that, so that's something.

Positives:
The detail! The world building! I managed to imagine how everything/everyone looks. Things that happened early in the book will suddenly be mentioned in chapters waaay later, and still be relevant to the story. Being able to bring everything together like that shows true talent.

Negatives:
There were certainly things I didn't like, but I almost don't care. For instance it wasn't necessarily logical how fast Feyre got over deeply traumatic things. Everything she lived through would've given her severe PTSD, and yet she seems to get over it in three pages every time something bad happens. I don't believe for a minute that

a woman would ever fall in love with someone who basically held them hostage and stole them away from their family, ESPECIALLY AFTER SHE FINDS OUT THAT HE HAS KILLED SO MANY WOMEN BEFORE HER TRYING TO SAVE HIS OWN ASS, LIKE WTF?! I can't tell you a single fact about who Tamlin is, what he likes and dislikes and stuff. He seems mediocre to me, but oh well. I was still entertained. Idk about you but that's not love, that's called delusion and desperation I hope Tamlin gets more interesting or that Feyre gets a new and more charming love interest

. Another thing that bothered me was that

SHE KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE, WAS INVOLUNTARY GIVEN ETERNAL LIFE, and she forgot about that the moment sex with Tamlin was an option? Girl! Same thing after the confinement and torture at the party, like ... I don't believe that's realistic, but I guess people cope in different ways!

Content Warnings

sherolled's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Well written. Main character makes some mind-numbingly dumb choices. Great world building.

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jenniraptor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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hardcover_hazel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This series has been sitting on my shelf for a while and I’ve been too intimidated to start it (until a read along came by 😂). There are so many fans out there and I don’t always like the popular book but this was a pretty good start ✨

For:
-enemies to lovers
-beauty and the beast fantasy retelling
-magic and easy world building
-with a bunch of action (and some gore)
-has its main focus on the romance of the story
read it. ✨

It’s a great introduction into fantasy without having to focus on the world building or characters to understand it. You feel almost compelled to continue reading even though there isn’t much happening. The last few chapters were the best - with challenges and trials and hope.

I have to say Feyre irritated me a bit 😂 I felt exhausted at her trying to fight literally everything, even though I understood why. I do love that she becomes a bit more relaxed and human and we get to see how she views the world and lets out her emotion - through painting.

Though there’s some dubious actions from the males in this series 👀 so check any warnings before reading.

Overall, I loved it and I might just become an ACOTAR fan as I continue this journey 💕

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coffinqueen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Solid, expertly written book. Some issues with depictions of trauma.

New Adult Dark High Fantasy about a young woman who accidentally kills the friend of a fae lord while hunting. He forces her to come live in the fae world for the rest of her life. They become romantically involved and other faeries find out he's with a human. This enrages the jealous queen, who then tries to kill her and destroy his house by making him her slave. She even has another man she keeps for her own enjoyment already while terrorizing the entire kingdom and just slaughtering everyone who gets in her way. It's clear she enjoys toying with people and lashing out when she doesn't get what she wants. Things go from 0 to 300 quick.

ACOTAR has an initially slow start that really picks up in the middle. Full of action and a badass female protagonist who is also fragile emotionally and physically in comparison to the immortals around her. It's a little spooky and gritty. Lots of monsters and mystery. It's violent and dark and has a lot of great twists. Even the ending of this book is a twist in itself for the rest of the series. Book 1 is sort of: "What had happened was..." in a way that genuinely feels like immersing in a fairytale and then later seeing it has gone very very wrong. You get more and more of some great character building as it becomes less Disney and more reality, making it a really fun read.

Great intro to the series. Though a little flawed for the more serious themes it explores and how they are represented in book 1, (I feel they aren't remedied until

the start of

book 2) but they are mostly remedied by a large percentage when they are. That's a dangerous game when depicting a high fantasy that is realistically depicting so much trauma. There are a lot of themes which may offend or trigger but the characters just sort of live in it... So, read on! But just be aware this book may insinuate it is actually ignoring the important subjects it means to talk about... attention to them just comes in late.

You can tell that Maas is a smart writer who has seen many fairytales she was really fed up with. She takes every opportunity to bring in the rage she wishes those characters showed. And she is an expert writer who hides some really sweet details throughout her books. You may come out with an even better perspective and deeper appreciation on a second read because it does such a good job of upsetting the reader on the first read.

Definitely recommended. I just feel that an important part of the readership might fall off before the series really gets into what it's largely about, which was frustrating as a reader and as someone who can closely relate to some of those issues.

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spiderdrac's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I honestly did love this book, very little descriptive sex scenes which I enjoyed. The ending was super well written and mostly just felt a little rushed at times. I wish we got to know more about the villain but I also understand it's the first book in a long series.

My biggest complaints come from when Feyre and Tamlin first start the whole romance things. It felt, underdeveloped. Like he does a few nice things for her and then she's suddenly head over heals for him almost for no reason. She forgives him way to quickly and for someone who was kidnapped, kinda just looks over it and forgives him for VERYRHINF. Lucine is my fav though, and Feyre also forgives him too quickly.

I enjoyed the ending but the middle and begining where a slight drag.

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duck_24's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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krystalw's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It’s worth the read to have context for the remainder of the books, but can be difficult to get through

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