Reviews with content warning for Murder - A Court of Thorns and Roses

I liked this book more than I thought I would. I expected the hype to be overdone and the book to be mediocre at best, but the plot was indeed compelling. The characters were occasionally a little frustrating to me, especially Feyre, but overall they were mostly complex people with multifaceted motivations and personalities, and I wanted to read and learn more about them. I enjoyed the world building as well; I think Prythian is a pretty well thought out land with fantasy elements that make sense.

The only major downside of this novel for me is SJM’s writing style. I didn’t feel pulled in until several chapters into the story, and her grammar made me cringe many times. The plot occasionally felt too full of filler, but a desire to get through to the next good part made me keep reading. Feyre is also quite a bland protagonist. It feels like she is frequently saved by plot armor, she is only witty and smart and brave when she needs to be, otherwise she’s dull and cowardly. I can basically list 3 things about her actual character and personality that remain constant throughout the story. The fae around her are far more interesting and compelling.

Overall I did like this book! I’m excited to continue reading the series and find out more about the things I’ve heard from friends and strangers online.

Content Warnings

emmagf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

Content Warnings

shelbss's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

rowstream's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

3.0

Content Warnings

rubybastille's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

I just don’t get the appeal of these books yet. Aside from it being a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, which is fine in and of itself, the story cherry-picks from lots of existing books (Hunger Games is an obvious one) and Feyre is actually kind of annoying. Characters repeatedly warn her to not do the thing, she does the thing anyway, and suffers through the consequences until one of those characters (always male) rescues her. She’s portrayed as a tough sexy Cool Girl badass but actually largely lacks agency and/or uses her agency to do stupid stuff that men have to save her from. And speaking of sexy, there are a few scenes where Feyre is put through sexually degrading situations and those always had an undertone of voyeurism that didn’t sit well with me.

Content Warnings

skbat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

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