A review by lizziaha
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

I think one of the reasons that this book reads so easy, and why I didn’t love it, is that everything seems a little too convenient. Everything goes according to plan. Feyre, no matter how stupid she acts—and she does some TRULY inexplicable and delusional things—always manages to come out on top. She gives us no reason to believe that she is capable of the things she pulls off, and yet, it just happens for her. It’s simultaneously not really believable and hugely predictable. I think this is the pitfall of writing an “badass” female MC without fleshing out any systemic failures. Sure, she can kick ass, and that’s hot to every gorgeous man she comes across, but at what cost? We don’t get to see any character development. Even in moments where she struggles, it’s hard to reach any depth of emotion about it, because you know that everything is going to magically work out. And speaking of magic, SJM threw out everything interesting about fae stories, everything that makes them complex, and decided to emphasize the boringest parts of them (sexy, immortal, maybe evil? but probably not). Another area that SJM decided to abandon complexity is the worldbuilding. It’s flimsy. Functional at surface level but if you look ANY deeper it crumbles. I think that plot-driven stories are always at risk of this because they can fail to really examine character motivations, but this one also just feels like a lack of forethought on the author’s part. All in all, the story is fine. I don’t particularly like Beauty and Beast or retellings, and I especially don’t like beauty and the beast retellings, but despite that, the story did move along. Maybe if you read it fast enough, you can just glide past all the issues. 
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