A review by skeletor23
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Book really drags in the beginning to give too much world exposition before we even have the chance to care, surrounds main character by a family of near irredeemable characters that makes reader question why it spends so much time on them in the beginning, and repeats formulaic sequence of main character outright being stupid and putting self into harms way by doing the opposite of advice given, having to be rescued time and time again in drawn out false climaxes. That being said, the book redeems itself in the 3rd quarter, building on characters, creative action sequences, romance, and straight up gore and tragedy into resolution to make us feel something for an initially dull and annoyingly dumb main character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

book spends so much time focusing and building on a main love interest (Tamlin) that it basically character assassinates them at the end by having him do literally nothing and say nothing to help save the main character-who is literally going through a prolonged gauntlet of death and torture to free him out of love- from being brutally beaten and mentally broken and eventually horrifically and slowly killed in front of him. Feels like a massive waste of his character and readers time, and is frustrating to the reader.