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A review by kellypm
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
Re-read with revised rating of 3 stars.
- I found Feyre for most of it, to be annoying and a bit unbearable
- my knowledge of the next book has altered my perception of how Tamlin acts, and I took more notice this time.
- I still love Lucien
- Rhysand wasn't as shit of a dude as I originally thought he was in this book
4.5 stars
I had pretty high hopes for this book. Not only was it seriously hyped but I adore the Throne of Glass series so much. Now I guess it’s safe to say I was absolutely not disappointed. This novel is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast that meets faeries and folklore and was a beautiful read.
I think I may start this review with what I disliked about this book (And there will be minor spoilers so fair warning)…
Okay so I didn’t give this book 5 stars and here are the reasons why-
Feyre. She is the narrator, human and a huntress who lives in poverty with her crippled father and two sisters. Unfortunately, she annoyed the absolute hell out of me until about chapter 18. This is because she continued to make stupid decisions after specifically being told not to do the stupid things!!!!!! And in addition to that, I saw basically no development in her character until now and was just continuously annoyed with her.
Feyre did minimal things for maximum information as most of the backstory (although it was interesting and built a great world around the characters), came from long monologues which just doesn’t seem like the most intriguing way to give backstory.
So there are my negatives… Now it’s time for me to gush and ramble for a while over why I love this so much.
Firstly, I didn’t hugely know what to expect in the whole ‘retelling’ department. I didn’t know just how inspired it was by Beauty and the Beast or how well the Faerie component would work with it. But lets just put all worries to bed because although you could see Beauty and the Beast influences in this novel and it’s plot, the story is entirely Sarah’s and she has added in the Folklore so beautifully that I just couldn’t put it down.
Although Feyre did annoy me to the extreme in the first half of the novel, she was still an intriguing character and developed into one that I now love. She was cold, bitter and stubborn (to the point of naivety and ignorance in some instances), but grew to be much more interesting, warm and funny. I also adored the twist from the original story from Belle loving books to Feyre being illiterate, and yet having the talent of painting instead to convey her emotions. By writing a character like this, I find you get much more detail in the world itself and the surroundings of the main character which I love.
TAMLIN. LUCIAN. RHYSAND. Three characters which I am now in love with so thanks for that Sarah.. Tamlin or The Beast was written much more like a lil sweetheart with the ability to be a beast and it made me happy. He’s a High Fae of the Spring Court and he just… ugh. He tries so hard to make Feyre happy from the first moment (after giving her the option to stay with him in the first place instead of death), and just continues to develop into a character with both dark and sensual and light and witty sides.
Lucian and Rhysand are both intriguing characters who you both love and hate (which is something that I am loving about them). Lucian is a sarcastic bully type (with good reason and a great backstory), who was really enjoyable to read and had an interesting relationship with Feyre which was a joy to see develop and change throughout the course of the novel. And Rhysand, what an anti-hero mystery he is. He seems like a mixture between a piece of shit, a mystery and a guy with the potential to not be horrible… If that makes any sense at all… And I sort of felt sorry for him and his reputation as being Amarantha’s Whore. She was very easy to dislike and a really well written villain who made the last 10 chapter extremely intense and thrilling.
And one final reason I liked this novel so much would have to be all the different relationships between the characters in the books and the differing intensities between them. The relationship between Feyre and her family was interesting and the dynamics between herself, her father and her two sisters was not something that I had read before. The mixture of resenting them, still wanting to help them and being happy in the Spring Court all at once showed just how much depth Feyre as a character had and I truly loved it. And of course with the slow, gradual relationship building between her and Tamlin was an absolute pleasure to read and they just make me so happy. I cannot deal.
I absolutely adored this book and now I need to buy A Court of Mist and Fury STAT!
- I found Feyre for most of it, to be annoying and a bit unbearable
- my knowledge of the next book has altered my perception of how Tamlin acts, and I took more notice this time.
- I still love Lucien
- Rhysand wasn't as shit of a dude as I originally thought he was in this book
4.5 stars
I had pretty high hopes for this book. Not only was it seriously hyped but I adore the Throne of Glass series so much. Now I guess it’s safe to say I was absolutely not disappointed. This novel is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast that meets faeries and folklore and was a beautiful read.
I think I may start this review with what I disliked about this book (And there will be minor spoilers so fair warning)…
Okay so I didn’t give this book 5 stars and here are the reasons why-
Feyre. She is the narrator, human and a huntress who lives in poverty with her crippled father and two sisters. Unfortunately, she annoyed the absolute hell out of me until about chapter 18. This is because she continued to make stupid decisions after specifically being told not to do the stupid things!!!!!! And in addition to that, I saw basically no development in her character until now and was just continuously annoyed with her.
Feyre did minimal things for maximum information as most of the backstory (although it was interesting and built a great world around the characters), came from long monologues which just doesn’t seem like the most intriguing way to give backstory.
So there are my negatives… Now it’s time for me to gush and ramble for a while over why I love this so much.
Firstly, I didn’t hugely know what to expect in the whole ‘retelling’ department. I didn’t know just how inspired it was by Beauty and the Beast or how well the Faerie component would work with it. But lets just put all worries to bed because although you could see Beauty and the Beast influences in this novel and it’s plot, the story is entirely Sarah’s and she has added in the Folklore so beautifully that I just couldn’t put it down.
Although Feyre did annoy me to the extreme in the first half of the novel, she was still an intriguing character and developed into one that I now love. She was cold, bitter and stubborn (to the point of naivety and ignorance in some instances), but grew to be much more interesting, warm and funny. I also adored the twist from the original story from Belle loving books to Feyre being illiterate, and yet having the talent of painting instead to convey her emotions. By writing a character like this, I find you get much more detail in the world itself and the surroundings of the main character which I love.
TAMLIN. LUCIAN. RHYSAND. Three characters which I am now in love with so thanks for that Sarah.. Tamlin or The Beast was written much more like a lil sweetheart with the ability to be a beast and it made me happy. He’s a High Fae of the Spring Court and he just… ugh. He tries so hard to make Feyre happy from the first moment (after giving her the option to stay with him in the first place instead of death), and just continues to develop into a character with both dark and sensual and light and witty sides.
Lucian and Rhysand are both intriguing characters who you both love and hate (which is something that I am loving about them). Lucian is a sarcastic bully type (with good reason and a great backstory), who was really enjoyable to read and had an interesting relationship with Feyre which was a joy to see develop and change throughout the course of the novel. And Rhysand, what an anti-hero mystery he is. He seems like a mixture between a piece of shit, a mystery and a guy with the potential to not be horrible… If that makes any sense at all… And I sort of felt sorry for him and his reputation as being Amarantha’s Whore. She was very easy to dislike and a really well written villain who made the last 10 chapter extremely intense and thrilling.
And one final reason I liked this novel so much would have to be all the different relationships between the characters in the books and the differing intensities between them. The relationship between Feyre and her family was interesting and the dynamics between herself, her father and her two sisters was not something that I had read before. The mixture of resenting them, still wanting to help them and being happy in the Spring Court all at once showed just how much depth Feyre as a character had and I truly loved it. And of course with the slow, gradual relationship building between her and Tamlin was an absolute pleasure to read and they just make me so happy. I cannot deal.
I absolutely adored this book and now I need to buy A Court of Mist and Fury STAT!