Book Review | A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses

By Sarah J. Maas

Bloomsbury  |  2015  |  432 pages

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**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Feyre is a huntress. And when she sees a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she kills the predator and takes its prey to feed herself and her family. 

But the wolf was not what it seemed, and Feyre cannot predict the high price she will have to pay for its death…

Dragged away from her family for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding even more than his piercing green eyes suggest.

As Feyre's feelings for Tamlin turn from hostility to passion, she learns that the faerie lands are a far more dangerous place than she realized. And Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

Well, then… I have finally taken on this series. I have seen this series on tiktok for ages. I have seen mixed reviews on them and was indecisive for so long about reading them for multiple reasons. I think it was mainly because it was so hyped up and so highly praised that I was hesitant in case I was let down and in case it didn’t live up to what I had seen online about it. 

However, I bought the first book a couple weeks ago and decided to take the plunge and just read the first one and see how I got on. To cut a long story short, about 2 days after finishing A Court of Thorns and Roses, I headed out to Asda and bought the other four books in the series, haha. 

I’ve not yet really had much experience in reading fantasy series. When I was younger, I was a big fan of series like The Hunger Games and Twilight but that was kind of as close as I’d come to a proper fantasy series. I don’t know why I haven’t read more; I actually really love fantasy books once I get started and this book was no exception. 

I’ll be doing a direct review of each book in the series and on the last review, I’ll do a round up review of the series overall, I think. I think I am also going to do a pro and con kind of structure to my reviews as well as I think it helps to get my thoughts out there a bit more clearly. 

I am going to start off with the cons in this book. There weren’t many, in all fairness but I couldn’t give the book a 5 stars. My main gripe was that it was a very slow start. I found myself pausing a lot when I was making my way through the first half of the book. It felt very filler and very stagnated almost? It was just very slow in getting into things which to be honest, isn’t really that bad a thing as most series have this issue with the first book. It is very difficult to get the first book across as amazing if you have a whole series behind it, you know? 

But, nevertheless, I found the lead up quite slow and yet in the same breath, the whole arc with Amarantha felt… rushed? Maybe that is the wrong word to use but it felt like we heard about her a lot and she was depicted as this big bad and whilst, yes, she was an utter bitch and I hated her, I felt like she was dealt with rather quickly. I am now reading A Court of Mist and Fury and I understand that she was a prelude to what is to come (I’m only 15 chapters into Acomaf) but I don’t know, I just thought there would be more of her in subsequent books. 

Another con for me, albeit quite small, is the fact that some of the spicy scenes have a tendency to read a little bit like smutty fanfiction. I can deal since I was once a teenager who delved into fanfiction most days so I’ve seen all the lemon and that from back in the day; the really cringey stuff lmao but I find it interesting when fully fledged published novels have sexy scenes that read a little bit… cringey? It’s not too bad but I can already get the sense that some of the scenes to come will probably make me roll my eyes or pull some faces at the words on the page, you know?

Again, small gripe but it’s one of my thoughts so there we go.

Lastly on cons, I wanted to address something which… in fairness is my own fault, rather than a shortcoming of the book itself. So, I have had the misfortune to have stumbled across some spoilers in terms of the romances in the series and I am disappointed… I won’t lie. I’ve seen how things go with Feyre and Rhysand which… it was kind of obvious from the moment he appears in this book that more would be happening with him and her but I was so annoyed initially. 

It was my own fault as mentioned but I saw spoilers about the romance and I was a strong Tamlin and Feyre shipper girly throughout this book. I was rooting hard for them and was like yesss, she’s proving Amarantha wrong, she’s with Tamlin til the end; ride or die!! Then, I saw spoilers and was like what the fuck. Initially, when I finished this book, I was not impressed with Rhysand. Like, I couldn’t understand why people loved him so much or why Tamlin seems to get hate after this book and for the rest of the series. Like, I hated Rhys when he was introduced towards the end of this one. 

However, I can say that I am warming to him as I make my way through A Court of Mist and Fury so my opinion is altering. Hence, I think it is wise to write out this review before my thoughts and feelings change too much. That revelation will be for the Acomaf review. 

I actually paused and read something completely different in between this and starting Acomaf. I didn’t want to go straight into the second book when I felt so invested in the Tamlin and Feyre romance because I was certain that I wouldn’t be able to read the rest of the books with an open mind. As I make my way through it currently, I am starting to see where the breakdown of Feyre and Tamlin’s relationship stems from so… you know… hindsight is beautiful and all that. 

My gripe with it thought is like… what was the point of the events in the first book then? Why go through all of that in which Feyre did, just to wind up being fickle of heart as Amarantha repeatedly said humans do?

I get that it’s the plot but it does feel a little bit silly that she goes through all of that and to declare consistently and repeatedly that she loves and would die for Tamlin and yet, here we are in Acomaf 3 months later and she’s having second thoughts. I don’t know; maybe I am being pedantic. I just feel like it is a bit of a cop out. Or I guess I thought she would at least not have that much of a change of heart that quickly after the first book. 

However, as previously stated, I am getting into Acomaf and I believe my thoughts will change as I am warming up to Rhys and I like learning about the Night Court too as well as the people of his court and inner circle. He is a fun character and I do like him, recognizing him not to be an enemy or villain of this series. And, I can see the cracks in Feyre’s current relationship with Tamlin. I just think it’s a shame especially as in this book, Tamlin was great; loved him. I almost feel like his character has been done dirty a little bit in Acomaf so far, at least.

Anyways… time to move onto the pros… I really loved the book in its entirety. It left me wanting more and I felt the urge to immediately dive into the second book but I did resist for reasons already mentioned. I would not have been as open minded to Rhys and Feyre’s change in feelings for Tamlin etc that I am currently in the process of reading if I had gone straight from Acotar to Acomaf. 

As I already pointed out, I really loved the Tamlin and Feyre romance. It felt really and truly like a high stakes love and I am sad and disappointed that they are not endgame. It’s a shame that they don’t end up together as I love Tamlin in this first book. He is a bit of a restrained and gentle fae and he very much gives the impression of a tortured high lord who has been thrust into this role and doesn’t want to bring war or pain to any of his people. He seems like he’d much rather stay away from bloodshed and although Rhys’ thoughts on that are that he is a coward, I see it differently as knowing your own values and sticking to them. 

I don’t understand the hate that I see for Tamlin to be honest… I’ve seen quite a bit online about Tamlin and people just really cannot stand him beyond the first book. Now… I have gotten to a part in Acomaf where I am starting to see this. There have been a few things where I’ve rolled my eyes and muttered, ‘Tamlin’ as I’m reading. I understand his actions come from a place of worry and care but my God, he really is going about things in the wrong way.

But, unless something happens where he really betrays someone or something akin to that, I really can’t understand the hate his character gets. Like, apart from some overbearing traits that cause him to be an idiot, I really don’t get it. 

Maybe I will understand that as I read on… maybe he does something in a later book that I am not yet aware of. But, for the minute, I am making my peace with Feyre and his relationship ending at some point and I am understanding it and slowly becoming okay with it too. However, at this moment in time, Tamlin, they can’t make me hate you like a villain. Don’t prove me wrong, high lord. 

Feyre is another pro for me in this book. I really like her character so far; I like her morals and her values and how she really doesn’t actually want to cause unnecessary harm to any of the faerie folk. She obviously shoots Andras in the very beginning and it isn’t a provoked kill either but for the rest of the book, she never outrightly tries to hurt or kill anyone else and I like that she is human, through and through in her head and heart. It is refreshing.

She is also a badass; like up there with Katniss in terms of female main characters. Sometimes she is written a bit damsel-ish for Tamlin’s sake in this book and I want her to find her spine at times. She backs down at some points where I am yelling at the pages like, no, Feyre, go and tell them to piss off! I get it; she is in a land of faeries and isn’t stupid since a lot of them want to kill her on sight. But, I do get tired of the same old; she’s a helpless girl and needs a strong mysterious immortal to save her as it does occasionally come across in this book.

I am assuming, however, now that she is high fae, she will grow in confidence and ability as the books go on. Or at least, I hope she does since we all know she could likely hold her own.

The characters in this book are great; I love how they’ve all got these complex backstories and nuances and reasons for being the way they are. In particular, a character that shone for me in this book was obviously Lucien. I fucking love Lucien. 

I love his whole personality. He is witty and dry but also has his moments of wisdom and his moments of caring and looking out for Feyre. It is nice to see the friendship blooming there that doesn’t necessarily involve Tamlin. I love his backstory too. My damn heart when we finally found out what his father had done as well as Amarantha ripping out his eye like my poor boy has been through the damn WARS.

Lucien is so far high up on my shelf of favourite characters in the book; he really has a lot of complexities and I just found that every time he was mentioned or a page was focused on him, I paid more attention. I think just the way he is written interests me. I love that he is a little shit that makes jokes and has a cheeky way about him. Love Lucien. Love him so much. It’s a really cute bromance that’s started with him and Feyre and because of the spoilers I already mentioned, I am curious as to how his friendship with Feyre will change as she becomes more affiliated with Rhysand and the Night Court. I hope they stay close. 🙁

Lastly, the worldbuilding is spot on for this book. I could easily envision the Spring court and how everything looked as well as being able to perfectly picture Under The Mountain. Sarah J Maas does an incredible job of describing locations and characters without giving too much away or trying to over explain it to the point of losing the point and trying too hard. 

I enjoy the history that is injected into the story as well; I’m genuinely so invested in the war that happened and how the courts came to be as well as the wall that separates the humans from the fae folk. It’s just so interesting and I love that there are so many areas to be explored in the books as well. 

I just think the way that things are backed and explained are done really nicely; I’m always satisfied with the description of areas or places etc and I’m never left confused and unable to picture what I’ve just read. I have a clear image of how each character looks as well as the individual places like Tamlin’s Manor. 

I think all of the characters are portrayed with a very strong sense of individuality as well. For example, every character is so unique and different to another to the point, I never felt confused or like a characters’ traits were being repeated. Rhysand is a perfect example of that; when I initially met him, I wanted to hate him for good and for him to be a venomous bastard and yet… as we learn more about him and what he has gone through, I got to the point of being like oh, you hate her too! You’re on the same side! 

Although they are all opposing courts, it’s nice that they are still of the same mindset in ways. 

Overall, the book was really solid for me and although I didn’t give it a 5 star, it was a really strong start to the series and has achieved what the first book in a series should aim for - getting readers to invest and continue with the rest of the books. 

After worrying so much about it not living up to the online hype, I am really glad that I’ve started the series as I think it will be one that I really enjoy and will be recommending to friends. It is definitely a very good introduction to romantasy as someone who has dabbled too much before but does want to read more from it. As mentioned, I am still quite new to fantasy novels but am trying to explore more of them.

I really loved this book and so far, I am enjoying Acomaf as well so I have high hopes for the rest of the series too.

See you guys again once I finish A Court of Mist and Fury. 🔥