A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas Review
Posted by The YA Book Traveler , Friday, May 22, 2015 3:00 PM
A Court of Thorns and Roses
by Sarah J. Maas
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
My Thoughts 4 Stars
Here's the deal. I've decided on giving this book a 4 stars because I didn't walk away completely loving it. Which is a shame because it was so close!
The Story:
This story is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I saw Sarah on her Heir of Fire tour last fall and she told us about this book. She said how it started off as a retelling but really evolved into it's own book. Along the way there are "nods" to the Beauty and the Beast story. Because she emphasized that it was really going to contain only "nods" I really thought it would be completely original. HOWEVER, I was surprised to see more than just nods... but rather scenes taken directly from the animated movie. And I'm pretty sure there were a few lines that crossed over into this book.
I found this slightly distracting because every time something similar happened I kept envisioning the animated feature with Belle and the Beast.
Her consequence for killing the wolf is that she has to live with Tamlin forever and never see her family again.
My feelings:
For the majority of the book, I LOVED IT! I loved meeting Tamlin and Lucien. Lucien is a hilarious and fun character. The development of the world was lovely and I adored it. Plus, it was super sexy! NA sexy!
But, the end of the book felt weird to me. Up until a certain "mountain" event happens I loved it but then their circumstance changes and this is where I felt the book's pacing really slowed down. It also had a totally different feel, more horrifying and uncomfortable. I can't really go into detail because spoilers.
The actual end of the book I felt was satisfying but I left his book not knowing how to rate it.
It left me slightly disappointed...
Even with my few issues, overall this book is a definite read. It was VERY sexy, fun, thrilling and I'm looking forward to book 2 and how this world will continue on.
I seriously feel like a total black sheep on this book because everyone loved it but I was also in the it was good but I wasn't blown away camp. But interestingly I was the opposite. I didn't start digging it until the "mountain" part. Great review.