Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Author: Sarah J Maas

Genre: NA Fantasy

Published by: Bloomsbury

Publication date: 05/05/15

Pages: 432

My rating: ★★★★★

I bought a copy myself and decided to finally review it.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this series, I’ve never actually reviewed the first two though. I figured it was time to change that when I pulled them out to re-read again. By now you probably know this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, this was the first time I’d read one, it was also my first Sarah J Maas book I’d read. I remember loving it from the first page, I went and bought a copy on publication day, made it two stops on the bus before I went back to buy the first two Throne of Glass books and devoured every SJM book published at the time.

A Court of Thorns and Roses follows Feyre, responsible for the survival of her family, spending her days hunting in the woods near her village, even the parts hunters avoid with it being so close to Prythian’s border. After shooting a wolf which turns out to be a Faerie, Feyre is taken to Prythian by Tamlin (one of Prythian’s High Fae) to pay the price required by the treaty. As time passes Feyre’s feelings towards Faeries change, finding  herself drawn into the fight the break the curse causing the blight across Prythian.

 “And keep your wits about you— even your senses will try to betray you. “

I adore this series so much and it just gets better every time I read it! There’s so many tiny details you miss out on during the first read. The writing is gorgeous, I find myself rereading paragraphs because they’re that beautiful, there’s so many memorable quotes within the pages too. The world building is stunning, so vivid it feels like you’re right there in there in the Spring Court, the breeze on your face, scent of roses and the tang of magic. I love the story and characters. I’ve found some retellings can have a little too much of the original story in it, there’s so much more woven into this one, at times I forgot it was a retelling. Feyre is one of those badass female characters; strong, resilient and flawed at the same time. I can’t tell you how much I love her! Can we take a moment to appreciate Lucien? Everyone loves Feyre and Tamlin, most love Rhysand (I’ve intentionally kept quiet about him), he’s often overlooked. His witty and snarky personality is so underrated, I could be biased because he’s my favourite – so many fans I know don’t like him. He’s brilliant though and my absolute favourite, I know I’ve said this twice. It’s true though!

 “I love you,” he whispered, and kissed my brow. “Thorns and all.”

This last part is a spoiler for the first book, it just came to me while writing it so I had to include it. You can highlight the text to see it. How many times has Feyre been told to keep her wits about her, because her senses will betray her? I lost count of that and the amount of times I’ve read this series and it’s only just occurred to me that Feyre is told this countless times, but the biggest deception is her entire relationship with Tamlin, we all fell for it too. I can’t believe it’s taken me that long to realise this. I’m not going to finish this thought as it’s a spoiler for ACOMAF. but I need to talk to someone about this!

I can’t get over how beautiful both the world and book are, I’m so glad Sarah decided to write more. I know I wasn’t the only one desperate for more. I could talk about it for hours, I probably should leave it here. I’d love to hear your thoughts, if you decide to read it, or even if you’ve already read it!

Buy from: Book Depository Waterstones