Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas #BookReview #YoungAdult #Fantasy

On By MischenkoIn Fantasy, Reads, Retellings, Series, Young Adult

A Court of Thorns and Roses

By Sarah J. Maas

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My thoughts:

I’m really excited to finally be getting to this series. This is my first read by Sarah J. Maas and for the most part, it turned out to be wonderful. This may be one of the longest reviews I’ve ever written and I apologize if it’s choppy, but I just want to get my thoughts out. My review will  have spoilers.

The book begins with Feyre, a young girl living with her father and two sisters in the mortal lands of Prythian. Feyre’s mother passed away years ago and now she’s responsible for the care of her family. She made a vow at her mother’s deathbed that she’d keep the family together and watch over them. They’re all poor and food is scarce, but luckily Feyre can hunt.

The lands are divided with humans living in mortal lands south of the wall, while faerie-kind live in the north. Stories have been told about the faeries and Feyre has grown to hate them over the years. She’s bitter about the way the humans in her village have to live and blames the faeries for everything. A treaty is in place which prevents humans from attacking and killing faerie, but Feyre couldn’t care less. One day while hunting, Feyre discovers a doe, but right when she’s about to kill it she notices a huge wolf standing near it. She doubts the wolf is faerie, but she isn’t truly positive. Feyre takes a chance–killing both creatures–which will feed her family for some time. It isn’t long after that she’s approached at her home by a vicious High Fae beast who wants to know who killed his best friend. Feyre is given a choice to either die or leave with the High Fae to live out the rest of her life in the north with faerie-kind. Feyre reluctantly agrees to go with the beast to the faerie realm. She’s whisked away from her family to this mysterious and magical land where she has no idea how she’ll survive. As time moves on, she’s showered with multiple blessings, but feels guilty that her family is left back at home and worries about their survival. In time, she discovers that everything she originally believed about the faeries is wrong.

I fell in love with this story from the very first pages. The plot is interesting and the characters have stayed with me. It was sort of a slow build with an end that turned out to be nothing like what I thought it would be. For the majority of the book you believe one thing, and then eventually you find out you were totally wrong, which was a nice twist toward the end of story. The writing is mostly wonderful in my opinion, but it did seem like it was drawn out in a few parts, and maybe could’ve been condensed. I had a hard time figuring out some of the characters, but I’m reminding myself that this is a series with more to come. The time frame toward the end of the book became a little confusing, but it wasn’t all that important. All of these things were easy to overlook. I ended up loving the ending which made me want to start right on with book two.

As far as characters, I liked most of them, but very much disliked Feyre’s family. Things do change toward the end with one sister’s character being redeemed, which was nice. Rhysand was also an easily hated character at first, but he’s very important and also changes a bit by the end of the book. I loved that little tidbit at his departure which left many questions in my head. Feyre makes some really stupid mistakes, but in the end, it makes her character relatable; however, it was extremely annoying that multiple times she deliberately puts herself in danger and disobeys orders. I admired her strength with how she stands up for herself even when she knows she might not stand a chance. Lucien was confusing at first, but ended up becoming quite brotherly which was lovely. I think Tamlin turned out to be my favorite out of all the characters; I appreciated his kindness because when he first shows up to capture Feyre, it’s unknown what his intentions truly are.

I picked this book for the 2019 Retellings Reading Challenge not knowing that much about it, other than the hype I’ve seen online over the series. I read that the author intended to write it as a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I wasn’t totally positive that it would stay true. After reading it, I definitely think it qualifies because there were many elements that connected. For starters, there’s Feyre who lives with her family of two sisters and her father. Her mother passed away years ago and they’re all poor struggling to live with financial hardship. Secondly, Feyre’s forced to leave home in a ‘life for a life’ situation due to her faerie-murdering mistake. Now she’ll be forced to live with Tamlin (beast) in the faerie realm which she totally despises at first. She hates living there for the longest time, but eventually falls in love with Tamlin. Of course, Feyre is different from Beauty, but she’s still very strong-willed and brave. Tamlin is also different than the Beast in that he’s a beautiful, shape-shifting faerie lord. There are also other connections in the story including a study in the magical manor where Tamlin and Lucien live, a certain curse, the mentioning of father’s ships, and of course Feyre is eventually sent back to the human world. The story has its similarities to Beauty and the Beast, but the author has certainly made it her own with the addition of so much more, making this book truly an original.

With all that said, I have to mention a few little random niggles which don’t affect my book rating:

  • I had issues with Feyre’s family. Her dad refuses to help the family survive, although he does have a leg injury, he could help and chooses not to. Why? Is he that depressed? Her sisters are rude and just want to spend the money Feyre makes. They’re all so unappreciative of her.
  • Feyre is eventually given three challenges by Amarantha to prove her love for Tamlin. Feyre simply isn’t strong enough to accomplish the three challenges without the help of others (one male in particular that was totally unexpected) and as magical as the High Fae are, none of them seem to know she’s receiving Faerie aid. At one point, it’s brought to Amarantha’s attention and she doesn’t even seem to care, even though it affects her fate and her choosing of Tamlin for herself. This seemed silly, especially for someone like Amarantha who has no problem breaking the rules.
  • I didn’t appreciate the parts where Feyre is nearly nude, forced to get drunk on faerie wine, and then forced to dance for Rhysand and all the faerie-kind. That was weird and it made me a little uncomfortable.
  • Even though I was perfectly fine with the sexual content in the book, multiple times I asked myself: Is this really YA? It seemed extremely graphic in spots with one scene where I thought there could be some force and aggression. Other scenes seemed super steamy, which I personally loved,  but shouldn’t this be New Adult rather than Young Adult? Last time I checked, YA is recommended for ages 12-18 and this book just seemed too sexy for a child at the age of 12. Obviously all kids are different, but this isn’t a book I’d want my 12-year-old daughter to read. I’m not discrediting the book, but I had to mention this.

Overall, I loved it and I’m moving right on to book two!

4.5 stars

Find this book on Goodreads and Amazon:

  • Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses (Book 1)
  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1st edition (May 5, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1619634449
  • ISBN-13: 978-1619634442

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.

This is the third book for my 2019 Retellings Reading Challenge. If you’d like to see my progress, you can click the image below.

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Thanks for reading my review! Have you read this book? Did you like it? Let’s chat in the comment’s section below.

❤ Mischenko

67 thoughts on “Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas #BookReview #YoungAdult #Fantasy”

  1. Pingback: 2019 Retellings Reading Challenge #Retellings #Reading Challenge #2019ReadingChallenge – ReadRantRock&Roll

  5. GREAT review, Mischenko!!! I loved this series and I can’t wait to hear what you think as you continue to read the books. I think the issue with the YA age group is that maturity differences between 12 and 18 are huge! This series leans more to the 16-18 age group. I felt the same way about Twilight. I thought….would I really want a 12-year old to read that it’s okay for a teen to let a mysterious guy into her bedroom at night and keep secrets from her parents? Not so much! So YA definitely needs parental guidance for the younger end of the YA age range.

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    1. Thanks, Julia! I feel like New Adult would be best for this book. You’re so right about kids and their maturity levels though. Sometimes I just wish kids could be kids as they have their whole lives in front of them and parents don’t have time to screen books–at least I don’t. 😆 I personally wouldn’t want to prevent my kids from reading, but this book went just a little over the top in my opinion. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Glad you enjoyed the series. I’m excited for book 2!

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      1. Yes, new adult would be a good choice for the series! Entertainment industries like books, TV, and movies seem to keep lowering the bar for classifications and categories. Ugh! And aw….I can’t wait to share my sequel with you!!! YAY!!!

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    1. I totally understand! I wouldn’t want to spoil anything and always love going in blind too. I just couldn’t write this one without spoilers. Maybe one day I’ll get better at that. Thanks, Misty! Can’t wait for your thoughts. 😉

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        1. I’ve used that feature before in the reader. If you open the post in the reader, there’s a save button at the bottom. There must be another way to do it too? Not sure. Let me know if you figure it out! 😉

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  10. Love your review, Jenn! This was a favorite book for me…I loved the entire series and am so glad you enjoyed it! Your review was fabulous. I don’t think I even paid attention when I bought this that it was YA, haha (I thought it was New Adult)! I’m glad you pointed that out because it did have those steamy scenes. I definitely wouldn’t want a 12 year old to read it. Interesting. I would love to see this adapted for film. Hope you’re having a great start to your week! ♥

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    1. I’m so happy to hear it, Steph! I’m sure I’ve read your reviews and I’m going to go back and read them again to compare thoughts. Thanks so much for reading my review and your positive comments. Multiple people mentioned to me on GR that it’s NA, but I disagree only because my library, GR, and Amazon all have them listed as YA, including the second and third book. I agree that it reads like NA though with the content. I’m in the second book now and this one seems even more like NA than the first and I’m only on chapter 3! 😂 I’d love this to be a film too. I’ve been thinking about the characters already. Thanks! 😁❤

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      1. Haha, these were among books that I rated and never reviewed, so you don’t remember my reviews because I never wrote anything. 😉 I never looked at what they were rated to be honest; I listened to the first one 1/2 audiobook then it was taking too long, so I had to buy the kindle book to finish it up and then bought the other 2 at the same time and if I remember, I read them back to back or at least within the same month or two. I’m sure whatever GR and Amazon has them listed as is what they are, no matter what people have said. It really does read NA and be forewarned that book 3 only gets steamier, which I thought was fine, LOL. Actually A Court of Frost and Starlight was too and that was almost all the novella was, haha. The characters are fantastic. I love them and really would love a film or even a tv adaptation of each book. Enjoy each books! I think they get better with every one! You’re welcome 🙂 ❤

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        1. Oh, okay! I was thinking maybe you did. I can’t even keep up with my own books lol. 😂 Definitely looking forward to the other books. I noticed there are more supposedly coming in 2020, but not positive. Someone said they were marketed as NA. I don’t have a clue how all that works though or why they’re still listed as YA then? I understand that NA is quite a new genre though. Thanks so much! 💖

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        2. No, I probably should have but just didn’t have time. Yes, she’s continuing the series, and I can’t wait. A Court of Frost and Starlight is a bridge between Freya’s story and some of the other characters in the series stories. I think she was stopping at 3 but so many people wanted to know what happens to all the other side characters and their love stories that she decided to continue, which made me happy because there really is so much material to work with in the books with character and plot. I’m not 100% sure either. I remember when NA came out, but I didn’t really pay too much attention to it. You’re welcome! ♥

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  15. I guess you know as a book blogger you see Sarah J. Maas’ name EVERYWHERE. But I’ve never just fallen into the group and I’ve hesitated because after all of the “love” I thought I might be disappointed. I’m glad that you read it and have given a review that I respect.

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    1. I used to see her everywhere, but it seems like it’s slowed down a bit. Same here. I get the hype now because I did enjoy the first book and I’m already in book two. I appreciate your positive comments! If you end up reading these, I hope you enjoy them. Thank you!

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    1. That’s how everyone seems to feel. I’m in the second book now and it’s way more steamy, and I’m only on chapter 3 lol. 😉 Glad to hear it keeps getting better! Thank you

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    1. I know what you mean. I don’t see what the deal is as far as the marketing. Someone told me on GR that the second two books were marketed as NA, but they are indeed still listed and labeled YA. Doesn’t make sense to me. I know many people don’t believe in book ratings, but having a 12-year-old near 13, I feel like it would be nice to have them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 😉

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        1. That’s awesome! I’m still wondering about just buying the boxed set, which has the three books, but I noticed more books are coming. Don’t let me miss your review when you read this one! 😉

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  21. Really glad you loved this one! I had such an average experience with this one that I can’t really remember what happened in it lol. But I’m glad you had a good time with it. I do want to continue on with the series at some point but will probably have to reread this one first. 🙂

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    1. Thanks! I’m in the second book now and she did a nice job going back over a few things like the deal that Feyre made with Rhys, etc. I think you could easily start right into the second book, but it’s hard to say for sure. Hope you enjoy the others. I’d love to hear your thoughts on them. 🙂❤

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  22. Pingback: Book Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas #Fantasy #BookReview – ReadRantRock&Roll

  24. This is one of my all-time favorite series. Sarah accurately touches on several topics (especially in the second book) like emotionally abusive relationships, depression, and self-confidence that a lot of other authors won’t go near. It’s an amazing story because you start to realize that while it is a “fairy tale” not everyone gets their happy ending. SO excited to see what else Sarah J Mass puts out!

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