Date read: 8th January 2019
My rating: 4*
Genre I reckon: NAish fantasy
Buy link:
Amazon
Every so often a book/series captures the zeitgeist. The masses flock to it, and it floods social media. tbh, these are the ones I tend to avoid, as they can be over-hyped, and I end up disappointed. But I could ignore this one no longer.
This was my first Sarah J Maas book. I selected this series as it was billed as more NA (with a mature content rating), which I thought would be more my thing. And I was curious to discover what all the fuss was about.
A Court of Thorns And Roses starts off REALLY slowly. And only gets going past the halfway mark, but when it does it gets a LOT more interesting.
So, it's supposed to be a Beauty & The Beast retelling.
Hm, not really, is it? I mean, I can see loosely how there's hints. But a dashing fae in a gold mask isn't exactly a beast. We don't see Tamlin's 'beast' form very much at all.
She hates fae kind, but gets swayed by a pretty face quite easily.
The winter, summer etc. courts in fantasy novels has been a bit overdone. And wars brewing in the fae realm - quelle surprise. But fortunately, this didn't stop me from engaging with the story.
That's the more mundane bits tackled.
What did I love? Rhysand, if I'm being honest. He's by far and above the most interesting character here.
I did like Feyre, although she's a little annoying at times. She's the youngest of her family, but arguably the most dependable, and the one who has fought like a tiger to keep her family from starvation. I do wish she'd stop being frustrated at not being able to paint feelings and smells though!?
Her sisters are brats and her father is worse than useless.
Given the warning, I would've liked slightly more in-depth love scenes. They have really good run-ups, then it's all over a bit quick. And the last one is gratuitous given the circumstances. And a bit more sexual tension building up between them would've been good.
What wins me over is the style. There's great world-building. And there were threads which reeled me in.
I'm really glad I stuck with it, as the second half is delightful.
A good NA with YA tendencies.
Always in love and light,
TL
