A Court of Thorns and Roses

TW/CW: lots of violence some s*x scenes and abusive relationships

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR), which is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, is about 19-year-old Feyre who lives with her father and two sisters who don’t treat her very well and make Feyre do everything for them.  One day when Feyre is hunting in the woods, she kills a wolf which happens to be a Fae who had morphed into his animal form.  As punishment for her actions, Feyre is taken by a faerie, Tamlin, to the faerie realm of Prythian, the Fae world she has feared her entire life, only to learn that most of what she has been told about these lands is not true.  When Feyre learns that the Fae lands are in grave danger, Feyre decides to find a way to save them all.  This book, the first of 5 books (and more to come at unknown dates), was very interesting.  The worldbuilding was very intriguing and I was most fascinated with the Fae characters.  Since I have read the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale (which was originally written in French btw), I could see how parts of ACOTAR were inspired by it.  The first book does drag a bit in the 2^nd half and, compared to the rest of the series that I’ve read so far, it’s not nearly as good as the 2^nd book; it’s in the 2^nd book that everything really starts to get good, especially when we’re introduced to Rhysand (Rhys for short) and his inner circle, which includes my favorite character, Cassian, as well as Azriel!  Cassian and Azriel are referred to as “The Bat Boys.”  Cassian is super nice and cool and funny and he’s the best!  Let’s just say that when I met Cassian my former favorite character, Lucien, got de-throned immediately!  I will say that Feyre can be a little mediocre and that the other characters for me are what save the books.  Also, Feyre’s relationship with Tamlin is extremely toxic.  I have no idea why people like their relationship.  Tamlin locks her away to “protect” her and then does things like give her lavish gifts only to ignore her afterward.  Rhys is kind of creepy too at the beginning but he gets better in the 2^nd book.  I have read the first three books and do plan to read the other two at some point as well (I just needed a break from the Fae world).  Overall, I would definitely recommend this series!

“Rhysand stared at me for long enough that I faced him. “Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”